Paleo Peppermint patties 2 ways

Taken from Meaninfuleats.com Though mine DID NOT look as good as this. #mouthwatering

Last week I had a HUGE craving for mint and chocolate together. Something without wheat that wont break me into hives and have a stomach ache. And guess what? Mint...chocolate, why not make peppermint patties?
VIOLA!

http://blog.meaningfuleats.com/paleo-peppermint-patties-gluten-free-dairy-free/

So I did Internet searches and looked through cook books and tried out some recipes.

Two were the best out of all of them. AND I will make both of them again. For family gathering and such, or you know...just to eat.

One is my own recipe combining several others and another is found here:
http://blog.meaningfuleats.com/paleo-peppermint-patties-gluten-free-dairy-free/
 This is the recipe that was soft in the middle with a coconut texture. I didn't want that. What I was searching for was like the york peppermint patties with a soft smooth center and a chocolate coating that was evenly layered.
My recipe didn't even come close to that.
It was more like hardened peppermint candies, which I guess were good because they were gone within the hour.
 All twenty candies.
0___0

                                                  Peppermint Candies
Prep time- 30 seconds 
Cook time- more like 20 mins. 
Paleo: gluten free, dairy free
What you need: 
Coconut oil
Peppermint extract (to taste)
Chocolate chips
And vanilla (to taste)

The measurements depend on how much candies you want to make. I just poured the coconut oil (to make the base of the peppermint patty)into a glass bowl and went from there. (it was probably about a cup) 
If the coconut oils is stiff, use a fork to mach it up.
Put wax paper onto a cookie sheet and set aside for later.
Mix in the peppermint extract with the coconut oil, and stick your finger in it to see if you can taste the peppermint. For the people who are like "EW that's gross!" Stick a fork in and taste it, you big wussy. :)
The amount of peppermint may very, depending on how peppermint-y you want it. 
Take a spoon and spoon little candies size pieces onto the wax paper that's on the cookie sheet.
Stick in freezer for a moment. 
Take your chocolate chips and melt them. This is where you would add a hint of vanilla if you wanted. 
Take out the white base and use a spatula to take them off. Dip them into the chocolate (using various methods) and put them back onto the wax paper. 
Here's a tip- you have to be quick about dipping the frozen coconut oil base into the hot melted chocolate because things will get melted and hard to undo. (yes, my honest mistake. I just wanted the chocolate, thank you.)
Stick in the freezer. 
Eat when hardened and Enjoy! 

 
 

Escape from Furnace (Book Series #1,2, and 3)

"Beneath Heaven is Hell,

and beneath Hell is Furnace."

 

 "There was a moment of absolute silence and stillness where the entire prison shone white, every last detail embroidered with a golden thread like some heavenly tapestry.
Then a bubble of blue fire ripped from the mouth of the tunnel, bringing with it all the heat and horror of hell."

 Who wouldn't want to read that? I mean even the main saying in the book is terrifying. 

By Alexander Gordon Smith

Horror, thriller, mystery, I-want-more-read

Furnace Penitentiary: the world’s most secure prison for young offenders, buried a mile beneath the earth’s surface. Convicted of a murder he didn’t commit, sentenced to life without parole, “new fish” Alex Sawyer knows he has two choices: find a way out, or resign himself to a death behind bars, in the darkness at the bottom of the world. Except in Furnace, death is the least of his worries. Soon Alex discovers that the prison is a place of pure evil, where inhuman creatures in gas masks stalk the corridors at night, where giants in black suits drag screaming inmates into the shadows, where deformed beasts can be heard howling from the blood-drenched tunnels below. And behind everything is the mysterious, all-powerful warden, a man as cruel and dangerous as the devil himself, whose unthinkable acts have consequences that stretch far beyond the walls of the prison. Together with a bunch of inmates—some innocent kids who have been framed, others cold-blooded killers—Alex plans an escape. But as he starts to uncover the truth about Furnace’s deeper, darker purpose, Alex’s actions grow ever more dangerous, and he must risk everything to expose this nightmare that’s hidden from the eyes of the world.

