Wheat and Dairy Free Banana Bread

My oldest is allergic to both wheat and dairy... Yes, both. So, when I hit on a recipe that I can easily convert I'm all over that bad boy. Enter: banana bread. It's a staple around here.

What you need:

2 cups of any all purpose wheat-free flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp apple pie spice (cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice)

1tsp vanilla

1/2 cup non-dairy margarine

We like this one

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

4 over-ripe bananas

Warm the margarine to soften and thaw your bananas if they are frozen. 

Toss everything in a mixing bowl and stir with a fork or whisk. Your batter will be rather thick and lumpy.

Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes if you are making muffins, for about 35 if you are making a loaf. Keep an eye on them though... You know how it is!

As you can see I didn't manage to get a picture before he started on them!

One Pot... Really

This recipe came from this great blog. I do not get credit for this jewel. I changed a few things simply because I had some stuff and didn't have other stuff so here is what I did:

16oz Spaghetti
handful of frozen spinach (I just threw in what I had left in the freezer)
4 garlic cloves (sliced thin)
1/2 yellow onion (sliced thin)
1/2 tbs oregano
1/2 tbs italian seasoning (original called for basil... didn't have any on hand)
1/2 tbs red pepper flakes (the original calls for 1/4, this was an oops, turned out spicy but good)
4 cups chicken stock (original calls for veggie stock)
2 cans stewed tomatoes (original calls for 1 can, we love stewed tomatoes around here)
a dash of pepper to taste

She gives specific instructions about how to make it but I just threw it all in a pot, clunked a lid on that bad boy and set it to boil. *I got distracted by the precious tiny human that lives in my house and demands constant, always, never-ever ending attention and didn't keep an eye on this and the liquid boiled down. The spaghetti on the bottom burned a little.*

I'm oober sick so my taste buds are a little off but this was a hit all around so I consider it a huge win. I will be making this again.

Twisted Tuesday Tacos

Is it just me or do we all have a "Taco Tuesday" or Monday or Friday...

We normally do tacos on Tuesday but I get bored with the same ole', same ole' so as I was preparing my meals this week I came across this gem of a recipe on the glorious Pinterest!  I love that virtual cork board of everthingness! 

I skipped the packaged flavoring for the meat and the crispy corn shells.

Instead I added a beautiful mixture of 1 onion and 2 clove of garlic, sautéed (I use coconut oil to sauté).  Once the onions were to a nice almost clear color I added the ground beef, I cooked all the salmonella out of that beef and went on to add; 1 green bell pepper,3 tomatoes, a jalapeno, added some cumin to taste (I love cumin so I dowsed my meat in it), spice it with some or a lot (I went with a lot)of cayenne pepper, and pour on the chili powder.  Wowzie it starts smelling reaaallll good right about now!

*I did chop those vegies, well I think the pros call it a dice?

Instead of the crispy corn shells I peeled off a few pieces of lettuce from my head - lettuce head that it is.

Here is the link for the full recipe

http://ancestralchef.com/paleo-mexican-tacos/

Enjoy-

Summer

Italian style cube steak

This is the recipe that got me thinking "Hey, maybe a blog would be useful." This one was an experiment and it was so so good!

My awesome friend Sara gave me several cuts of cube steak about a month ago. I love me some good ole fashioned chicken fried steak but I really wanted to see if maybe I could do something slightly different with this stuff. Enter: Italian style cube steak.

Dredge each cube steak in:

A light layer of flour

Egg

Progresso Italian style bread crumbs

Oil a baking dish (I forgot to do this and my breading stuck to the pan). Throw the breaded steaks in the dish and put them in the oven at 375 for 30min (make sure you check and make sure they are baked through).

While they bake…

Dice:

4-5 cloves garlic

1/2 stick celery

1/4 yellow onion

sauté in a little olive oil (or veggie oil, whatever you have on hand)

When the veggies have started to brown add a handful of halved cherry tomatoes (so so so good)

Sauté until the cherry tomatoes have started to wilt (shrivel?) then add a can of stewed tomatoes juice and all. I cut mine up before adding them but that’s just personal preference. Add oregano and salt to taste and just a dash of sugar. If you want things juicier add a little chicken broth. Let that awesomeness simmer.

When your steaks come out top them with your tomato mixture. Friggn yum.

Did you try it? Did you like it?

What's the point?

I like to cook. I've always felt like cooking a nightly meal for my family is a way of showing love. I guess it's one of my love languages...

But cooking in the internet age is how do we say... overwhelming? intimidating? exhausting?

Need I say more?

Lets just get this out there. I regularly use food that comes out of cans in my recipes *gasp*. I think steak is possibly the most delicious food ever thrown on a hot grill. Most of my cooking utensils came from my mom when I moved out... 15 years ago *no!* and I do not think cream of mushroom soup is the devil. Yeah, I'm a savage.

I also really like fresh fruits and veggies, boneless skinless chicken breast, and smoothies infused with spinach.

I think my friends are excellent cooks. Most of us cook simply, most of us cook southern, and I like it.

So, in an attempt to alleviate the ever present "what the heck is for dinner tonight?" question I provide my meager culinary offerings and I hope my lovelies will join in the fun.

Here goes!