Avocado “Toast” + a Yucan Crunch giveaway (AIP & Paleo)

I went AIP before the big “avocado toast” craze began; however, thanks to Mission Heirloom’s Yucan Crunch crackers, I’ve been able to enjoy my own allergen-friendly version.

In December 2015, I had the pleasure of visiting Mission Heirloom in Berkeley, CA. Various AIP friends had highly recommended the paleo restaurant with many AIP options, but they also raved about Yucan Crunch crackers. I made it a point to try the Yucan Crunch and absolutely loved it—they really remind me of triscuits. I bought a bag on the spot & used it for breakfasts and snacks throughout the rest of our trip.

Fast forward to now and I’m still a huge Yucan Crunch fan. After my initial stash ran out, I ordered it several more times from the Mission Heirloom website, but luckily, procuring some is even easier these days because Yucan Crunch is now available on Amazon! And they're even Amazon Prime eligible!

To celebrate the Amazon debut of Yucan Crunch, I’m sharing my super easy avocado “toast” recipe. This is another recipe that almost isn’t a recipe due to how simple it is. But goodness, it is so tasty & really feels like a treat when I make it. Most often I’ll have the avocado toast plain, but it’s also delicious topped with smoked salmon or prosciutto.

Mission Heirloom has graciously agreed to give one of my readers FREE 4-pack of Yucan Crunch. Leave a commend on this post sharing how you'd most like to use Yucan Crunch crackers. This giveaway is only open to US residents and will run until Monday April 10, 2017.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I did receive a complimentary 4-pack of Yucan Crunch; however, this is a product I have happily purchased in the past & will continue to purchase in the future. I would never recommend a product I didn’t stand behind 100%. 

Avocado “Toast" 
yields 1 serving

1 avocado
juice from 1/4 lemon
Yucan Crunch, broken into large (or small) pieces
truffle salt, as needed (or other finishing salt of your choice.

1. In a small bowl, mash the avocado with the lemon juice. 
2. Spread the avocado/lemon mixture onto pieces of Yucan Crunch. 
3. Sprinkle with truffle salt. Eat immediately :) 

Note: some people prefer to toast their Yucan Crunch in a skillet or under the broiler, but I most often prefer it un-toasted. Feel free to do either, depending on your own preferences. Please DO NOT toast it in an actual toaster, as it could cause a fire if pieces break off into the toaster. 

This post contains affiliate links, meaning Sweet Treats makes a small commission off items purchased 
after an Amazon link is clicked with no additional cost to you. Thanks for your support.

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My Writing Process

What's my writing process? Well, it's really quite simple. All I do is stare a tree (for who knows how long) and then sit down and write about said tree. And in four days, I come out with a 200K word novel all perfect and ready to be published.

Ha! If only it were that simple. (But then, if it were, anyone could do it.) This is actually what I do:

The Idea

I found out pretty quickly that going out and looking for ideas doesn't work. It's better if I just let them come to me. (They really need to work on their timing though. :P) But even when they do come, they don't want to stay and chat. All they do is pop in and say something that doesn't make any sense whatsoever, and then run away.

So, I chase after them, asking questions as I try to keep up. Even though they don't stop, they are nice enough to throw answers over their shoulder, however unhelpful they may be. But, eventually, I get everything I need to at least start.

Plotting?

I actually don't think that I have a set way of doing this. It feels like it's different every time. With The Barrier, I did this whole outline thing, which I didn't follow very well towards the end. I practically pantsed Strangers. For that one, I just had a few ideas in my head before I wrote it. And finally, this new idea that I've started writing doesn't really have an outline. It's more just character sheets and backstories.

But two things that I need before I can begin is characters and setting. One thing that I have to do before I start, is get to know my characters. What they look like, what their personalities are, how they interact with other people, etc. Settings are also really important, because without that, I don't really know what my characters can and can't do, or where they can go.

So, I guess I don't really plot, but I'm slowly changing that.

First Draft

This is the part where I take my characters, throw them in some random place, and force them to interact with each other. I mean, in a way, that's basically what all writers do. Am I right?

