The bus is late! Oh my!

It happens to everyone who has a kid that rides the bus. At some point, the bus will be late. It's just one of those things.

Monkey can be a worry wart. He becomes very concerned when the bus is late and I try to reassure him that it's okay and he won't get in trouble at school. When the bus finally does show up, he will make comments to the driver just to make sure that they know they're late and that he will be late to school because of it.

I always smile to the driver and wave.

Well, today we had icy weather to wake up to. It was in the mid-to-high 20's outside. While Prince Charming was snug and warm inside on the couch under a blanket, Monkey and I were huddled together in the dark, waiting for the bus outside. It wasn't helping that I had just come down with another cold right after I had gotten over my Christmas/New Years cold.

Time passed. No bus.

More time passes. Still no bus.

Monkey is starting to pace a little bit, and he's walking further out to get a better view of whether or not he can see if the bus is coming. Each time, nothing.

I check the time again and the bus is now more than 15 minutes late. I have a good relationship with the driver since Monkey is the only one on this particular special transportation route. Usually she texts me or calls me, and I've heard nothing from her or from the transportation department at the district about the status of the bus. I wonder if she's out sick today. Monkey had a substitute driver yesterday afternoon... It's probably why I hadn't heard anything.

I pull out the ice scraper and come up with a plan. I tell Monkey that I'm going to go ahead and start prepping the car in the event that I need to take him to school, but we are going to give it a little bit more time and see what happens.

The ice is layered in such a way that it doesn't do me much good to scrape the windows, so I go inside and get my car keys and start up the car to start the thawing out process.

I check the time again. The bus is now over 20 minutes late. Okay, it's time to call the transportation department! I get on the phone and tell them that the bus is very late and we've been standing outside in the cold while I am sick. I am promptly put on hold with dispatch while they look into the status of his bus.

Monkey and I watch the exhaust billowing from the car in the frosty air. The windshield wipers finally come free from their icy position and begin to work. We listen to the rubbery scrape while the car idles. It seems we are the only ones awake and moving in the chilly dark of the morning.

"Yes, hello? Well, it appears that there is a problem with the bus and it is not operating. I can try to get another bus dispatched to him for you but I would need to find out exactly how long that would take."

Bitter, ugly thoughts jump around in my head, but I do not utter them out loud.

"Ummm, I don't think that's necessary. While I've been on hold with you, I've been de-icing my car. I'll go ahead and take him to school myself. Next time I would appreciate a call to let me know if the bus is not coming. Thank you." I coughed loudly for effect before I hung up. I'm a teeny bit passive-agressive that way.

I go back into the house and tell Prince Charming he needs to get his coat and shoes on because we have to take his brother to school. He complains bitterly, but complies.

I wouldn't want to get out from under the blanket either. And, it's a change in his routine. I understand why it's hard for him. But, I don't have much patience. I feel like crap, I'm cold, I'm irritated, and Monkey is already late for school.

It occurs to me to call the teacher to let him know what's happening. By doing so, I was able to reassure Monkey that his teacher knows he'll be late and that he said it would be fine. Monkey liked hearing that his teacher said, "I'll see him when he gets here!"

I go back outside and quickly discover that my car doors are frozen shut. Like completely. Not moving a millimeter. Frozen.

Great.

I head back inside and see Prince Charming is ready to go, thank God. I run the faucet until I get really hot water while I search the cabinets for a pitcher. Prince Charming comes outside with me and both the boys watch while I pour the hot water over the doors. They watch the steam rising from the car and the ice melting off. The doors magically open. Voila! They pile into the car, and we are off! Monkey is now over 30 minutes past when his bus should have arrived and he is most definitely late for school.

We head down the road, and I quickly run over the events of the morning in my head. I realize something pretty significant.

Monkey didn't get upset. He wasn't excessively worried. The most intense thing he did was pace a little and watch for the bus quietly.

I was amazed. I was proud.  Maybe my reassurances all of these years are finally soaking in. Who knows?

"Hey, kid. I wanna tell you that I'm really proud of the way you handled the bus situation this morning. I know it's hard for you to be late and I'm happy that you didn't worry too much about the bus. Like I told you before, you'll get to school no matter what, because if the bus can't take you, I will. You can count on that. Hey...I have an idea!"

"What?"

"Well, since you did such a good job this morning by being flexible and not feeling upset about the bus, I was thinking about a possible surprise. But, if we do the surprise, it means you're going to be another 5 minutes late to school. You can choose what you want to do. If you want to go straight to school, then that's what we'll do. If you're okay being a few more minutes later than we already are, then I'll tell you my idea."

He paused for a moment, assessing his options. "I'll be okay if we are 5 more minutes late. What's the surprise?"

"How about we get some hot chocolate on the way to school because you did such a good job?"

"I knew it!"

"Yeah, I figured you did, kiddo."

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And with that, Monkey and Prince Charming got to enjoy a very rare treat while in the car on an icy morning on the way to Monkey's school all because the bus was late.

When we got to the school, Monkey was very calm. He got his attendance slip from the office and walked down the hall to his class while Prince Charming and I told him goodbye. He did such a good job. It was well worth a little treat.

