Sausage & Veggie Brown Rice Pasta

This dish turned out excellent. The broth was delicious, veggie mix was perfect, it was incredibly easy! I will definitely be making it again! My mom got the sausage from a local grocery store and it was fresh, I think that is what made all the difference in this dish, so if you have it available, get fresh sausage!! If you are looking for a similar recipe to this, I made a different Hot Italian Sausage dish back in January, it was also delicious and a bit of a change up from the below recipe.

1 pound spicy Italian sausage

1 pound mild Italian sausage (can do all spicy if you want)

2 -3 cups cut green beans

1 bunch Swiss chard, chopped small

1 can petite diced tomatoes

1 1/2 cups chicken stock

2 teaspoons minced dehydrated onions

1 tablespoon garlic powder

Salt and pepper

2 teaspoons Italian seasoning

1 pint mushrooms, chopped

Brown Rice Pasta

Baby spinach

Chopped mozzarella cheese (optional)

Directions:

• Remove Italian sausage from casing and brown in a large pan.
• Add diced tomatoes, mushrooms, chicken stock, green beans, Swiss chard and seasonings and cook for about 15 - 20 minutes to let all the flavors incorporate and to let the Swiss chard cook down and green beans get softer.
• Cook pasta according to directions.
• Layer some pasta in a bowl, then cover with about a 1/4 cup of fresh baby spinach. Then cover with the sauce!
• You can also top with a few small chunks of mozzarella cheese, however if you are doing paleo, that is of course a no-no. 



Paleo Zucchini Banana Bread

Well the food challenge is over, but my family wants to keep going to some extent! My mom really wanted to make another zucchini bread so we had some healthy snack we could go to. However, we wanted to try a different one than the last time because although the guys loved it, my mom and I both thought it was a little too chocolatey :)  We got this recipe from a friend at the gym and make some of our own modifications/changes/additions. Here is the recipe we came up with and this yielded 2 loaves.

2 1/2 cups almond meal

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda 

4 eggs

4 tablespoons coconut oil

1/2 cup honey

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

2 cup zucchini, grated

1 banana, mushed 

1 1/2 cups pecans (my moms idea and DEFINITELY a must!)

Directions: 

• Grate zucchini over a paper towel so that some of the liquid is soaked up
• Put dry ingredients (meal, baking soda, cocoa powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, nuts) in a bowl and stir
• Put all the wet ingredients in a blender, including the zucchini and banana, and pulse for about 10 seconds. 
• Pour wet ingredients into dry and mix thoroughly
• Put in a greased loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for about 45-50 minutes until the bread is firm to the touch in the middle. 
• Enjoy!!

The Hubby's Lettuce Burgers

These were SO delicious! Just look at the spread Stephen had for our burger night! Of course, no buns required (or allowed) so we used butter lettuce to wrap these babies up. The sauteed jalapeno and mushrooms were an amazing addition. Not to mention the side dish of BBQ broccoli and asparagus.

Ground beef or turkey

1 lb bacon (1/2 for crumbled inside burgers, 1/2 for stacking on top)

mushrooms, sauteed with garlic and clarified butter

red onions

tomatoes

salsa

sauteed jalapenos

butter lettuce

mustard

avocado

Paleo Chocolate Zucchini Bread

Everyone had been asking for a Paleo Chocolate Zucchini bread on the challenge, so I finally got over the fear of zucchini I have had for the past almost 8 months and made it :) I found the recipe on PaleOMG.com and I doubled the recipe... thank goodness, if I didn't it would have been a pretty tiny loaf! The bread was delicious... moist, extremely chocolaty and pretty much guilt free I thought! Definitely recommend!! Also- for those of you with picky kiddos - you don't see any green in this bread, as far as I am concerned you can tell them it is chocolate bread ;) Next time I make this bread, I am going to experiment a little - add some banana, walnuts and probably coconut!!

