hands of love #8...

...was pretty much a flop.

It was bound to happen. When you're baking gluten free and using all kinds of wierd flours that you've never heard of before like amaranth & quinoa & tapioca flour, etc., it's only a matter of time before you get some duds, right? And since I don't claim in any way, shape, or form to be handy in the kitchen WHATSOEVER, I have no problems showing you my not-so-great attempts!! (Maybe you can still give me an "E" for effort??)

Hey, at least they were still edible. (this time...) And Caroline, you continue to be a good sport as I'm learning. :)


Got this great nutritious snack idea from a recipe online-- you roll up a gluten free, nitrate free piece of turkey with fresh spinach, carrots, cucumber, & avocado inside & then dip it in some dijon mustard. Yeah, online they looked GORGEOUS. Beautifully held together with a toothpick for little fingers to pick up a perfect bite-size snack. Mine? Not so much.


These quinoa blackberry muffins wouldn't win any awards for looks, either. (are you supposed to cut up blackberries before putting them in mini muffins? I mean, the blackberries look like they're overtaking the muffins!) Thankfully they weren't too bad in taste, so I guess who cares how they look, right?


These sweet potato muffins with zucchini & carrots hidden in them looked very promising at first. As they came out of the oven, the tops were high and huge, but not a minute after putting them on the counter, they shrunk down to this. And again, not the greatest tasting in the world, but to my kid, a muffin is an exciting treat! (and she has no idea about all the good stuff she's getting at the same time!)


Oh, and I forgot to mention what a wonderful, attentive helper I had to make these 2 batches of muffins together! Caroline, you were a great helper mouse. I love seeing how into cooking you're becoming, even "cooking" for us as you play with legos, etc.


And the taste testing at the end was your favorite part!

But I guess not all of my cooking was a flop.


The grilled salmon salad with homemade dressing was a good ol' standby. (I think you could eat salmon every day if I gave it to you.) Sorry, I think I probably include a picture of this meal each time, but it's just so pretty...


And what 2 yr. old eats 2 HUGE servings of sauteed spinach & garlic and veal?! Around our house, we're trying to learn that meals are less about WHAT you're eating and more about HOW you eat it or WHO you eat it with, so that called for an impromptu "picnic" on the kitchen floor...