muffins...gluten free goodness on the go

Dave and I have both been needing breakfast on the go lately so we've resorted to muffins. Last week I bought some frozen blueberries and grabbed the Joy of Cooking off the shelf and we enjoyed these...

 the frozen bag of organic blueberries turned my batter purple but my muffins only had a faint hue.

We ended up with 18 instead of a dozen so I gave a half dozen to my young neighbor who's also a glutard. Her mom reported that they didn't last long in their house either.
This week I used my banana bread recipe and made them into grab and go muffins. I still baked them at 350 degrees but for 22-25 minutes instead of the hour it takes for banana bread.  I was short on bananas so I used 1/4 cup of applesauce in place of the missing banana. I also added a teaspoon of cinnamon and nutmeg to the batter then topped with a dash of cinnamon and sugar before tossing them in the oven. The verdict? YUM from both of us. The spices really kicked them up a notch and the applesauce added some great tones as well. The fridge is stocked full of muffins to carry us through a week of breakfast snacks on the go again.

time flies...

It's been a busy end of the ski season here at campchaos. We enjoyed the final day of the season with friends and I learned the hard way that Hot Cocoa is to remain suspect... and spent the evening after the final afternoon in a gluten fog.... arugh.

On a lighter note I was able to do a comparison of New Planet's Brews....  Tread Lightly still reigns supreme for me over Off Grid. I'm sure there will be times where I will love Off Grid. It's got a heavier, molasses flavor and my palate likes the light tones of Tread Lightly. I had a friend set up a blind test for me but I'll be honest- the color gave it away.

I've been trying a twist on my classic banana bread and adding blueberries instead of chocolate chips. (YUM- altough next time I'm going to look for mini blueberries instead of large ones.)

I've also been perfecting my knife skills on my chinese food and trying lots of veggie combos, Dave headed back east for a bit so I was able to eat the same meal all week for lunch and dinner.

From Droid think outside

I've also been on a Udi's love fest and even enjoyed a bagel sandwich with Justin's Chocolate Nut Butter and Bananas.... highly recommend it for a case of the Monday's. It's even better when you can pair it with a pair of cute furry faces cuddling on a dog bed together...

We're just getting back from a mini-vacation to a popular National Park... stay tuned for more photo's like this... it's a mere 6 hour drive from Telluride and one of the more dog friendly park's I've been to.

buckets strawberries and bananas in goodbad treats

I've been craving buckets of fruit to counteract the chilly winter this year. Last week I defrosted some strawberries and pureed them into my pancake mix (of which I use the Artisanal Gluten Free Cooking's recipe)

 I usually add chocolate to my pancakes but had the strawberry idea after a tasty batch of strawberry whoopie pies.

 They were sooo pretty in our new blue pan.

 I'm not sure why but in my mind strawberry pancakes scream out for a bit of coconut- which may get added to the batter in the next batch. These were wonderful and provided a great start to my ski day that also featured 10" of fluffy light snow.

A few days later life as we know it has become bananas- it's been building for a long while but has hit hard this week. It's a challenging time and I'm not ready to go into details but let's just say that my need for chocolate, comfort foods and stressful snacking have hit in full force.

I've also come to realize that when things go bad I have a need to plan and I need action. I can't sit around and dwell as it drives me crazy and I easily get sucked into the land of immobilization.
At this point the only thing I can control is the kitchen and playtime with the pups. My bucket of "things I can't control" is pretty enormous so I'm trying to focus on the other buckets- like the fruity ones...

So I'm trying to make my snacks "good-bad" as my friend Carol would say. A good snack that is a bit bad as well and really hits the spot. I hit both extremes during stress- I forget to eat or I binge. At least these two treats provide some much needed good things in addition to fulfilling my bad cravings.  

Plus Chaos and Mayhem are happy that these treats aren't energy zappers so we can get our much needed walks in during this stressful phase- I've even managed to sneak in a bit more playtime as I need the time outside more then them these days. 

Chocolate covered bananas

Chocolate Covered Bananas
Slice desired amount of bananas into desired pieces. I did 3 whole, peeled bananas into 3 even sections.
Freeze and forget until chilled
Melt one cup Chocolate chips in a small dish- be sure that your sizing allows for good banana dipping. That's why I like small banana sections.
Quickly coat chilly bananas in chocolate, one at a time and shake off excess chocolate. Dress as needed with candy or coconut. The chilly bananas will set the chocolate very quickly
If desired melt 1 cup white chocolate chips and re-dip bananas
Let the bananas chill again then wrap, store in freezer. Enjoy as needed.

banana bread

Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips redone from my 2009 version- so much better

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Mix Dry stuff in one bowl

2 cups GF Artisan flour blend this blend is enjoyed best by both me and my gluten-eating friends

1 tsp baking soda

.25 tsp salt

1 tsp xantham gum

In mixer (or by hand in second bowl)

1/2 Cup Butter or Earth's Balance (wait- don't throw wrapper away)

3/4 cup brown sugar

Blend together

Add

2 Eggs

3 over ripe bananas- I like mine to blend into the mix versus large chunks

Blend well

Add dry stuff and stir enough to mix and moisten dry with wet in small batches

Use butter wrapper to grease 9x5 loaf pan 8x8 Pyrex dish 

(this works best for me at 9,000 feet above sea level)

bake for 60 minutes until toothpick comes out clean

Cool in pan and slice and serve as needed

You can also stir in chocolate chips for a bit of flair

I also realized during this late night post that dinner had been forgotten so I snacked on a chocolate covered banana to carry me through the night.

snacking mayhem

Life has been pretty busy with the new pup in my life and I've been trying to eat well but have been going for a lot of quick meals and snacks. The change in seasons is also messing with my cravings and I'm no longer looking for hearty meals but craving fresh fruit which isn't always easy to find in a remote ski town. I can find fruit but I refuse to buy oranges or apples that are already soft or bruised. I'm really picky about how stuff looks.

