Summer Bucket List!

First off, if you are on Instagram, feel free to find me and follow our shenanigans! My IG username is "mamaslittlemonkeys" of course :)

I was inspired by Pinterest of course to create a Summer Bucket List. We've checked off a few things already since I took this pic!

We've definitely gone swimming plenty, been to The Peacebaker for some yummy Gluten Free goodies,

had playdates, because sometimes Angry Birds just need a tea party...

and broke a pinata!

 CANDY!!!!!

And yet my boys complain of being bored!! I've warned them if they keep up the complaining I would show them what bored REALLY is! But since we only have two weeks left of our "real" summer vacation, I think they'll survive. We start summer session for homeschool June 24th, and I suspect they will wishing they'd been a little bored over their break!! I'm looking forward to August when public school starts again and we will take a month break and enjoy the pool at the gym to ourselves!!!

Not much is "planned" the next two weeks, which is how I like it. We'll definitely go swimming and continue to knock stuff off our Bucket List. The boys have enjoyed it, and I will carry it through all summer, so we don't feel a pressure to finish stuff. Hang out with friends, sleepovers, indoor camping, these kids have no clue how good they have it!

What's on your summer bucket list??
~~Amy

celiac and autism

***I'm reposting my facebook rant here, should anyone need to bookmark it for information***

FINALLY!!! I have said this for YEARS! Real research is coming out saying, "hey guess what, we're probably misdiagnosing a lot of kids with autism and add/adhd who really have Celiac!!" March/April 2013 Issue of Simply Gluten Free Magazine, by Dr. Vikki Peterson of www.healthnowmedical.com authored the article. There are multiple studies listed but the main thought is, "Research shows the actual condition creating ADHD or autism-like symptoms is factually the presence of celiac disease or gluten sensitivity. In other words, gluten intolerance can so mimic ADHD and autism that a misdiagnosis can occur."

We've come a long way in progress for children with Autism and spectrum disorders. But we still have a long way to go. What if we are missing a huge chunk of children, who really only need the GF diet? Maybe they don't need countless hours of therapy or invasive testing and evaluation? What if they really just need the GF diet?? I'm not saying every child diagnosed with Autism is really Celiac. But why not test? Why not TRY the GF diet, because if it's Celiac, it's going to work fast.

We've long known for years the connection of leaky gut to autism, the gut brain connection. I've said for years there will one day be such a thing as Celiac Induced Autism. Eli is living proof, once gluten was removed, he developed completely normal. If I reintroduce it, he completely regresses. This is not a coincidence. This is a connection, a REASON he was so developmentally delayed and so fast (within months of introducing gluten at age 12 mos). If you know a child with autism, have a child with autism, TRY THE DIET! IF you have a child with ADD, ADHD, why not TRY the diet? Versus incredibly toxic meds for life? Why not try a natural change of eating?

Here are the things I commonly hear about GF diet: "My child is so picky already! What will he eat?" Yes, guess what, my child ate NOTHING. It was the biggest thing we battled with. It took years but he eats now. Guess what, if they have autism, they will likely be picky whether you eat GF or not. So let them be picky with GF food.

"Gluten free food is so expensive! What will we do?" How much do you spend on docs? Therapies? How much does your MENTAL ANGUISH cost you at your child driving you insane? Isn't the price of food worth that? Shop around, buy in bulk, buy with other GF people! Join a Celiac support group or Autism support group and buy in bulk with them! Each foods NATURALLY GF like fruits, veggies, meats, rice, etc.

"What if it doesn't work?" It might not. It really, truly might not. If your child has Celiac, whether with or without and ASD diagnosis, the GF diet will heal their body and help their mind. If your child does NOT have Celiac, but DOES have Autism, it MAY help. Many kids with autism but who are not Celiac, do benefit from the GF (and often Casein free diet). But many do not. We don't know all the whys and hows. But why not TRY!?

 I don't say all this to minimize the reality that there are far too many children with Autism around. I say these things to encourage anyone to TRY the GF diet if you or someone you love may be a good candidate for it. I say these things to encourage you to think outside the physician imposed box and ponder, "What's really good for my child?" What worked for us, may not work for you. But what IF, what IF, your child with Autism is really just a severe case of Celiac. That one diet change could alter his or her life FOREVER. Because guess what, the GF diet is not a prison sentence. It's not the END of eating certain things, it's the beginning of health, energy, vibrance and a new life. Yes, it stinks to not always eat what others eat, but there are SO many good choices out there and so much improvement in the GF lifestyle, it's NOT THAT BAD!

