You can be my new best friend.

So I entered a recipe contest!!! I decided to share my very favorite cookie recipe. It's the first gluten free & vegan recipe I created, it inspired me to start a business and it's even the Sugar Mama namesake :) PLEASE go to the the Gluten-Free Cookie Swap and "like" my recipe. I could win a kitchen aid mixer! Oh, and you'll be my new best friend. Thanks!

Mompreneur Market

Last year I did this way cool Mompreneur Market. I was contacted by the coordinator and asked to bring baked goods to sell at this elementary school fundraiser.

My sweet mama came into town (I made it through the whole weekend w/o even telling her I was pregnant) and she helped me bake and set up. She also brought the fabulous Sugar Mama signage!

We sold cookies, cupcakes and muffins and did a little shopping around. It was such a fun and beautiful day! I was asked to come back this year and I'm super excited! The market is tomorrow... and unfortunately it looks like we won't be having such a beautiful day. But not too worry. People need pumpkin muffins and banana bread more than ever when it's blizzarding right?

If you're in Denver I would LOVE for you to come visit me and University Park Elementary tomorrow. You can do a little holiday shopping (tons of cute handmade!) and support this sweet little school :) OK see you then!

Happy weekend!

Happy dance

My heartsy deal is being featured today!!! Yay! So exciting :)

(Can I be honest with you? It makes me feel super legit when I see my cupcakes pictured on other websites. That's my very favorite part.)

So anyway, there's that. Also when I get to 300 facebook fans I'm doing a giveaway so go LIKE Sugar Mama!

Sugar Mama's Christmas Bazaar

Remember how I said I want to be a better steward of our money by being more intentional and responsible with my spending? Well, step one went well. Sugar Mama just made a bulk order from Sweet Earth Chocolates that is 100% gluten free, vegan, organic AND fair trade!!

Ready for Step 2? Buy more handmade of course!! I do love handmade but I'm guilty of waiting to buy gifts until the last minute and then finding something quick & cheap at Target... VERY guilty. You might see a pattern forming here but again I just need to be more intentional.

So this Christmas I set a goal to either make or buy handmade for every single gift. And I'm encouraging you to do the same!! My friend Ashley asked me to be a part of her Holiday Craft Fair and I was inspired to create something similar here at go greeno.

Starting Novemeber 2nd and running through December 24 you can do all of your holiday shopping here! I will showcase my favorite shops so that they are just a click away. Easy as that :) So fun huh!?

PS: Do you have a shop that you think would be a good fit? I would love to have you join the fun! Email me: sugarmamabakeshop@gmail.com

{I'm linking up with Life Made Lovely because handmade crafty Christmas gifts are oh so lovely!!}

Speaking of Fair Trade Chocolate...

I made truffles... Halloween truffles!!!

For some reason I always used to think that truffles would be really hard to make. I mean they seem so fancy shmancy. But then a friend some fabulous truffles and swore they were easy.

So I found this recipe... and it was easy!

I made a few adjustments & came up with a gluten/dairy free, vegan version:

• 1 (8 ounce) package Tofutti soy cream cheese, softened
• 3 cups Fair Trade Organic powdered sugar, sifted
• 3 cups Fair Trade Organic vegan chocolate chips, melted
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla, mint extract, espresso

Beat cream cheese until smooth and add powdered sugar gradually.

Stir in melted chocolate and vanilla (or espresso or mint) until there are no more streaks.

Scoop onto cookie sheet with a small cookie scoop and chill for 1 hour in fridge.

Shape them with your hands and roll in fun decorations! (powdered sugar, cocoa, sprinkles, coconut, etc)

See?! Super easy. Gluten free. Vegan. Organic. FAIR TRADE. Plus you'll probably impress everyone at your Halloween party. Definitely tell them they were really hard ;)

Fair Trade

I don't tend to be outspoken about much.

Actually I'm usually pretty go-with-the-flow.

But I'm working on taking a stronger stance on the things that really matter.

Lately, I have really been convicted about the way we spend our money.

We try to be good stewards, but I'm realizing that doesn't just mean being cheap.

The cheapest thing isn't always the healthiest or in alignment with my beliefs and priorities.

So what to do?

Well I'm praying. I'm figuring it out slowly.

I'm sharing it here because I would love to work through it with some input.

I have a bad tendency to jump into things I can't stay committed to so...

I'm taking it one step at a time :)

(picture from the Fair Trade website: http://fairtradeusa.org)

First up: Fair Trade.

I've known about fair trade coffee & I usually try to choose it but haven't made it a big priority.

Then I read this. And this.

Please find a couple minutes to read these blog posts.

They are so eye-opening & it's impossible for me to learn about kids being treated like slaves...

So I can have cheap candy bars and coffee.

I pray that your heart will be broken along with mine and that we can commit together.

I've been researching the best place to find fair trade coffee, sugar and chocolate.

The official website has tons of information and resources.

October is even Fair Trade month!