2 medium zucchinis (3 cups) shredded and drained well

4 eggs

1 1/2 cups peanut butter or almond butter (I use PB, next time will try AB, can also use sunbutter)

2/3 cup raw honey

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 cup coconut flour

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg (optional but I love it so I added it)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

  

Directions:

• Shred and drain the zucchini well. You want it to be pretty dry.
• Add all the ingredients in a bowl and mix until fully incorporated
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake for approximately 35-40 minutes if you are doing one large loaf like I did. You want a tooth pick to come out pretty clean but not too dry - want to keep that bread moist.
• Let cool and serve!!



Ground Turkey Lettuce Wraps

We are doing the Paleo-ish challenge again at the gym, and although I am pregnant and NEED my toast, I am trying to participate as much as possible. My mom, dad and Stephen are all doing it, so I am helping support them and cook some meals throughout the week! This one turned out really yummy. I made a TON, or what I thought was a ton, and there was some left over for us to all have for lunch the next day. I kind of made this up as I went, so I tried to estimate the amounts of everything I used. Definitely one we would all eat again! This recipe is great because you could keep the seasonings the same and add different veggies that you have in your fridge. It has an "asian" like taste.

4 lbs ground turkey

1 yellow pepper, diced small

about 20 baby carrots, diced

1 cup mushrooms, diced

1/2 yellow onion, diced

2 stalks of celery, diced

1/4 cup liquid aminos

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1/2 teaspoon chili flakes

1/4 cup sesame seeds

3 tablespoons chili powder (it might have even been closer to 1/4 cup)

1 tablespoon coconut flour (to thicken)

2 teaspoons salt

1 tablespoon pepper

1 tablespoon garlic powder

butter leaf lettuce

red peppers, sliced

avocado

2-3 green onions

arugula 

Directions: 

• Add meat, onion, yellow pepper, mushrooms, and seasonings to the pan and brown the meat, about 15-20 minutes. 
• If you have a lot of liquid at the bottom of the pan, drain the meat. 
• Add the liquid aminos and red wine vinegar.
• Add the coconut flour and stir to start to thicken the sauce. 
• When you are about 5 minutes away from the meat being done, add the carrots, you want them to have a slight crunch. 
• Serve in a butter leaf lettuce cup and top with some avocado, red peppers, green onions and arugula!

Bacon Wrapped Avocado Nests

I found this recipe online and quickly discovered that it was WAY harder than it sounded. I cursed the avocados as they let the eggs slide right off them like the little hole the pit once occupied did not even exist. With a few of the avocados I had to create a little bit larger of a well to hold the eggs in them and then had to prop the avocados next to each other so they didn't fall over. Needless to say, this was a messy job. Next time I make them, (there will be a next time because everyone thought the final product was really good), I will think of a little bit different way to do them. I showed a picture I was sure was going to be a "fail" picture below, however when I turned them over, the presentation side actually did look pretty good!

Avocados

Eggs

Bacon

Pepper

This is when I almost started crying - what a mess!

Directions: 

• Cut the avocados in half, remove the pit and peel them. Then make the holes that the pits created a little larger. 
• Break open an egg (the easiest way I found to do this was just to break it open in my hand) and split the egg in half. Putting 1 half in 1 avocado half and the other in the other avocado half. 
• Season with pepper (original recipe called for salt too, but I think the bacon adds plenty of salt)
• Gently pick up the avocado and wrap in bacon. 
• Put in the oven at 375 degrees for 18-20 minutes. 
• Turn on the broiler and cook about 5 minutes, then flip the nests over and broil another 5 minutes to get the bacon all crispy. 
• Eat!