One thing I've learned with my boys is to celebrate the small wins. It's not often that you get a huge win, so recognize the little steps that are gained and make sure your child knows that you see them happening. Sometimes a little hot chocolate on the way to school can be a very good thing.

GFCF Pound Cake with Chocolate Ganache

I was on a quest over the weekend to find a new GFCF chocolate cake recipe. I remembered that I still had some fresh berries in the fridge. So, in my quest to make a cake with both chocolate and raspberries (2 of my favorite ingredients!), I came across a recipe from Gluten Free Easily that I knew I had to try. 

I’ve been dying to make a dairy-free chocolate ganache, and I knew this would be a perfect cake for it. I made a few tweaks to the pound cake recipe and gave it a shot. It came out pefect. OMG. Perfect. I wanted to eat it all by myself!

I swear to you that this cake does not taste gluten-free. At all. In fact, it tastes like a buttery, tender, moist, sweet, slightly vanilla madeleine cookie. It’s the best pound cake I have ever made, even from the days before we worried about wheat and butter. Now that’s saying something!  

I knew I couldn’t wait to share the recipe with you, my dear readers, so I’m up very late typing this up for you. I have a feeling you’ll be very glad I did!

The original recipe can be found here, but please note that the recipe I am including below reflects the changes I made to it. As an added bonus, I am also including my recipe for chocolate ganache so you have the option of serving the cake the way I did.  

GFCF Pound Cake

2  1/4 cups all-purpose gluten-free flour mix (I used Bob’s Red Mill brand)
1  1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1  1/4 tsp sea salt (I used pink Himalayan salt)
1  1/2 tsp baking powder, aluminum and gluten-free
3/4 cup sunflower oil (or safflower oil, melted coconut oil, etc.)
1  1/2 cups organic sugar (I sifted mine to make sure there were no clumps)
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp applesauce
2 tsp gluten-free vanilla extract (I used my homemade extract I created with rum)
3 large organic eggs
2/3 cup full-fat organic coconut milk, whisked smooth (I used canned Thai Kitchen brand)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine dry ingredients in bowl and set aside.

In stand mixer bowl add oil and mix in sugar, vinegar, applesauce, and vanilla extract. Add eggs one at a time, stirring in-between. Add milk and mix 2 minutes. Gradually add dry ingredients and mix well.

Pour batter into greased loaf pans. Bake for 45-55 minutes or until golden brown and toothpick comes out clean.



The shiny glisten is the crunchy caramelization of the sugar.

You can see that it's airy and intact, and not super dense
and crumby like most GF cakes.

Dairy-Free Chocolate Ganache

This recipe is perfect for using up the rest of the coconut milk leftover from the can that you used for the pound cake recipe. It actually makes a little bit more than you need for the pound cake, but this just gives you a reason to go heavy on the chocolate ganache. And, that’s never a bad thing! If there’s anything leftover, you’ve got ganache for another treat. It will keep in the fridge, but I doubt it will be there long!

1 cup full-fat organic coconut milk         
2 cups (or slightly more!) semi-sweet chopped dairy-free chocolate or chocolate chips (such as Ener-G brand)
optional:  1/2 tsp gluten-free vanilla extract

In a small saucepan, whisk together the coconut milk and chocolate chips over low to medium low heat. Stir until the mixture is fully incorporated and the chocolate is melted, taking care to not scorch the chocolate. If you prefer, add in vanilla extract. The ganache will be smooth and shiny when done.

Pour the ganache over the cake and as it cools, it will firm up. Instead of pouring the ganache over the top of the cake, I opted to slice the cake and pour it over the individual slices. In our family, more chocolate is better!

Gorgeous, isn't it? It tastes as good as it looks!

Happy baking! Let me know how your pound cake and chocolate ganache turns out!

The cupcake debate

Monkey turned 9! I am still in a state of disbelief. When did he get this big and old, anyway? For that matter, when did I get this old? Sheesh! Next year he'll be double digits and that's kinda freaking me out a bit!!! 

His birthday theme this year is Angry Birds!

Typically I try to bring in something special for his class to help make his day extra nice at school. Since most kids bring in the store-made cupcakes (that Monkey can't eat) for their birthday celebration, I usually focus on bringing a small, non-food gift instead. I don't want Monkey to have the automatic assumption that the only way you can celebrate is with food. And, perhaps my little gift bags make more of an impression on the kids. I know it doesn't really matter, but I like to think of it as one thing I can do to try to help Monkey with being a bit more "cool." He struggles enough to fit in and make friends, so bringing gifts to the class could potentially provide him with a little boost for that day. Who knows if it really does? But I hope that, if nothing else, it brings smiles.

Thinking back to his previous celebrations at school, I realized that I've never brought in a food snack on his birthday. So, I figured it was time.

I left a message with the teacher to let her know that I would be bringing allergy-free snacks to the classroom on his birthday and to please notify me if there were any other allergies I needed to consider since I wanted to make sure every single child could participate (which, sadly, never happens for Monkey).

