Family Dinner Favorite: Delicious Keto / Paleo Cauliflower Noodle Lasagna Recipe

Oh YUM cauliflower, you transform into absolute low-carb deliciousness.   I tell you - I whipped out a pan of this lasagna and my clan (which only consisted of four on this particular night) cleaned the entire dish. They had NO IDEA what the noodles were made of. They could tell they were different - but they really liked it. 

If you are making up your own sauce - start that first so it can be simmering to perfection while the noodles are being created. If you are looking for a yummy Paleo Tomato Sauce  Rao's is an excellent option.

SAUCE: 

• Rao's Tomato sauce  15oz jar
• 1 lb ground Italian Sausage
• 1/2 yellow onion chopped
• 1/2 green bell pepper chopped
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• salt/pepper to taste

I  browned Italian sausage, then added sauteed onion, green bell pepper until soft, added some minced garlic, oregano, salt & pepper, then add sauce. 

Next you will want to make the cauliflower lasagna noodles. These are so simple and yummy. I found this TERRIFIC recipe on The Iron You Blog. He has an entire recipe consisting of a delicious bolognese and bechamel sauce. This time around I just stuck with his noodle recipe. YUM! Trust me, I will be returning to try the other options. 

NOODLES:

• TheIronYou Cauliflower Lasagna Noodles Recipe 

{Just requires cauliflower, eggs, salt & pepper - Parchment Paper} click link above for the recipe and directions.

OTHER INGREDIENTS:

• 1 C. Grated Parmigiano Reggiano
• 1 C. Shredded Mozzarella
• 1-2 Cups Baby Spinach

I layered a cup of sauce in the bottom of the pan, then added a layer of noodles, topped with more sauce, some spinach, sprinkled Parmesan cheese...repeat noodles, sauce, spinach, parm and final layer was noodles, sauce, parmesan and mozza sprinkled over top. 

Bake at 325 degrees for about 30 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly. 

-Simply Sublime

Making a Custom Gingerbread House from Scratch: Elf Movie Theme

If you have been around this blog very long, you have heard about our wacky group of moms and kids that get together once a week at our Homeschool Co-op. At the end of each quarter our motley crew has a celebration of sorts. The themes have a wide range from crazy to cozy but all manage to stay grounded in the element of a rootin' good time.  You may recall last year a couple friends joined me in planning the Redneck Hootenanny end of quarter party {that has since become the #1 blog post favorite}. This year it was a Christmas Party Extravaganza - gingerbread house contest, gift exchange and good grub included! SO.MUCH.FUN.

Well, give us a craft challenge and we will jiggety jump. It had been two years since our last gingerbread creation and we needed some inspiration to get our creative juices flowing freely. A suggestion of all thing ELF was made by the dear hub and we were bursting with ideas. 

First, we needed to create a model of what we would be building. I grabbed an old, used (yes Mr. Postman,,, I didn't break a federal law... it was used and headed to recycling) box and formed the buildings and a liner to fit within my tray base. The kids and I talked about where things should go and what parts of the movie we felt was most important to present in the small space we were limited with. I drew a very primitive plot plan.

Next we whipped up the gingerbread dough. I wanted to make a gingerbread that would be hard enough for the buildings but yummy enough to eat the scraps. I decided on a recipe that was once used (may still be) at the White House. Here is the recipe for the White House Gingerbread Recipe.

It was originally published in Mailbox News (a cake decorating magazine), and is the actual White House gingerbread house recipe used by then White House Pastry Chef Hans Raffert.

We rolled out the dough and disassembled our cardboard to use as patterns. Baked them - and trimmed to sharp edges while the building pieces were still on the baking pan (before they had a chance to cool). 

Turned out great! 

Then it came time to figure out the glue. I decided to go with the basic royal icing recipe that comes on the Wilton's Meringue Powder tub. I made a double batch.

Got my pastry tubes filled with the proper decorator tips and we got to work assembling.  Then, we let the building set for a day before embellishing with sweet goodness.

Needless to say - we finished so far ahead of time, we just kept adding more day, by day. The signage ended up being my favorite addition.

