Coconut Banana Banana Bread

Ingredients

2 cups organic flour (white and/or wheat)

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 salt

1/2 cup coconut oil (softened)

1/2-3/4 cup coconut sugar

2 eggs, beaten

2 1/3 cups mashed overripe bananas
1/4 water

*Add ins: 1/4-1/3 cup Chocolate Chips (I like Enjoy Life dairy, nut, & soy free), 1/2-1 cup Chopped walnuts or pecans.

*Sometimes I add in a little bit of brown sugar with the coconut sugar.

*When using coconut oil it needs to be softened. It's melting point is 76 deg. If it's solid I spoon it out the into a bowl and mash it to soften it and then measure desired amount. 

*The water makes them more moist.

Directions

1- Preheat oven to 350 deg. F. and if using a loaf pan, lightly oil and dust with flour. If using a muffin pan I love these "If You Care" baking cups. 

2- Mix flour, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl cream together coconut oil and coconut sugar. Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture. Add in your chocolate chips and/or nuts if wanted. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan or scoop into muffin cups. If baking with wheat let it rest for 10mins. 

3- Bake for 60-65mins for 9x5 loaf pan or 18-20mins for muffin pans.

*A good tip when baking with wheat is to let the batter sit and hydrate for 10 mins. The wheat is more course and this give it some time to absorb the liquid and soften the bran and germ of the wheat. Also, it may need more cooking time. 

For muffins I highly suggest getting this Vollrath Disher!! I love these scoopers. They make it so much easier to dish out the right and consistant amount of batter for muffins, cookies, meat balls, etc. For the pictured muffin I used a yellow size 20 disher (1 5/8oz or 3.25Tbs). If you want them a little bigger I'd suggest going with the blue size 16 disher (2oz or 4Tbs). If I want a higher rounded muffin I will do a heaping scoop of batter with my yellow #20 disher. 

Enjoy!

Coconut Sugar Banana Muffins

These Banana Muffins are now our favorite go to muffins. I've made them organic and am so glad they are fast and easy to whip up! I use this recipe from All Recipes, but have altered a few ingredients, so you can make to your liking :) I replaced the sugar with organic coconut sugar (and reduced it), I replaced the butter with organic coconut oil, and the flour with organic stone ground wheat. I also occasionally add nuts, coconut flakes, or healthy organic dark chocolate.

My family and friends have absolutely loved them!

Organic Coconut Sugar Banana Muffins

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups    organic stone ground wheat
• 1 tsp              baking powder (Rumford Aluminum Free Non-gmo)
• 1 tsp              baking soda
• 1 tsp              sea salt (Redmond Real Salt)
• 1 cup             bananas, mashed (use this conversion calculator for bananas)
• 1/2 cup         organic coconut palm sugar
• 1 egg              preferably pasture raised
• 1/3 cup          melted organic coconut oil

Directions 

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Put muffins liners into the muffin pan. (I used these unbleached/non-toxic muffin liners). Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. 
2. Mix together the banana, coconut sugar, egg, and melted coconut oil in a large bowl. Pour in the dry ingredients until mixed smoothly. Add in your nuts and/or chocolate, coconut flakes if wanted. Then scoop batter into your muffin pan. (I love this disher/scooper that I have, find it here on amazon). 
3. Bake in oven for 25-30 mins. Bake mini muffins for 10-15 mins.

Mix it all together, fill your muffin pans, put it in the oven, and enjoy the smell of baking banana bread. Yum!!

Enjoy it with a cup of milk or in our case a diary free coconut/rice milk combo!!!

They are perfect snacks to enjoy :)

So Good Chicken Salad Wraps

These Organic Chicken Salad Wraps were so so good!

This is one of my fast and easy meals to put together because I always have plenty of quart size ziplock bags filled with organic shredded dark chicken meat ready to use. I regularly buy two whole organic chickens that I cook, separate the white and dark meat, and then use the bones to make broth. It's much less expensive buying organic whole chickens and using EVERYTHING, than it is to buy organic meat and broth separately. It can be a bit of a process, but it's easy and so worth it!

