Gluten Free Pumpkin Cookie Recipe;

These little pumpkin cookies are a great seasonal idea if you're gluten free and want some goodies! They're diary free, nut free, eggs free and soy free! Enjoy!

Ingredients:
3/4 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1/2 sorghum flour
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup organic cane sugar
1/2 honey
1 cup and 1/4 cup coconut oil, not melted.
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup pumpkin
3/4 to 1 cup coconut milk, unsweetened
Directions:

Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. In another bowl, cream together wet ingredients. Add to dry and fold well, making sure that there is enough liguid. If not, add a little bit more. Sprinkle gluten-free flour on cutting board and rolling pin, roll out pastry and cut out the cookies! Bake at 350 for approximatly 35 minutes.

Pumpkin Icing:
1/4 cup pumpkin
1 to 2 tablespoons organic coconut butter, not oil.
1 tablespoon organic fresh squeezed orange juice
1 to 2 tablespoons raw honey
dash of cinnamon


Brookeknowsbest

Mix in a food processor or blender. The mixture should be rather thick

Love this photo;

makes me laugh everytime.

Brookeknowsbest

RIP Tina Slater;

Today morning, at 2:30 am one of my friends commited suicide.
Tin Slater was the best friend I had ever had in Elementary school. She was kind, fun, sporty, and enthusiastic. She always knew how to put a smile on someone's face, even if they didn't know each other. Tina was loved by friends and family, and all will miss her dearly. My condolences go out to family and friends of Tina and everyone who might have known her. She is in a better place now, so you may rest your mind.

Brookeknowsbest

Cute Pumpkin DIY Crafts for Fall;

This is the Cutest little decorative craft for your house that would be fun to make and super inexpensive. If
you're a crafter, you will have these materials just laying around! So why not make these lovely little pumpkins and decorate your house for Fall. Have fun guys! Let me know how it works out for you. This tutorial is curtesy of Craftaholics Anonymous. I'll post a link to their website for you to check out!





supplies {makes approx 7 mini paper pumpkins}
-12″x12″ sheet of orange cardstock {or you could use pattern paper for a fun twist}
-scraps of green or brown cardstock
-1″ circle punch
-low heat glue gun
-pen



cut your 12″x12″ into 2.5″ by 0.5″ strips except for the last 2″x12″ strip. use your 1″ circle punch and cut out 14- 1″ circles.



using your glue gun, glue the small strips of paper to the circle, overlapping them slightly. glue strips all the way around the circle. depending on how much you over lap them, it will take between 7 to 10 strips per pumpkin. {i used 9 strips on most of mine.

 

**if you’re using thick cardstock, you’ll want to bend your strips so that you they make a nice rounded shape. to bend your strips, you can bend the strips indiviudally before you glue them to the circle
OR you can bend them after you’ve glued them to the circle by putting them in your hands and cupping your fingers.

 
take a second 1″ circle and glue the strips underneath with your glue gun.



i found that it worked best to pull the strips up indivudally, place a dot of glue on them, and then press them to the underside of the circle. that helped keep the circles lined up and the pumpkin from being lopsided.



the last strip is slightly tricky to press down because my fingers didn’t fit in the small gaps between the strips. so i used a pen to press the last strip into place.



this is what your pumpkin should look like. if you want a short, fat pumpkin, you can smash it slightly. or if you want a taller, skinner pumpkin, press the strips together so the circles are pushed away from each other.



using your scraps of green or brown paper {preferrably cardstock}, cut a 0.25 inch by 0.75 inch strip for the stem. bend over a small section so that you can glue the stem to the pumpkin.

Lemon Sea Salt Scrub!

I LOVE LEMON. It's so good for face scrubs, masks, cuticles, hair, mosturizers, and everything under a rock!

Anyways, I recently found a website using Stumble Upon, and I loved it. It had all these great craft ideas, recipes, home decor, health and beauty and pretty much everything i really love to do. I'll post a URL down in tags if you would like to check it out. And I seriously recommend it!
While on this website, i found the best recipe for a Scrub. And bonus, it was lemon. So I made it! And I have to tell you, it works like a charm. My hands are as smooth as a babies bottom! It's such a simple recipe too, its inexpensive and you can probably find everything you need standing around in your kitchen. So here's the recipe, and if you aren't as fond of lemon as i am, you can subtitue it for esential oils. Some of my favorite are Jasmin, Basil, Bergamot Oil, Camphor Oil (which is great for colds) Ginger, Juniper, Tea Tree Oil, and Lemon Grass. So feel free to substitue for your favorite oil, and write me back with your own scrub recipe! Enjoy!

Lemon rind and juice
Sea Salt
Warm Water
Jar (sizes range on the amount of scrub you want)

Directions: Grate lemon ring  into bottom of jar. You want to get the whole lemon, so nothing is left out. The rind will add a simple burst of fragrence, and help keep your salt from seperating. Now, cut your lemon in half, using a fork, work out as much juice as you can. It's okay if you get some seeds in there! Once you have all your juice, you want to add about the same amount of warm water and stir. Sprinkle your sea salt into the mixture, adding about a tablespoon evertime and stirring. Keep adding sea salt until you get a nice scrub consistancy. Keep in mind that you don't want your scrub to be runny! Now you are ready to apply and relax!


