Gluten-free, dairy-free blueberry banana bread

After eating almost exclusively fresh, local fruit all summer, with the change of season there is less selection and I've had to go back to fruit from he grocery store - including bananas, which I skipped almost all summer. My first banana purchase this fall was a bunch of 6, of which I only ate 2 before the other four started browning - perfect for making banana bread. I have a recipe I found last year that I have modified somewhat to be gluten-free and dairy-free. Enjoy!

The basic ingredients: Arrowhead Mills Gluten-Free Baking Mix,
almond meal, canola oil, organic cane sugar, baking soda,
baking powder, salt, pumpkin pie spice, ginger, cinnamon,
cloves, vanilla, ripe bananas, lemon (zested), 2 eggs,
frozen blueberries

1 3/4 cups of GF baking mix, plus a couple
tablespoons of flax seed

Pour into bowl

Add 2 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda, and 1/2 tsp of salt

Add spices: ginger, some pumpkin pie spice, cloves

Blend

1/4 c. of almond meal

Grate about 1 tsp. of lemon zest

Add almond meal and lemon zest to bowl and mix.

Puree bananas.

... until smooth

Add 1/2 cup of oil and 3/4 cup of sugar to mixer.

Blend

Add eggs (this was 2 eggs, but one had a double yolk)

Blend

Until smooth

Spoon in flour blend to egg-oil-sugar mix.

Alternate with blended banana.

Add a bit of vanilla and blend.

Add 1 c. of frozen blueberries

Blend

Pour into greased pan and bake at 350 F for 1 hr.

Should be golden when done.

Serve warm with butter or margarine. Yummy!

Super Tee

So today I was Super SEA in my Super T - that's right, my new favorite Superman t-shirt. I guess it started yesterday when I wore my Superman Fleece, which after nearly 10 years is still my all-time favorite even though it is now itchy inside from the pilling. Yesterday my superpower was translating 750+ lines in one day - generally I only translate 300-500 per day max. It was definitely a record-setting day. Today, in my Superman t-shirt I proofed yesterday's work, baked some awesome gluten-free blueberry banana bread (to be posted separately), ran last minute errands before heading to the mountains and in the process made the Walmart cashier smile. My Superman t-shirt was directly responsible for the latter. I asked how her day was going and she said she was tired. Seeing my t-shirt, she then asked whether my t-shirt could give energy boosts, so I did a comical flex of the arms and smiled. I think it made her day. The only thing my t-shirt doesn't seem to be able to do for me is get rid of a cold that has been in the works all day. I woke up with a scratchy throat and the sniffles, which during the car ride to the mountains progressed into a constant slight throat soreness and a now non-stop runny nose with a slight headache. I'm hoping it will get better soon - I really don't want to spend my vacation weekend with a cold.

Today's Produce Box! October 6, 2010

After a 2 week between-season break, the Produce Box started its fall season today. I put out my empty box this morning, and when I went outside just before noon a new box full of fall bounty was waiting for me. Be looking for some new recipes soon. I can't wait to make some homemade hot apple cider, vegan/gluten-free stuffed bell peppers and some other things. I've got 4 really ripe bananas just begging to be made into banana bread (GF of course), so that should be coming up soon.

This week included 4 field tomatoes, 2 green bell peppers, 1 huge eggplant, 4 ears of white corn, Kennebec potatoes, 2 yellow squash and a bag of mountain apples.

Delicious tuna salad!

Tuna salad is one of those things you might not always look forward to having, but maybe that's just because you haven't had the right kind - as in my absolutely delicious take on tuna salad. Try it for yourself and find out why you'll soon be craving more!

The main ingredients: tuna (premium white chunk),
onion, grape tomatoes, celery, Granny Smith apple,
pecans, mayo, raisins, Arabian spices (lemon not pictured)

Chop some of the onion in slices and dice the rest.

 

Put some olive oil in a pan and heat over medium heat.

Add onion and saute.

Halve grape tomatoes.

Add to onions in pan and saute.

 

Squeeze the juice of 2 lemons.

Add the juice of one lemon to the onions and tomatoes.

Add Arabic spices.

Saute and stir like so.

Drain 2 cans of tuna and place in bowl.

Chop half of a Granny Smith apple.

Add to tuna.