As we probably all know, Elf starts at the North Pole and passes Narwhal on his way to the Candy Cane Forest, on to the Sea of Swirly Twirly Gumdrops and through the Lincoln Tunnel. Arriving in New York he seeks his Dad out at Gimbels Dept. Store, Spins in the rotating doors (different building but we added it to Gimbels) and discovers the Worlds Best Cup of Coffee.  His route was marked by some sweet tart candy stepping stones throughout the whole scene we created.

We had such a blast! Everyone was able to contribute and feel proud with the end result of our combined efforts. The great news is we have a month to appreciate this labor of love.

Oh, and we did win the competition. ;)

I wish I would have thought of doing this last year for our Family Christmas Countdown Party Series: Elf Movie Night! 

 -Simply Sublime

A Time to Grieve: Simple Memorial Service Ideas

This week we had the opportunity to have a Celebration of Life for my Father-in-law. I call it an opportunity because I firmly believe as hard as it is to lose someone you love, it is also an important time to come together and cherish the memories. Gathering with family and friends, sharing stories, shedding tears, it is all a key part of the grief process.

Memorial Service Program Cover

This particular event was held at an out of the norm venue for a Memorial Service. This was the first service in our family that was not at either a church or funeral home. My Father-in-law was not as much the formal, religious type as he was a hard working, giving, get 'er done, kind of guy who grew up in the farming & construction world. He donated to and believed deeply in the cause of our local Deming Logging Show - and so...that is where we had his service.  

As wonderful as the venue is it does not come with all of the support people who usually assist you in the process of performing a memorial. So, since I have quite a long list of these sad but real losses in my own life over the last 10 years I know a bit of what is required to put one together. Programs, music, order of events, flowers, speakers, technology, food, logistics, a lot to consider when planning.

Needless to say, when planning a funeral or memorial there is a bit to wrap your brain around. A good place to start is sitting down with the family and getting ideas of what they feel is important to include in the service. Find out if anyone has anything in particular that they would like to contribute to it. I would suggest you let everyone know this is a brainstorm session and final decisions aren't being made - just throwing out ideas. Then later process the ideas and go over them with the spouse first (next of kin), to allow an opportunity for honest conversation about what they are comfortable with. It is important during this time to make sure everyone's feelings are considered - and try to fit in a version of what everyone feels is their #1 most important thing to have included.

We made this service unique by adding a time to present Grandma (the spouse) with a rose from each Grandchild. Many of the Grandchildren could not attend the service so we had every Grandchild, attending and absent,  write out a note of encouragement to Grandma on a tag that would hang from one rose. The Grandchildren who were present handed her one or two of the roses with tags attached and gave her a hug. In our family there are 12 Grandchildren total so Grandma ended up with 12 long stem roses with individual notes hanging on them for her to keep as a token of love. During this time we played the song "I won't let go" by Rascal Flatts. This part of the service was a beautiful surprise to Grandma. It ended up Grandma had her Son read a letter from her to those attending - it was really touching and followed the rose presentation beautifully.

I personally don't believe there is a right or wrong anymore on what a memorial service should look like - as long as it is honoring to the person who passed away and all immediate family members. If you are planning one, I would encourage you to try and make the service have the flavor or style of the person's life you are celebrating. Our venue and style fit the personality of my Father-in-law perfectly! We decided on a somewhat formal, typical service for the first part and finished off with a potluck/reception/party at the end where people would feel free to hang around and continue to tell stories.

The Guest Book Table with flowers, a receptacle for cards and some photos. We had two of our young boys passing out the programs as people entered. 

Since this was a manly man's service and at the log show grounds I knew the centerpieces needed to be a bit rustic. I found some evergreens at the store on clearance, wrapped them in burlap and used mini wooden clips to attach photos. Then for the candles we took mason jars with rocks and a tealight in the bottom, wrapped them with a photo and tied them off with some jute string. These centerpieces came in at about $3 total. So inexpensive and still a nice bold display.

We had two tables of memorabilia that so many people flocked to. 

You can't see all 250 chairs we had set up to the left - but we filled those up and had people sitting at the round tables, and some standing as well. SO MANY PEOPLE~! Once the memorial service portion was complete we slid out the tables sitting along the perimeter of the room and moved them to the center to be used with the chairs that had been in rows.

