Wild Sunshine and Lemonade

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Mother’s Day 2017 and some BIG News

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I think this may be the best Mother’s Day yet. I debated for some time whether to take John’s offer to whisk the kids away for a big part of the day so that I could actually accomplish things at the house. I honestly don’t know how work-at-home moms do it– all the cooking and cleaning and entertaining while finding time to sit down at a computer for more than five minutes in order to get something done. I keep encouraging myself to stick with it. Maybe someday I’ll be able to form coherent sentences in my mind and get them down on the computer before the baby cries or the big kids are starting World War three.

But then I started thinking about something I miss dearly. And that’s spending time with my big kids, who at 5 and 3 are not very big, yet they have sacrificed a lot of mommy time in the last year while I tended to the youngest (and by far crankiest in case you’re new to my cranky baby saga). I miss spending time with kids who can talk to me and enjoy some of the things I do. Who don’t need to be held 99% of the time and cry 99% of the time.

So I opted for a big date with the bigs. I’ve been wanting to see Beauty and the Beast for awhile, and although I didn’t really think they would handle the intensity well I took them anyway. Because darn it, it’s PG and I’m allowed to be selfish on Mother’s Day. And sure enough my emotional child spent most of the movie on my lap hiding her face, but loved the songs. My little super hero spent the last battle scene yelling at the screen that he was going to bring his sword and fight Gaston. Gotta love boys!

We then had a picnic up on Lake Michie in northern Durham county and rented a canoe to explore the lake. They were wiped out (and maybe I was, too), but it was a great reminder for this often overwhelmed mama that although I feel buried in the baby shit right now (I’m not a baby person), soon enough all of them will be old enough to enjoy a day like that and I will be a much happier person for it!

Which brings me to the BIG NEWS. I’m going to have to find a way to love the “baby shit” one more time because…

The Big News

Baby #4 announcement

I say it lovingly, and I am SO very excited (and possibly terrified that this one will be as hard as #3). PS: anyone have a trick to getting the goofball child of the family to just smile? I was laughing so hard I was crying while sorting through all my photos, because he is making a face in every. single. one. And how I love him!

Get the Look

Want to duplicate the chalkboard baby announcement? Snag some cute mini boards here on Amazon or at Michaels. 

I looked up some of my favorite chalk artists and duplicated some of the writing styles as best I could. I was going to have the big kids hold the “Partners in Crime” sign, but of course Larkin wouldn’t hold her Sidekick sign. Shoot, all that kid wanted to do was cry and run away. Good thing she’s cute!

Stay tuned for the gender reveal BBQ photos, because this will be the last baby Clark and we’re going out with a bang!

Pretzel with a side of E. Coli

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Pretzel mischief

I wouldn’t have minded much if either of my first two kids took a liking to the toilet. The only humans using it in our house at the time always remembered to flush and close the lid and close the door to keep the baby out. So when Larkin decided her latest obsession would be the bowl of toilet water and the roll of paper beside it, I don’t think I was fully prepared for battle. After all, I have TWO older kids who are still trying to remember all the things they are supposed to do after using the bathroom. She gets into the trash.

And unrolls toilet paper.

And plays in toilet water.

I can’t take credit for this blog title— that was provided by a good friend and had me rolling with laughter. Are there emojis for blog writing? Because I need a mixture of laughing until I cry and straight up crying. When it was eerily silent in the house the other day, I finally found the little rascal in the bathroom joyfully dipping a pretzel into the toilet. While there was POOP FLOATING IN IT. I’ve never run so fast with a baby to the sink, followed by a lecture on the importance of flushing and closing the bathroom door.

Mom of the year!

Strawberry Mint Paleo Pie

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Strawberry Mint Paleo Pie

Any/all of the links in this post are affiliate links of which I receive a small commission from sales of certain items, but the price is the same for you. 

