Gluten Free, Dairy Free & Sugar Free Pumpkin Cupcakes

I found a recipe for gluten free pumpkin cupcakes, and I altered it to make it dairy free and sugar free as well. I made these for the costume and pumpkin party I had for the kids last week. Everyone just loved them, so I thought I would post the recipe : )

Ingredients:
1 stick (1/2 cup) room temp. butter (I used a Spectrum Spread which is dairy free)
1/2 cup brown rice syrup
1/3 cup agave nectar
1/4 cup honey
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup pumpkin purée
3/4 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup potato starch
1/2 cup sorghum flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice
1/2 cup vanilla rice milk

Frosting:
For the frosting I used Ricemellow Creme by Suzanne's Specialties. It is just like marshmallow creme, but made with brown rice syrup...and SO yummy!

Method:
Cupcakes
1 Preheat oven to 350°F, and place rack in the center of the oven.
2 Using an electric mixer, cream the butter, rice syrup, agave nectar, and honey for about 2 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the pumpkin purée and vanilla and beat until incorporated.
3 In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices. Add the flour mixture, rice milk, and pumpkin batter and mix.
4 Set paper cupcake holders in a muffin tin. Spoon the batter into the cupcake paper cups, about 3/4th full. Bake approximately 18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool completely before frosting.

Made 20 cupcakes for me.

Costume & Pumpkin Party

Outside on the Treasure Hunt....they were looking for little balls.

Pumpkin Decorating. They all worked so hard and so long on their pumpkins.

I think this is the 4th costume and pumpkin party!! I just love having parties...especially for the kids!! They all seem to have so much fun...so it's worth all the work. Last year, I had the party when Mom was in town. It was so nice to have her there to help me get ready for the party...and it was fun for her to get to see Eric and Isaac enjoy themselves. So, I decided to have the party while she was here last week. BOY...did I need her!! I think we had more people here this year than ever. 10 adults and 14 children!!

Pumpkin Patch with Grammy

Mom left today after visiting for the last 10 days. We had such a great time together!! At the last minute, I decided to have my annual costume and pumpkin party for the kids while she was here, since she may not get back before the end of the month. So, we visited the pumpkin patch to pick out some pumpkins for the party. When we got there, I told the boys, "If you can pick it up, you can bring it home." So, Isaac went for a pretty big one...and he was able to carry it to the wagon. Then Eric picked up a smaller one...and acted like he could hardly carry it : ) but managed to get it in the wagon too. They had a blast pulling their wagons around. It was a beautiful morning to be out pickin' our pumpkins. I just love this time of year!

The Things They Say

I just love having two little people in the house who can talk to me and each other! Sometimes the things they say just cracks me up! AND sometimes the things they say makes me want to pull my hair out. AND other times it brings me to tears. Here are some of the good one's in the last couple of weeks:

Last week, I was having a difficult day and Isaac could tell. He put his hand on my arm and said, "It's ok Mommy. Take a deep breath and you will feel better."

My Mom is visiting right now and this morning while I was ironing some clothes for church, she and Isaac were sitting at the table eating cereal for breakfast. I could hear them chatting back and forth and Isaac says, "Grammy we are best friends. You are my best friend."

We have a couple of floor pillows in the living room and Eric loves to jump off of them onto the floor. Today, Eric and Isaac were in the living room together watching a show before nap time. I could hear Eric saying, "Isaac! Isaac! Isaac!" So I peaked around the corner and Isaac finally says, "Yes Eric." And Eric says, "Watch Isaac!!" So, Eric jumps off the pillow onto the floor....and Isaac says, "Good job Eric!" Eric kept hollering for Isaac to "watch" for the next 10 minutes. Eric wouldn't jump till Isaac would acknowledge him and watch!! Maybe he will get an idea of how I feel everyday :)

Last night we went to eat at our favorite Thai place. After dinner, we walked around outside on the sidewalk. There were some pretty flowers in these huge pots along the sidewalk. Eric and Isaac were both smelling them and saying how good they smelled. At the end of the sidewalk is a coffee shop. Isaac leaned down and smelled the flowers in front of the coffee shop and said, "These flowers smell like coffee!!!"

Eric has a new phrase for just about anything I ask of him or tell him...particularly when I'm telling him NOT too do something. He says, "Yes it is!" And he says it with such attitude! For example, I may ask him to get off the stairs and he will say, "Yes it is!" Or, I may ask him to stop throwing a toy and he will say, "Yes it is!" It's amazing how they start to develop this "confidence" at the age of 2!!! What is that???

And of course, the one I shared last week about Isaac smelling Lauren's poo-poo and it killing his brain.