Banana Bread Muffins

The cloudy weather made me wanna bake so I jumped in and made some super awesome banana muffins! I ate quite a few hot out of the oven so I would say they're pretty great!
These are gluten and lactose free! Low FODMAP, those with fructose sensitivities should be careful since they're ripe bananas. So enjoy with much less fear for your tummy!!


Ingredients:
2 c Gluten Free Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Salt
4 Eggs
2 c Mashed Banana (~4 ripe bananas)
1 c Sugar
1/2 c Unsweetened Applesauce
1/3 c Oil (Canola, coconut, whatever you please)
1 tsp Vanilla Extract


Directions
Makes roughly 2 dozen, or 2 loaves

1. Combine Flour, Baking Soda and Salt in a small bowl. Mix well.

2. Combine Eggs, Bananas, Sugar, Applesauce, Oil, Vanilla in Large bowl. Mix Well.

3. Stir in dry ingredients until just mixed.
4. Fill Muffin tins half way.

5. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes (or 55 for a loaf of bread)

BONUS- Drop a mini peanut butter cup in the middle of each muffin

6. Enjoy!!

Low FODMAP Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Thanksgiving is probably the biggest holiday in my family. We always host and with upwards of 15 people, food is always a bit difficult. This year we have the added complication of both my dad and I being on the low FODMAP diet, but luckily we have enough control over the key elements of the meal to change them to what we need. It was a pretty huge success, so here's a little guide to how to make your big autumn meals delicious and tummy friendly!

Turkey- For the brine and stuffing, replace all onions with spring greens of Green Onions and use garlic olive oil when you rub down the turkey.

Dressing- Extra special recipe below!

Veggies- Use any of your favorite veggies dishes! We roasted broccoli and tossed it with lemon juice, zest, Parmesan, and pine nuts.

Potatoes- Bake them, mash them, boil them, just don't use any garlic or cream.

Sweet Potatoes/ Yams- Yams are okay, SP are not for those with polyos sensitivity

Gravy- Use corn starch instead of flour when making your own gravy from the drippings of the turkey.

Dessert- We made an awesome dairy free, gluten free pumpkin chocolate cake! Replace the flour with gluten free flour, butter with fake butter, and buttermilk with a non-dairy creamer option.

Pro-Tips: make your own turkey stock, buy more green onions than you'll think you'll need, make onion and garlic infused olive oil.

So here's the our awesome low FODMAP dressing recipe!

• 10 pieces of Gluten-Free Bread, 5 white and 5 rye, cubed
• 1/3 c minced springs greens of Green Onion
• 1/2 c chopped Celery (1-2 stalks)
• 2 tablespoons Olive Oil
• 2-3 Tbs unsalted butter (1 in veggies,1 on stuffing balls and 1 to grease muffin tin)
• 2 1/2 tsp of Thanksgiving poultry herbs (sage, rosemary, sage) remove big twigs and chop well
• 1 c diced Butternut Squash
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 2 Eggs, beaten

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
2. Roast butternut Squash for ~20 minutes, until they are fork-tender.
3. Grease muffin tin generously with butter.
   
4. Saute veggies with 1 tbs of the butter, & olive oil over medium heat in medium skillet for 5 minutes or until veggies fork-tender. Set aside to cool down a bit.
   
5. In large bowl, add bread cubes and drizzle 1 cup of water (or onion free chicken stock) over bread.
   
6. Add eggs to bread and stir to blend in.
7. Carefully add cooked vegetables and squash over bread mixture. Using spoon mix vegetables and bread cubes until resembles stuffing consistency. 
   
8. Add herbs and salt and pepper and mix well.
9. Pack in muffin tin to bake.
   
10. Place a tiny slice of butter on top of each muffin.
11. Add a dash of salt and pepper to top of stuffing ball, if desired.
12. Bake for about 25-30 minutes.
    