Ingredients:

Organic Sir Kensington's Mayonnaise

Organic Dark Chicken Meat

Organic Green Grapes

Organic Celery

Lemon

S&P

So after adding everything in a big bowl you know what to do...

Mix it all together.

Add extra sea salt, pepper, or lemon to taste.

Top it onto your favorite lettuce.

I love butter lettuce for its softness or iceberg for its crispness.

Add some veggie sides...

And enjoy!

Just one word on the Sir Kensington's Mayonnaise...

DELICIOUS

Good ingredients and so tasty.....

My hubby loves this Siracha Mayonnaise.

There are plenty of great ones right HERE that include Avocado Oil Mayo, Organic Mayo, their Classic Mayo, Chipotle Mayo, their Special Sauce, Dijonnaise, they also have "Fabanaise"a vegan mayor and from what I hear awesome ketchups and mustards. I bought this Siracha Mayo at my local Albertson's that costed $8. Yeah, expensive. However, thankfully I found it at my favorite online food/supplement company Vitacost. Yes!!! Check out their super good prices HERE!

: )

The Party Plate: "Corn Chip Pie!"

Today's lunch plate was a leftover leftover party!!!

In lieu, of the awesome chili recipes, we put all our leftovers from the last few days on this plate, thus the party plate!!...

Frito Corn Chips on the bottom, leftover homemade veggie chili, mixed w/ our leftover Annie's Organic Mac&Cheese and black bean soup, and green beans. Then topped with sharp cheddar cheese and our salad!

Oh yeah, who doesn't like a party plate and lifesaving leftovers all in one!

My kids sure enjoyed the party :)

Our Favorite Bacon & Egg Sandwich

This is one of my kids favorite breakfast Bacon & Egg Sandwich!

I don't bribe them with candy, I bribe them with Bacon!!

Seriously. To get them up and going in the morning I say, "If you hurry and get in the shower, get dressed, and come downstairs...I'll make you some bacon."

Works every time.

I don't always buy it, but when I do they are sure quick to listen and get movin. Lol! The breakfast norm is oatmeal, so they look forward to this!

Here are our special ingredients....

Sure, it's a no brainer to make a egg sandwich, but just like any fine dish it's all about the ingredients and where they came from.

These are locally raised and pastured farm eggs and I can talk directly to the friend that I got them from. They can tell me exactly everything the hens eat, which includes bugs, spiders, and insects. I can also see for myself where hens live and where they roam, which is everywhere around the yard and farm. My kids LOVE going to play at their house and chase and catch the chickens. Very cool!

Happy chickens = Healthy Eggs

Here's a good article to know why...eggs are definitely NOT created equal.

It's so important to understand the differences of the eggs you can buy and why it's important to eat pastured eggs. Even buying organic eggs at the grocery store doesn't even compare to pastured raised chickens.

And I can't forget to mention that you know you have a good healthy pastured egg just by the color of the yolk. It's so beautiful, I can't even say how lovely they look after you crack them open and drop it into the pan or bowl. It's a nice golden color. It's not a dull or yellow.

Here's the difference...

Photo from the article above, The Rising Spoon.

Well, I hope I've convinced you to seek out a local farmer that will sell you their eggs!

I fry them in some butter on our cast iron skillet and sprinkle some garlic powder, sea salt, and pepper on top.

Next up....

The Bacon!

Just as the eggs, it's important to buy healthy bacon. Which most people are scared to eat (for good reason due to certain health conditions), but when bacon comes from the right place it has a plethora of healthy fats, which our brain and body need!

This Applegate Organics is a good stuff...uncrured, isn't preserved, no nitrates or nitrates added, no antibiotics given, and is also gluten and casin free for those sensitive and/or intolerant to those proteins. Which, because I am so sensitive I have to avoid regular store bought bacon because of all the ingredients included.

