Sugar-Free Banana Bread

I had some old bananas that I needed to use up and I needed to take something to a potluck lunch today with some friends so I set out to find a sugar-free banana bread recipe.  I found this recipe here.  I loved how this turned out!  I don't feel like it was lacking in sweetness at all.  This bread was so good!  It will definitely be something that I make again and again.  Enjoy!

 

Sugar-Free Banana Bread

2 cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
4 medium bananas, cut into chunks
1 egg
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup unsweetened orange juice
1/2 cup raisins (optional- I didn't use raisins)
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped (optional- I didn't use nuts)

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2.  Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon in a bowl. Stir to blend.
3.  Place bananas in blender and puree until smooth.
4.  Add the bananas and rest of ingredients to flour mixture and mix well.
5.  Pour into a greased loaf pan.
6.  Bake for 40-50 minutes or until a knife inserted comes out clean.
7.  Cool on a wire rack.

Zucchini-Quinoa Lasagna

I had some zucchini in my fridge that I needed to use up so I set out to find a zucchini recipe and this is what I found.  The recipe is from vegetariantimes.com.  Ryan really liked this which I was actually surprised by because he doesn't typically like quinoa.  The recipe calls for a 25 oz jar of marinara sauce, I made my own but I'm not sure that I love the recipe so I'm not going to post it.  If you have a marinara sauce you make that you love I would use that because I think homemade always tastes so much better than canned.  Anyways, if you make this I hope you enjoy!

Zucchini-Quinoa Lasagna

2 large zucchini, cut lengthwise into 12 ¼-inch-thick slices
1 tsp. salt
2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
1 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained
½ cup tomato sauce
¼ cup finely chopped onion
1 tsp. dried oregano
¼ cup fresh basil leaves, chopped (or 1 tablepoon dry basil leaves)
¼ cup fresh parsley leaves, chopped (or 1 tablespoon dry parsley flakes)
2 Tbs. nondairy cream cheese, such as Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese, optional (I didn't use this)
1 25-oz. jar marinara sauce
½ cup shredded nondairy cheese, such as Daiya Mozzarella, optional (I used regular/dairy mozzarella cheese)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Place zucchini slices on bed of paper towels. Sprinkle with salt, cover with paper towels, and let stand to release moisture while preparing quinoa.
2. Bring broth, quinoa, tomato sauce, onion, and oregano to a boil in saucepan. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 25 minutes, or until all liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat, and stir in basil, parsley, and cream cheese, if using.
3. Spoon 1/3 cup marinara sauce over bottom of 8-inch square baking dish. Blot remaining moisture and salt from zucchini slices, and lay 4 zucchini slices over marinara sauce in pan. Spoon half of quinoa over zucchini, and cover with 1/3 cup marinara. Repeat with 4 more zucchini slices, remaining quinoa, and 1/3 cup marinara. Top with remaining 4 zucchini slices, remaining marinara, and shredded cheese, if using. Bake lasagna 30 minutes, or until zucchini is tender and top is bubbly.

1 Minute Coffe Cake in a Mug

I found this recipe here at Chocolate Covered Katie-a fantastic site!  This is so so simple and so so good.  This is a great vegan treat that I'm sure will satisfy any sweet tooth :)  Enjoy!

Image from chocolatecoveredkatie.com

Batter:

3 tbsp spelt flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/16 tsp salt
1 stevia packet (or 1/32 tsp pure) or 1 tbsp sugar (I used 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup instead)
1 tablespoon plus 2 tsp water
2 tsp oil or melted margarine or applesauce (I used grape seed oil)

1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract

Streusel: (If you like a lot of streusel, feel free to double all ingredients below.)

1/8 tsp cinnamon
1 and 1/4 tsp sucanat or brown sugar (I used agave nectar)
1/4 to 1/2 tsp oil or melted margarine (once again, use applesauce if a fat-free version is desired)
tiny, tiny pinch salt
2 pecan halves (or walnut halves)

(If using an oven, preheat to 330 F.) Combine batter dry ingredients and mix well. Add wet and mix until just mixed. In a tiny bowl, combine all streusel ingredients. Fill a greased muffin tin 1/2 way with the batter (or a ramekin or mug, if using the microwave). Sprinkle on two-thirds of the streusel, then spoon the remaining batter on top. Finally, sprinkle on the rest of the streusel. Cook 12-13 minutes in the oven, or around 1 minute in the microwave. (Microwave times may vary.)

*I doubled the recipe and cooked mine in a 2 cup pyrex dish- worked perfectly.