It’s time to stuff your face with berries straight off the plant until the juice runs down your chin. The farm down the road that raises pastured beef also does pesticide-free strawberries. So we headed down the road last weekend with our small army of 5 pickers (more like 3 pickers, 1 three year old who starred at the cows, and 1 infant who stuffed her face. So guilty in this photo) and in about 20 minutes we had picked just under 20 lbs. That’s a boatload, and a really good excuse to whip up some Paleo Strawberry Pie!

What on earth do you do with that many strawberries? We try our best to eat Paleo, so we don’t eat jellies and jams. We ate so many fresh that our bellies hurt. I froze an entire basket. I made strawberry cobbler, which turned into melted goop when the topping dissolved into the filling (ahem, why I’m not sharing that creation here!). We were eating them for three meals a day. Then I remembered strawberry pie. I haven’t had such good luck with Paleo pies, the crust is always gross. Usually I make them crustless as a special treat. But because the cream cheese in here makes it SO good, it needed a crust underneath.

I found this recipe below on the Kelly and Cricket blog and it was good! I made a few modifications including the addition of a bit of coconut sugar, so I’ve included it here for you. The filling itself doesn’t get baked, so it’s a cold pie that’s perfect for these 80 degree NC days.

And a note on this pie’s “Paleo” status. Paleo means different things to different folks. Cheese is generally not considered paleo, nor are starchy flours like Tapioca. It works as a special treat for us, and I hope you enjoy!Paleo Dessert: Strawberry Mint Pie

Strawberry Mint Paleo Pie Recipe Paleo Pie Crust: egg, almond flour, tapioca, butter, coconut sugar

CRUST

  • 1 Pasture-raised egg
  • 1 1/4 cup Almond flour
  • 1/4 cup Tapioca flour (or Arrowroot)
  • 1 tbsp coconut sugar
  • 1 tbsp Coconut flour (I order mine off Amazon for a bulk deal)
  • 4 tbsp grass-fed butter, cold. I use salted.

Preheat oven to 350. Mix the flours and the coconut sugar directly in a 9″ pie pan. Crack your egg and mash it in with a fork until everything is a little gooey. Cut your butter in small cubes. With two knives or a pastry cutter (I don’t use this tool often, but when I do THIS ONE has been a lifesaver! ). Cut in the butter until a dough forms. This is always sticky when I make it, so instead of properly rolling it I just press it around the pie pan with my fingers. Prick with a fork. Bake for 15-18 minutes until the edges start to brown.

CREAM CHEESE LAYER(almost) Paleo Strawberry Pie with cream cheese filling

  • 8 oz Philadelphia cream cheese, full fat
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 tbsp honey

Set your cream cheese out for a bit or soften in the microwave. With a fork, stir all three ingredients together until well combined. Spread over the cooled pie crust.

STRAWBERRY LAYER

Wash and slice  3.5   cups of strawberries. Place on top of cream cheese.

 

 

STRAWBERRY MINT TOPPINGGooey Strawberry Syrup gelatin topping

  • 1.5 cups strawberries
  • 1 tbsp arrowroot flour (can’t find this at the store? Get it HERE)
  • 1 tbsp maple syrup (because I’m heating this on the stove, I chose maple syrup. Feel free to use no sweetener or another of your choice)
  • 1-2 tbsp water
  • 3 leaves fresh mint, torn into small pieces (you can experiment with more, my mint plant is tiny so I didn’t want to take too much!)

Almost Paleo Strawberry Mint PiePlace all ingredients in small saucepan on low-medium heat. Once it begins to steam, stir constantly to mix all ingredients. As the strawberry juice and arrowroot start to jell, it may stick to the bottom. Add a bit more water. Stir every few minutes until you can mash the remaining berries, about 15 minutes total. Remove from heat and let cool a few minutes before pouring over the pie.

Refrigerate pie until ready to serve!

