Gluten Free Banana Mug Cakes

Overall Family Rating: 4

(I give these a 5, the others give it a 4 since I use firm bananas and they like sweeter, but still love to eat them anyway . . .)

I got this idea from Detoxinista and changed the peanut butter to pumpkin seeds

 Makes one or two mug cakes depending on the size.  I use two small half pint glass jars

Ingredients:
 one banana (the riper it is the sweeter)
1 egg
2 T pumpkin seeds (pepitas) I have used both raw and roasted and salted pepitas
1/4 tsp baking soda

1) Combine all ingredients in a blender
2) Pour into one greased mug or I like split the batter into two small mason jars
3)Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until tops are golden brown and the center is firm.

Tips:
-leave space at the top of the mug for expanding.
-I like to use these for breakfast or send them with my daughter for a healthy school lunch that seems like a dessert.
- Run a butter knife around the outside of the mug and you can pop out the cake and slice it like banana bread.
-I have tried this in the microwave but don't like the results.  It is worth the baking time.

Gluten, Dairy and Egg Free Gingerbread Waffles

I found the recipe which inspired this one on Baking Beauties tonight since I was craving treats. This looked really good and surprisingly even worked really well with my substitutions on the first try. I LOVE these.

My Family Overall Rating=4.5

(I definitely give these a 5, Dad likes really sweet so he will eat these only with the pear sauce and he rates them a 3, MG (preteen) gives them "a five for sure!!" and LS (toddler) ate them right away so I give it a 5 for her)

Ingredients:

2 cups brown rice flour mixed with a little tapioca flour
(note: I grind my brown rice and tapioca pearls myself.  I learned from a forum somwhere that the grinder gets clogged easily with tapioca pearls alone but works better grinding with the brown rice.  I used about 1 cup of brown rice and 1/3 cup of tapioca pearls and then added more brown rice to grind if it doesn't quite make 2 cups)
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 cup brown sugar packed
1/2 tsp salt (optional)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger

1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup olive oil (plus more for greasing the waffle iron)
2 Tablespoons of flax seeds soaked in 1/4 cup boiling water (or use 2 eggs)
1 cup of water (or pear juice if serving with pear sauce)
a little fresh grated ginger root ( a very tiny amount goes a long way)

Combine dry ingredients and then add the rest and mix gently until combined.  Use a hot waffle iron well greased with olive oil between each waffle.  (These are really good crispy and do better if not taken off the waffle iron too quickly or they may stick and be hard to remove).

Serving suggestion:  Serve hot with pear sauce drizzled over the top.  mmmm.

These also work for "oven pancakes"=drop batter like cookies on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 for about 10 minutes or until firm.

Homemade Pecan Butter

My family overall rating: 5 (with the agave syrup)
I have made this in two ways:

1) Simply blend up some pecans and that's it (this takes a powerful blender), then add agave syrup and salt to taste. This is a thicker butter.

2) Soak 1 handful of pecans (1/2 cup) in 1 Tablespoon olive oil and 1 Tablespoon of Agave Syrup and a little salt to taste.  When softened, they can be blended easily in a simple blender like "The Magic Bullet" I have found that I need to use the flat blades when blending such a small amout.

I try to make only the amount I need to use right then, but if there are leftovers they need to be refrigerated.


Serving Suggestion:

Morning glory says it is best warmed up and served on muffins,
like these Gluten Free Butternut Muffins

Gluten Free Ginger Butternut Muffins

Ingredients:

• 4 Tablespoons whole flaxseeds 
• 1 Cup of boiling water
• 2 Cups Bobs Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour (which is a blend of garbanzo bean flour, potato starch, tapioca flour, sorghum flour, and fava bean flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 1/3 cups Agave Syrup
• 2 cups butternut squash puree (I prepared it easily by putting peeled chunks of the squash into a blender with a little water--only enough.  I did not cook the chunks but you could also use cooked squash)
• 2/3 cups olive oil

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Put flaxseeds in a bowl and pour the boiling water over them.  Allow them to sit until they thicken (this is a substitute for eggs)

2) Combine in mixing bowl: flour, baking powder, baking soda and ground ginger

3) Stir in butternut squash puree, olive oil and flaxseed mixture

4) put about 1 Tablespoon batter in well greased mini muffin tins--makes about 48-54 mini muffins.

5) Bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Oatmeal Waffles

I used this recipe from Food for Life and changed it:

Makes 6 waffles

2 cups rolled oats
2 cups water
1/2 cups sliced beets
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

(olive oil for oiling the waffle iron)

· Combine ingredients in blender while preheating the waffle iron.

· Use a pastry brush to well oil the waffle iron after it is ready.

· Pour batter into the waffle iron and bake 5-10 minutes without lifting the lid (tip: the original recipe says to add water if the batter thickens, but I did that and had trouble with my second waffles . . .my first were thicker and came out of the waffle iron easier)

Oatmeal Rice Pudding

Bring to a boil over medium/low heat:
4 cups filtered water
1/2 cup yellow split pea powder (whisk in a little at a time)
1 Cup powdered milk (whisk in a little at a time)
2 Cups leftover cooked brown rice
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons of vanilla
1/2 tsp allspice
a little fresh grated nutmeg
1 /2 -1 Cup honey

When boiling take off the heat and add 2 cups Oatmeal (I love the texture of Coaches Oats) and let sit a couple of minutes or until desired texture.  It thickens as it sits.

Family Review:  I love that it is a complete protein with the legumes and grains and dairy together and it tastes good too. Dad likes it but wants milk to put on top (we are out of milk today), Morning glory gives it 5 stars (it tastes like a dessert maybe a little less sweet next time...I used 1 cup of honey), and Lady Slipper loved it from the first bite which is a definite winner with a toddler. 

Be Nutritiously Inspired,

Sweetheart Special

Sweetheart Special

Heart shaped cookie cutters on toast and fried egg+natural fruit strawberry jam and plain greek yogurt+a pink smoothie served in red crystal goblets=one happy sweetheart.  Too bad mine isn't here to serve it to . . . so I will send him a picture instead.  Enjoy, my Special Sweetheart!

Be Inspired,

Valentine's Day Breakfast

Blend a small amount of canned beets (not pickled beets) in your blender and add them to your pancake or waffle batter for a pink surprise.  (I didn't use her recipe but I got the idea from "Deceptively Delicious" by Jesica Seinfeld)

I made the pink juice by:

•  draining 1 can of pineapple, 1 can of pears and puting the juice in my pitcher (I use the ones canned in natural fruit juice, not sugar syrup)
• draining a can of beets (I don't reserve the juice from the beets since it creates a taste that is too strong).
• In a juicer, juice the pinapple, pears,  1/2 of the beets and 1 large sweet potato (uncooked and unpeeled).  Then add the juice to the pithcer with the other reserved juice. (If you don't have a juicer, you could create a smoothie.  If you use the juicer remember that the pulp can be used to make great muffins, pancakes or quick bread . . . be creative) 
• What a healthy and festive drink!  It tastes somewhat like drinking a watermelon nectar.

Be inspired,

Rice Pudding

I have tried a few different rice pudding recipes since my husband loves it so much. (I admit that I don't like it.) Usually he has eaten it but not loved it. This time . . . success!! He loved it and even my daughter liked it. It is made with leftover rice (or cook it ahead of time). If you like rice pudding, I highly recommend it.
For the recipe click here.

Pumpkin Banana Shake

This year I found out that pumpkin ice cream is pretty good:) Since I am not a fan of pumpkin pie, that is a surprise. To make a shake, I used some egg nog, pumpkin ice cream and a couple of bananas and mixed them together in a blender. Frozen bananas make a thicker shake. It was really good!!

Fun-Shaped Daddy Pancakes

I love when my hubby makes breakfast. He surprised me one morning with pancakes shaped like the different fish in our fish tank ( we have a large salt-water tank because we love fish so much:), and another plate with christmas shaped pancakes too. How fun!

Cupcake Omelets

These cupcake omelets are so easy and so wonderful! I got this idea from my Mom. (Hubby's Mom is my Mom now too! Not an in-law since she is so wonderful!:D )

1) Preheat oven to 350
2) Beat eggs in bowl. Use 1 egg per cupcake you want to make (example for a dozen cupcake pan full use 12 eggs)
3) Add whatever fixin's you want like cheese, ham, minced onion and bell peppers (if using fresh, the onions and peppers are better cooked in some oil for a few minutes before adding or they might still be a little crunchy in the omelets) . . .
4) Fill greased muffin cups almost full (leave about a 1/4 " at the top for expanding)
5) Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes or until cooked through.

