Lego Cake and Brownies

Jayden wanted a green Lego cake.  I had seen this on Pinterest as well, along with the Lego brownies.  The Lego brownies only had icing on the top, but Dave wanted to coat the whole thing so it looked like Lego blocks.  I have a pan that makes a few square brownies that we used for the Lego brownies.  Then we cut them once to make the 1x3 and 2x3 blocks.  Whenever I cut brownies they get a huge mess!  So I figured using the pan that makes little squares and making one cut would be  a lot less messy.  I didn't want cut marks on the Lego cake stand so we put the brownies on that.  Oh, if you can't tell, we used M&M's on the brownies.  

And for the cake, I made a 9x13, cut off the rounded ends, maybe an inch from each end.  Then cut that piece in half and stacked it.  And for the top round pieces we used double stuffed Oreos.

Jayden wanted us to put some of his Lego guys on top of his cake so I grabbed a few and Dave put them on.  He sort of made the Lego guy's hold the candle's.

He was a happy boy with his cake!  He knew we were making a green Lego, but we didn't let him see it until it was time to blow out the candles.  Happy Birthday Jayden!!!!

Lego Cake Stand

I saw this Lego cake stand on Pinterest and Dave agreed to make it.  I thought Jayden would love it.

I had also bought a box of 600 Lego pieces at Walmart at Christmas time for $15.  I was there getting other things and just happen to see it.  JJ loves to make his own creations and I always wanted to buy a box of just bricks with a few windows, doors and wheels.  When I got home I looked on Amazon to see how much it cost and the same thing was $30 on Amazon.  I'm glad I happened to see it at Walmart and that I picked it up!  It's really cute.  Not only does it have all these Lego bricks, wheels and stuff, but it came with a book of instructions to build lots of different things!  You can build a a really cute shark, pirate ship, canon and I can't remember the rest.   Jayden loves it!

Here is the the cake stand Dave made and a couple action shots of him making it...

The picture on the left is the top view and on the right is the bottom view.

Special Birthday School Lunch

Jayden always packs a lunch so this worked out great, I saw this on Pinterest.  The night before his birthday I wrapped everything in his lunch!  I even put more things in then normal just so I'd have more stuff to wrap!  Dave and I also both wrote a special birthday note for his lunch box.  

After school I asked him about it and he said he just kept it closed.  He was said he was afraid others would keep asking him to see it and also he didn't want others to say "no fair."  He only showed a couple of his good friends.  And he didn't even open everything!!  When he came home his trash for what he did open was still in his lunch box (not normal) and half of it was still wrapped!  I guess he didn't want to throw away the wrapping paper of what he did open because he was afraid others would see it.  LOL!  He's so funny!  But I do believe he liked it and it made him feel a little special!

Anyway, it was fun to do and I'm glad he liked it, even if he didn't show everybody.  He's a cute kid!

Almond Oat Bran Sugar Free and Gluten Free Cookies

Almond Oat Bran Cookies

I found this recipe online over a year ago and when you're eating sugar free, it's not too bad!  It's one of the best sugar free and gluten free cookies I've tried!  I think they can be a tad bit dry, so I like them fresh, like within a couple hours of being made or frozen.  I let them thaw a few minutes then eat them when they are partially frozen.

Ingredients

1 Cup oat bran flour
1 Cup brown rice flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 Cup almond butter (my homemade recipe, click here for it)
1 teaspoon natural vanilla extract (make sure there's no added sugar of any kind, like corn syrup)
4 full droppers of Stevia or adjust sweetness to taste
3/4 Cup unsweetened coconut milk

Optional Garnish

• 1/4 Cup Almond Flour
• a few pinches of sea salt
• a sprinkle of Stevia powder

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 with the rack in the middle.  Prepare cookie sheet with parchment paper.  In a medium bowl mix together dry ingredients.  In another bowl mix together wet ingredients.  Combine wet and dry ingredients to form a batter.  Taste the batter and add more sweeter if desired (no egg, so okay to eat.)  Make cookie shapes with about 1 1/2 Tablespoons of batter per cookie.  Flatten with your hands and press almond meal into the tops.  Sprinkle on some salt.  Bake cookies for about 10-12 minutes or until the bottoms are golden brown.  Let the cookies cool for a few minutes and then transfer to cooling racks.

Gluten Free Pita Pockets

I LOVE these!!!!  I use them for pizza crust, turkey or chicken burgers, chicken salad (especially when it's made with avocado and lime juice instead of mayo), homemade sloppy joe's anything you would use bread or rolls for!

They are super easy and quick to make!  I make several batches and freeze them.

Here's the recipe I found online over a year ago, sorry I printed it, but I don't know where I got it from.

Gluten Free Pita Pockets

Ingredients
1 egg
1/4 Cup of water
1 Tablespoon oil or melted butter
1 Tablespoon coconut flour, firmly packed
1/2 Cup almond flour, firmly packed
1/8 teaspoon sea salt
1/8 teaspoon baking soda

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Whisk together the egg, oil and water.
3. Add dry ingredients and mix well to form batter.
4. Pour two equal parts onto baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

I doubled the recipe and got 3.

5. Spread each pita 5-6 inches round.
6. Bake for 18-20 minutes.

Here they are done.

Note: If I double this I get 3, not 4.  I would just double and make 3 because I like the size of them better.  If I made 4 I think they're too small, make whatever size you'd like.  However I normally 4X it and make 6 at a time, and freeze them.

Cut them in half, the slice the center open to form your pocket.

When I freeze them I cute squares out of the parchment paper I cooked them on, and put the squares in-between them so they don't freeze together.  I also freeze them whole, but I don't know what harm it could do to freeze them cut.

Put them in a quart freezer bag, label and freeze.