Almost Paleo Strawberry Mint Pie

 

My First Photo Shoot

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I am incredibly lucky to have some trusting friends who placed their family photos in my hands last fall. It was my first official photo shoot, and I LOVED it! It may be my last for awhile because (ahem) life is just a bit crazy at the moment. But I would absolutely love to do more of these a few years down the road! These photos were taken at West Point on the Eno park in Durham, NC in the middle of the afternoon. The light was filled with the rusty colors of autumn, but it was BRIGHT and direct and basically terrible for portraits. Fortunately we were able to find good bits of shade.

 

*All photos are copyright Amanda Clark 2017

 

Thanks for checking out my work!

One of THOSE days

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Tuesday was one of those days. THOSE days. We were in the middle of day 3 of torrential rains in NC. I avoided schlepping three kids into the rain and through the grocery store yesterday, yet today I have no choice. Because we are out of food. This morning, my oldest looked at the baby (who is only 12 months) and said “my gosh, Larkin is going to be bigger than the sun!” After the child ate two eggs, an orange, and half a banana. AT 12 MONTHS!

And the child who said it had just consumed three eggs, two oranges, and an entire banana. This is it, folks. The beginning of our financial downfall. How on earth can we feed them as teenagers, if among all three they eat 8 eggs, 4 oranges, and 2.5 bananas for breakfast? That’s not counting the request for a snack that followed an hour later. And they eat like this all day. So it was Tuesday and we were out of food. And our local Kroger was out of at least 7 items on my list (which is the worst, because you know you are not going to make it out to the store again for another week and you’ll have to improvise all kinds of things. Really? Out of 7 items of my list of maybe 25?).

Larkin fussed almost the whole time and couldn’t be consoled by the bag of pretzels we grabbed off the shelf. And once we put everything in the car and attempted to walk to the pet store, I realized she had a poop blow out alllllll down her pants. So I changed the screaming baby’s diaper in the back of the van, her screaming while I was getting poured on. And we drove home because the kid had no pants.

Then at rest time my 5 year old comes downstairs with a new haircut. Business in front, party in the rear. Greeeeeeeat. The kid had no hair until she was 18 months old, and it took 4 years to get to her shoulders. So I cried. Hormones. And felt bad about it later as I told her that we had to trim up the rest and that she was beautiful no matter what her hair looked like. Then we cut it into a short bob. Cute, but SHORT.

And the baby took a 10 minute nap. What’s with my babies and refusing to sleep?

This mama needs a glass (bottle?) of wine. So I have some chocolate and pretend it’s wine. Tell me I’m not the only one who has these days!

Beach Bums

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For almost ten years we have been so fortunate to have family at the beach. We get to see the barren sand of January bundled beneath hats and jackets. The first warm breezes near Easter when the water is too chilly for anyone. And the special Thanksgivings we get to spend there, playing football on the wide open, empty expanse of sand while our kids strip down to their undies and get in the water.dsc_0882-copy

But the week-long vacation is still my favorite. In recent years we’ve been taking our week at the beach in the fall, when the tourists are gone and the days are just warm enough for a bathing suit, yet the water is still warm enough to enjoy. This past trip we were chased out two days early by Hurricane Matthew (PS: can you believe I am just now posting this trip from OCTOBER 2016??? Goes to show how crazy life is with three kiddos! I dearly love photographing the adventures of their childhood). Pippa finally decided she was not afraid of waves, and that kid went out to the breakers with a boogie board (and a parent close by) for HOURS each day. She is going to be my little surfer girl, and I can’t get enough. dsc_0872-copy

This big girl of mine, covered in bug bites from camping the weekend before and bruises from being knocked down again and again by the waves. She would tumble beneath the water and pop back up smiling.

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Sawyer is still in love with pushing a truck around the sand and running away from the waves. And Larkin, well, she just observed and got her toes wet with Meme.
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The three Clarks

Until next time, beloved beach!

Cranberry Orange Energy Bites

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A favorite festive holiday snack for us: Cranberry Orange energy bites (Paleo and Vegan)

Any/all of the links on this page are affiliate links of which I receive a small commission from sales of certain items, but the price is the same for you.

