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Gluten Free Banana Bread

January 28, 2015

I love to meal plan, but sometimes you just don’t get around to using everything… one of biggest issues in the kitchen? Consuming bananas before they turn on me. Therefore half of my freezer is frozen bananas – which isn’t a great situation for anti-smoothie weather. But what to do? Banana bread!

I enlisted the help of my favorite (and cutest) helpers and got to work some banana bread muffins. The catch? They are flour, oil and butter free – and no one could tell the difference!

Gluten Free Banana Bread

recipe via The Well Traveled Wife

2 1/2 cups gluten free old fashioned oats (you can use normal oats if you don’t care about GF)
1 cup plain greek yogurt
2 eggs
heaping 1/2 cup sugar (I used coconut sugar – hence the dark color – for a healthier sweetener alt.)
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 ripe bananas

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Line muffin tins with liners or non-stick cooking spray.
Place above ingredients into a blender and mix until smooth (it works best to add the oats last, working with a cup at a time).
Pour batter into muffin tins.
Top with chocolate chips (optional)
Bake for 13-15 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

A few tips:

You can fill the muffin tins pretty much up to the top. They do not rise too much.
Do not overcook muffins. It’s better to under-cook them a bit (they will cook a bit more once removed from the oven) – because they will end up chewy and tough.
These are great to make an extra batch and freeze for later.
Mixing in hemp seeds and flax seeds could be a nice healthy boost!

Tasty

Dinner with Munchery

January 26, 2015

I love cooking (obviously), but sometimes (a lot of the time) you just need a break. With the recent influx of delivery companies, curbside pick-up and impressive frozen food aisles, “get-quick dinners” are very easy to come by in Silicon Valley. Jeremy and I have currently been loving DoorDash, but came to the realization last week that to-go food just isn’t that good. You are expecting it to taste how it does in the restaurant, but after sitting in a delivery car and waiting to make its way to you, it could easily be sitting there for an hour – yuck.

Then one day a girlfriend told me about a company – Munchery – that has been a big deal in the city for some time and has finally made its way to the South Bay. Short story – local chefs prepare meals that are delivered straight to your home or office. Longer story – you have until 2pm everyday to browse their extensive menu (that changes daily) and place your order. You then pick 1-hour delivery time frames from 4-8pm. You get a text when your meal is on the way and once it arrives you have either microwave or oven/stove preparation directions that allow you to heat your meal and enjoy it within 10 minutes!

My favorite dish last week (yes I ordered multiple times) – was the German Pork Schnitzel with German Potato Salad and Braised Cabbage Apple Slaw. It was super flavorful and I loved that the dish had 3 different components. The portions are generous and each meal has extensive nutritional facts for the calorie conscience.

I usually have a hard time deciding what to order, so I’m super appreciative of the star rating and multitude of reviews they have available for each dish. They also have mini-bios on each chef, and I found it interesting that some customers prefer to shop by chef vs. dishes and their ingredients.

Another silver lining of this service is the fact that each portion is a single serving – i.e. J can order what he wants, and I can order what I want. It makes appeasing clashing palates an easy task, and I also love that there aren’t leftovers to deal with (don’t you hate ordering to much Thai takeout!?).

So whether you are a busy professional, parent or person – do yourself a favor and give Munchery a try… you won’t be disappointed (unless they don’t deliver to your area yet… then you may be a little bummed – but sign up for their wait list, they may be coming to your area soon!).

Click this link to get $10 off your first order!

Sip

Pomegranate Margaritas

January 23, 2015

With store shelves already in full Valentine’s Day swing, I couldn’t help but join in! Here is a cute cocktail to share with your sweetie, gal pals, or just enjoy by yourself 🙂

Pomegranate Margaritas

2 oz tequila
1.5 oz Grand Marnier
2 oz pomegranate juice
2 oz lime juice
1/2 oz agave

Rim a cocktail glass in lime juice and salt.
Combine above ingredients in an ice filled cocktail shaker for 30 seconds.
Strain into an ice filled/salt rimmed glass and garnish with a lime wedge.
Cheers to love!

Domestic

How to Season a Cast Iron Skillet

January 22, 2015

This past Christmas I asked for a cast-iron skillet, after years of having to pass on recipes that required one. And guess what… it’s as awesome as I hoped it would be! You can cook, bake, sear, and saute with it – all while getting a massive arm workout (the weight of these things is no joke). The only issue I have with it? Cleaning.

I had a friend in college that had a melt down after I used soap to scrub the skillet clean, so I’ve been scarred ever since. Now that I am an owner of my own, I am trying to get it nice and seasoned, so that it can continue to work its way up my “favorite list.”

Apparently skillets are one of those things you want to buy at garage sales… the older and “more seasoned” (code to me for “grimy”) the better… but I opted for a new one that I could season myself and grow old together with.

For all of you new skillet owners, or those about to become one – here is Martha’s trick to seasoning your skillet (this also works for reseasoning old skillets):

Cover the bottom of your pan with a thick layer of kosher salt.
Add a half inch of oil or so and place over high heat.
Once the oil starts to smoke, pour the salt and oil into a heatproof bowl to cool (then discard).
Wipe out pan with a ball of paper towels, until smooth (ie no salt residue).

You’re good to go! Now some tips for cleaning your beloved pan:

Don’t use soap or a dishwasher
Scrub with a stiff brush (but not steel wool) and hot water
Wipe dry with a paper towel (or you can warm over low heat) – using your beloved dish towels is certain to ruin them
I use kosher salt to rub into any pesky food that’s hard to remove

Tasty

Barre3 Hazelnut Truffles

January 21, 2015

For those of you that know me, my obsession for Barre3 is still going strong. Today I am almost 3/4 of the way done with our Winter Challenge that embraces healthy eating, fitness and connection. Each week we are sent a new Barre3 approved recipe to try, and I obviously was pretty thrilled when I saw “truffle” in the title. Made with whole foods and no added sugar, these sweet treats do just the trick in curbing any sugar cravings. I love keeping a batch in the freezer to prevent any possible slip ups 🙂

Chocolate Hazelnut Truffles

Recipe via Barre3

1 cup pitted Medjool dates
1 cup roasted hazelnuts
1/4 cup raw cacao powder
2 tablespoons almond butter
1 tablespoons coconut butter
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons finely shredded unsweetened coconut

Soak dates in a bowl of hot water until soft. This will take about 20 minutes… drain.
Combine dates, hazelnuts, cacao powder, almond butter, coconut butter, almond extract, salt and coconut in a food processor for 2 minutes until finely processed.
You want the mixture to hold together when pressed – feel free to add a little water if mixture is too dry.
Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of cacao powder on a plate.
Using a tablespoon, scoop a heaping spoonful of the mixture and roll into a ball.
Roll each ball into cacao powder until fully coated.
Store finished truffles in an airtight storage container and refrigerate for an hour before enjoying.