I have tried to give you a few extra ideas here besides the typical funeral or memorial video / slideshow, music type details. Although, I will let you know what we used for our musical selection. We played Alan Jackson's Amazing Grace as the family walked in. During the video we used Family Tree by Dave Barnes, You've Got a Friend in Me by Randy Newman, Brad Paisley's When I get where I'm Going and as mentioned earlier, I Won't Let Go by Rascal Flatts for the Rose Ceremony. 

When making the video I work pretty hard to make sure the words to the songs match the photos as closely as possible, that the songs chosen fit the person and are authentic in their message. The program I use to create the video has a lot of features available for special effects but I typically choose to keep the video transitions simplistic and let the music paired with the photos remain the focus to tell the story. If you pay attention to the music and the photos you will be amazed how they can come together and draw quite the emotion.

Our event went off pretty smoothly. It was true to the character of the person it was in honor of. It allowed the freedom for everyone to feel involved or have an opportunity to say what they wanted. It started at 6pm with a one hour semi-formal service time followed by a relaxed reception setting that was still going strong after 9pm. You could see family and friends gathering and mingling throughout the evening laughing, crying and telling heartwarming stories. A few of us extended the night camping on site, sitting around a campfire telling stories.

It was a wonderful evening absolutely FULL of HEART! What could be better? I know Don would have been humbled and honored to see everyone there that he had touched during his life. 

I walked away from the evening with a strong reminder to let people know you love them, hug everyone as if it were the last time you were going to see them, don't let the sun go down without making things right. 

In Signing off on this post I would like to end with two simple words, ponder on them and then act: 

LOVE WELL

Paleo-ish Gluten Free Outdoor Firepit Snacks: S'mores Healthy Style

There is nothing that says summer as much as a good ole' campfire. Our family LOVES sitting down and chatting round the snapping, crackling fire with the warm glow lighting up our faces. There is something primitively rugged and romantic about it at the same time.

The family favorite of this time together for our kiddos is probably the roasting of marshmallows and the gobbling of the s'mores. In the last couple years with our family trying to eat a more healthy, paleo, gluten free diet I decided to try to make up some healthier fire roasting & gobbling ingredients. 

After some searching on the web-o-sphere, I found the two following recipes. I tried 'em out and they were delish. My kiddos didn't even question them. 

Paleo Graham Crackers

{Source: Thepaleomom.com}

Paleo Homemade Marshmallow Recipe: GAPS, GF

{Source: UrbanPoser via Mommypotomus}

With this recipe the marshmallows are very moist. I would suggest letting them dry out for a couple days prior to roasting. They got a little drippy on our sticks - but they were DELICIOUS!!!

Totally worth trying. As for the chocolate - we just went with good old Hershey's. So, no we weren't completely paleo - but I think the options were WAY better. Somethings just aren't worth changing...and some are. Let me know if you have a great chocolate alternative.

-Simply Sublime

DIY Project: How to make a Redneck Game Timer

This project is as easy as 1...2...3...

All you need is:

1. 2 plastic squirt top bottles the same size {I used honey bottles we just happened to have on hand} 
2. a little sand - about 2/3 cup
3. some duct tape 
4. brown paper bag - if you want to add a sign on the front of it just rip a piece of brown paper bag and write "Redneck Timer" on it with a black sharpie.

• All you need to do is wash, rinse and dry your bottles and lids really well. 
• Remove the lids from the bottles and cut off the squirt spout so it is flush with the top of each lid. 
• You may need to use a little sand paper to sand off any parts that are sticking up. Add the 2/3 cup sand into the bottom bottle and screw the lid back onto the bottle. Put the second lid on the empty bottle. 
• Tip the empty bottle upside down and place on top of the bottle with the sand. 
• Both tops should be smooth and flush so the lids can sit flat one upon the other. Now it is time to wrap the duct tap around the two bottle necks to hold them in place. 
• 
  
• Now you can label it with a REDNECK brown bag sign and affix with some...what else but DUCT TAPE????

