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Gluten Free Banana Bread

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Gluten Free Banana Bread

This week’s produce basket was full of bananas, I decided to make my house smell yummy and bake some banana bread. I am gluten intolerant so I made the following recipe gluten free, you can also substitute the eggs if you’d like. I think it would taste even better with chocolate chips!

Ingredients:

3 Bananas (Peeled)
1/3 Cup Butter (Melted)
1 Cup Sugar
1 Egg (or sub with 1/4 applesauce)
1 tsp Vanilla
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 1/2 Cups Flour (or Gluten Free Substitute)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray. In a large bowl, mix bananas, butter, sugar, egg & vanilla.

In a separate bowl, mix salt, baking soda and flour. Once mixed, add the dry mixture to the wet mixture slowly. I kept the banana mix going on my KitchenAid and added in the dry mix a little at a time until well mixed.

Then, simply cook 60 mins until lightly browned. YUMMY!!!!

Slow Cooker Applesauce

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Slow Cooker Applesauce

A few weeks ago I mentioned that I bought The Produce Gathering. It is a local food coop here in Broken Arrow and Ft. Gibson that delivers healthy food at an affordable price. I love it. I am all about eating healthy and saving money and believe it or not, it is possible to do both. In saying that, I’ve learned a lot about produce in the last few weeks. The most important thing that I have learned is that I have to embrace what is in season and learn how to cook with that.

I’ve tried some new things and found a few new favorites. Right now, apples are in season and have been very popular in our sale. Our apples are from Livesay Orchards and the variety they offer is amazing. I recently discovered Jonathan apples which are sweet yet not too sweet and they’re great for putting a new spin on any applesauce recipe.

Easy Slow Cooker Applesauce

Ingredients:

  • 8 medium size apples
  • 1/2 white sugar OR light brown sugar
  • 3/4 cup water

    Note: You can add cinnamon, I did not feel it was needed with this apple but it is entirely up to you. 

    Directions:

    Peel and core the apples. You can slice them up smaller if you’d like but even the bigger cuts of apple will be softened over time and easy to blend.

    Add to the slow cooker and pour water on top.

    Then, add cinnamon (optional) and sugar. You can use white sugar or light brown depending on what you like. With a spoon, stir ingredients together in your slow cooker and cook on low for a few hours or until softened.

    Blend in the food processor or with a hand mixer and serve warm. Enjoy!

Easy & Delicious Brussels Sprouts

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Easy and Delicious Brussels Sprouts

Let me start by saying a few things….

1. I have never eaten Brussels Sprouts in my life until I made this recipe.

2. I actually had no idea what they looked like and had to read all the labels at the store to figure it out.

3. I also thought they were called Brussel Sprouts but they’re really called Brussels Sprouts…who knew?

Now that we’re all on the same page, let’s continue. Someone suggested that we sell Brussels Sprouts in our produce baskets, since I had never tried them, I thought I had better get some so I could figure out if they were really edible or not. I’ve always heard they were horrible but I’ve seen a lot of pinterest recipes lately so apparently someone is eating them.

Once I finally figured out what they looked like, I picked up some at Walmart and headed home to try out a recipe. I really couldn’t find one that was easy and basic so I combined a couple of recipes and eventually found something that I liked.

Turns out, I like Brussels Sprouts. Actually, I like them a lot. I could eat them all the time. They were THAT good and I they’re probably even better if you add in a little garlic or parmesan cheese but I kept it pretty basic.

Easy & Delicious Brussels Sprouts

Ingredients:

1lb Brussels Sprouts

2 TBS Olive Oil

Salt & Pepper

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. In a large bowl mix the Brussels Sprouts, olive oil and salt and pepper. Toss until well covered. You can add in crushed garlic if you’d like to give it an extra kick. Then, lay the Brussels Sprouts in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Bake about 25 minutes, test with a fork making sure they are tender before you pull them out.

Serve warm. They’re delicious!