‘Tis the season to boost my willpower and not eat all things sugary, then feel like crap come January 1st. It’s easier said than done. About three weeks ago, I went to my college homecoming. We ate pizza, burritos, drank copious amounts of wine, and had a good time reminiscing until the wee hours of the morning at the home of one of my college roommates. Two days later, Larkin broke out in a weepy red puffy rash on her entire face and her legs. WTF. She’d always had a bit of baby eczema on her cheeks, but this was bad. Long about a week after my dairy-free diet, I was really wanting something sweet. I scoured Pinterest for energy bites, and played around with several recipes until I came up with something easy that tastes a lot like my mom’s homemade scones. The combination of orange and cranberry sings of Christmas morning rolls and special weekend breakfasts. Although we don’t eat these things often in our household, it’s funny how a combination of flavors can take you back. The Cranberry Orange energy bites were a holiday life saver!

After our pediatrician assured me it was eczema and that I should put hydrocortisone cream on it, I smiled and thanked him and did what I normally do. Go into psycho mom-with-a-sick-kid mega geek mode and spend all day on the internet researching alternative remedies. Because I really do not want to use a steroid cream on my 6-month old unless it’s absolutely necessary. It turns out that no one knows what causes eczema, although many folks have a good idea. Anything from an allergy to dust to a food sensitivity can cause the skin to react. Usually the best natural course of action seems to be to heal the gut (hello probiotics and bone broth… oh wait, my baby is breastfed so this shouldn’t be an issue) and keep the skin comfortable.

Since the end of October I have not eaten dairy or gluten or sugar (and I even went a week without eggs to see if that made a difference — I was starving so eggs made a comeback). Larkin gets 1-3 doses of probiotics a day, and her usual 1/2  tsp of cod liver oil plus vitamin D drops. She has not eaten dairy or eggs since. I have bathed her in epsom salt baths 1-2 times a week, I wipe her face down with saltwater twice a day, and at night I lather her cheeks with Lanolin (it helps!). So far I’ve kept the major outbreak from returning and I’m hoping that as her gut matures it disappears because I have no idea how people deal with life-long eczema.

My kids LOVE these! Dates, orange peel, craisins, nuts, spice.

 

A favorite festive holiday snack for us: Cranberry Orange energy bites (Paleo and Vegan)Did I mention these are super easy? Just throw the ingredients in the food processor, blend, and roll into balls. Happy early holidays!

CRANBERRY ORANGE ENERGY BITES

Place into a food processor:

  • 1/2 cup craisins
  • 1/2 cup dates
  • 1/2 cup almond meal
  • 1/2 cup walnuts
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 Tbsp coconut oil
  • grated rind of 1 small orange or clementine
  • pinch of sea salt

 

Blend until everything is chopped and sticky, about 2-3 minutes. Roll into 1-inch balls and store at room temperature. I’m sure these would last a week, but in our house we’re lucky to have them for two days. I usually double this recipe.

Camping with babies

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Call us crazy, but we took our 5 month old camping. I often feel like being the third kid has a lot of downsides: not as much mommy time, nothing but hand-me-downs, etc. But among the positives are all the cool things this baby gets to do. In her first five months, Larkin has been to the beach twice, spent hours out on a motorboat on a lake, had bonfires, and gone camping. Lucky girl!

Pippa and Sawyer are really into camping. We took them for the first time last year when Sawyer was almost 2 and Pippa was 3.5. For them it was great fun. For us it was a disaster. Sawyer thought it was hysterical to run towards the road and throw his toys towards the fire. Lil’ stinker 😉 But now that he’s a year wiser and Larkin is too small to crawl, we had a blast. And good thing, because before kids John and I were avid backpackers. We camped all the time to avoid pricey hotels. We camped on our honeymoon (ha! look at us, all young and 20-something and covered in sweat as we climbed peaks in Kauai).

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Backpacking in Kauai

We camped most nights of a cross country road trip. And someday we hope to take some amazing trips with our kids that involve lots of nights in a tent. You know what that means…

START ‘EM YOUNG.