I pulled out my all-time favorite muffin recipe because it's easy to make, everyone likes it, it's food allergy-friendly, and I don't have to deal with frosting because they taste great without it. What am I referring to, you ask?     

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins!

By the way, I call these delectable delights "cupcakes" almost as often as I call them "muffins." Cupcakes sound more birthday-ish, and frankly isn't a cupcake just a muffin topped with frosting? Just a thought...

Be sure to click on the link for all the details. You'll thank me later.

Ready for the classroom!
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip and Chocolate Chunk Cupcakes...without frosting! :-)
I made extras and not a single one came back home - they all were consumed! Mikey likes it!

Girls just wanna have fun

TGIF, people! My gal pal, Miss C, is in town visiting. Guess what that means? Chocolate and chick flicks! I've had a busy week, so I'm ready to chillax to the max! I'm thinking it will be a put-your-feet-up-and-watch-a-funny-girly-movie-and-overindulge-in-coffee-and-all-sorts-of-chocolate kind of a day.

So, to celebrate that the weekend is once again upon us and that I will be taking a little sanity break with my friend, I thought I'd recycle the post I wrote that describes what I have planned today. There is an update since I wrote that post in March...both of my boys are now in school full day, which means we can watch our movie uninterrupted. Yessssss! Can you hear the angels singing?

Happy Friday to all! Now, be good readers and click here to see the original post. There's even a picture of Johnny Depp! :-) 

Chocolate and Chick Flicks

Girls just wanna have fun, right? Well for me, I love it when my awesome gal pal, Miss C, heads to town and we do our famous Chocolate and Chick Flicks extravaganza. Upon her arrival, we both get out our laptops and head to Redbox.com. Imagine 2 women in side-by-side recliners with dueling laptops. We each pick out our top 1 or 2 movies and then take turns watching the trailers together. Whichever one gets the most laughs or mentions of cuteness and/or chick-flickiness wins. We reserve our selection and head out. On our way to the store we formulate our battle plan, plotting which areas of the store to pillage and plunder in order to acquire our chocolate hideousness delectableness.

Miss C is in town visiting today! I have to tell you, it’s been really hard for me to restrain myself from renting a movie in the past week. There are a couple of new releases out that fit the chick flick bill, and I’ve almost succumbed at least once. I chose to be patient for the greater good!

Now we’ll have to wait for the perfect opportunity to view our chick flick without interruption. Typically, that happens when the boys are at school, or in the afternoon during “quiet time.” Sometimes we start the movie in the morning when the boys are at school and then finish it in the afternoon during designated quiet time. Let me tell you, I’ve become a huge fan of closed captioning so that I can keep the volume lower when the kids are home (in case there’s any bad language, etc.), so I don’t miss any of the dialogue.

You might be wondering what quiet time is. It’s something I started when Monkey was a baby and I’ve kept it up ever since. After Prince Charming was born, and all the trouble we had with his reflux and sleeping habits, quiet time became almost like religion around here. With quiet time, I knew I could count on a little chunk of time to do stuff like: 1) go to the bathroom, 2) actually sit down and eat some food, 3) pay bills, and 4) the holy grail itself, take a shower that’s long enough that you can actually shave your legs if you want to (not to be confused with the barely-get-your-body-wet-and-then-have-to-jump-out-really-fast-because-while-straining-your-ears-to-listen-over-the-sound-of-the-water-you-hear-crying shower).  

Right after lunch at least one of the boys would take a nap and I eventually got them on the same schedule. Depending on how long the nap went, quiet time could be a half-hour, it could be 2 hours, or anything in-between. The one stipulation, whether sleep was involved or not, was that both boys had to go into their rooms, keep the door shut, and spend a little time alone. Keeping the door shut actually came about from all of the sleep problems the boys were having. Naps were always better when I shut their doors and turned on a fan in the hall (which I still do to this day). As we moved past the nap stage, I would have them bring in a couple of their favorite toys (that were quiet), books, etc., and play with those things while quiet time was observed.

Moms need a little break now and then and quiet time has been my regularly-scheduled sanity savior. Some days you just need a few moments, and the simple act of eating a snack or watching a quick reality show (guilty pleasure!) helps you plug back in to the rest of the day feeling better. It doesn’t have to be long, but for me, it is necessary.

The boys have always loved quiet time! Even if I don’t have quiet time planned during the weekend, they will often request to have it anyway. It’s always interesting to see them do this when we have visitors over. The last time my Dad was in town, they were fighting over who got to spend quiet time with Grandpa. So, I set a timer for 10 minutes and Grandpa went from one room to the other every 10 minutes. They had lots of fun! 

As for today, I’m looking forward to hanging out with Miss C. I hope to get our chick flick in before the boys get home from school. I can hardly wait to figure out what movie we’ll rent and what kinds of chocolate we decide to pig out on. There’s nothing better than getting to spend time with a great friend while enjoying a good movie (that the men will never watch with you) and consuming copious amounts of apply-directly-to-the-hips chocolate. Chocolate: It’s what’s for breakfast! Right? Now that’s what I call a day!