Easy and Delicious Brussels Sprouts

Frugal Meals: 50 Freezer Cooking Recipes

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50 Freezer Cooking Recipes

I LOVE freezer cooking, it takes some time to do it at first but you reap the benefits for weeks! You’ll save time, money and sanity especially if you have a large family. I love this post from my sister with her 50 Freezer Cooking Recipes:

50 Freezer Cooking Recipe Ideas

  1. Tangy Meatballs
  2. Meatball Subs with Tangy Meatballs
  3. Slow Cooker Pumpkin Chili
  4. Slow Cooker Beef & Veggie Soup
  5. Tater Tot Casserole
  6. Chili Cheese Tater Tot Casserole
  7. Taco Pasta
  8. Meatloaf
  9. Lasagna
  10. Stuffed Peppers
  11. Slow Cooker Stew
  12. Pizza Pasta
  13. Pepperoni Pizza
  14. Homemade Macaroni and Cheese
  15. Slow Cooker Rosemary Roast
  16. Slow Cooker Chicken Taco Soup
  17. Pancakes
  18. Waffles
  19. Omelets in a Pan
  20. Strawberry Waffles
  21. Slow Cooker Italian Roast
  22. Slow Cooker Taco Soup
  23. Slow Cooker Apple Cinnamon Roast
  24. Slow Cooker Mexican Chicken Chili
  25. Slow Cooker Apricot Chicken
  26. Slow Cooker Honey Ginger Chicken
  27. Slow Cooker Orange Roast
  28. Italian Sausage Penne
  29. Slow Cooker Ham & Lentil Soup
  30. Sloppy Joes – Premake the Sloppy Joe Meat & freeze it to warm up for dinner night.
  31. Taco Salads – Premake the Taco Meat & freeze it to warm up for dinner night.
  32. Mexican Chicken Spaghetti
  33. Slow Cooker Sesame Chicken
  34. Mini Meatloaf
  35. Grilled Honey Dijon Chicken
  36. Fluffy Buttermilk Pancakes
  37. Cheesy Sausage & Egg Hash – Freeze in individual servings sizes then heat up in the microwave to serve.
  38. Sausage & Spinach Breakfast Pie
  39. Banana Bread
  40. Sunrise Casserole
  41. Monster Cookies
  42. No Bake Chocolate Cookie Pudding Pie
  43. Strawberry Pie
  44. Old Fashioned Carrot Cake
  45. Chocolate Chip Cookies
  46. BBQ Lime Chicken
  47. Fall Harvest Bake
  48. Maple Chicken Bake 
  49. 5 Bean & Beef Chili
  50. Pumpkin Pancakes
 Enjoy!

Easy & Delicious Baked Quinoa Patties

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Baked Quinoa Patties

Eating healthy is not nearly as difficult as you might think in fact, it can also be a bit of a fun experiment too! If you’re a quinoa fan or even if you’ve never tried it, this is a great recipe for you:

Baked Quinoa Patties

Prep: 10 minutes

Cook: 30 minutes

Total: 40 minutes

Servings: 8

Ingredients

  • 1 5oz. pkg. Hodgson Mill Quinoa & Brown Rice Mediterranean blend
  • 3 eggs (beaten)
  • 1/3 cup onion (chopped)
  • 2 small garlic cloves (diced)
  • 1 cup chopped kale (if you love kale, add 1 cup)
  • ½ cup gluten-free plain bread crumbs
  • ½ cup black beans (if you love black beans, add ½ cup)
  • 1 tbspn fresh lime juice
  • ½ cup parmesan cheese (shredded)
  • 4 tbspn olive oil

 

Instructions

Preheat oven at 400 degrees F.

Follow pre-packaged quinoa’s cooking directions. In this case, it directs us to boil 1¾ cup water to boil, add contents of package, stir well, reduce heat to low, and cover for 14-15 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat and let cool.

Dice onion and garlic cloves.

Place 2 tbsp olive oil into pan on medium heat and add chopped kale, onion, garlic, and lime juice. Sauté on medium heat for approximately 8 minutes or until colors deepen and onions are translucent. Remove from heat and let cool.

Baked Quinoa Patties

Beat 3 eggs in medium mixing bowl. Add quinoa and bread crumbs. Stir. In a separate mixing bowl, combine kale mixture, black beans, and shredded parmesan cheese. Combine both mixtures in medium mixing bowl. Stir well.

Use your hands to form 1½ inch thick patties. Smear 2 tbsp olive oil on baking sheet or aluminum foil. Place each patty approximately 2 inches apart.

Baked Quinoa Patties

Bake at 400 degrees F for approximately 16 minutes, flipping halfway through. Remove patties when they reach a light golden color.

Serve hot with a side of greek yogurt dip and cooked salmon. Enjoy your healthy meal. You’ve earned it!

Baked Quinoa Patties