Chili for days and Gluten Free Banana Muffins

When I make a pot of a chili, I make a large pot of  chili. I used ground pork, chopped onion, white beans, black beans, my mother in-laws homemade tomato sauce, diced tomatoes and tons of chili powder, salt and pepper. 

I decided to add a few non-classic ingredients to my chili; essentially emptying out my fridge I added leftover red wine, chopped spinach and kale.

Lastly I added frozen corn and let this simmer on the stove with the lid on for over an hour.

I took this little guy outside.  He had a lot of fun in the water; one of the pluses to having a child that plays hard is one that sleeps hard as well! 

I had the thought to attempt Gluten free banana muffins in the spirit of cleaning ingredients up. I've had a bag of frozen bananas in my freezer for a few weeks so I thought it was time to use it up.  I usually keep a Ziploc bag of ripe, peeled bananas in my freezer.  This allows them to be easily used for smoothies or baking.  I love having them pre-peeled.

Below is the recipe I came up with.  I used a regular recipe as the blueprint, as well as tweaked a few things to suit what I had on hand.  I had a cup of outdated sour cream/greek yogurt that I could not bring myself to throw out so I incorporated that into my recipe.

4 cups brown rice flour

2 tsp xanthan gum

2 tsp baking soda

pinch salt

1&1/3 cup brown sugar

3 extra large eggs

7 (slightly thawed frozen) bananas

1 cup oil

1 cup sour cream/greek yogurt

I baked these on the middle rack in a 350F oven for about 30-35 minutes.

 

I could not believe how awesome they turned out.  I thought to myself "did I add anything with gluten?"; they taste too good.  I have no idea why but they baked so evenly and were a very pleasant texture. 

I took some over to my neighbor who suffers from Celiac disease and after she tasted them she texted me to double check that they were infact gluten free because they tasted so good.  People who bake gluten free know that doesn't happen often!

Pinterest review; chocolate banana shake

This spoke to me this morning.  I wanted something delicious, quick and full of protein.  Now if I was to make this on the regular I would probably want to add protein powder. I actually added plain Greek yogurt. Also I think I need to buy natural peanutbutter. I am slowly overhauling my pantry; a little at a time. It's been like anything in life, a process. I've just determined I'm going to make better choices more often.

To the recipe I used what I had on hand; frozen bananas, light peanutbutter and milk.

The kids loved this shake, what's not to love?! Jeff even asked, "is this healthy"? As I drank it I even questioned myself; we will definitly make this again. 

It reminded me of something I've had a Starbucks; just a little cheaper!

Salmon salad

The moment my kind husband says, "go sit down I'll make lunch" I find a comfy spot and wait patiently!

He created this healthy lunch with;

1 can of wild sockeye salmon

Diced green onion

Diced Red Pepper 

Chopped Cilantro

Shredded carrot

1/2 avacodo 

He also added Leftover salad dressing which was made of;

Mayo 

Apple cider vinegar

Jalenpos

Dill

Salt and pepper

This quick lunch was so tasty, super simple and amply satisfying. We may try this exact recipe with tuna as well.

Here's to eating healthy most of the time!

Aubrey gave it try, asked for more and more and more!

Jeff says this is definitly going in his "kid lunch" repertoire!

Sautéed shrimp

This weekend has just been what my heart needed; family time, rest, a good book, a few good meals and a hearty amount of laughter. My parents celebrate their birthdays a day apart so on friday(my moms actual birthday) we had a combined birthday dinner for them; of which they hosted. That's how they roll; give give give. The best part about this is when we give them minimal gifts they act like we've given them a million dollars. Its so precious to encounter. A pair of socks, cashews, pickled jalenpos and my dad acts like we just gave him an all expensive paid trip to Florida. 

Friday night was spent sitting on their deck laughing and enjoying watching the kids playing in the yard. It was so relaxing I didn't even realize I was still there at 8:30pm; I usually promptly exit family dinners at 6:30pm to get home in-time for bedtime but not Friday, it was that peaceful!

Finally bedtime was done and I curled up with my book that just arrived in time for the long weekend. I was so encouraged; this book feels like a game changer.

Christine Caine

Unashamed

"like me, you've probably spent years covering up your shame wounds so why would you now want to uncover them and look at them? When you are suffering from shame, the last thing you want to do is make yourself vulnerable. Your vulnerability is one of the reasons you were suffering from shame in the first place so why would you want to open yourself up for more? 

Because what we don't reveal can't be healed. Our wounds need treatment, and the only way they'll be healed is if we aknowledge them, uncover them, and hold them up to the One who can help. "

Sunday came and Jeff had it off (yay)! I play the game of "what do I make my chef husband" it's a fun one. One of which I sometimes win and sometimes lose! Today people - I won! On this healthy eating streak I've been on for 5 days inclusive; everyone wins.

First things first I pulled out my trusty small blender and in the jar I put:

Fresh dill

Apple cider vinegar

Light mayo

Water

Salt

Pepper

Jeff's jalenpos

I blended that up and voila!

The salad consisted of:

Spinach

Orange pepper

Tomato

Perfectly ripe avacodo

Now for the star of the show....

Jeff coated raw peeled deveined shrimp with this rub and sautéed them in chili oil. Can we say yum?

I should add the bag of  shrimp were one of the many "put this in your freezer" items dropped off randomly by my dad...he loves his grocery store drive-by drop offs!

Liam was napping and I sat with Aubrey as I ate this delicious so satisfying salad. I tried to breathe as I inhaled it!

Now for supper...

This salad dressing was so good we decided to use it again.

I cut up napa cabbage with green onion and lightly coated that with the dressing.

Jeff then topped our salads with perfectly seared salmon. His trick is he doesn't flip it. The salmon has a ridiculously  crisp side and the middle has a touch of  pink. Again, breathe! 

I love that food can heal. Why do I forget this? So much healing took place this weekend. Sometimes we just need to pause and breathe.

Happy Victoria Day!

Hummus

Here's my beautiful mom! She turns 64 tomorrow; hard to believe. My sisters, sister-in-law and I took her out to Olive Garden for her birthday this past Monday. What a fun time; laughter is seriously the best medecine. 

We laughed, we ate, I even shed a few tears, it was seriously an amazing night. My heart was full and so was my stomach! I love my people!

Yesterday I decided I needed to pull back from my "I eat everything" policy! I went to the store and bought pretty much everything green in the store. I was headed to the cooler isle to pick up some  hummus when i decided id try to make it instead. When all is said and done it is way cheaper to make it than to buy it.

I found this recipe by Jamie

Oliver; it was super simple and very easy to follow.

The cans of chickpeas were $1 each. The secret of this recipe is really keeping the liquid from the canned chickpeas and using 7 tbsp to thin out the hummus. It's a great way to cut back on the oil without changing the flavour profile. I've made hummus in the past with vegetable stock  instead of oil and it really doesn't taste the same.

This jar of tahini was $6.99; this ingredient is really what makes hummus authentic.

Fresh lemon; about .80cents.

I got about a 1 Litre container 3/4 full of  hummus from this recipe. Usually I buy a 380 g container for $4 so I would say this is a great recipe to make homemade; especially when your two year old eats it by the bowl-full!  

The kids were super excited about the homemade hummus and Aubrey ate two bowls of the quinoa and kale salad I made that had a homemade lemon dressing. Eating healthy can taste good and with a little planning it can be convenient too.

Took this little monkey to get a haircut! He only cried the entire time; until they said "all done" and he started to wave and said "bye bye bye bye"!