That Time I Messed Up Father’s Day…

This post was created as part of the #NOWWellness Blogger Ambassador Campaign in which I am a financially compensated blogger ambassador. The opinions are my own and based on my own experience.

I’ve been trying to be a better person and let God turn me into one. But it seems no matter how far I go, I’m still locked into this thorny humanness that just steals my best intentions. I was having a bad day and rather than taking the high road, as this Christian wife *should* have, I settled into the bad and it rippled out to my family.

It’s also true that I didn’t really consult with God and His plans for my weekend. So when I rolled out of bed to get ready for church and saw a change of plans from someone I was truly rely on BEFORE I had my coffee, well, my heart completely got out of joint. Let’s just say it was really hard to be in the right place for church.

Let me just say now that everything that went kablooie either worked out or didn’t ruin things as I was sure it would. My “plan” lay in tatters, which just underscores the fact that I’m really, REALLY gifted to be spontaneous and plans are the death of me. (That God blessed me with kids who thrive on routine is proof positive that He has a sense of humor.) \

I wish I could say it ended there….

But First the Dinner…

This would be where many of the time-crunched, finger-burning and curse-inducing escapades happened to me and that was with my husband taking care of the meat. Don’t get me wrong, we did have a simply AMAZING dinner. Want to see? Here it is:

• Grilled Grass Fed Steak, seasoned in Chipotle Paprika and its own juices
• Spring Mix Salad with Bacon, Organic Balsamic Vinegar and Ellyndale Non-GMO Avocado Oil
• Organic Quinoa Salad

What’s to love about this menu? Ok, I’ll tell ya!

• It’s 100% organic.
• It’s allergen-free except for the feta cheese, which you can make the quinoa without.
• It’s all Paleo.
• I fried the bacon in Now Foods Organic Garlic Coconut Infusions, which is coconut oil infused with garlic and amazingly delicious! If you don’t like the taste of coconut in your dinners, this is perfect! It gives enough flavor to make your dish rock. I use it in the morning when I make sauteed spinach with an egg on top. It’s the perfect seasoning for any dish!
• My family gobbled this dinner down. They can be picky so I was thrilled!

Organic Quinoa Salad Recipe

• Living Now Organic Tri-Color Quinoa
• Organic Feta Cheese, crumbled
• Organic Cherry Tomatoes
• Organic Carrots
• Red Onion
• Fresh Limes

Prepare the quinoa as directed, making sure to rinse before you cook. Set it in a stainless steel bowl in the refrigerator for 15-20 to cool down. Finely chop the tomatoes, carrots and red onion and add to cooled quinoa. Top with feta cheese. Using 1/2 a lime, juice with a fork or zester. Mix ingredients well and refrigerate a little long.

This is a flexible dish, because you can replace any of the items with something else. I love making this with red pepper instead of carrots but my husband is not a fan and, after all, it was his day!

Unfortunately, I only got a few bites in before literally STOMPING my tongue with my teeth. It hurt so much I couldn’t understand where the blood was because surely I had bitten a hole clear through my tongue, right?

No, it was just one of those things to ruin my enjoyment of dinner. ARRRGH!

Then we had to take care of my nonsense, and the kids had to get haircuts (because that’s fun-NOT!). In fact, the kids were upset before we even left because I had no time to frost the dessert. Which brings me to…

The Dessert

I pulled my recipe from Nicole Hunn’s cookbook, “Gluten-Free on a Shoe String.” For some reason, I’d never made her Perfect Yellow Cupcakes. I love her books but they are not always adaptable for those of us who are dairy free.

And then it happened, the Father’s Day Miracle.

I don’t know if was the adaptations or I made some mistake or my cockamamie oven but they tasted less like perfect yellow cupcakes and more like, well, frankly?

Ring Dings.

Sweet, beautiful amazing Ring Dings of my youth, from back when they had silver wrappers and the Stepford Wives ate them with whiskey.

RING DINGS!! OK, they did not have the creamy center, but they were just right otherwise.

Fortunately, I was armed with Living Now All Purpose Flour, which is free of all 8 major allergens.

This is how I replaced Hunn’s recipe:

• 1/2 cup Earth Balance Soy Free Blend (sticks are best) instead of butter
• A little less than 1 cup organic sugar. Nicole uses a whole cup, I think this is too much.
• 2 large, grass fed organic eggs, room temperature. I sit them in lukewarm water for a little while if too cold.
• 1-1/2  teaspoons organic vanilla extract
• 1/2 box (1-1/2 cups) Living Now All Purpose Flour
• 1/4 teaspoons xantham gum
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoons sea salt instead of kosher
• 1 cup + 2 tablespoons Silk Unsweetened Almondmilk instead of cow’s milk

I encourage you to buy a copy of “Gluten Free on a Shoestring” for the full recipe – and lots of other great recipes too! We use it ALL the time. I frosted them with Paleo Chocolate Frosting recipe from Elana’s Kitchen, and cooled it a second time after frosting my cupcakes and ended up with that Ring Ding – like shell frosting. Combined with the density of the cupcake, I knew I hit classic recipe gold!

My family was SO jazzed they gobbled these up and I made more cupcakes the next day. This time I’d run out of coconut oil and split the difference with Earth Balance. I didn’t get a hard shell but a nice, soft rich frosting on top that reminded me of the kind Mom used to make when I was little. Either way, the Living Now flour pulled it all together for a petite but filling cupcake! Next time, I’m going to try to really replicate Ring Dings!

So that’s my story of how Now Foods helped saved Father’s Day from being a total disaster. And as for me, one little so-good-it’s-over-the-moon amazing organic snack got me through as well:

This post was created as part of the #NOWWellness Blogger Ambassador Campaign in which I am a financially compensated blogger ambassador. The opinions are my own and based on my own experience.