Banana Nut Muffins

When the bananas in my house start looking like the ones below, I only have two choices: 1) freeze them for future use in smoothies or 2) make banana nut muffins; because nobody in my house is going to eat them. Let me share a little secret with you, I did both! hehe. I love smoothies with frozen bananas! They are so smooth and banana-y, but that is not what this post is about. So let's get to making banana nut muffins, cuz I love them too.

Makes 24 muffins

What You Will Need:
KitchenAid mixer or hand mixer
Muffin Tins
Muffin Liners
Cooling Racks

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Unsalted Butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cup Sugar
2 large Eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 cup Mashed Bananas (3-4) (I used four fairly large bananas, cuz I like them banana-y)
1/2 cup Milk
1 teaspoon Vinegar
1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
1 cup Soy Flour
3/4 cup Potato Starch
1/2 cup Tapioca Starch/Flour
1/2 cup Ground Flax Meal (If you don't have flax or don't want to use it, you can substitute 1/4 cup soy flour and 1/4 cup tapioca starch/flour)
1 teaspoon Xanthum Gum
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Salt
1 cup Chopped Walnuts

Directions:
1. Mash bananas. Set aside. (I just used a fork, because I am all about keeping it simple; but you could use a potato masher or whatever you have. Your hands would even work, if you are into that kind of mess.)

2. In a small container or measuring cup, mix milk and vinegar. Set aside. (The vinegar makes the milk a little sour and thicker. Kind of like buttermilk without the expense.)

3. In a small bowl, whisk together soy flour, potato starch, tapioca starch, xanthum gum, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

4. Place muffin liners in muffin tins. Set aside. Preheat oven to 350° F.

5. With your KitchenAid mixer set on medium-high, cream together butter and sugar until fluffy.

6. Add eggs one at a time and mix well.

7. Add milk mixture.

8. Add mashed bananas.

9. Add vanilla.

This is what your mixture should look like at this point.

10. Add dry ingredients and mix until just blended. 

This is what your batter should look like.

11. Remove bowl from KitchenAid mixer. Add nuts and mix by hand.

12. Pour batter into muffin tins.

13. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool in pans for 10 minutes, then remove from pans and cool completely on wire racks. 

They are super moist with just enough crunch from the nuts. Thankfully the recipe makes 24, so there are plenty to share. Enjoy!

"Give every day the chance to become the most beautiful of your life." ~ Mark Twain

Sheryl

Chicken and Dumplings

I apologize for my absence for the past few days. I was out of town this weekend for a friend's wedding. We had a great time celebrating, and I had it all planned out that I would blog about red velvet brownies with white chocolate frosting on Sunday when I returned home. Unfortunately, after I made the brownies, my husband and I decided they were not blog-worthy. I am still perfecting the recipe. I promise I will post it as soon as I get it right.

Until then, I thought I would share this delightful recipe for chicken and dumplings. This is a twist on the traditional chicken and dumplings I usually make. It's fun to change things up every now and then.

Ingredients:
3-4 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts; seasoned, cooked and cut into pieces
2 Tablespoons Butter
1/2 cup Onion, chopped
1 Tablespoon minced Garlic
1 cup Carrot, chopped
1 teaspoon Parsley 
1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Pepper
1 teaspoon Tapioca Flour/Starch
2 cups Chicken Broth
1 cup Milk

For Dumplings:
3/4 cup Sorghum Flour
3/4 cup Potato Starch
1/2 cup Tapioca Flour/Starch
3 teaspoons Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Xanthum Gum
1 teaspoon Salt
6 Tablespoons Shortening
1 cup Milk

Directions:
1. Season, cook and chop chicken. Chop onion and carrots.

2. In a large skillet over medium heat, melt butter. 

3. Add onions and and carrots.

4. Add garlic and herbs and cook until onions and carrots are tender.

5. Sprinkle tapioca flour over vegetables. Add chicken broth and stirring to incorporate tapioca flour.

6. Add chicken.

7. Add milk, stir well, simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

8. Pour mixture into greased 9x13 pan.

9. Preheat oven to 375° F.

10. In a small bowl, whisk together sorghum flour, potato starch, tapioca starch, baking powder, xanthum gum and salt. 

11. Cut in shortening with pastry cutter.

12. Mix in milk.

13. Drop dumpling mixture by spoonful onto chicken mixture. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until dumplings are golden brown.

Now that is blog-worthy!

"Not caring what other people think is the best choice you will ever make."
Sheryl

Yummy Lemon Herb Chicken

I had some lemons left from the Lemon Glazed Lemon Muffins, so I thought it would be nice to use them for a chicken dinner. I also needed to use my crock pot, because my son had a hockey game tonight. This recipe worked out perfect. I put it on right before we left for the game, and it was ready when we got home from his victory.

I had planned to call this chicken recipe Lemon Herb Chicken, because I am a big fan of keeping it simple; but then I served it to my family for dinner, and my daughter wanted to call it Green Lemony Yummy Chicken. I decided to compromise and call it Yummy Lemon Herb Chicken. That's fair, right?

I think you are going to like this one. Serve it with some rice and your favorite green vegetable, and you have a well balanced, yummy meal.