Eating gluten free versus a lifetime of the hell I went though pre-diagnosis of Celiac? Hands down, GF food all the way.

You will never, ever know, until you try.

~~Amy

***These are MY Opinions! While I do chair the local Celiac Sprue Association, these are my personal thoughts. Please feel free to ask me anything about Celiac, even the gross stuff, and please refer to http://www.csaceliacs.info/ for more information about Celiac Disease.***

I think we need a change...of diet...

I have a bad case of the blah's. No energy, EXTREMELY limited patience with my children (more limited than my usual short fuse), general grumpiness, and just MEH. I think it's the heat, the kids being out of school, the stress of having a house on the market that no one seemingly even wants to LOOK at....but I suspect a huge underlying cause is my diet.

I've been Gluten Free for over 7 years now and it's been quite a journey. But before that I definitely had an unhealthy diet. I was raised on sugary, fried, high fat, high calorie foods. Greens? Hah! Veggies?? HAH HAH! I come from the land of "if it moves, kill it and fry it.". My mother showered me with sugary snacks and treats rather than deal with me. (When she went into the hospital before she died her blood sugar was over 600....it was obviously an addiction for her.)

I too have a rampant sweet tooth. Now, my diet is LIGHTYEARS ahead of where it was as a kid. Now I WILL eat fruits and veggies, in a variety of forms. But I live with three very very picky eaters, one big and two little.

We've had a major food battle here for years. Our oldest is slightly better than the younger, but the youngest, E, eats very little. Nothing much healthy and we can use his Autism excuse all day long, but in the end, it's been that I don't want to deal with the epic battle that will ensue when I cut off his normal snacking and force healthy food. It's going to be uuuuuuuuuuuuugly.

What I'm thinking is, the only way for me to do this is to drastically change what is IN the house for us to eat. Now I'm not one who thinks you can't ever have dessert, sodas, etc. Even the great "health gurus" say if you want to lose weight to not cut out your faves ENTIRELY. Then you will feel extremely deprived and gorge.

But if the unhealthy food is IN the house, you will eat it. Therefore I am vowing to cut out some things from our diet. I'm sure this will be a process. I am not throwing out food we already have, because I don't have the funds to just toss food. But I made a small victory today when I refused to buy the kids the fruit chewy gummy treats they suck up like crazy. Yes they were 1.99 on sale, but NO, I walked away!

I found this site and it seems much more manageable. 100Days of Real Food. I want to look at food as God intended. If it has 8 thousand ingredients, put it back. If I cannot pronounce or explain where the ingredient comes from, put it back. Check out her Meal Plans here: http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/our-free-meal-plans/

So here's the foods I'd like to change out:


NO MORE:                                                 INSTEAD EAT:
"fruit" gummy treats                                        Natural, organic gummies, in less amount
Candy at home                                              Fruit, Organic Gummies
Soda at home                                                Soda only bought while "out" (church, out to dinner, special
                                                                     treat)


Daily Must Eats: (adapted from site linked above)

• 2 Different Fruits/Veggies with EVERY meal (this will be hard and vary depending on how often I go to the store)

• Only coffee, water, and 1 serving of juice allowed for me. Water may be sweetened with Crystal Light Pure to make it easier on me. Coffee is stevia and light creamer.

• For kids: Limit 2 milks per day, for E slowly cutting back the amount of Nesquik until A) we run out B) he's off it completely, whatever comes first. 1 Juice per day for each boy, water the rest of day.***NOTE, since I wrote this blog post, E now drinks WHITE milk with NO Nesquik!***

• As much as I'd love to only buy locally raised, organic meats...it's just not available or in the budget. So I will instead: Make 2 red meat meals, 3 chicken/poultry meals, and the rest meatless or fish.

• No fried foods. This is fairly easy for us as the only thing I ever deep fry is sometimes chicken nuggets, so we'll limit that to a monthly meal. Being gluten free, makes this one easier.

• Fast food once per week. (Soda can be consumed this night.)

• No low fat, reduced fat versions of food. We already do that, I found most of the "light" versions of foods are full of chemicals. I'd rather reduce the amount of the full fat item than eat a subpar substitution. Don't get me started on margarine...