Then top it all off on some 100% Sprouted Whole Grain Ezekiel Bread.

My kids love this cinnamon raisin toast.

Sprouted grains breads are better than other wheat breads because...

Sprouting grains, nuts, seeds, or beans (soaking the gain or seeds in water before use they begin to grow/sprout) releases vital nutrients that are in these foods. It becomes alive, which give it more protein, vitamins, and minerals that make it easier for our bodies to absorb properly and digest to get the best and most optimal nutrients.  Because there is something in grains called phytic acid which binds to minerals and other nutrients in our body and when it exits our bodies it has bonded to and takes these important nutrients along with it. This binding decreases the absorption of vital nutrients, like iron, zinc, calcium, and magnesium.

So, that is why many people, especially among ancient civilizations and cultures, soak their grains to reduce the phytic acid, which of course they didn't know about phytic acid, but they did pay attention to how foods digested better in their bodies due to how they felt. Genius. The more I learn about food the more I come to know that our ancestors knew SO MUCH about how to properly store, prepare, use, and make use of the food they grew and came upon to get the most nutrients out of them and help their bodies function and work properly. It's no wonder nowadays all the health problems we face because of our improper use, preparation, and consumption of food. It's so important to listen to your body. Pain = your bodies way of telling you something is wrong and needs to be fixed. But, think of pain as your friend and try to figure it out and feel better!

Well, that's what I think, but not all agree. I always say, "we live now, today and you have to give and take." Because I can't do things exactly as my ancestors did, but I can learn as much as I can and do my best to provide me and my family the best way of life.

But, when we don't have any Ezekiel Bread we use our favorite good ol' Apsen Mills Honey Whole Wheat Bread. Made in Utah, which when family comes we have them buy and bring like 12 loaves for us to put into the freezer. :)

So, hopefully you can go out and find some good fine ingredients to make your....

Yum!

  

Sticky Sesame Drumsticks

Another good chicken marinade!

Sticky Sesame Chicken Drumsticks

Austrailian Good Taste (magazine)

Recipe by Michells Southan

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup tomato sauce
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 T sesame seeds

Directions

• Combine the tomato sauce, soy sauce and honey in a glass or ceramic bowl. Add the chicken and toss to coat. Cover and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to marinate.

• Preheat oven to 200°C. Line a baking tray with non-stick baking paper. Place the chicken on the tray and bake in oven, turning once, for 40 minutes. Sprinkle with the sesame seeds and bake for a further 15 minutes or until the chicken is golden and cooked through. Place on a serving platter and serve with sweet chilli sauce.

*I didn't follow the cooking instructions. I just baked all the chicken together in a baking dish for 25-30 mins 375 degrees. Checking the internal heat, which shouldn't be all the way cooked through yet. And then placed them spaced out on a baking sheet lined with tin foil for 10 mins. Then turning on the broiler to get the charred look for a minutes watching them and then flipping them and broiling for another few mins.

Next up…

Soy and Chile glazed Brussels Sprouts...

Better Home & Garden Recipe

Ingredients

• -1lb Brussels Sprouts
• -4 green onions
• -2 T orange juice
• -1 T soy sauce
• -1 1/2 tsp honey
• -1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
• -1 clove of garlic minced
• -1 1/2 tsp oil

Directions

• Trim Brussels sprouts;** cut lengthwise into quarters. Finely chop one of the green onions; cut the remaining three green onions diagonally into 1-inch pieces. In a small bowl stir together orange peel, orange juice, soy sauce, honey, serrano pepper, and garlic. Set aside.
• Working in a well-ventilated area, in a large skillet heat oil over medium-high heat. Add Brussels sprouts, mushrooms, and green onions. Cook and stir for 8 to 10 minutes or until sprouts are blackened in places and are nearly tender.
• Pour orange juice mixture over sprout mixture; toss to coat. Cook and stir for 3 to 4 minutes more or until sprouts are tender.