Brookeknowsbest

Mint Chocolate Cupcake Recipe;

Oh gawd these are freaking delicious. I love em'! I've make four batches in the last two weeks..

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cups unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoons salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cups buttermilk= 3/4 cups milk and 2 teaspoons lemon extract
3 tablespoons vegitable oil
3/4 cup warm water
1 teaspoon pure peppermint extract

1. Preheat over to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda & baking powder, and salt. Add eggs, buttermilk, oil, water and peppermint extract. Beat with a mixer on low speed until smooth.

  Bake for 20-25 minutes

Iceing:
1 cup butter, softened
4 cups icing sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons lemon juice

Brookeknowsbest

Lemon Poppyseed Loaf Recipe;

Here is my favorite loaf recipe of all time! I made it on Saturday, and now it's all gone!! Enjoy! Bon appetite my dears.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons poppy seeds
1 tablespoon lemon rind
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk

Lemon Syrup:
1/3 granulated sugar
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1/3 cup lemon juice

Prep. Preheat oven to 325'F (180'C) for one hr. or until toothpick is clean
  1. In large bowl, beat butter with sugar until light and fluffy; beat in eggs, 1 at a time, beating well.

  2. In seperate bowl, whisk together flour, poppyseeds, lemon rind, baking powder and salt; stir into butter mixture alternately with milk. Spread into 8- x 4-inch loaf pan.

Lemon Syrup: In saucepan or microwave, warm together sugar and lemon rind and juice until sugar dissolves. With a skewer, make holes in the lemon loaf from top to bottom creating "tunnels". Pour juice all over loaf. Let cool in fridge for 1 hr. Munch on it later.

Fall Home Decor Craft: Fun, easy Fall wreath

Okay everyone,
We all know that with Fall comes those delectable decorations! But most are expensive and who wants to buy something pricey to use only a couple weeks in a year? Well here's a fun, easy alternative that will keep you busy and maybe be a fun activity for the kids!
So I got this idea from Martha Stewart's Fall Decoration Line. It's called 'Vintage Paper Leaf Wreath', and I think its just adorable! I'll post a link from her website so you can see for yourself.
Alright, let's get started.

Materials:

• Leaf template
• Cardstock
• Scissors
• Pencil
• Old book with at least 100 yellowed pages, pages removed
• Craft glue
• 24-gauge floral wire, cut to 5-inch lengths
• Pressed real leaves (optional)
• 20-gauge floral wire

• Brown floral tape
• 1/8-inch tan quilling paper
• Acorn caps
• Hot-glue gun and glue sticks
• Ribbon for bow

Again, I got all this how-to's from Martha Stewart's website! (Including the Leaf Template).
 
   The First Step: Print leaf template on cardstock and cut it out. Now take your cardstock and trace it onto a page from your yellowed book. Cut it out. You don't have to cut it perfectly, a jagged edge will look nice when it all comes together.

  Second Step: Now this is tricky, so try to keep up. Apply craft glue to the back of your leaf (yellowed paper not template). Place a 5-inch length of wire on a SECOND page of the yellowed book. This page doesn't have any leaf cut-outs. Place leaf cut-out with glue face down, sandwiching the wire between the leaf and page. Make sure the wire is centered on the leaf with half inside and half sticking out, so that it forms a "vein" within the leaf. Let the glue dry, then cut it out. Make 45-50 of the leaves for the wreath.

  Third Step: Take a bundle of 3-5 leaves and twist the wires together. Martha Stewart came up with a brilliant idea of incorporating REAL leaves! All you have to do is glue some wire to them.

  Fourth Step: To make the wreaths' shape, cut a 47-inch length of 20-guage wire. Fold that in half and twist. Manipulate into the shape of a horseshoe, then wrap it all in your brown floral tape.

  Fifth Step: Starting at one end of your wreath and working towards the middle, attach bundles of leaves with floral tape. Repeat on the other side!

  Sixth Step: To make the acorns, tightly roll 1/8-inch quilling paper into a flat disk. Use your thumb to push the center of the disk outward, creating a little bowl. Rub the inside of the cup with craft glue. Apply hot glue to the inside of the cup and adhere to acorn cap. Use hot glue to attach acorns to wreath.

  Seventh Step: Tie a bow to the middle/top of wreath. And you're done!
There is a video on her website to help you out if you get a little lost! Enjoy everyone!

Resources: http://www.marthastewart.com/271540/vintage-paper-leaf-wreath

Brookeknowsbest

First Post of the Year; Its time for Fall!

Cheers everyone, summer is officially over! Its time to dust off those fall decorations and pull out the warm clothes. My favorite time of the year is here! The leaves are falling, that seasonal smell, and the excuse to cuddle up to your loved ones. Its time for turkey, family, cold weather and of course, Halloween! I'm ecstatic about this years' Halloween. Who ever said I was too young to Trick-or-Treat? My parents did.. but who cares about them. They tell you not to do something and you just want to do do do it. Classic teenage story.
Anyways, I'll be posting stories, pictures links, Fall recipes and homemade Fall decorations that you can easily make all by yourself with household scraps!
So enjoy, and write me back!
Brookeknowsbest.