Paleo-Ish Chicken Parmesan

With my mom and dad trying to stick with a lower-carb diet, and me needing to attempt to stick to a lower carb diet, behold the Paleo-ish Chicken Parm. Although, I will be honest... about 10 minutes before we were about to eat... I succumbed to my weakness and make some rotini. Only a little though :)

I had purchased some ground cashew meal at Traders like 3 months ago and never opened them, figured this was the perfect opportunity. I call it Paleo-ish because I did use a teeny bit of Parmesan cheese - duh its parm chicken how can you not? It was really yummy, I think this version will be a staple. The below fed the 4 of us...

3 chicken breasts, pounded thinner

1 1/2 cup ground cashews

1 tablespoon Italian seasoning

2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese + additional 2 tablespoons

salt and pepper
garlic powder

3 eggs

2 tablespoons milk

Favorite no sugar added spaghetti sauce

Directions: 

• Mix cashews, seasonings and Parmesan in a shallow dish
• In another shallow dish, add eggs, milk and season with salt and pepper - then whisk
• Pound chicken breasts slightly if they are thick season with salt, pepper and garlic powder.
• Dip in egg mix, then into cashew mix. 
• Put in a lightly greased baking dish
• Bake for approximately 15 minutes, then flip in oven and cook another 10-15 minutes until the chicken is firm to the touch. 
• Turn on the broiler for about 3 minutes to get chicken brown and crispy, then flip again and do it another 3-5 minutes. 
• Serve under your favorite homemade or jarred spaghetti sauce!

Paleo "Corn"Bread

My mom made us some amazing chili this week and quite honestly I don't think chili is chili without corn bread. Having to stick with my Paleo guidelines for the food challenge we are doing, I found a recipe for some paleo muffins and I thought I had all the ingredients, but when I got home realized I only had 2 eggs instead of the 4 the recipe called for. I just improvised :) Here is what I did - it made about 8 cornbread muffins.

1/2 cup coconut flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

3 tablespoons honey, warmed

1/2 cup coconut oil, warmed

Directions: 

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• In a bowl, add flour and salt. 
• In a food processor, add eggs, vinegar and applesauce and pulse for about 5 seconds. 
• Put honey and coconut oil in a bowl and put in the microwave for about 1 minute until everything is warmed and melted. 
• Add to the mix in the food processor and pulse about 5 seconds
• Then add the wet liquid to your dry ingredients and stir until it is all incorporated
• Line your cupcake pan with liners and fill the liners a little over 3/4 full with the mix. 
• Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes
• You want the tops to be starting to brown and be firm to the touch!

Hot Italian Sausage & Veggie Pasta

I always crave pasta, it is definitely my biggest downfall, so with this Challenge, it has been especially difficult. I found this pasta at Traders and it only has brown rice, quinoa flour and water in it! I of course had to try it out. It is delicious. It is very similar to brown rice pasta if you are familiar with that. The recipe I cam up with was super easy and we both loved it!

1 package of Hot Italian Sausage

1 container of diced pancetta

1 yellow pepper

1 can of artichoke hearts in water

large container of cherry tomatoes

2 cups fresh basil, chopped

1 package of brown rice & quinoa pasta

salt and pepper

2 teaspoons garlic powder

2 teaspoons dried minced onions

Directions:

• Chop up veggies so they are all about the same size, and cut tomatoes in half.
• In a large pan, brown the sausage, when it is done, add the pancetta. You could drain the grease if you wanted, but the pasta needs some sort of sauce, so I just left it. It really wan't that much anyways. 
• Boil and cook pasta according to instructions, then drain (do not rinse)
• Then add all veggies and basil to the sausage, add seasonings and let cook about 5 minutes. 
• Add pasta to the sausage and veggies and stir it up!
• Serve it up with some basil over the top. 

Green Olive Sole

We wanted fish for dinner, and I had some Dover Sole in the fridge. I got home, stared in the fridge for about 5 minutes trying to figure out how I was going to make the fish (since typically I really rely on butter for fish like this) and came up with this. Seriously amazing! Stephen LOVED it and we both wish we had more.

