Banana Crunch Muffins

My mom used to make these delicious muffins when I was in high school that we called Banana Crunch Muffins for their lovely Crunchy top made out of Kashi Chocolate coconut Granola.  I loved those muffins but they don’t fit into my gluten free baking so I decided to make up my own version.

Ingredients
-3 cups almond flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ cup honey
- ¼ cup oil (olive, grapeseed or ghee)
- 3 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla paste + 3 drops vanilla crème stevia
- 2 bananas (peeled)
- pinch of salt
- your choice of gluten free granola (I am fortunate enough to have a roommate who makes a delicious batch of homemade gluten free granola every few weeks so that’s what I used)
- ½ cup chopped walnuts

1. Combine honey, oil, eggs, vanilla and bananas in a food processor.
2. In a large bowl whisk together almond flour, baking soda and salt. Pour wet ingredients into the large bowl. Stir with a wooden spoon until incorporated. Add walnuts and ¼ cup granola stir.
3. Prepare muffin tins with coconut oil or butter. Divide batter evenly among 6 muffins tins.
4. Bake at 350 F for five minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle the top of each muffin with granola.
6. Bake for an additional 20- 25 minutes. If the muffin tops begins to brown too quickly you can put a sheet of aluminum foil over the muffins and put them bake in the oven to continue baking.

Almond Power Bars

 These delicious bars are easy to make and require no bake time. They taste great and have no gluten or refined sugar.

Ingredients
- 2 cups raw almonds
- 1/2 cup flaxseed meal
- 1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
- 1/2 almond butter
- pinch of sea salt
- 1/2 cup coconut oil (melted)
- 4 drops liquid stevia
- 1 tablespoon agave nectar
-1 tablespoon vanilla paste
- 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips (melted)

1. Place almonds, flax seed meal, shredded coconuts, almond butter and salt in a food processor. Pulse for ten seconds.
2. In a small pan, melt coconut oil over low heat. Remove pan from stove and stir in stevia, agave, and vanilla into oil.
3. Add coconut oil mixture to food processor and pulse until it forms a paste.
4.Prepare an 8 x 8 baking dish with coconut oil.  Press mixture into the baking dish. Chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
5. After the mixture has chilled, spread the melted dark chocolate over the chilled bars. Use the back of a spoon to spread evenly. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to harden chocolate.
6. Cut into bars and serve.

Egg Bakes Revisted!

The Egg Bake I made for Dano (w/o Tomato Sauce)

Egg bake with tomato sauce served with avocado slices and grilled sausage

I've been experimenting with egg bakes after reading an article in Bon Appetit about how egg dishes can be elevated to a lunch or dinner option with a little creativity.  I've made a few different versions but I always start the same basic way. The recipe below is for a single serving egg bake since they are each made their own individual dish. 

Ingredients
- one small handful of spinach (chopped)
- 2 eggs, one beaten with a spoonful of Greek yogurt.
- 1 tablespoon chopped onion
-cheese of your choice
- other toppings of your choice (chopped)

1. Prepare your baking dish with coconut oil or butter.
2. Place chopped spinach at the bottom of the dish. Top with one egg beaten with yogurt.
3. Top with chopped cheese, onion, and other toppings of your choice. In the picture above I used chopped queso anejo, cheddar,green onion, and poblano pepper.
4. Crack an egg over all the toppings. It may help to make a dent in the center of the toppings so that the egg rests in the middle. Top with a sprinkle of cracked pepper and sea salt.
5. Bake at 375 F for 14 minutes with the top of the dish off. 
6. After 14 minutes the egg white should be mostly cooked but the yolk will still be runny. Add some tomato sauce around the yolk. Place the lid over the dish and finish baking for 3-5 minutes, depending on how cooked through you want the yolk to be. I make this dish without the tomato sauce for Dano.

Variations: I have also made this with chopped sun dried tomatoes, feta and sausage. Add whatever toppings you like in an omelet and enjoy!

Coconut Bars!!!

Found these delicious gluten free treats on elana's pantry. Great blog, I encourage everyone to check it out. I changed the recipe a little and loved the results.

• 3 eggs
• 1 cup coconut milk (the kind you get in a can. Use as much as of the solids in the can as possible. I ended up getting a little over 1/2 cup solids.)
• ⅓ cup coconut oil
• ⅓ cup honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla paste or 6 drops stevia vanilla creme
• ⅛ teaspoon stevia
• ½ cup blanched almond flour
• 2 1/2 tablespoon coconut flour
• 1 ½ cups unsweetened shredded coconut
• ¼ teaspoon sea salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 F and grease a baking pan with coconut oil.
2. Mix eggs, coconut milk, oil, honey, vanilla and stevia in a food processor.
3. Transfer egg mixture into a large bowl and mix in almond flour, coconut flour, shredded coconut and salt.
4. Transfer ingredients into an 8x8 inch Pyrex baking dish
5. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes
6.  Allow to rest for 30 minutes before placing in the fridge. Serve chilled.
   
   Note: I think the bars would've stuck to the pan less if I had used a glass baking pan.

Yummy Breakfast Squash Bread

I made this with left over squash puree.  It turned out very moist and sweet. Hope you enjoy!

Ingredients
2 1/4 cups almond flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 cup butternut squash puree (see note below)
1/2 cup honey
3/8 cup olive oil
2 large eggs beaten
1/4 cup coconut milk
(other mix in ingredients included in the note below)

1. Mix all wet ingredients in a medium size bowl. In a large bowl, whisk together all dry ingredients.
2. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Stir until combined.
3. Pour batter into a loaf pan (prepare with coconut oil) and bake for 45 minutes at 350 F. Rotate loaf half way thru.



Note:
I made this bread in two different ways. The first time I baked this bread I added the extra step of stirring in chopped walnuts and chopped almonds (1/4 cup of each) before pouring the batter into my loaf pan. The second time I added the zest of one orange and 1/2 cup of currants to the batter before pouring it into the loaf pan.  Both ways turned out amazing and I encourage you to experiment with this recipe too! Send me any interesting twists you come up with.

They also turn out great as muffins!

Two Easy Dinner Ideas

Above was one of the dinner's I made shortly after my surgery. I bought pre-marinated ribs for a steal (4 pounds for $10) right after xmas because that's when you get the best deals for prime cuts! Tossed the ribs in the oven and meanwhile made a very simple chopped salad (spinach, tomatoes and onion) and sauteed some broccoli on the stove.  The veggies took me less than 10 minutes and the ribs required no prep work since they were marinated by the butcher. Yummy meal that only required 10 minutes of active time.

Easy Bistro Steak Salad! This is another meal I made the week after my surgery. Recipe below

Ingredients
2 Steaks (plus dry rub for marinating)

1 heirloom tomato
1/4 red onion chopped
1/2 avocado
2 large handfuls of spinach
cheese of your choice
dressing of your choice

1. Day before- marinate steaks in your favorite dry rub as well as some Worcestershire sauce, olive oil and a little bit of sweet balsamic vinegar.
2. Remove steaks from fridge an hour before cooking. Grill on a grill pan for 3 1/2- 4 minutes on each side (my steaks were thin).
3. While the steaks cook, chop spinach, heirloom tomatoes, avocado and onion. Arrange on plates.  Sprinkle cheese on top.
4. Top the salad with your preferred dressing. I made one out of really good olive oil, a sweet balsamic vinegar, a little Dijon, fresh cracked black pepper and lemon juice.
5. When steaks are done let them sit for a few minutes so the juices soak in. Cut steak into slices and arrange on top of salad. Serve!