When I made this originally I did try to make it a bit more complicated by using a large washer between the bottles and gluing - basically it all ended up to be wasted effort. The simple technique I have described above worked much better.

SIMPLY...well, hard to call this one SUBLIME. Let's leave it at SIMPLE!

Family Friendly Glow Party Ideas: Be a Light in the Dark

Oh, the family fun you can create with a few glow products: games, costumes, decor, entertainment and more!  

Over the last five years we have had a rather large GLOW NIGHT event at our Awana Club. (Which is a childrens ministry) Our club typically has 200-400 kids who attend every Wednesday night. This is our BIG outreach event where everyone is encouraged to bring a friend. The kids always have such a GLOWTASTIC blast! It is definitely one of the highlights of the year. 

Whether you are looking to create a simple family fun night, or a large party for the masses, these ideas can be incorporated to bring some serious glow fun! 

Getting GLOW in the atmosphere is easy-peasy. Water bottles (water still in) and glow sticks make a very simple and inexpensive glow light that can be used for decor, or as boundary markers, game pieces, cones, etc. They would also make great bowling pins. The other items in the photo above are upside down glow in the dark dessert bowls. (see below) In addition to decor these could be used for a ball tossing game, with a glow in the dark bouncy ball. 

{source: windy city novelties}

They also have straws, cups and other items available for tableware.

These are probably my VERY MOST favorite glow products that I know of. GLOW CIRCLES. They have a peel n' stick bottom. They come in several colors. They typically run between .50 - 1.00 a piece. Typically the more you purchase the cheaper you can get them. These have a great glow to them, not to mention the endless ways they can be used: name badges,  making glow in the dark words, creating game areas & marking boundaries, establishing a finish line, and so much more.

{source: windy city novelties}

We use these to outline our Awana Game Circles. It is so simple, pop the glow tube in the disk, shake, peel the back off and stick them down on the proper color quadrant. Each quarter of the circle is then glowing in the proper Awana color: Red, Blue, Yellow and Green. 

To create team color pins we use 2 liter soda bottles filled with water and drop in 2 coordinating colored glow sticks. These are then used as their team pin on the circle. We also use a water bottle {smaller bottle than the 2 liter) with one glow stick for the winning team pin in the center square and a 2 liter filled with all four of the teams color in it to replace the orange pin placed in the very center of the circle. For those of you who don't know Awana Games don't even try to wrap your brain around what I just explained. Haha. It is almost a foreign language until you play a game.

Family Glow Game Ideas:

Bowling

Relay Races

{Source: Glow Products}

Glow Golf, Soccer, Badminton, Football, Volleyball 

For relay batons we use Foam LED Lumiton products. They are really inexpensive and are really durable.They have an on / off button. We have used the same ones annually for the last 3 or 4 years. We had a few die last year - so we re-stocked this year.  They run about a $1 a piece now - so super cheap.

{source: windy city novelties}

You can find all sorts of glow costume gear online now- from mohawks to tube wigs, glasses to shoelaces. The list increases daily. It can be a bit shocking what can show up in a glow google search - so if kiddos are looking, you may want to find the safe sites for them first. Eek.

We used EL Wire (see example below) and clear packing tape to create our glow over our black hoodies and pants. We were able to purchase our EL Wire at a pretty low cost - check around before you buy, AND make sure you are comparing the same items, they come in many lengths and color options.

{source: glowsource}

For our glow dance outfits we each used 2- 12' lengths. It ended up being WAY cheaper than buying one 20' long el wire. Like I mentioned earlier, make sure and check around for prices, you just never know.

Watch glow dance video

Our family had so much fun performing this dance video. With more time for planning we could have made it a bit more complicated - although we think it turned out pretty darn cute. Our little guy was  center stage and he will be the first to tell you he has stage fright. As you can imagine this stretched his comfort level a bit. 

My hubby was the guy in all black (you'll see him when those stinkers in the crowd shine their lights on the stage in the middle of the song). The all black outfit kept him hidden most of the time so as he was flipping Nate around in the air it appeared as if he was floating. Now you see why we needed our little guy to be the center stage performer...am I right?