13. Enjoy!

Rice Noodle Salad Bowl

Even though the calendar says fall, it certainly still feels like summer down here in San Diego! So here's a hearty salad bowl to combine a little of both seasons.

Ingredients

Chicken:

• 3/4 lb Boneless Skinless Chicken
• 2 T Soy Sauce
• 1 tsp Sesame Oil
• 2 tsp Ginger Minced

Salad:

• 1 Head Romaine Lettuce
• 3-4 Green Onions (FODMAP followers use green part only)
• 1/4 cup Cilantro
• 3/4 cup Carrots
• 2 cups Mandarin Oranges, drained and rinsed (FODMAP followers avoid those in pear juice or with HFCS)
• 3 oz. Rice Vermicelli Noodles (cook according to package directions) a drizzle with a small amount of sesame oi.
• 1 TB Sesame Seeds, toasted if desired.

Dressing:

• 1/2 Lime juice
• 1T Soy Sauce
• 1T Rice Vinegar
• 1/2 T Sesame Oil
• Pinch Sugar

Instructions

1. Marinate chicken breast in soy sauce, sesame oil and ginger (30 minutes to a couple hours).
2. Grill chicken until cooked thoroughly and then slice in thin strips. 
3. Rinse and chop Lettuce and Carrots
4. Place Lettuce and Carrots in a bowl and dry with a towel.
5. Top with Noodles
6. Add Sliced Chicken and Oranges
7. Drizzle with dressing, top with cilantro, green onions and diced peanuts. 
8. Enjoy!
   

Gluten Free Pumpkin Mix

It's Pumpkin Season!!! and luckily since pumpkin is low FODMAP, we get to indulge as long as the other ingredients are aligned.  This gluten free pumpkin mix falls right in line!

 Overall, it's pretty good: moist, pumpkiney, doesn't make me feel sick. But it does leave a bit to be desired. It's a bit grainy, as gluten free stuff can be, but I think it can be remedied.

 Next time I would replace the water with some type of milk (probably almond). A little more fat and filler isn't always a bad thing.
Overall, pretty great!  Peace, love and Pumpkin Spice!

Ginger Chicken Stir-Fry

Back on my "creating dinner recipes" grind! The only thing to keep in mind for this is that you'll want the meat to marinate for 15 minutes to an hour. The longer it marinates, the more flavorful it is. So maybe don't start cooking when you're already hangry... Leave yourself a little time and you won't regret it!

Ingredients: 

1 lb Chicken

3 Baby BokChoy

Green Onion

2 1/2 Tbs Soy Sauce

1 1/2 Tbs Sesame oil

1 Tbs Minced Ginger

Cilantro

Directions:

1. Combine Soy Sauce, Sesame Oil ad Ginger with Chicken. Mix Well and leave in fridge for 15 minutes to 1 hour to marinate.

2. Chop Baby BokChoy and Green Onions.

3. Cook Chicken in Large skillet. 

4. Remove chicken and lightly cook BokChoy and Green Onions (til leaves start wilting)

5. Toss Chicken back in and Mix well. 

6. Plate on top of rice, garnish with soy sauce and Cilantro. Enjoy!

Yummy Chewy Oatmeal Cookies

      Ever since I started the low fodmap diet I've wanted to create a wheat free oatmeal cookies, and now I've finally got a recipe that I think deserves to be shared with you guys! The recipe does make 4 dozen cookies, so share, or don't, but don't be surprised.

Ingredients:

• 3 Eggs
• 1 c Raisins (1/2 c Raisins, 1/2 c Dried Cranberries)
• 1 tps Vanilla
• 1 c Butter
• 1 c Brown Sugar
• 1 c White Sugar
• 2 ¹⁄₂ c Almond Flour
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Cinnamon
• 2 tsp Baking Soda
• 2 c Oatmeal

1. Combine Raisins, eggs and vanilla and pop in the fridge for 1 hour. This may seem silly, but it is SUPER important for keeping the mixture moist and ending up with great chewy cookies!