Tip:  These can be made ahead and frozen and then quickly heated up on hurried mornings

Birthday Breakfast

If you love ice cream, then you will love this breakfast treat. It all started when I was little and my family went out to eat at a place (I don't remember where) that had a birthday special. I ordered it and it was a bowl of cereal with a scoop of ice cream in the middle. Surprisingly, it was VERY good! This dish became a special tradition for breakfast on birthdays and now my husband and daughter have been glad to adopt it into our family too. My hubby decided to have some and so I thought It can be holiday breakfast too :) Besides it WAS the country's birthday.

1 half-filled bowl of "plain " cereal (like Cheerios or Corn Flakes)
1 large scoop of ice cream (Mint or Chocolate really flavor the milk well)
Milk
Spoon

Just fill up your cereal bowl, put a scoop of ice cream on and pour the milk over the top. Then grab a spoon and enjoy it!

"Footballs" Whole Wheat Crock Pot Cereal

This is so easy to make. It can be made in a rice cooker in about 1 1/2 hours or even left in the rice cooker or crock pot overnight. I put about 1-2 cups of whole wheat in and then cover that with water almost to the top of the rice cooker. (Can add a little salt if you want--I don't) Then leave overnight (or until done if you want to make it the same day). You will know it is done when the wheat puffs up into little "footballs." Serve with milk and butter and brown sugar. This is my hubby's favorite way to eat it. It is so nice to have breakfast already ready to eat as soon as I get up.

Variation: Put the football cereal into a blender and make it into creamy wheat. That is my favorite way to eat it. put in brown sugar, butter, milk and top with some dehydrated berries or fruit. Yummy!

German Pancakes

8 large eggs, 1 Cup flour, 1 tsp salt (optional I don't use it), 1 Cup milk, 6 T butter (or you can spray the pan with Pam)

Preheat oven to 400.

Put all ingredients, except butter, into a blender ( I use a "Magic Bullet" which is small so I put half of each ingredient in and do this step twice) and blend well.

Melt the butter in the microwave and then dump it into a small rectangle (or 9x9 square pan--if you use the square, then you only need 7 eggs and not 8 eggs or it will take longer to cook).

Dump in the blended mixture on top of the butter.

Bake at 400 degrees for about 25 minutes or until the pancake is puffed up and golden brown.

Cut in squares and serve immediately with syrup or fruit on top.

This is one of my all-time favorite breakfasts!! My mom used to make it for me.

Honey Syrup Substitute

Use 2:1 ration of honey to hot water and stir until honey dissolves into the water.

tip#1 For a stronger flavor and darker color, you can also add 1 tsp of molassas.

tip#2 If you don't mind it being a little runnier you can even use 1:1 ratio of honey to water. That is how I usually make it since we like it fine that way and it means less sugar.

tip #3 remember that honey isn't good to feed to infants under age 1.

This syrup has no cornsyrup in it like most imitation maple syrups do so it is a healthier choice. Of course real maple syrup is the best but this is a really good substitute.

Tastes really good with my waffles or german pancakes recipes

Fast and Fun Healthier Waffles or Pancakes

Pancakes don't keep me satisfied for long but my family loves them so I always look out for healthier, heartier versions. I got this idea from the back of my Coach's Oats oatmeal bag but didn't want to follow their recipe since this way is so much easier. This is my new favorite:

1)Use some regular complete pancake mix (I used Krusteaz big bag from Costco). I don't measure I just dump about half of the amount of batter I want to make into the bowl.

2)Before you add water add in some oatmeal. (My favorite is Coach's Oats since they have a nuttier texture--again from Costco). I still don't measure just pour some in.

3) Add water a little time and mix with a wire whisk until the consistency is what I want either for waffles (thicker) or for pancakes (a little thinner).

4) Now just have fun and make pancake shapes or just use the waffle iron.

These waffles are crispy and heartier. My family started eating them as a piece of bread without even putting syrup on them and my husband asked me what I did different because they tasted so good. I can eat some of these and actually feel satisfied for more than a half an hour.