Last week I shared some Pillsbury gluten free cookies on my blog and noted that while boxed mixes are not commonplace in our home, having them on hand was really helpful for my kiddos’ adoption day. I am by no means a perfect parent, and while I would love to be a modern-day June Cleaver, with homemade everything from scratch, I’m just being real with you. Sometimes I take my kids out for ice cream. Sometimes I eat cereal for dinner. And *gasp* every once in awhile I resort to the easiest method of baked goods because…well, life.
That being said, I was recently asked by The J.M Smucker Company to incorporate some of their gluten free mixes (both the cookies, and the brownie mix for today) into our life and to share with you all how I did that. So, no, these aren’t Paleo. They’re not a health food. They’re not veggies. But they were a simple addition to a fun family cookout with my in-laws, and didn’t require me to buy a bunch of ingredients, and were easily available at Walmart.
My in-laws are awesome. I know a lot of people have issues with their in-laws, and may even start getting a tick when you mention those words, but I have been super duper lucky. Not only are they kind and compassionate, but they have always been supportive and involved with our kids, and I’m so thankful for that. Plus, they raised a freakin’ awesome son who is the most incredible husband and dad, so…there’s that.
In just a few weeks, they are moving next door to us. Well, kind of next door. We live on 10 acres, and they are moving onto the 10-acre property right behind us. We’ll share a fence line, and most likely a lot of meals together.
So in order to celebrate, we invited them over for a cookout to kick off their new life in the country. And with an afternoon of food prep ahead of me, having a brownie mix to grab out of the pantry to give Superman and the kids was pretty sweet. Pun intended.
My daughter Gracie was my helper:
It’s always a blast having my kids help me in the kitchen, and when it’s a simple recipe that any of them could follow, it makes the experience even more enjoyable. After the brownies were done baking, we set them aside to cool and frosted them with some vanilla frosting at Gracie’s request. Again, not something I would normally use, but for a special occasion on a busy day, I was cool with it.
It was a beautiful evening, and the perfect night for a BBQ!
We ended up having green salad, fruit salad, baked potatoes with all the fixins (thanks to my mother-in-law), BBQ’d chicken, BBQ’d veggies, gluten-free garlic bread and gluten-free brownies for dessert!
As I said, these mixes are more the exception, not the norm. But they were a blessing to have on hand, and were thoroughly enjoyed by all!
If you want to save some money, you can go pick up your Pillsbury gluten-free mixes at Walmart and use this coupon to save a little more! For more ideas on how to “mix up a gluten free moment” with your own family, check out Pillsbury’s gluten free board on Pinterest!
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of The J.M. Smucker Company. The opinions and text are all mine.
Like what you read? Sign up here and get my Top 10 Recipes ebook for free!
Leave a Reply