Eating In: Gluten-Free Banana Nut Bread

Banana bread is just an all time favorite of mine. My mom always made it growing up, and gave it away at Christmas time. I have so many memories of watching my mom smash the bananas with the sugar and thinking how much fun it looked! I recently emailed my mom asking for the recipe she uses so I could convert it to gluten-free. We were going on vacation to Hilton Head in a couple of days and I wanted to make something gluten-free to snack on and have available for breakfast in case our hotel didn't serve anything I could eat. Here is a picture of us from our recent trip. 

Brian (beloved boyfriend), Me, and Mom

It came out darker than the non-gluten free loaf I was used to, but it was super moist  delicious and favored by all types of eaters!

Banana Nut Bread

Ingredients: 

2/3 cups of margarine
1 1/2 cups of sugar
2 eggs
1 cup of brown rice flour
5 TBSP of arrowroot powder
3 TBSP of tapioca starch
3/4 TSP of xantham gum (do not leave this out!!)
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of vanilla
4 tablespoons of milk
3 very ripe mashed bananas
1 cup of chopped walnuts


Directions: 

1. Cream the butter and sugar together.  

2. When fluffy, add eggs and blend.

3. Sift the flour arrowroot powder, tapioca starch, xantham gum, baking powder and salt.  

4. Add the flour mixture to the creamed butter, sugar and eggs.  Alternate adding the flour and the
milk......a little flour, then a tablespoon of milk, then a little flour,
etc.  Mix all together as you add.  

5. Add the bananas and nuts  

6. And finally the vanilla.  

Cook on 350 for 45 minutes to an hour.

Eating In: All Natural Gluten-Free Chili

Last week I sat down, wrote out a meal plan, planned out a grocery list, and went shopping. Both my boyfriend and I are trying our best to lose weight, and save money. It is so hard to eat all natural, healthy, and gluten-free on a tight budget. This meal however is super cheap. This is also a good meal to make big batches of and freeze for later!

When your goal is to eat all natural, gluten-free, and low cal, it is important to take your time at the grocery store and read ingredients. Just remember, you can't judge a book by it's cover. Don't be surprised when trusted brands try and trick you, and add a bunch of yucky stuff!

I couldn't find a canned bean that was all natural, so I chose a dry bean. When I cooked the beans, I put some of the spice pack in with the beans as I cooked them. The meat mixture is a 1/3 grassfed beef, and 2/3 ground turkey. I bought 1 lb. grassfed beef, and 2 lbs. ground turkey. When I got home from the grocery store, I mixed all the meats and divided it into four parts. I then froze all bags in the freezer for other planned meals: stuffed peppers, meatloaf (see recipe), and burgers. The McCormick spice packet is all natural too! I know it is shocking that a spice pack can be all natural, but it is...here is your proof.

This chili turned out pretty spicy! So if you are sensitive to spicy things, cut the amount you put in the crock pot.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup of dried pinto beans (cook according to directions on the bag)
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 can of tomato sauce
1 cup of water
1/2 to 1 package of Tex Mex Chili Seasoning
1/2 large onion
2 cloves of garlic finely minced
Meat Mixture 1/4 lb. of grass fed beef, and 3/4 lb. of ground turkey

Directions:
Cook beans according to package directions (will take a while, may want to do in advance)
Brown meat in pan
Add all ingredients in slow cooker and cook on high for 5 hours