This fall we went to Mayo Lake in northern NC for two nights. The kids had a blast. We were the only ones there because we went on a Sunday/Monday night and they spent the entire time running around the large camping area, throwing rocks in the lake, and just being kids. The first night we set up camp and cooked hot dogs over the fire – obviously a win for everyone. They were so excited to get into the tent that the big kids asked to go to bed when the sun disappeared. Not that they went to bed, but hey.

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Larkin and I shared the second tent with our battery powered noise maker to drown out the squealing, but otherwise it was so quiet! The second day we spent hiking to various playgrounds, playing soccer on the huge grass field, and even a sunset kayak trip as rain clouds rolled in. I spent the day before we left chopping and wrapping some bbq chicken packets that we grilled on the fire, followed by a dessert I learned a loooooong time ago in girl scouts. Banana Boats! These were a huge hit with the kids, they even said they were better than s’mores. I’ll post more on how to make them soon, but they are so dang easy.

dsc_0603Night number two was not so nice. The tent Larkin and I shared had a hole in the rainfly, so we had to cover it with a tarp (hey, it is almost 15 years old). And boy did that tarp sound like being inside a popcorn kettle when it poured all night long. She couldn’t sleep. It was ridiculously loud. I spend the night awake nursing her so that she could (sort of) sleep. And in the morning everything was covered in mud. The other tent had leaked and all the pillows were wet. At least it was memorable and the kids can’t wait to go again (hence the whole point of camping with young-ins). Because this mama spent the entire next day guzzling coffee and doing laundry and drying out camping gear. That is a chore I do not enjoy.camping-tips

While we are by no means experts at camping with kids, I figured I’d share some of my tips:

  1. Age matters. We found that babies up to crawling are easy, but that from about age 7months – 2.5 years old is a nightmare. They are into everything and are constantly trying to kill themselves. This is a no fly zone for us, lol.
  2. Go for at least two nights. Y’all. I spent at least four hours prepping food, packing bins and bags, etc. Then it took us a solid 1.5 hours to haul it all from the car to the campsite and set up two tents with approximately 421 interruptions along the way. And then another 4 hours to clean it all and put it away. We’ve done a single night, and it’s just not worth the effort.
  3. Take a noisemaker, especially if sleeping with a baby. It helps drown out noises of other kids/campsites.
  4. Slow down your mornings with cocoa or tea. Our kids are up at the crack of dawn. They want to scarf down some food and get going on a hike, to the playground, etc. Which is great! Except that one of the camping luxuries for us adults is lounging around a hot fire drinking a hot beverage in the morning. Next time we will come prepared with cocoa – a good bribe to get them to chill out for an extra 30 minutes.
  5. A flashlight for each kid. We made the mistake of bringing one for each tent. The older two fought over who got to play with theirs for HOURS. The dollar store sells them, so next time we will have plenty.

Have you been camping with young kids? Please share!

Wrangling Chickens Down on the Farm

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We eat a lot of eggs. For the most part we eat a paleo diet (no wheat/little dairy), which means that 6 days of the week our breakfast consists mainly of eggs. We go through a good 4 dozen a week (!!!!). And since eggs play such a huge role in growing my little people, we are willing to pay top dollar for pasture raised.

Fortunately, there is this amazing little place called Blue Whistler Farm just down the road from us that has a flock of pastured chickens, meat birds, meat rabbits, lambs, and pigs. The owners are awesome: young and passionate about local food. Y’all know about my dream to have a few animals and lots of land someday, so I head on down the road every week to grab our 4 dozen delicious eggs and stare wistfully at all those beautiful farm animals doing what farm animals do when allowed to roam on a pasture. If you’re near central NC, you should definitely check them out.

Because they have open farm days where you can visit the animals. And they just had two litters of piglets! I do not envy those pig mamas and all that nursing, but boy are those things cute! They are about one week old in these photos. We were in love.