*To trim Brussels sprouts, cut off the stems just at the spot where the leaves start to grow. Remove dark green outer leaves until the tender, light green leaves are uniformly exposed.

I used cauliflower and not mushrooms and baked it in the oven. At first The Fish Fam didn't really enjoy the flavor of the Brussels Sprouts, but said it was just weird at first and then got better.

Last but not least I cooked the brown rice in my amazing pressure cooker.

It was done in about 30mins. Wow!

Usually, cooking time fore brown rice is hours!

Enjoy :)

Maple Peanut Sesame Chicken

This meal was awesome!

Following a low fodmap diet can be oh so tricky and confusing, but I'm working on it and finding some good meals to make. Kate Scarlata is a well know Fodmap expert and she has plenty of great recipes. Including this one...

Maple Peanut Sesame Chicken

By Kate Scarlata

From Well Balanced

Ingredients

• 1 pound chicken tenders (boneless, skinless)
• 2 Tablespoons all natural peanut butter
• 1 Tablespoon sesame oil
• 3 Tablespoons reduced sodium tamari (soy sauce)
• 1 Tablespoon sesame seeds
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons pure maple syrup

Instructions

1. Wash and pat dry chicken.
2. In medium casserole dish, add peanut butter, sesame oil, soy sauce, sesame seeds, ginger and maple syrup whisking to blend.
3. Add chicken and toss to coat with mixture.
4. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes-several hours.
5. Keep chicken in 'marinade' and place casserole uncovered in oven.
6. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Serve over rice vermicelli noodles or baby salad greens.
   
   
   I made this meal to feed to our sister missionaries and they loved it. We have them over often and finally I made something that we could all eat. Yay!
   
   
   I also make my own dressing, which I pour a little bit of this and that in.
   Depending on how much you need make accordingly and let call it...
   
   
   Garlic Infused Ginger Dressing
   
   
   

   -Garlic Infused Olive Oil

   -Coconut Aminos
   -Sesame Oil
   -Squeezed Lemon
   -Ground Ginger
   -S&P
   
   
   I've also added some vinegar, just a little bit, and maple syrup to sweeten it up for guests. Infused oils are delicious a must do in cooking! Add the most of the olive oil, then just a bit less of coconut aminos or soy sauce, a little bit of sesame oil for that toasted sesame flavor, as little or as much fresh squeezed lemon as you like, prob less though, about a pinch of ground ginger, and salt and pepper to taste.
   
   
   We also had this oh so good...
   
   
   
   
   
   Which I was also able to enjoy for the first time in who knows how long!!
   
   
   I made Against All Grain Paleo Pie Crust.
   (gotta buy her book for the recipe.)
   
   
   
   
   
   Beans are used as my "pie weights" while baking.
   
   
   Then find my previous Lemon Meringue Pie post for the filling.
   
   
   Oh happy day :)
   
   

Breakfast Scrambled Eggs

These are my favorite scrambled eggs to make!

-2-6 organic eggs

(depending on how many I'm feeding)

-Sm. amount rice/coconut/almond milk

-1tsp garlic infused olive oil

-1/2 tsp coconut aminos

(it's like soy sauce)

-Sea salt & pepper

- maybe some sesame oil

-chopped red/green/yellow bell peppers

-chopped cilantro

I first put some ghee or you can use butter to heat in pan. And then cooked the bell peppers.

Everything else I gently mix in a bowl and then add to the pan.

Good thing to remember when cooking eggs is...low and slow.

So, turn down the heat and cook 'em slow.

I put it over rice and might add a little bit more coconut aminos.

Yum!

Meatball Soup

This is a life saving leftover’s meal!

I make a lot of bone broth from chicken backs that I get at Wholefoods. After cooking it I let it cool overnight in the fridge and then put it in freezer bags and store in the freezer and get it out when need to use it. Easy peezy!

After heating up the frozen chicken broth I add my cut up veggies...carrots, zucchini, and yellow squash, which most of the time these veggies are pre-steamed or cut up and in a container already in the fridge. I make sure my rice is ready to go as well.