• 100% Whole Grain, this is a harder goal for us, being Gluten Free.  I will say this, whenever possible, if there is a high fiber/high grain gluten free version of a GF Item (i.e. bagels), I will choose that one when possible.

• Stop eating when full, very doable. I hate that "oh my God, I ate way too much" feeling. Blech. For my husband, not so easy.

• Limit refined sugars. I'm not saying "no refined sugars" as this blog does. I just think that's too much to ask. I think stevia, agave, honey, and even good ol' sugar are fine in small amounts.

• Limited food dyes. Just by cutting the fruit gummies this will help alot. I have KoolAid mixes on hand for emergencies but mostly they are used for my yarn dyeing, so no worries there! LOL

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I think if I can implement these suggestions, we will all feel a lot better. Will we slip up? I'm sure. Will we have days where we still feel bad? Of course. But I know that for example, both my boys have digestive issues on top of our need for the Gluten Free diet. How much better would that be if they ate better? I can't blame it on them, I am the one putting food on the table. I am the one stocking the fridge and pantry. So if I DO NOT stock certain items, then they will have no choice but to eat what's there.

My new motto...."Eat it or starve."

Here's to better health! I'll let you know how I do!
~~Amy

Tasty Tuesday: Gluten Free King Cake

Okay, so I hate cooking. But I love to bake. I figure if I must slave in the kitchen, sugar should be involved, right?

Well one thing I miss terribly since going Gluten Free over 6 years ago, is King Cake. Our family doesn't even celebrate Mardi Gras but I LOVED king cake.
So, I wanted to attempt a GF version.

Now, if you eat GF you know, what you make GF is never EXACTLY like the original. I've accepted that and a new level of dessert contentment helps me accept that!

(Please excuse my photos, it was an overcast day and the lighting in the kitchen is awful)

This is ONLY GLUTEN FREE. If you have other allergies, you'll have to make your substitutions.


Ingredients:
Chebe Cinnamon Bread Mix and required ingredients for basic recipe (on box)

Cream Cheese Filling (optional):

8 oz Cream Cheese
1/4 C sugar
1 tsp lemon zest (I didn't have this and it was fine)
1 tsp vanilla

Icing:
3 TBSP soft butter
4 C powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
4-6 TBSP milk

Now there are other icing recipes that involve only powdered sugar and lemon juice, but I had no juice, so I found this one. Worked for me.

DIRECTIONS:
Make cinnamon chebe (which is delicious by the way), as directed on box. I doubled the recipe to make two separate king cakes. If you want a larger king cake you could double the recipe and roll the dough, intertwining it like you would a bread.

But I digress, make the chebe bread as directed to the nearly last step about rolling it and cutting. This is where you decide how you want to design your king cake. You can make 'mini' king cakes by continuing in their directions and basically making a cinnamon roll with king cake toppings. I rolled mine flat as directed then cut it in half. Then I rolled each piece into a 'log' and connected it to make a circle (traditional king cake shape).

The dough was a little skinny, but that was fine with me.

(by the way, it is NOT pretty by any stretch of the imagination)

IF you want the cream cheese filling, make the filling then insert it in the dough BEFORE YOU ROLL IT.  To make the filing just beat the filling ingredients until smooth.

Bake at 375 for 15 minutes.


Once out of the oven, I prefer to let it cool a bit. I left the blue/green cake cool, I did not let the red/yellow cake, and you can see the difference when you pour on the icing.

To make the icing:
Beat the butter until softened. Add powdered sugar and vanilla and continue to beat, gradually adding milk until a glaze consistency is achieved.

Okay, I'll be honest, I totally didn't do it this way because I didn't read the directions first....I just put the butter, vanilla and milk in one bowl and added it straight to the powdered sugar. When I started beating it, it didn't glaze up well so I just put a bit of milk in it until it reached glaze consistency. Still worked out okay.


Pour icing on top of king cakes and then add colored granulated sugar on top.

Enjoy!!

VERDICT: No, it's NOT the same as Randazzo's or Rouses's king cake, but until they make a GF version, it's better than others I've tried. I DO NOT KNOW how it will turn out if you change anything for allergy reasons. I'm hoping the cream cheese one is better after it sets up a bit because the cream cheese still tasted warm when I tried it, and I'd rather it be cooler. I'll be sure to try it again tonight just to check :)

 

Pin It

Tasty Tuesday....