Apparently, a lot of writers hand write their novels? I started out doing that, but not for very long. I found that typing it up is a lot faster. Usually, the only time I hand write is when I don't have my laptop on hand. I do like handwriting, it's just that my hand has a hard time trying to keep up with my brain. :P

The time it takes to write the first draft varies. It can take four weeks or it could take ten months. All of them are very messy and bad. But, I hear that's why we edit.

Editing

And then comes the first round of edits. I don't know about the rest of you, but for me, this is pretty much a love hate relationship.

The first thing I do is read through everything I wrote and just make small changes as I go (which are mostly typos). The reason I do this is so that I can figure out what and where I need to add, take out, or move things. Then, I create a new document and rewrite it.



So that is my writing process, if you can call it that. :P

And to wrap up, I have just one thing to say. At the beginning of this month, I said that I had a new novel idea and that I would add it to my Writings page sometime this month. Well, I got around to that the other day, so if you want to go check it out, feel free to do so.


What about you? What's your writing process like?

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Homeschooling- Part 1

This week went by really fast. So fast that I actually didn't even start thinking about what I was going to blog about today until Thursday... Oops. :P And because of that, today's post is just going to be something fun (and not quite as long). If you are a homeschooler, or used to be, you'll probably be able to relate. I, myself, am no longer homeschooled since I've graduated.

Warning: Sarcasm overload. (Just kidding, it's not that bad.)

Let us start.


For some reason, when we first meet someone, they always want to know where we go to school. (It's like they know) I'm sure that a lot of us dread the flow of questions we will get after we tell them. I know I did, and actually still do. But here's three popular responses we get:

 Response #1

We do have to go to school, we just don't have to leave the house.

Response #2

I don't really know why people assume that homeschoolers don't have friends, but they do. Granted, some of us aren't very social, but we still have friends. Some of us even have a lot. Yes, I know, it's crazy.

Response #3

Yes, and if we actually did have a secret society, it would probably just be a co-op. :P

Hey! Snow day! All the kids who go to public school are throwing parties because they don't have to go to school. But with homeschoolers:

Homeschoolers don't get snow days. It's more like, Hey, you can make it out of your room? Great, come on downstairs.

This here, is very true, people:

If you are not a fellow homeschooler, I don't recommend making fun of them. Especially, not in front of them. The only time you can do that is if you are really good friends with them, but even then, proceed cautiously.

I haven't had the opportunity to say this since I've graduated, but I can't wait until I do:

Haha, I can just see the confused looks I'll probably get. But this will, more than likely, still lead to a ton of questions. I'm sure that all of us have been tempted to just make something up at least once before. Please tell me I'm not the only one.

When homeschoolers graduate high school and move on to college:

I actually don't know how true this is, because I don't go to college. But if you do, on a scale of 1 to 10 how true is this?

If you are a homeschooler, but aren't proud of it, just remember, not everyone can say this:

And to wrap this up, I want to share a couple of pictures that I really liked (because who doesn't love LotR and Star Wars?), but didn't know how to incorporate them into the post. :P

All these pictures are from Pinterest.


So what about you? Can you relate?

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Irish Soda Bread (AIP & Paleo), with video

My husband loves to make (and eat) corned beef and cabbage, with carrots & potatoes for St. Patrick’s Day. Once we got married, I started making gluten-free Irish soda bread to contribute to the festivities—we quite often host friends for this epic meal :) Last year, I experimented last minute with making a paleo Irish soda bread that only needed eggs as an AIP reintroduction. It was OK, but not as tasty and I’d liked and it was really really crumbly… Plus, I really wanted to figure out a version that people still in the elimination phase of AIP could enjoy too. This year, I went completely back to the drawing board and came up with this recipe I’m sharing today.

Now, as with pretty much all AIP versions of baked goods, keep an open mind when trying this recipe… By keeping this recipe elimination phase compliant, I’ve worked with some pretty strict ingredient limitations, and to be honest, it has been a couple years since I’ve had “real” Irish soda bread to compare my version to. But I have come up with what I consider to be a pretty delicious, fairly close to the real deal option.

This AIP Irish soda bread tastes the best & has the best texture the day it’s baked. However, since I also don’t recommend eating an entire loaf in one day by yourself, it does make some pretty epic toast slathered in fruit-sweetened jam (like the St. Dalfour apricot in these photos) the following day…. Just make sure to toast it in a gluten-free toaster/toaster oven or under the broiler.