This book is the start off of the furnace series. From the first word to the ending cliff-hanger every word you devour, you want more. And more. And more. Its all horror combines with some thrills and everything is so, vivid.

Five Star Rating *****

Book # 2
Furnace Prison ...
Where death is the least of your worries.
Escape is just the beginning ...We thought we’d made it, we thought we were free. But we should have known there was no way out of Furnace.

All we did was slip deeper into the guts of the prison: into solitary confinement, where the real nightmares live - the warden, the Wheezers, and something much, much worse.

The clock’s ticking. Because if we don’t escape soon they will turn us into freaks - like them. For ever.

In the darkness of the hole your worst nightmares come to life...


This book didn't start off like the first one and third one. This one got a little...boring in the middle where your like, "OK, can something happen now? Think, Alex, think!" And then he does. He uses his brain.
A four star rating because this one took longer to get into, ****

 
And the third book-

 Alex's second attempt to break out of Furnace Penetentiary has failed. This time his punishment will be much worse than before. Because in the hidden, bloodstained laboratories beneath the prison, he will be made into a monster. As the warden pumps something evil into his veins--a sinisterly dark nectar--Alex becomes what he most fears . . . a superhuman minion of Furnace. How can he escape when the darkness is inside him? How can he lead the way to freedom if he is lost to himself?

Mind      Blown.  
W.O.A.H. Right form the first page to the ending cliff hanger: your on your toes, biting your nails, and waiting for the inevitable. And it happens. 
He turns into a monster.
But will he stay a monster? How will he die? 
These questions come up often enough. 
I think I really can love this series because the characters are so well thought out, and the plot can continue so the author isn't dragging it on and on. 
But what really gets me is the fact that the hero of the series knows that he isn't a good guy. He's a thief, a murderer, and he knows who he truly is. 
Not a nice person.
And that's what I love about this series is that the main is so very...inspiring.He doesn't pretend to be good or bad for that matter. He is just...him. 
It doesn't makes sense, I know. Just read the books so you know what I mean.
Five starz *****
 The next two books will be in my hands soon. Very very soon. 

Boy nobody

Boy nobody by Allen Zandoff
Mystery/ Thriller/ spy-ish
YA , NO ROMANCE INCLUDED
Four Starz ****

So you know how your browsing the library and come up with a random book like, "Oh? I think I'mm read this one." thats how it was with boy nobody....
It was an OK book, keeping you on the edge of your seat. It was a fast-paced read, written so you go through chapters like you eat an apple (meaning really fast), and it was all- in- all, something interesting.
But i do have a few nit-pics. And you roll your eyes. Yea. I know.
There could have been one in three ways to end this book. And the author chose it so that there will be a second book. Thats not a problem.
But I did find it interesting that the author made the main character think that whatever he was doing was supposed to be...a good thing. And with that good thing came a price in which he will pay for later.

Summary-
Boy Nobody is the perennial new kid in school, the one few notice and nobody thinks much about. He shows up in a new high school, in a new town, under a new name, makes few friends and doesn't stay long. Just long enough for someone in his new friend's family to die -- of "natural causes." Mission accomplished, Boy Nobody disappears, and moves on to the next target. 

When his own parents died of not-so-natural causes at the age of eleven, Boy Nobody found himself under the control of The Program, a shadowy government organization that uses brainwashed kids as counter-espionage operatives. But somewhere, deep inside Boy Nobody, is somebody: the boy he once was, the boy who wants normal things (like a real home, his parents back), a boy who wants out. And he just might want those things badly enough to sabotage The Program's next mission.

Check out my review with Goodreads- 
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/722588867

Ink. . . .