The song we used was a zippy re-make of "This little light of mine" by Rapture Ruckus. We thought it spoke the exact we were trying to encourage share with the kids. SHINE bright out there - be a light in the dark. People are attracted to light - they find it beautifully captivating. 

I know I would love to be found beautifully captivating to others. You know that kind of captivating that isn't prideful, or shallow, but that deep, rich, safe harbor type of captivating. Not me, myself, but Jesus in me shining for others to see. I am also learning I already am beautifully captivating to my Abba Father - no matter how good I am at allowing his light to shine in all the areas of my life. He delights in me. I need to work on living that out and letting it shine. 

"Remember, our Message is not about ourselves; we’re proclaiming Jesus Christ, the Master. All we are is messengers, errand runners from Jesus for you. It started when God said, “Light up the darkness!” and our lives filled up with light as we saw and understood God in the face of Christ, all bright and beautiful." -2 Corinth. 4:5-6

-Simply Sublime

Family Christmas Countdown Party Series {2}: The Santa Claus Movie Theme Night

This week's theme was picked by my dear Husband. There are a couple actors out there that make him laugh pretty much non-stop - those being Tim Allen and Will Farrell. He laughs so much at their goofy humor, which in turn leaves me cracking up at his cracking up. Good times!

Seeing as how we had already watched Elf the week before he felt the next best watch would be Disney's The Santa Claus starring Tim Allen. I wasn't super-duper inspired with creativity for this one plus we had a packed-out week leaving little preparation time. So here came Friday, our movie night was ON and I needed a plan, STAT! 

I stopped at Target and picked up a few goodies to encourage some creative fun with the kiddos. This night was going to consist of simple fun. All I needed was...

• strawberries
• bananas
• can of real whipping cream
• Wilton Candy Eyeballs
• Christmas colored Hershey Kisses
• marshmallows
• (and brownies - I made from scratch but could use a store bought)

Once I got home I whipped up a big pan of brownies  - if you can call them that. This new recipe I was trying (and doubling I might add) turned out more like brownie slop. Flat and VERY gooey - but it had amazing flavor. I think because the recipe claimed to be light on flour it had the perfect combination of ingredients to create such divine slop...haha. So what do you do with a big 'ole pan of brownie fail? Plop it on plates and make it the perfect base for the kids creative juices to start building with. 

I wish I would have taken a couple quick pics of the set up for this - I simply took a bunch of clear glass bowls and filled them with the items I purchased.  So Simple. So FUN!

The kids had a smashing good time. Aren't their creations Oh.So.CUTE?? 

I also had made up a bunch of the cutsie Strawberry Santa's that have been all over pinterest. 

{foodista.com}

Here are some added ideas if you want to pump it up a notch:

Smashed Peas and Carrots has an adorable kids Santa Disguise photo prop project. Hop on over and check it out. How adorable would it be to snap some fun family photos? Too cute!

{smashed peas and carrots blog}

It would also be a great opportunity to write a letter to Santa. Here is a link to a cute free printable.

{my frugal adventures}

As you can see it really doesn't take a lot to pull of a family fun movie night. This one was so very simple and just as much fun as our Elf Theme Night. The kids have been filled with anticipation wondering what the next movie theme night is going to feature. Only time will tell...cuz I sure am not going to. 

-Simply Sublime

Family Christmas Countdown Party Series: Elf Movie Theme Night

Let me just tell ya' - this was one LAST MINUTE, thrown together festivity. Usually I would have a few more decorations to deck the halls, activities for the wee hands to stay busy and yeah, we might of even had some costume pieces. Although, I feel really good about the fact that I have learned something over the years...rather then letting lack of time stop you, sometimes when the mood strikes you have to just go for it, run with whatever you can grab along the way to get where you are headed. Tonight's family party is just that. So bear with me as you read through this post, knowing there is MUCH room for you to expand the theme into. 

World's best cup of coffee

Here is the evidence of just how planned out this party was...