Add diced onion to tuna and apples.

Chop celery...

And add to the bowl.

Add a handful of raisins to the bowl.

Add some chopped pecans to the bowl.

Add the onion-tomato blend from the pan.

Add the remaining lemon juice (of one lemon).

Stir to blend all ingredients

Add 2-3 large dollops of mayo.

Stir to blend. Then put in refrigerator to chill
before serving.

Suggested serving: on a bed of spinach with a side of
Archer Farms (Target brand) Jalapeno and Black Bean Tortilla Chips.
Also great on sandwiches or in wraps.

Brrrrr!

It's early October and while the daytime temps are in the 60s to low 70s, at night it gets down into the 50s and I start to get the chills. After enjoying the fresh air by leaving my windows open for the past couple of days, the pleasant summer indoor temperature of around 80 degrees was quickly replaced by my winter "heat" setting (the highest I set my energy-saving thermostat, which is currently off) of 70 (20 C). This is the temperature at which I start wearing lots of layers, a warm wool hat indoors, knee-high socks, and constantly carry around a hot water bottle and drink cup after cup of hot tea. For me it already feels like winter has arrived. The warmest spot in the house is again under my down duvet. For this coming cold season, I did, however, finally schedule to get my gas logs hooked up, which should happen within the next couple of weeks. After freezing for most of last winter trying to be energy efficient at settings most people might feel comfortable with, this year the gas logs are an absolute necessity. I feel most comfortable at temperatures in the 80s and have even been "diagnosed" with cold intolerance. That was the whole reason I went to the doctor in the first place - who knew it would actually be the diagnosis. I could never understand how in the middle of winter Germans would fling open all the windows for some fresh winter air - they told me to just do knee squats to get my circulation going. It worked only marginally. I like fresh air, but I much prefer being warm. Speaking of warm - my electric kettle just clicked off to let me know the water for my hot water bottle is ready. Next up, a pot of hot tea!

It's hot cocoa time! (dairy-free)

Finishing up the weekend with one of my favorite things to enjoy when the weather starts to get chilly: hot cocoa! And this is not just any ordinary cocoa - no prepackaged mixes, but instead the way I learned to make it from my host dad. Here's my variation on his recipe: 2 tsp. of cocoa powder, 1 packet of powdered stevia, a dash of cinnamon, add just enough boiling water to make a paste, fill the rest of the cup with almond milk and microwave until hot (beverage setting). Stir and enjoy!

October is here!

The first day of October couldn't have been any more beautiful. Sunny weather in the 70s, no humidity, the kind of weather you wish would last all year. The only drawback is that I'm not too crazy about the chilly nights except that I now love drinking hot beverages again and cuddling up under a warm blanket or covers. Since I'll be doing some work this weekend, I mostly took today off. I started the day by hitting the ice rink and skating for about 45 minutes - my first time back on the ice since June when I decided to take a summer break since there were too many kids there during public sessions to enjoy practicing. Now that school is back in session, morning public sessions will be much more pleasant. I'm signed back up for lessons, which I'll start again on Monday. I could tell that I'll need to do some work to get back to where I was in June (my spinning needs some work, but the jumps seem to be ok), but I also think my blades need sharpened. I don't regret the summer break since it gave me the opportunity to do some other things so that I could look forward to skating again.

After skating I did some errands - made the trip to Aldi and Trader Joe's to stock up on some things to hold me over until my Produce Box arrives next week. They took a 2 week break between the summer and fall season and my supplies were starting to run low. Be on the lookout for some new recipes soon. I'll be sure to come up with some more delicious dishes!

This evening I had a very pleasant evening attending the First Night art festival downtown. Before meeting up with a friend I picked up a pumpkin for my front porch and soon hope to get some fall flowers - maybe mums - to go along with it. After meeting up with my friend we visited several galleries, then met up with one of his friends, walked around, grabbed dinner, and checked in with some other friends in another area downtown. The three of us ultimately ended up sitting in a coffee shop talking until well after it had closed, but since the staff had a lot of cleaning up to do before they could leave they let us stay. My hair and clothes now smell like freshly roasted coffee - quite a nice smell indeed.

I had a great evening, enjoyed the art and conversation, but am now getting really tired and probably should get to sleep. Gute Nacht!