Blueberry-Banana Bread

I have made this bread a few times in the past. I was looking for a recipe that contained no refined sugars and found this one. It truly is very yummy and my kids devour it every time I make it. I have changed a couple of things from the original recipe, but only to substitute what I had on hand. Please visit fatfreevega.com for the original recipe.

Blueberry-Banana Bread

• 3 large over-ripe bananas


• 2 tablespoons lemon juice


• 1/3 cup (80 ml) Almond Milk (or apple sauce)


• 1/2 cup (120 ml) maple syrup


• 2 cups (240 g) whole wheat flour


• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder


• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda


• 1/2 teaspoon salt


• 1 cup (240 ml) blueberries(fresh or frozen)

Chocolate Peanut Butter Smoothie

If you love Chocolate and Peanut Butter you will LOVE this smoothie. The best thing about it, it is SUGAR FREE!!

Enjoy!

• 2 cups almond milk or other non-dairy milk




• 2 large ripe bananas -peeled, broken into pieces and frozen




• 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder




• 3 tablespoons unsweetened and unsalted peanut butter or almond butter




• ¼ teaspoon instant espresso coffee(optional)




• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

In a blender, combine all of the ingredients; blend on high speed until smooth, about 2 minutes.

When I make this, I make it without espresso, but I can only imagine it is very good with it.

recipe adapted from Silvana's Kitchen

http://silvanaskitchen.com/2011/01/gluten-free-dairy-free-chocolate-peanut-butter-smoothie/

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EDITED recipe

I have experimented with this recipe and came up with a very quick yummy version.

• 1 cup chocolate almond milk or rice milk(rice milk is sugar free)or cows milk



• 2 tbsp peanut butter



• 1 frozen banana (or unfrozen)

blend it all up for a very simple yummy smoothie. The frozen banana will give this a milkshake consistency, but if you don't have any then just use a ripe banana for the flavour. You could also try adding some ice for that smoothie consistency.

The Fit

Here today, gone tomorrow. Just like that our little black car(the Honda Fit) is completely smashed due to some crazy kids running a flashing red light.
First and foremost, my Husband is 100% ok, amazingly not a scratch to be found, maybe a stiff neck and back that could use some physio. He walked away a little shaken, he ended up T-boning a full size van(Toyota Sienna) with a bunch of teenagers driving after curfew, no full license behind their names and passengers that were illegally present in the van.

What have I taken from this experience? Many things.
The Honda Fit is amazing at safety! My husband went from 60k to 0k in 0 seconds flat with a head-on collision and lived to tell about it.
I learned my husband has a lot of strength to move forward from situations that I otherwise would probably be traumatised about for weeks if not months. I already knew I loved my husband more than anything, but when I saw our little car and what was left of it I got very choked up and realised how lucky we really are that nothing serious has come from this.
On a down side, I am saddened that some young kids think they are invisible to risk their lives and others for an evening out. I am also upset that our brand new car(only 1 year old to the day!) is gone and we have to fight with our insurance company to get out of this in some way benefiting us. I find it funny how the accident is not even our fault yet we might have to fight for our rights.

Live each day like it is your last. Hug your spouse, snuggle your children and eat some good food!

No to Facebook?

I did it, I left Facebook and all the time wasting energy behind.

With some recent events happening in my life I had this overhwleming feeling that Facebook was really nothing but a times waster and I was letting it enable me to do just that.

I actually feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders and I feel so free now. I might not know when Janet ate her last cookie, or when Sally goes on her next vacation, but I do know that everyone I care deeply about will stay in contact with me through e-mail, phone and coffee chats(which are the best!).

Gingerbread cookies

My little peanut and I made some yummy gluten free/dairy free ginger cookies today.

I have been having so much luck with Slivana Nardone's cook book(Cooking for Isaiah) that I look forward to the next recipe I might try. I like to keep some sweet treats in the freezer for those short notice play dates, or tea with my girlfriends.

These ginger cookies are very good and they have very little sugar, which is a plus. The only negative thing I can say about Cooking for Isaiah is the amount of sugar in the recipes. I have successfully cut the amount of sugar in half when the sugar content seemed to be very high, with great results I am happy to report. But this recipe only has 1/2 a cup of light packed brown sugar and it seems to be the right amount.

Spring Fling

I knitted up this oh so cute little cowl today. My little spring fling, the cowl that wont be enjoyed for very long in hopes that our weather smartens up and I can tuck it away till next year.

I used a basic worsted weight acrylic grey yarn and some fancy accent yarn I found on clearance a long long time ago. I knitted them both together on size 15US needles(in the round) with a CO 52 and K5, P5 pattern until it was as wide as I wanted it.

Gluten free Surprises!

Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate Doughnuts with Chocolate Glaze (and sprinkles!)

Yes, believe it or not these yummy treats are gluten free and oh so good.
I Bought the book Cooking for Isaiah a gluten and dairy free cook book.
When I saw the doughnuts I knew I had to try them and after I hunted down a doughnut pan the project was on. In Winnipeg there is a little Gluten free store called Lorenzo's, it is located on St. Mary's Avenue and they sell some premixed gluten free flour blends for baking.
The only thing I can say is my kids and husband were all fooled and had no idea that these were made with gluten free flours.

I encourage everyone to try something different, you just may very well be surprised at the results.