Also, since I know AIP baking can be more challenging than regular baking, I’ve created my first recipe-tutorial video detailing how I make this Irish Soda Bread. Check it out below, or on YouTube. Happy baking!

Irish Soda Bread (AIP & Paleo) 

8 fl oz (1 cup), plus 1-2 additional teaspoons coconut milk 

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar  

75 g (2/3 cup) coconut flour  

80 g (2/3 cup) tapioca starch  

85 g (2/3 cup) arrowroot  

1 tablespoon gelatin  

1 tablespoon coconut sugar 

1 teaspoon AIP baking powder (see recipe below) 

1 teaspoon baking soda  

1/2 teaspoon sea salt  

48 g (4 tablespoons) palm shortening  

80 g (1/2 c) zante currants

1. Preheat the oven to 375 F. Line a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper—I used a quarter sheet. 
2. Measure the coconut milk into a liquid measuring cup. Add the apple cider vinegar. Set aside to make faux “buttermilk.”  
3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the coconut flour, tapioca starch, arrowroot, gelatin, coconut sugar, AIP baking powder, baking soda, and salt until evenly combined. 
4. Add the palm shortening to the mixing bowl. Use a fork or pastry blender to work the shortening in to the dry ingredients. Continue until the ingredients resemble coarse meal. 
5. Pour in the coconut milk/vinegar. Stir with a silicone spatula or wooden spoon. Once mostly combined, switch to hand kneading until the dough can be squeezed together to form a ball. If needed, add additional coconut milk 1 tablespoon at a time (adding a maximum of 2 tablespoons). The finished bread will have the best texture with the least amount of coconut milk added, but the dough does need to be able to form into a ball that doesn’t completely break apart. 
6. Form the dough into a disc & place on the prepared baking sheet. Use a serrated knife (I have this one) to cut an X in the center of the dough—the X allows heat to better penetrate to the center of the bread as it bakes. 
7. Place the pan in the pre-heated oven & bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, rotate the pan and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes, or until the center X is dry & the bread is golden. 
8. Remove the finished bread from the oven & allow to cool completely before slicing. This bread has the best texture the day it is made, but it also makes excellent toast the following day. Store any leftovers, wrapped, at room temperature.

AIP/Paleo Baking Powder
81 grams (1/2 cup) cream of tartar 
55 grams (1/4 cup) baking soda
30 grams (1/4 cup) arrowroot or tapioca 

1. Sift together the cream of tartar, baking soda, and arrowroot/tapioca.
2. Store in an airtight jar. Use wherever baking powder is used.

 

This post contains affiliate links, meaning Sweet Treats makes a small commission off items purchased 
after an Amazon link is clicked with no additional cost to you. Thanks for your support.

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The Unsupportive

You may remember that, in my February wrap-up post, I said that I was aiming to be excited all of March. The whole month. I also mentioned that I hit a rough spot already, a rough spot that inspired this post. I want to share, because I don't think that I'm the only one.

More than likely, each and every one of us is going to have a person, at some point in our life, that is not going to be supportive at all. They may already be in your life, and they may not. They could be a friend, close friend, family member, etc. Hopefully, they aren't a family member, because it's the hardest when they are. Believe me, I know this from personal experience. They've been there since I first started writing, and are still there.

The Lie

The unsupportive people will tear you down. You can't talk about writing with them, because they ignore you, say they don't care, or say that what you are trying to do is dumb. And even though the words may not come out of their mouth, what they are basically telling you is that you're not capable of doing anything, not capable of succeeding. You'll never be good at anything. You know that difference you want to make? Yeah, that's never going to happen.

Unfortunately, after a while, you might actually start to believe them. You begin to question why you are even trying. What's the point? You're probably not good at it anyway. You get discouraged. Maybe you should just give up.

The Truth

They. Are. Wrong. I am going to tell you what my dad once told me: You can do anything you want if you put your mind to it. And it's true! Don't let one person tell you otherwise. Besides, how many people have told you that you are good at what you're doing? A lot more than just one person, right?