***Always make sure to clean your rice before you cook it!!! After measuring the rice put it in the pot and I like using clean purified water from our water filter to clean the rice over and over by grabbing it with my hands and rubbing it and then dumping the water out carefully to not let the rice dump out. Seriously, repeat this over and over until the water runs clear or is close to it. Rice naturally has arsenic, its in the soil, it can be reduced by cleaning the rice very well. Also, this is what Chinese people do...they always clean their rice!

Then I also used my leftover meatball to add in.

Add in sea salt, pepper, other spices to taste.

*** I also just learned that to make broths low fodmap you have to be careful about what types of bones you use. If it's from bones that still have lots of cartilage and remains it still has, I think, a good amount of polyols that will irritate your gut. It did mine, but it took awhile for me to finally discover it. So, for low fodmap Dr. Allison Siebecker suggests making bone broth that is from purely bones.

Super good!

Stew & Frybread

The Fish Fam sure enjoyed this meal...

Navajo Frybread & Stew

I'm Navajo and growing up I always enjoyed helping my grandma, mom, and aunties all make or rather "flap" the dough, to get it stretched and ready to fry in the pan. Unfortunately, I never learned how to make the dough. Sad I know. But, I sure can flap out the dough. But, getting the dough just right so it's nice and soft and easy to flap is an art that doesn't include measurements! It's all about watching your Masani (grandma) and learning.

But, in the last few times that I've made my own dough, and yes did have to use measurements, it's came out pretty good. The thing that might be funny is this is an all organic fry bread. Lol! It's even fried in organic shortening from mechanically pressed palm oil. A much healthier option than the usual crisco or vegetable oil.

Seriously, read this article here why vegetable oils and margarines are so toxic for our bodies.

You can use this recipe for a general idea and try at making your own dough...

Navajo Tortillas or Frybread

3 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/3 cups warm water

Mix flour, baking powder and salt. Add 1 cup of the water and mix, adding more water as needed to make dough soft but not sticky. Knead smooth. It's best to let it sit on the counter with a towel over it to let it soften up, makes it easier to work with. When ready tear off a chunk about the size of a small peach. Roll in a ball then flatten out to about 1/8 inch. And flap and stretch it if you know how or just use a rolling pin. Put in pan or cast iron skillet or in hot oil to fry (carefully do so dipping the dough in the pan closest to you and slowly laying down the dough away from you until it is all in the oil, be so carefully to not drop the dough in or it will splash oil all over). Watch it closely and turn and cook on other side.

Serve with Navajo mutton stew. Yum!

Or in this case beef stew. They didn't have any mutton this time at the store.

Beef Stew

Meat:

1- 1 1/2 pounds stew beef

Vegetables:

1 onion, chopped

2-4 cubed potatoes

2-4 carrot, chopped

2-4 celery stalks, chopped

1 zucchini & yellow squash each

*All to your liking or add different veggies.

Seasonings:

1 bay leaf

1 teaspoons dried sage

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon dried parsley

*All to your liking

Flour Mix:

½ cup flour

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper

10-12 cups beef broth

2 tablespoons oil

The broth for our beef stew was made out of beef bones that we cooked in our pressure cooker, an Insta Pot, so amazing! Then I coated the beef chunks in 1/2 cup gluten free flour, 1/2 tsp of salt, and 1/2 tsp of pepper....mixed and shook meat and flour in a ziplock bag until it was well coated. Then added the oil to the pot and cooked it until it was browned all all sides, took a few minutes. Then I took it out and placed it on a plate. Next, add a little beef broth, maybe a little bit more oil to sauté the onions until caramelized and soft. Add in all the beef broth, meat, and chopped up vegetables. Cook until veggies are soft and ready!

You can make this stew in the crock pot or pressure cooker (find a good recipe and follow instructions exactly).

Also, add more sea salt (prob more of this) and pepper to taste.

While it's cooking get your dough ready and whalla, enjoy!