• 11:30 am we decided a homemade pizza party with movie would be fun with the cousins. 
• 12:30 pm we decided to expand it into a theme party.
• 1:00 pm We had Elf on the brain
• 1:30 pm Internet searching begins for some ideas
• 2:00 pm Menu is planned: Spaghetti w/syrup, cupcakes w/elf toppings & World's Best Coffee
• 2:15 pm Activities planned: Elf craft, Paper Cut out Snowflakes, Decorate Cupcakes
• 2:30 pm grocery list for dear hubby to stop on way home from work completed 
• 3:00 pm Tori making cupcakes from scratch for candy-licous toppings Elf-style activity
• 3:30 pm pizza dough rising
• 4:00 pm elf craft printed & ready to go
• 4:30 pm "World's Best Cup of Coffee" labels designed,  printed and glued on to-go cups 
• 5:30 pm Dear Hub arrives and candy toppings are dished up, pasta is cooked.
• 6:30 pm we are cranking up the Christmas tune "Baby, it's cold outside" and yelling for the clan to arrive as we dance our way into the start of a fun-filled party.

As the night proceeded I thought of a few more ditty's that would have been fun - like who wouldn't want to have a 2-liter of soda for each person to chug down in one sitting with a burp contest at the end? Or maybe a Santa coming to visit that smells like beef n' cheese?

Here are a few quotes from the movie that could be used to decorate or for a trivia game:

• The best way to spread Christmas Cheer, is singing loud for all to hear
• Why don't you just say it? I'm the worst toymaker in the world! I'm a cotton-headed ninny-muggins.
• Sounds like somebody needs to sing a Christmas carol
• Is syrup made of sugar? Then yes
• We elves try to stick to the four main food groups: candy, candy canes, candy corns and syrup
• Did you see these toilets they're ginormous
• You smell like beef and cheese, you don't smell like Santa!
• What's a Christmas-gram? I WANT ONE!
• He's an angry elf

Here is the cute little Elf craft I found over at DLTK's Craft for Kids. 

craft by DLTK

Didn't they turn out oh-so cute?

You may have noticed that I mentioned a quickly designed  "World's Best Cup of Coffee" label which was glued on to some to-go cups we had picked up already. Well I did a redesign after watching the movie and I have made up a graphic that you are free to use if you would like to.

For the kiddos we made what I like to call "Coccee" which is Cocoa and a tiddle-bit of coffee. That way it REALLY was the World's Best Cup of Coffee for them, wink-wink. For me, bring on the full fledged coffee. YUM! BTW... Isn't my Mom so cute? I want to be like her when I grow up.

yep, the first label design

Here is one of the cousins decorating his cupcake with all of the yummy sugary elf-must-eats. After all,  it is 3 of their 4 main food groups for ELVES right there in one little entree.

This guy is dishing up the fant-elf-isc spaghetti with syrup and pop tart crumbled topping. Oh yeah BABY! It is hard to believe now, isn't it? I'll admit, I skipped the pasta and stuck with the homemade pizza we had alongside our de-elf-ish spread. The kids really did have a lot of fun eating all this crazy, funny food though.

Once we finished dining and crafting it was time to snuggle up and watch Elf. I think my very favorite moment was hearing all the kids singing along during the songs and quoting the Elf-isms. 

After such a rolling good time we have decided to make this a weekly countdown party to Christmas. So each week we will pick a movie that we can create crafts, food and decor from. I would so love to hear your thoughts on great Christmas Movies we could make a theme party out of. This year is going to be SO.MUCH.FUN!

More than anything I want to encourage you to just make the most you can out of the moments you have before you. Time is slipping by so quickly. I look at my older kids and I can't believe that 2 decades have flown by before my very eyes. My prayer for each of you is that you would not let getting it perfect hold you back from just throwing some fun out there. Pieces here, a morsel there, just go for it. I think Pinterest is great for inspiration but I fear with these gorgeous photos of perfection it will leave tired Mama's feeling discouraged when reality doesn't show up the same way they dreamed it would with expectation. True character & joy comes with fingerprints, smudges and mistakes. Enjoy them Mama's! Treasure each one and be present in the moment they are created. You have been made for such a time as this... You go girl!

2014 UPDATE - this year our family decided to create an ELF Gingerbread Scene for a competition we were in. It turned out pretty great. I will post a picture here as well, but make sure and check out my blog post on it.

-Simply Sublime