Ink (Paper Gods # 1)
Genere- Fantasy
YA
By Sun, Amanda

One star. *
So who wouldn't want to read a really good-sounding book about Japan and its mysterious fan-fake Gods? 
I would! 
The cover art is beautiful, the plot sounds amazing, and the whole works of it sounds fascinating. 
Except, Well, that it wasn't. 
It was all.... Me, Me, me, blah, blah blah. 
Ugh. 
Tomo was a typical bad boy with a bad past, the whole stay-away-from-me-or-I-might-kill-you attitude. He didn't stick out like any other bad boy out there, in fact quite the opposite. He blended in too well. other than the fact that he was Asian. 
Katie Greene. She was...flat. The descriptive words in the book were fascinating, but from everything else the main character should at least not be so selfish. 
And then there's the whole best friend relationships. She ditches the two cutest friends to stay with the bad boy hero who might break her heart. She might kill him, he might kill her, etc. 
Selfish right? 
Yep. 
Now that I'm done with my ranting here is the summary- 

On the heels of a family tragedy, the last thing Katie Greene wants to do is move halfway across the world. Stuck with her aunt in Shizuoka, Japan, Katie feels lost. Alone. She doesn’t know the language, she can barely hold a pair of chopsticks, and she can’t seem to get the hang of taking her shoes off whenever she enters a building.

Then there’s gorgeous but aloof Tomohiro, star of the school’s kendo team. How did he really get the scar on his arm? Katie isn’t prepared for the answer. But when she sees the things he draws start moving, there’s no denying the truth: Tomo has a connection to the ancient gods of Japan, and being near Katie is causing his abilities to spiral out of control. If the wrong people notice, they'll both be targets.

Katie never wanted to move to Japan—now she may not make it out of the country alive...

Paleo Cookie recipe (if you like sugar cookies)

Ok, So I'm on this Paleo Diet -I have been for a year, I think- which means no wheat, no bread, little amounts of sugar, and what else? Oh yeah, no noodles, no regular store bought cookies, yada-yada.
And you know what?
I feel great.
Yes, the recipe's take a little time, but what doesn't?
If you don't know what the Paleo Lifestyle is there are some great books at the library, and you could just look it up on the internet. Here are a couple of books I'm reading currently:
 *Deliciously G-free by Elisabeth Hasselbeck <--- the one with the sugar cookie recipe in it
 * Simply sugar SS& GF and Gluten free 180 easy, delicious recipes by Amy Green
 * The G-free diet by Elisabeth Hasselbeck <--- this is more of a survival guide, an How-to live G-free (meaning Gluten free)
* Delicicious Breads (G-free and Wheat free) By LynnRae, Co-author is Bruce Gross

So.... Finally the recipe is here!
Egg "Doll" Biscuits, is what it's called.
What you'll need-
Nonstick cooking spray
I cup plus 2 tablespoons of brown rice flower
1/3 cup coconut flower
1/3 cup of tapioca starch
2 Teaspoons of baking powder
2 teaspoons of guar gum (i used xanthum gum -I think its called- because I didnt have any guar gum, and it worked Ok.)
1/4 cup of sugar- granulated
1/3 a cup of sweetened condensed milk
1/3 cup of gluten- free solid vegetable shortening
1 egg lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract.

Preheat the oven to 350 f. Coat a couple of cookie sheets with the nonstick spray and lay them aside. In a large bowl combine the 1 cup of brown rice flower, coconut flower, tapioca starch, baking powder, guar gum, and the sugar.
Whisk until well combined.
Make a well in the center of the bowl and add the sweetened condensed milk, shortening, egg, and vanilla. using a wooden spoon stir until a thick dough forms.
Dust the counter with the remaining 2 table spoons of of brown rice flower: Roll the doll onto the counter and knead until smooth.
Take a piece of walnut sized dough and roll it out making a snake, and then cross the ends making a breast cancer ribbon.
Put hte cookie on the cookie sheet and repeat the last steps, fill the cookie sheets.
Leave the cookies on the bottom rack of the stove, or until a light golden brown. then move them to the top rack and cook the tops until they are also golden brown.
Make the mixture of the powdered sugar, milk, and extract, whisking until it it feels like pancake batter. you can use Lemon, almond, vanilla or anise, for the glaze flavoring.
Almond had the best results for my family.
while the cookies are still warm coat them or dip them and put them on a cookie rack to cool.
Serve.

This recipe wasn't hard to make. Its easy and simple. If you want to make it, get the book from the library!
Come on, you lazy people!
just kidding.
No, but seriously.
:D
hope you enjoy!
-Kkat