2 sole fillets (or other white fish)

1 cup green olives, sliced

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

1/2 cup chopped parsley

1/4 cup olive juice

1/2 tablespoon olive oil

salt and pepper

garlic powder

Directions:

• In a large pan, put olive oil and saute onions until they are tender and start to become translucent. 
• Add olives, parsley, olive juice, and pepper (don't add salt yet). 
• Season the sole on both sides with salt and pepper and garlic powder. Go VERY light on the salt, the olives and juice add a lot of salt to this dish so you don't want to over do it. 
• Add the fish right on top of the onion and olive mix and let cook about 4 minutes, then flip the fish and let cook through. The fish cooks very fast and you don't want to over do it. 
• Serve the fish up over some quinoa cooked in vegetable or chicken stock! I also garnished with some parsley and served up some sauteed kale on the side. Delicious!!!

Creamy Sirloin Steak

So this recipe came about because I was craving some biscuits and gravy for dinner. This recipe is no where close, obviously, but it did satisfy my craving! The sauce is nice and rich and so delicious. The best part about the gravy was that not only was it excellent on the meat, it was so good served over top the sweet potato mash I made! I usually get pictures of the final product, however as delicious as this meal was, it was extremely unappetizing in pictures :)

3 large portabello mushrooms, sliced 

2-3 thin sliced sirloin steaks

1/2 tablespoon olive oil (or bacon fat)

1/2 cup light coconut milk

1 cup chicken stock

1 tablespoon dried minced onions

2 cloves of garlic

1 tablespoon arrowroot powder (a substitute for cornstarch)

2 tablespoons water

salt and pepper

1 large sweet potato

1 tablespoon agave

Directions: 

• Salt and pepper sirloin steaks.
• In a large pan, brown the sirloin steaks lightly. You don't want to cook them all the way through because they will be finished off in the gravy. 
• Remove the steaks from the pan and add 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil (Or in my case, I keep bacon grease in a container in my fridge.. duh who wouldn't? Add 1/2 tablespoon of that in here- trust me!)
• Add mushrooms and season with salt and pepper. Then cook about 2 minutes and add garlic. 
• Then add coconut milk, chicken stock, and minced onions. Stir and let cook for 2-3 minutes. 
• Whisk the arrowroot and water together to make a slurry, add to the gravy and stir, it will start to thicken in 3-5 minutes. Once it is thickened slightly, add the sirloin meat in and let simmer for about 10 minutes. 
• While you are cooking the gravy, get your sweet potato in some water to boil. Once it is done, drain and mash with 1 tablespoon agave. 
• Serve the sweet potato on the bottom and the sirloin steaks right over the top. 
• DELICIOUS!

Pork Tenderloin Stir Fry

I was in the meat section of Traders last week, looking for some inspiration. I am embarrassed to even say it, not sure if it was the shape of the tenderloin or what, but it grabbed my eye and I decided it was the piece of meat for me :)  This is what I came up with! I made this last week - a little late on the post, but better late than never on this one!

1 pork tenderloin, cut into medium sized cubes

2 cups carrots

2 cups snow peas

1/2 cup broccoli
1/2 cup green beans

Sauce:

1/4 cup gluten free soy sauce

2 tablespoons sesame oil

2 tablespoons coconut flour (to thicken sauce)

1 tablespoon coconut sugar
1 tablespoon of fresh ginger, minced**
4 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon sesame seeds
juice of one lime

salt and pepper

Directions: 

• Cut up the tenderloin into either medium size cubes or thinner sliced rounds. If you want to cut thinner, and you have time, placing the pork loin in the freezer for 20-30 minutes really helps make that process 100 times easier.
• Season the pork with salt and pepper.
• In a pan with 1 tablespoon oil, saute the meat until it is mostly opaque and browned. Remove from the pan and drain. 
• In the same pan, add the veggies and cook about 5 minutes. I prefer my veggies to be very crisp still when I eat them- leave those nutrients where they belong!
• Then mix up your sauce and add to the pan, then add back in your meat right away and cook about 5-10 minutes until the sauce has thickened. 
• Serve up alone or over some quinoa or brown rice!