God put this passion in us for a reason. He has given each of us different strengths and writing styles. We all have a certain genre in which we are really good at writing. Why? Because God is going to use us to reach different people. Not everyone likes the same books. And, He already knows which people He wants us to reach. Isn't that just so amazing and wonderful?! That alone, should keep you going, keep you striving to be the best you can be.

What I Do/ My Advice

To be perfectly honest, I believe the lie almost every time. But, every time I also find another reason why I need to continue. Yes, for me, the unsupportive person is family. But when they tell me that I can't do something, it only makes me more determined. When the right person says I can't do something, I am the type of person that says, "Watch me." (I don't actually say it, but you get my point.)

Not everyone is like me though. Talk to someone if you have to. I don't usually talk to people about it myself, but this last time, I did. And it helped. But most importantly, take it to God. Talk to Him about it. I mean, He gave you the gift and passion, so wouldn't He know exactly how to help you?

Also, pray for the person who doesn't support you. More than likely, they are struggling with something that you don't know about. Continue to be supportive of them even though they don't reciprocate. God loves them to.


But remember, you don't have to be a writer for this to apply. This can go for anyone. Don't let unsupportive people keep you from being happy and excited this month (and the rest of the year).


What about you? How do you deal with the unsupportive people in your life?

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And There Goes February

And there goes yet another month. Wow, did anyone else feel like February went by faster than January? I mean, I know that it's three days shorter, but this is just ridiculous. Thankfully, though, I was able to get a bit more done this month.

Writing

Writing went a lot better than in January. I've been working on Strangers, and it's somewhere between the first draft and the second draft. I don't know if that makes sense. It's weird, I don't really understand it myself. :P But I hit a trouble spot and realized that I had to do character sheets. I have never done character sheets before, so this was a new experience. And I found that it was a lot of fun! :D It's strange though, that I had to do that because I made up these characters when I was something like nine years old. You would think that I would know them really well by now, but I guess that wasn't the case. :P

Towards the end of February I came up with an idea for another book. I am currently working on an outline and character sheets for it. I'll probably add it to my Writings page at some point this month. I will say that I am super excited to write it. :D And the research that I'll have to do will actually be a lot of fun.

I have set some writing goals for March. I want to get 10,000 more words on Strangers, and the first 5,000 words of this new book. Yes, I may have set the bar kinda high, but the past two months weren't as productive as I would have liked, so I've decided to make this month different.

Reading

I read five books in February. Not as much as I was hoping to read, but at least we are being consistent. :P

                                                   

 My favorite for the month? Well, it's actually a tie between Martin Hospitality and Lies Young Women Believe. Both are sooo good and I highly recommend reading them. My least favorite was Tuck Everlasting. I liked the story, I just feel like it lacked in some areas. It would probably be a good book for children.

I'm hoping to get more reading done this month. And guys, I'm beta reading for the very first time this month! I actually signed up to beta read two books. Don't really know if it was a wise decision, but both of them looked so good and I didn't have time to ask an experienced person. But I shouldn't have a problem since this month isn't going to be super busy or anything.

Blogging

My ramblings in February:

My Writing Environment 

Here's A Little Something

Trust

Posts by other bloggers last month:

Jonathan's post When All You Want is to Inspire was so good and you need to go read it right now.

Abi did a post in which she gave 50 facts about her book Martin Hospitality. There are no spoilers so go check it out.

Audrey's post You'll Never Know was the inspiration for my post about trust. I definitely recommend reading this.

Other News

You may remember I said that in January, I never felt well rested. Well, February was a little different. I was still tired a lot, but this time I kinda did it to myself. I don't care though, because I was happier (I consider this a good thing :P). And again, not much happened this month. One of my nephews had a birthday. I followed a few more blogs.

For some reason I'm really excited for March. Two of my nieces have birthdays, has it really been a year already?! And the new Beauty and the Beast is coming to theaters!! When I found out that they were making a new one, I could not believe it. This is my favorite fairy tale, guys! :D

I have decided that I'm going to be excited (yes, excited. don't question) for the whole entire month of March. (I have already had a rough spot, but trying not to let it affect my mood.) This shouldn't be to hard, right? :) I mean, we only have 27 days left to go. Or, if you want a smaller number, 662 more hours! :D

How was your February? What did you accomplish? Are you excited for March?

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