We fed the pigs some carrots. Fed the chickens. Petted a baby rabbit. And got to hold some hens. The next night on John’s birthday, we smoked a rabbit (tastes a lot like chicken) and it was AMAZING.

Love some small local farms, and these adventurous kiddos of mine.

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Petting the baby rabbit

Petting the baby rabbit

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Here chicks!

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Piglets!!!

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Pippa and “farmer Amy”

 

Sawyer holding a chicken

Sawyer holding a chicken

Chocolate Peanut Butter Dirt Cake

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My kids thrive on eggs a thousand different ways, they snack on dried anchovies (yeah, crazy, I know!), and don’t flinch when we say baked peaches are dessert in the summer.

BUT…

We take birthdays very seriously. There ain’t no way we are behaving ourselves when it comes to dessert! This past weekend my husband got another year closer to 40 and declared that he wanted dirt cake. Not just any dirt cake, mind you, he wanted chocolate peanut butter dirt cake. When I was growing up, I loved dirt cake. I requested it for at least a few birthdays, complete with the foil-lined flower pot and fake flowers on top. Boy was I excited to make this for him!

kids making dirt cake

kids making dirt cake

I set out searching Pinterest for a peanut butter chocolate version, but found NONE. Can you believe that? In the world of pinterest, what I wanted apparently didn’t exist. So I invented. I based this on an Original Dirt Cake recipe and made several changes, including real whipped cream instead of Cool Whip, and a 50/50 split between vanilla and chocolate pudding.

The morning of daddy’s birthday, I told the kids we were going to eat dirt and worms for dessert. They didn’t buy it… at first. Then they said they were ok trying some dirt and worms because, let’s face it, in a household where true sugar-filled sweets are rare these kiddos cannot wait to get their hands on some homemade goodies. Of course once they started helping me make the “dirt” and saw the “worms,” they laughed. And begged to try a gummy worm.

But the BEST part of making daddy’s dirt cake was watching him eat it. When the man pauses multiple times and says “dang, this is amazing!” you know it’s good. So I wanted to share.

 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Dirt Cake: crushed cookies, cream, pudding, and PB cups make this a hit

CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER DIRT CAKE

To make your cooking experience easy, I’ve included a few links to items I use and love. Please note that I receive a small commission from sales of certain items, but the price is the same for you. 

INGREDIENTS Chocolate Peanut Butter Dirt Cake: crushed cookies, cream, pudding, and PB cups make this a hit
– 1 full package of oreos
– 1/3 cup butter, softened (I use Kerrygold grass fed butter, available at Costco if you consume it like we do!)
– 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
– 3/4 cup powdered sugar
– 1 package 3.4 oz. instant vanilla pudding
– 1 package 3.4 oz. instant chocolate pudding
– 3 cups of milk (I use whole)
– 8 oz. whipping cream
– 15 Reeses peanut butter cups minis unwrapped and quartered
– 1/2 cup natural peanut butter
– Gummy Worms (these are awesome if you’re looking for something dye-free)

 

1. Crush oreos in a food processor until they resemble dirt.
2. Beat together butter, cream cheese & powdered sugar.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk vanilla pudding mix & 1.5 cups milk.
4. In a small bowl, whip the cream until it forms peaks. Fold into the vanilla pudding mixture.
5. Fold together cream cheese & pudding mixtures together until smooth.
6. In your whipped cream bowl (for the sake of dirty dishes), whisk the chocolate pudding and 1.5 cups milk. Set for 5 minutes. Swirl your peanut butter into the chocolate pudding.
7. Layer! I am slightly obsessed with my triffle dish because you can see all the amazing layers (snag one here) but you could go fancy and line a flower pot with foil. Always start with about a third of your “dirt.” I then used 1/2 of the vanilla pudding mixture, a few gummy worms, another 1/3 of the dirt, all of the chocolate pudding, sprinkle Reeses cups, the remaining vanilla pudding mixture, and top with what dirt is left and a few worms. Phew!

GLUTEN-FREE OPTION: Substitute a GF oreo and you should be set!

ENJOY!