I've been majorly slacking in the menu making! One dish I've made a few times is Cheesy Chicken Lasagna...found of course off Pinterest.
Here is the recipe from Real Mom Kitchen.

Image from Real Mom Kitchen

I've made it for guests, our family and at a dinner party. It's super easy to make. We are Gluten Free so to make it Gluten Free, I used Deboles or Tinkyada rice lasagna noodles. If you'd made these before, you know they can fall apart during cooking so be gentle when boiling gluten free noodles. 

Serve with a yummy salad or greens. I've not tried to freeze it because so far there hasn't been enough left over to freeze! 

Enjoy!

Tasty Tuesday: Chicken Broccolli Casserole

Well gang, I made this dish. It wasn't my favorite ever, but it was pretty good. I made a few alternations.

The Recipe is HERE: http://fortheloveofcooking-recipes.blogspot.com/2008/11/chicken-mushroom-broccoli-and-rice.html

I omitted:
the celery and the water chesnuts.

I used regular rice and a store bought chicken. I also accidentally bought Cream of Mushroom soup instead of Cream of celery soup...but it worked fine.
If you are Gluten Free, you'll need to look harder for soups without wheat but they are available, usually in the specialty section of your grocery.

I also added a layer of cheese on top prior to baking, because really, is there ever a bad time for cheese?
Overall, I liked it, husband ate it without complaint. Kids didn't eat it, but that is no judgement of good food.

 Enjoy!

Photo Credit

Tasty Tuesday: Lighter Chicken Enchiladas

If not for Pinterest, I might starve.

Found this one, haven't tried it yet, but plan to. No one will probably like it but me, but I'd come to the decision a month or so ago that I was going to cook what I wanted to cook with considerations for some of their preferences, but that overall, as she who slaved over it, I had final say in menu planning.

****To make this gluten free, substitute the flour for Bob's Red Mill All Purpose GF Flour or your desired GF flour mix.*****

This is from Martha Stewart, and although I'm not a fan, I admit she's not a shabby cook.

Pan-steaming is a smart way to cook boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Gentle heat and moisture keep the meat juicy and tender without any added fat.

Everyday Food, November 2008

• Prep Time 20 minutes
• Total Time 45 minutes
• Yield Serves 4

Ingredients

• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 3 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (6 to 8 ounces each)
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, such as safflower
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 to 2 tablespoons minced canned chipotles in adobo
• 1 can (14 1/2 ounces) reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 8 corn tortillas (6-inch)
• 1/2 cup grated Monterey Jack cheese (2 ounces)

Directions

1. In a large skillet with a tight-fitting lid, bring 1 inch salted water to a boil. Add chicken. Cover; reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer 5 minutes; remove skillet from heat. Let chicken steam, covered, until opaque throughout, 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer chicken to a medium bowl; shred with two forks. Set aside.
2. While chicken is cooking, make sauce: In a medium saucepan, heat oil over medium. Add garlic; cook until fragrant, 1 minute. Add flour, cumin, and chipotles in adobo; cook, whisking, 1 minute. Whisk in broth and 1/2 cup water; bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, and cook, whisking occasionally, until sauce has thickened slightly, 5 to 8 minutes; season with salt and pepper. Transfer 1 cup sauce to bowl with chicken; toss to combine.
3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Pour 1/4 cup sauce into bottom of an 8-inch square baking dish; set aside. Stack tortillas, and wrap in a double layer of damp paper towels; microwave until hot, about 1 minute. Fill each tortilla with chicken mixture; roll up tightly, and arrange, seam side down, in baking dish. Cover with remaining sauce, and top with cheese. Bake until hot and bubbling, 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes before serving.