What You Will Need:
Skillet
Crock Pot

Ingredients:
3-4 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts, cut into strips
1/2 cup Tapioca Flour/Starch
1 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Pepper
1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
1/4 cup Butter
1 teaspoon Parsley
1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
1 teaspoon Onion Powder
1 teaspoon Minced Garlic
1 teaspoon Sugar
3/4 cup Chicken Broth
1/2 cup Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice (2 Large or 4 Small Lemons)

Directions:
1. Cut chicken breasts into strips.

2. In a quart size zip bag, mix tapioca flour, salt, pepper and 1 teaspoon italian seasoning. Put half of the chicken strips in the bag, zip and shake to coat. 

3. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in skillet or medium heat. 

4. Brown floured chicken strips in skillet over medium heat - approximately 2 minutes on each side. You are not fully cooking the chicken, just browning it.

5. Place browned chicken strips into crock pot.

6. Repeat steps 2 through 5 with remaining chicken strips.

7. Sprinkle parsley, remaining 1 teaspoon italian seasoning, onion powder, and garlic over chicken. 

8. Mix sugar and lemon juice. Pour mixture over chicken.

9. Pour chicken stock over chicken.

10. Cook on low for 3 - 3 1/2 hours.

Enjoy your yummy lemon herb chicken. My family sure did. 

"Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid." ~ Albert Einstein
Sheryl

Chocolate Lava Cake

Who doesn't love chocolate lava cakes? 

I mean, really, a volcano of chocolately goodness exploding from a moist chocolate cake. Pair it with vanilla ice cream and chocolate fudge sauce, and you can't stop the party in your mouth.

Lava cakes are all the rage these days. Have been for some time. Probably because they are so amazingly delicious, and they have a bit of a wow factor. I always thought they would be difficult to make. But much to my surprise, quite the contrary is true. 

I found the original recipe at Everyday Occasions by Jenny Steffens Hobick. Her recipe isn't gluten free, so I had to play around with it a little. But after a couple tries, I got it just right. See for yourself how simple they truly are to make.

Makes 12 Lava Cakes

What You Will Need:
Muffin Tins
Whisk
Baking Sheets

Ingredients:
2 Tablespoons Butter
2 Tablespoons UnSweetened Cocoa

1 cup less 2 Tablespoons Butter
1 1/2 cup Chocolate Chips
1/2 cup Heavy Cream
5 Large Eggs
1 cup Sugar
1/3 cup Soy Flour
1/3 cup Potato Starch
1 teaspoon Xanthum Gum

Directions:
1. Use 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons of cocoa to grease and dust the muffin tins. Set aside.

2. Place butter, chocolate chips and heavy cream in a small, microwave safe bowl. Melt in the microwave on high stirring every 30 seconds until chocolate and butter are melted completely.

3. While chocolate mixture is cooling, place sugar, soy flour, potato starch, xanthum gum and eggs in a medium bowl. 

4. When chocolate is cooled slightly, stir it in with the flour and other ingredients. Mix until incorporated.

5. Pour batter into prepared muffin tins. Refrigerate for at least one hour or up to 2 days.

6. Preheat oven to 450° F. Bake cakes for 10 minutes.

7. Cool cakes in pan for 5 minutes, then invert on cookie sheet.

8. Use a spatula to transfer cakes to serving dishes. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream and chocolate fudge sauce. 

Your friends and family will be super impressed when you serve these at your next party or get-together. Just make sure that you make a few extra, because they will go fast and some will want seconds. I'd love to hear how it goes. 

"If your dreams don't scare you, they're not big enough."
Sheryl

Fried Rice

Last night was leftover night at the Darroch house, but I was in the mood for something a little fancier than baked chicken breasts and white rice. So, to jazz it up a bit I decided to make fried rice with the chicken and rice. This is super simple to make, and crazy delicious. It is also very versatile. You can use whatever meat or vegetables that you have. 

Before I tell you how to make it, we should have a little talk about soy sauce. Did you know that soy sauce is not gluten free? True story. There are actually only four ingredients in traditional soy sauce. They are water, wheat, soybeans and salt. I know, it was a shock to me as well. Yet another favorite I had to live without until I discovered a beautiful liquid substance lovingly known as Tamari. Tamari is gluten free soy sauce made with 100% soy. Yummy! I threw a little party when I welcomed chinese food back into my diet. It was a party in my head, but a party none the less.

What You Will Need:
Large Frying Pan

Ingredients:
Remember you can use the meat and vegetables of your choice. This is what I used, because it is what I had. You can also increase or decrease the measurements based on how many you are serving or what you have.

2 Tablespoons Sesame Oil
1/2 cup Chopped Carrots
1/2 cup Frozen Peas (Thawed)
2 Tablespoons Minced Garlic
1 Large Egg
1 cup Chopped, Cooked Chicken Breasts
2 cups Cooked Rice (Leftover from a previous meal works best.)
1/4 cup Tamari Sauce

Directions:
1. Gather and prep ingredients.

2. In large frying pan, heat sesame oil over medium heat.

3. Add carrots, peas and garlic to pan. Cook until vegetables are tender.

 4. Add egg to pan. Scramble egg.

5. Add chicken, rice and tamari sauce. Stir and cook until heated through.

I hope you enjoy this fried rice recipe, and have fun trying all of the wonderful variations that are possible. I look forward to hearing your favorite variation.

If you are having trouble finding Tamari sauce in your local store, you can order it from The Gluten Free Mall.

"An essential aspect of creativity is not being afraid to fail." ~Unknown

Sheryl