"We believe the rise of the Conscious Consumer will cause a fundamental shift in the way companies do business and create a historic opportunity to reward companies that embrace sustainability."

This quote is from the Fair Trade USA website and is so motivating to me.

It's so easy to go on not knowing better.

But the damage is still being done. We need to be conscious consumers!

Being a good steward of our money means being fair and just in the way we spend it.

Sugar Mama Bakeshop baked goods and mixes are already made with fair trade cane sugar.

I'm working on switching over to only using fair trade cocoa and powdered sugar as well.

I would like this to become part of my business plan and mission statement.

Do you do fair trade? Any tips? Anyone interested in committing to this with me?

The Holiday Gift Guide with Gussy Sews!

Sugar Mama Bakeshop is a part of THE Holiday Gift Guide with Gussy Sews!! Check it out:

YAY! Have a fab weekend.

Giving

Happy Tuesday! Yesterday Hunter got an unexpected (and much needed) day off and we went romping around in the mountains. SO wonderful! Fun pictures coming soon :) Colorado really is such a wonderful place to live and I am feeling refreshed and full of energy today!

I'm also really really excited to share some fun news with you! A few months ago I came across this sweet blog and I fell in love. Carina is so genuine and I just love reading about her 3 precious boys. She also writes about adoption which is always on my heart. I know that now isn't the time for Hunter and I, but I still have such a desire to support adoption in some way.

In the past few weeks I've been putting a lot of time and work into building my Sugar Mama online business, but I've had some stress about it. The more I pray about it the more I feel like God is telling me to be generous. I have such a desire to help our family financially, but I can hear Him telling me to trust Him with our money and give.

So... long story short: I made a new Sugar Mama cupcake kit to support Nick and Carina's adoption! Carina does this awesome thing with her kids twice a month and she calls it Bakin' it to the Streets. Basically they make something delicious and then use it to brighten someone's day. They GIVE it away! So I've added a Bakin' it to the Streets Cupcake Kit to my etsy shop. For $18 you get a gluten free/vegan cupcake mix, a frosting mix, pink cupcake wrappers (new baby is a girl :) and sprinkles. Plus is all comes in a box that will fit 12 finished cupcakes so you can give them away if you're so inclined. Best part is that every sale puts Nick & Carina $8 closer to bringing home their baby girl!

**Even better: if you buy 2 the second one ships FREE so you might as well get one for yourself and one as a gift!

Please consider buying one of these cupcake kits to support Carina and her family as they follow God's will for them to add to their family by adoption.

"Light shines in the darkness for the godly.

They are generous, compassionate, and righteous."

Psalm 112:4

Heartsy

So have you all heard of Heartsy?! Click here. Seriously, you will not regret it. I may be way behind, but I just learned about this amazing website. It's basically Groupon for Etsy. SO FUN.

Anyway, I would love to run a Sugar Mama deal to kick off my new store. The more votes I get, the more likely I am to be accepted and get to run a 60% off deal! If you have a second, just click here. It takes about a minute to vote... Unless you find a couple other deals you want while you're there :)

Giveaway

Check out this amazing picture of sweet Lily in her cupcake hat :)

And her cupcake dress... She's my best marketing!

Also check out this great big group giveaway Sugar Mama Bakeshop is participating in this weekend! If you're interested you can win a free cupcake mix plus a TON of other awesome stuff! Ok I'm out. Happy weekend!

Sugar Mama Bakeshop

I have something to share with you that is really special to me. Most of you already know about my little baking business, but if you don't I bake gluten free & vegan cupcakes, muffins and cookies. They're my own recipes and I bake everything from scratch. I'm selling in the cutest little flower shop and working on getting into a few coffee shops around town. I pray that God will use it as a way to bless our family financially so that I can continue staying at home with Lil AND Hunter can go back to school full-time and finish his environmental biology degree way faster!

Anyway, I have been getting a lot of cupcake requests from out-of-towners but unfortunately I just can't find a great way to ship. Sooooo I created Sugar Mama Cupcakes Mixes! Yay! I'm super excited about them :)

If you click the button on my right side bar it will take you to my new etsy shop where you can buy the mixes. They are perfect for gifts- especially if you know someone with gluten or dairy allergies and even if you don't have allergies they are made with high quality ingredients like organic fair trade cane sugar. If you're like my husband and scared to try something because it's "gluten free", then I dare you to try these cupcakes. I've made a serious believer out of him :) Plus if you don't love them I'll give you your money back. No joke! I swear they're that good.

Oh yeah, and if you use the coupon code GRANDOPEN you can have free shipping too. Your welcome :) I hope you LOVE the cupcakes and have a happy Wednesday!

{PS if you would be interested in doing a Sugar Mama feature post or giveaway I would be so excited! I have been praying very specifically about the shop & I feel that the Lord will provide ways for me to get the word out so that I can get kick-started. If you feel so called just shoot me an email: sugarmamabakeshop@gmail.com}