Cook's Note

Chipotles in adobo (smoked, dried jalapenos in sauce) are spicy -- for less heat, scrape out ribs and seeds. You'll find them in the international aisle.


~~~~~~~~ Enjoy

Angry Birthday

Today my "baby" turned 6 years old!! I can't believe it's been 6 years and before I know it, he'll be graduating and heading out into the scary world!!
But for now he's still my baby! We don't make a big deal out of birthdays but I did make him cupcakes. I made him transformer cupcakes for school. (Blue frosting, silver sparkles and transformers cupcake toppers) :)

But the best part was I made Angry Birds cupcakes for after school! We enjoyed them with our friend Evan.

The idea is not original, I found it on Pinterest from this blog.
A lot of work but really fun!
Mine were gluten free, I used Pamela's Products Chocolate Cake Mix. Best ever!

They had fun and yummy cupcakes!!

Gluten Free Oreo Cheesecake Cupcakes

Yes...you read right! I am slowly working my way through my "to cook/bake" category over on my Pinterest.
This week I tried the Cookies and Cream Cheesecake Cupcakes found here.

Since I'm gluten free, these kind of recipes would have previously depressed me.....I would have chalked it up to yet another recipe I couldn't eat because it wasn't gluten free. But, AHA! They DO make Gluten Free Oreo style cookies! Both Kinninnick and Glutino companies make them!

So I took the above recipe and tried it with the GF oreos! Viola....

DELISH!!! Sooooooooo good. Unless you have a large group to feed, I highly suggest cutting the recipe in half or you may suffer death by cupcakes. Seriously...I need restraints to keep me away from these things.

Go for it....enjoy!

girl disconnected...Rice Krispies??

ABOUT DAMN TIME!


Gluten Free Rice Krispies!

girl disconnected....thin mints and real friends...

See world...even if you cut yourself off from Facebook, Twitter and whatever things you use to connect...your real friends hunt you down. They text you on your phone (even though it takes you 20 minutes to tap out a response...) They email you and send you recipes for GLUTEN FREE THIN MINTS! (Merry.....I heart you!) And they actually call.

I admit, its' been REALLY hard these first 10 days to be off Facebook and Plurk. I confess...I checked Facebook 1-2x for messages. I also apparently liked some things while searching for doggy stuff. I also broke down and got on Plurk a few times to show off Libby the dog because I have a lot of animal nuts over there who I knew would love to see her! So yea.....cold turkey, I didn't QUITE do...but I have mostly behaved myself. Any online purchases were doggy related (IE a 30 lb bag of dog food that even the UPS guy had to ask, "what is in this??" I shoulda told him something scary....).

But Twitter....I haven't even noticed. There are maybe 3 people who I connect with only on Twitter (because they've as of yet to GET on facebook), and one is baby-mooning, so she isn't on much anyways. So I really am not missing Twitter.

I am enjoying that I'm actually talking on the phone to my friends more. And still...to this day....they seem to know when I've JUST sat down and gotten comfy before they call. Or I have raw chicken on my hands....it's always one of the two....

Sooooo, I've learned....whether you check your facebook or not....life goes on. The sun rises. Kids misbehave (or behave!) and still you are there. I'm learning what I get out of social networking is the instant gratification. The feeling of, "Hey, someone read that!" or "Hey someone liked that!!" It's like I'm Sally Field all day long, "They LIKE ME! They REALLY LIKE ME!!"

But it's not just that..it's not just about me. I really do enjoy reading about my friends, near and far. I enjoy hearing their adventures, and misadventures. That is something social networking really does...it DOES help you feel connected to those you can't be physically near (IF You use it right and don't do stupid things like Post naked pics of yourself.....or join facebook...start drama....then leave. Repeat. For the love of cheese, ya'll, please stop doing that.)

Social networking is anonymity and closeness all at once. It's an enigma....and while I'm missing it at times...

I think I can live without it.

~~amy

Weekend Freebie

I go to a lot of potlucks at church. I usually make 1-2 Gluten Free dishes since I am Gluten Free, and there are a couple of others who eat GF also. Every time, I stick a notecard on there saying the dish is GF. Well, I decided to class it up a bit :)

So here, with some graphics from Shabby Blogs, I gift to you, Allergen Tags! Save it, print it, use it as you wish (not for commerical use, however!) and enjoy! Save the blank ones as an image, upload in your photo editing program (Paint, paint.net, photoshop, picnik, etc) and add your own label, maybe your family name so you get your dish back!! Print them on cardstock and laminate them for longer use!