I'm even going for really bad snacks that are chocked full of sugar but taste so good... the graham crackers themselves are not-so-good for you and then the chocolate peanut butter or frosting really make them over the top. The peanut butter topped grahams are really filling and get me through a long day at the office and give me the energy to sneak a ski break in. The lifts stop next Sunday so I'm trying to get a few last days in.

I did finally make time late last night to make banana bread. It was a good thing too as the bananas were almost too far gone. It's been a while since I've made it and I've been wanting to try a few changes.

Banana Bread

I had a few variations and loved this new style. My loaf pan seems to take forever to bake and the center is too moist while the outside is very dry. I used the Artisan Flour Blend, Earth's Balance, 1/2 cup of Enjoy Life Chocolate chips and an 8x8" glass pan. I also reduced the baking time. At 9,500 above sea level it took 60 minutes for the toothpick to come out clean. The new pan shape helped ensure that the middle was cooked and the edges weren't too dry.

I wasn't able to try it last night but had some on my way to drop Mayhem off at the vet this morning. The poor little guy went in to get neutered and came home in a cone head. Chaos also had a few routine shots this afternoon. He's had to wear the cone before and I'm pretty sure he was thrilled it wasn't his turn today!

are things just peachy or am i going bananas?

things here at camp chaos have been busy... we celebrated dave's birthday with friends and our gluten free betty crocker cake mixes. Celebrated the famous Palisade Peaches from our farmer's market with a Peach Crisp... and a Granny Smith Apple Crisp for a bit of variety. I enjoy peaches but can't wait until it's time to pick apples! I had done some research for my crisp and devised a recipe. I have never had a problem with Oats and decided to go with my old quaker standby instead of searching for GF oats.... that was a mistake! It was a mild reaction but I still noticed and pawned the leftovers off on others.

Then last night we wandered the market trying to come up with lunch plans for the week and all I could think about were chocolate covered frozen bananas. I'm so picky that I can't buy the pre made box from the store... I have to make them. My patience wore thin as I melted chocolate (TWICE!) and I ended up with two decent looking banana pops and 6 that looked horrid but still taste ok. My melted chocolate became hard quickly and I was only able to coat two banana pops nicely before the chocolate got lumpy. I was irrationally mad about my failed banana pops.... ok i'm actually mad about other things and taking them out on my bananas.

I wasn't ever really diagnosed.

Last November when I started to realize what was causing my symptoms (the ones I realized were issues... and now looking back there are so many others that I didn't notice... who would have thought my joint pain would go away?) I quit wheat for four days and felt great. I reintroduced it and the sore throat, headaches and fugue came back. I did what anyone would do... I avoided what made me sick and eventually made it to the doctors. I "wheat loaded" right before going to the doctor so they could see what it was doing to me. However I never dreamed that it was anything but an allergy/intolerance. They took blood and ran it for a food allergy and also for celiac. My test came back as a negative for celiac but now I wonder.... was it a false negative? It was a good chunk of time that I had avoided wheat before going to the doctor. I gave up wheat then learned more about gluten and cut 99% of that out too (I'm not always careful) So many of my symptoms line up... I'm now having trouble tolerating dairy... I don't want to give that up too but I don't want to feel horrid either. Do I need to give that up or just cut back? Am I having problems because of something else?

I went back to the doctor and relayed my concerns.  I came armed with my theories and books. I told her what was going on and how I was feeling. I want to know if I am just having some "food issues" or if I have a real disease. She told me that if I am having an issue with a food then I should just give up that food... but it's not that easy. GF, wheat free, dairy free.... none of these are "easy" and while I know that my health has improved I have a need to know. Why could I eat Ben and Jerry's last month but now can't tolerate a bit of chese melted over veggies? I don't miss Milk. I've never really liked milk and didn't mind going to to a vanilla soymilk for cereal and baking. I do love ice cream.... I do love cheese... I can give those up if needed but I need to know if  I have to. She's referred me to a gastroenterologist and I'm waiting for information from them... I live in a small mountain town and nothing is close or easy to get to... for some reason I really want a true diagnosis... I need to know are things just peachy the way they are or am I going bananas?

wheat free banana bread

Dave hates bananas and I have trouble committing to a whole bunch. They used to become banana bread and this week I went back to my old ways of eating 3 bananas and turning the leftovers into bread. It came out nice and dense, a little crumbly but very good. I head in the morning with a bit of butter.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Mix Dry stuff in one bowl

2 cups featherweight flour blend

1 tsp baking soda

.25 tsp salt

1 tsp xantham gum

In mixer (or by hand in second bowl)

1/2 Cup Butter (wait- don't throw wrapper away)

3/4 cup brown sugar

Blend together

Add

2 Eggs

3 over ripe bananas

Blend well

Add dry stuff and stir enough to mix and moisten dry with wet

Use butter wrapper to grease 9x5 loaf pan

bake for 60-65 minutes until toothpick comes out clean

Cool in pan for 10 minutes the remove and rest on wire rack

You can also stir in chocolate chips for a bit of flair