Meatless Spaghetti Sauce

Here is my new go-to spaghetti sauce that finally won Ryan's approval.  I have tried so many different spaghetti sauces and Ryan thinks they are too garlicky or have too much basil, etc.  So when he said he enjoyed this one when we had it last week and had no comments other than he liked it I new it was a keeper.  I got this recipe from my great friend Lindsay.  She said it came out of her Pioneer Woman Cookbook.  So simple, so yummy, sooo much better than store bought spaghetti sauce :)

Spaghetti Sauce

1 tablespoon olive oil

1(15 oz) can diced tomatoes

1/2 of a medium yellow onion

1 clove garlic, minced

1 cup chopped mushrooms (optional)

1/2 cup chicken stock

1/2 cup heavy cream

salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat.  Add onion and mushrooms (if using) and saute until onions are soft and translucent.  Add garlic and let sit about 30 seconds.  Add can of diced tomatoes (I pureed mine in my blender first so that the sauce was smooth not chunky), chicken stock, and cream.  Add salt and pepper to taste. Let simmer for 10 minutes then serve with spaghetti noodles.  Enjoy!

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

I found this recipe at simple-nourished-living.com.  This is hands down the best "healthy" chocolate chip cookie recipe I've ever had.  I have experimented with a few and this one is leaps and bounds better than all of the others.  It tastes so good you would never know there isn't sugar, eggs, and butter in these.  Enjoy!

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup rolled oats

6 tablespoons canola, safflower, or sunflower oil (I used grapeseed oil)

6 tablespoons maple syrup

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup chocolate chip or vegan carob cookies (I use Enjoy Life brand- they are sugar, dairy, & soy free)

1/4 cup chopped nuts (optional- I didn't use nuts)

1 cup barley flour (I used spelt)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

 

Directions

Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. Position one of your oven’s racks in the center. Preheat oven to 350 F. Process the oats in a food processor or blender until they are the consistency of coarse flour. (I didn't do this I just left the oats in there whole form.)

In a large bowl mix all ingredients until well combined.

With a small ice cream scoop or two 2 spoons, scoop out a heaping tablespoon of the batter onto the prepared cookie sheets. Flatten the cookies slightly with damp fingers or the bottom of a flat glass (Dip the glass in water first to prevent sticking.)

Bake one cookie sheet at a time on the center rack, for 11 minutes. 

Makes about 2 dozen

Mexican Pizza

I was trying to think of what to make for dinner last night.  I wanted something relatively easy but something that we haven't had in the past few weeks.  So I thought and thought and then remembered a while ago I had a Mexican pizza at a Mexican restaurant that I enjoyed so I thought I'd try my hand at it.  I found a recipe from food.com that I loosely followed.  The recipe I used is below.  Enjoy!

Mexican Pizza

Crust

2 1/4 teaspoons yeast (or 1 yeast packet)

1 cup warm water

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon salt 

2 teaspoons agave nectar (or white sugar)

1 cup wheat flour

1 cup bread flour (or if you don't have wheat flour you can use 2 cups bread flour)

Dissolve yeast in water until it gets foamy, about 5-10 minutes.  Add olive oil, salt, and agave.  Mix well.  Add in flour and mix until stiff dough forms (may need to add a little more flour).  Form dough into ball, place in a bowl, cover with a dish towel, and let rise for 30 minutes.

Topping

1-2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup canned black beans, rinsed
1/2 jalapeno pepper (remove seeds to decrease spiciness if kids will be eating)
1 garlic clove
1 tablespoon taco seasoning mix (recipe can be found here)
Kosher salt
Cornmeal, for dusting
1 cup shredded low-fat Monterey Jack cheese (3 ounces)
1 1/2 cups diced tomatoes
1/4 cup green onions

1 cup shredded lettuce
Sour cream

Directions

Set a pizza stone on the bottom of the oven and preheat the oven to 450°. In a food processor, combine the olive oil, black beans, jalapeno pepper, garlic clove and taco seasoning and puree until smooth.

Once the pizza dough is done rising stretch it into a 12-inch round and transfer to a cornmeal-dusted pizza peel. Spread the black-bean puree on top, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Sprinkle with the cheese, tomatoes, and green onions.

Slide the pizza onto the preheated stone and bake for 12-15 minutes, until the bottom is crisp and the cheese is bubbling. Transfer the pizza to a work surface and top with the lettuce and dollops of the sour cream. Cut into wedges and serve at once.

Vegan Banana Pancakes

I have a blendtec blender and get weekly emails from them with new recipes.  I generally just skip over them but since I have been loving pancakes and the word "vegan" was in the title it caught my attention and I thought I would give this recipe a try.  We loved them and I was surprised at how good this vegan pancake tasted.  Enjoy!

Vegan Banana Pancakes

1 ½ C water
⅓ C raw almonds
2 Tbsp agave or honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp kosher or sea salt
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
2 ripe bananas
2 C whole wheat flour
2 ½ tsp baking powder

Directions

Add first 6 ingredients to WildSide Jar and secure lid.  Select “Whole Juice”.  Add remaining ingredients in order listed and secure lid.  Select “Batters”.  Allow batter to rest 5 minutes.  Heat griddle or other pan over medium heat and grease.  Pour approximately ⅓ cup batter onto heated pan and cook until bubbles break the surface of the pancake and the underside is golden brown.  Flip and cook until done.  Repeat with remaining batter.