Let me know if you can't get the images to print right, I'll upload it as a PDF! :)

Enjoy!
~~Amy

Chili anyone?

I haven't done a recipe in awhile, so here go, homemade chili for even the laziest of cooks.



Ingredients:

1 1/14 ground beef (or turkey)
2 cup diced onion (I buy mine precut from a local produce farm)
1 (6oz) can of tomato paste
1 (14oz) can of diced tomatoes with juice
2 1/2 tablespoons of chili powder
2 1/2 teaspoons of cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons of salt
1 1/14 cup of water or beef stock
1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder
1 small bay leaf
1 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 can kidney beans (or pinto)

1. Sautee' meat and onions in big pot.
2. Add all ingredients EXCEPT beans.
3. Simmer and stir occasionally for 1 hour.
4. Add beans (after you drained them if you wish to drain them)
5. Simmer 15 minutes more.
6. EAT! :) Serve with cheese, tostitos or crackers, or whatever floats your boat!!

Enjoy!!

Lazy Mama Recipes: BBQ Chicken

It's Lazy Mama Recipe Time!

BBQ CHICKEN:

Ingredients/Materials:
Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts or Tenderloins (We use one pkg)
BBQ Sauce (your choice, I use Kraft most often because I know it's Gluten Free)
Glass Baking Dish with Sides (size based on how much chicken you want to use)

1. Spray baking dish with cooking spray.
2. Do whatever you're supposed to do to chicken before you cook it, wash it, pat it or whatever. But I'm lazy so I just throw it in in the dish. You don't even have to have it thawed...but if it's frozen it'll all be stuck together..so separate the pieces before you freeze em. Ehh, just throw it in the dish.
3. Cover chicken with 1 bottle of BBQ Sauce. Make sure all chicken pieces are coated.(regular size, unless you're cooking for a bigger family...and really love BBQ sauce, then just pour whatever the heck you want in.)
4. Heat Oven to 425 and cover your dish aluminum foil.
5. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove, stir chicken around, turn pieces over, recover and cook for antoher 20-30 minutes. (the more chicken you have you may have to add a bit of cooking time.)
6. Remove and serve! Check to make sure the chicken is not pink in the middle. Serve with baked beans and corn on the cob. Easy, cheap and quick (well, quick to prepare.)

Enjoy!
~~mama

Mocha Cake

ENJOY!

GLUTEN FREE Mocha Cake

1 box devils food cake mix (to make it gluten free, use Pamela’s Luscious Chocolate Cake Mix)
1--8 oz cream cheese
1--3 oz cream cheese
3 cups confectioners sugar
2 tsp hot water
1 Tsp coffee granules
3/4 cup butter
6 1oz choc squares (semi sweet)
1 Tsp corn syrup
1 stick of butter

Mix and bake cake according to directions. (I use 2- 8 in round pans)
Cool cake.

To make Icing:

Cream 3/4th cup butter and cream cheese. Mix sugar in.
Mix on high speed until fluffy.
Reduce speed.
Have ready the hot water and coffee granules dissolved in it and ready to pour in mixture.
Mix until well mixed, scraping sides of bowl.
Put icing in between the 2 layers of cake and on the outsides of the cake.
Put cake in fridge for 1 hour.

To Make covering:

Cut choc squares into pieces.
Put corn syrup, choc pieces and 1 stick of butter in sauce pan.
Melt on low heat.
Let sit for 5 minutes.
Remove cake from fridge.
Put wax paper along edges of cake (along bottom of pan so choc doesn’t get on pan.)
Pour the syrup over the top of the cake, let it run down sides.
Chill in fridge for 15 minutes.

Random Recipe--Gluten Free Mocha Cake

ENJOY!! (No, I will not pay your gym fees for eating this cake. Eat it and be happy damnit.)

GLUTEN FREE Mocha Cake

1 box devils food cake mix (to make it gluten free, use Pamela’s Luscious Chocolate Cake Mix)
1--8 oz cream cheese
1--3 oz cream cheese
3 cups confectioners sugar
2 tsp hot water
1 Tsp coffee granules
3/4 cup butter
6 1oz choc squares (semi sweet)
1 Tsp corn syrup
1 stick of butter

Mix and bake cake according to directions. (I use 2- 8 in round pans)
Cool cake.

To make Icing:

Cream 3/4th cup butter and cream cheese. Mix sugar in.
Mix on high speed until fluffy.
Reduce speed.
Have ready the hot water and coffee granules dissolved in it and ready to pour in mixture.
Mix until well mixed, scraping sides of bowl.
Put icing in between the 2 layers of cake and on the outsides of the cake.
Put cake in fridge for 1 hour.

To Make covering:

Cut choc squares into pieces.
Put corn syrup, choc pieces and 1 stick of butter in sauce pan.
Melt on low heat.
Let sit for 5 minutes.
Remove cake from fridge.
Put wax paper along edges of cake (along bottom of pan so choc doesn’t get on pan.)
Pour the syrup over the top of the cake, let it run down sides.
Chill in fridge for 15 minutes.

YUMMMMMY!!