 2. Combine sugars and butter. In separate bowl combine flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon

 3. Cream sugars and butter

 4. Add Dry ingredients and egg mixture and mix well.

 5. Add Oatmeal and mix well.
6. Dole out tablespoon sized dollops onto non greased trays.
7. Bake at 350 for 10-13 minutes, until browned at edges.
8. Enjoy!

Extra things to add: Chocolate, coconut, other dried fruits
Note: this can be made with normal wheat flour if you're not trying to stay wheat free

Citrus Berry Crumble for One

     SO many berries, so little time. As a result I've had quite a few go bad or soft or wrinkly. So here's an easy way to use them! I've been playing with this recipe for the last week and I think I finally like this one best.

Crumble:
Half a Lemon
Handful of Berries
Sprinkle of Sugar

Topping:
1 Tbs Coconut Oil
1 Tbs Almond Flour
1 Tbs Oats
1 tps Brown Sugar


1. Place one thin slice of lemon with skin removed in the bottom of the ramekin

2. Wash blueberries and put them in the ramukin
3. Sprinkle with sugar and mix them up

4. On a seperate plate mix Coconut oil, Almond flour, Oats and Brown Sugar until well combined

5. Crumble over blueberries

6. Top with a little sprinkle of Sugar
7. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes, until you see purple liquid bubbling up around the sides.

8. Remove and let cool for 10 minutes and top with any yumminess!

Summer Smoothie Bowl

SMOOTHIE BOWL! They're delicious, and if you do it right, nutritious.
Here's my recipes for a low FODMAP friendly one.


Bowl:
1/4 Avocado
2 Handfuls Spinach
1 Handful Frozen Mango
1/2 Handful Frozen Pineapple
3/4 c Almond Milk
1 Spoonful of Sun Butter
A few frozen Blueberries
A tiny piece of Ginger

Topping:
4 Strawberries 
1/2 Banana
Handful of Blueberries
2 Tbs toasted coconut
1 Tbs sliced Almonds

The best part about smoothie bowls? If you say to yourself: I wonder if _____ would be good on it... The answer is probably yes!

Key Components:
Creaminess: Avocado, Banana (frozen or raw), mango
Green: Spinach, Kale
Liquid: Types of Milk, Juice
Protein: Seed or Nut Butter, or Protein Powder
A Little Bite: Citrus, Pineapple, Ginger
Toppings: Fruit, Nuts, Granola, Honey, Coconut, etc.

So get out there and experiment!

Summer time Sweetness

     Summer fruit is so delicious! But so many of them are full of the sugars that don't make our tummies as happy as possible. And that's the last thing you want as you're flying down and slip-and-slide!  So here's a little info on the summer fruits that will keep your tummy happy (in moderation) and still let you enjoy all the sweetness of summer!! Along with a fun easy treat to make!

     As a general rule, stay away from stone fruits, or fruits with a pit in the center (peach, plum, cherry, nectarine). This is the hardest thing for me personally, because these fruits are really only good during the summer.  Berries are easy, because you only have to steer clear of blackberries and boysenberries. So feel free to do all the blueberry, strawberry, raspberry picking you like! Although you should avoid watermelon, but you can embrace cantaloupe and honeydew! If you live in an area where you can get tropical fruits, get excited! Pineapple, starfruit and passionfruit are all fair game! So although you may have to miss out on a few summer fruits, you may get an excuse to try some new ones.
     Just something to keep in mind, all fruits are full of fiber and sugar, which isn't a bad thing. But if you shock your system with more than you typically have there could be... adverse events... Everything in moderation!
    Now on to a sweet treat!

1 Melon
Some yogurt (I like plain)
Drizzle of Maple Syrup
A few Berries
Granola

1. Cut and scoop the melon

2. Fill it with yogurt

3. Tops with granola, berries and syrup
4. Enjoy the delicious!