** Another tip with ginger. I always keep mine in the freezer. When I go to grate it, it goes SUPER fast and is way easier!

Tuna Salad Lettuce Wraps

Stephen and I made these this weekend, they were delicious and savory. We didn't even miss the mayo and bread that typically comes with a tuna sandwich. This is a perfect lunch or a quick and simple dinner if you are in a rush!

2 cans of tuna in water, drained

1 cup carrots, chopped

1/4 cup sugar snap peas, chopped

1/4 cup cabbage, chopped

4 celery stalks, chopped

1 tablespoon spicy brown mustard (make sure no sugar)

2 tablespoons dijon mustard (no sugar)

salt and pepper

2 tablespoons sweet pickle relish

1 tablespoon chopped capers

Romaine lettuce spears- or you can use butter lettuce

Directions: 

• Chop all your ingredients (Stephen did a pretty awesome job chopping, don't you think?!)
• Mix all of the ingredients together in a small bowl. Taste and add extra mustard if you would like it a tad creamier. Also add salt and pepper to taste. 
• Fill your lettuce spears with the mix (Stephen had also spread a little hummus on the bottom and put some avocado on top, was pretty amazing!)

Paleo Bacon, Pancetta & Chicken Alfredo

Got this recipe from PaleOMG and OMG it is amazing. Seriously what I have been craving! Definitely a super easy must try. I made several modifications from the original, and I think it was pretty dang good, really I might even make this over normal alfredo from now on. One modification that I LOVED was my addition of Jalapeno Bacon!! We will see how it is for leftovers the next day! I made a BUNCH so I could have leftovers, plenty for dinner, and take a friend some for lunch too :)

2 spaghetti squash, cut in half lengthwise, seeds removed

1 larger acorn squash, cut in half lengthwise, seeds removed

6 chicken thighs (or 3 chicken breasts)

6 slices of Jalapeno bacon, diced
1 small package of diced pancetta
2 cups fresh spinach, chopped

2 cans light coconut milk
3 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon oregano

2 teaspoons garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

salt and pepper
olive oil

Directions:

• Preheat your 450 degrees.
• Cut spaghetti squash & acorn squash in half and use a spoon to scoop out the seeds and excess threads. 
• Place all squash open side down on a baking sheet (use aluminum foil or parchment paper for easy clean up) and cook for 20-25 minutes. 
• Just place chicken on a foil or parchment paper lined baking sheet, sprinkle some olive oil over the chicken (or other kind of fat), salt and pepper it and add some garlic powder. Cook about 15 minutes in the 450 degree oven, turning 1/2 way through. . 
• Once your squash is done cooking, pull it out of the oven, dethread the spaghetti squash into a large bowl with a fork. 
• Now throw your diced bacon and pancetta into a skillet and cook until done. Use a slotted spoon to pull out your cooked bacon, but leave behind the grease (remove some if it happens to be a lot.
• Take your acorn squash and hollow it out. Just use the insides and dump them into your warm skillet filled with bacon grease. Then add your coconut milk. You may need to add a little bit more coconut milk depending on how runny you like your sauce. Mix thoroughly with a ladle to break up the squash a bit.
• Add seasonings to the mix and salt and pepper as needed. Mix thoroughly and cook on low for about 5 minutes to simmer.
• Now dice up your cooked chicken and add the chicken and bacon back into the pan. 
• Pour sauce over spaghetti squash serve up!
• Next time I make this I will add some mushrooms too!

Pork Chops & Pear Quinoa Salad

This is a great weeknight meal - speedy & good! I made a lot of extra so we could have lunch the next day too (and we ended up with a little left for the next night)

1 1/2 cups quinoa

3 green onions

4 cups chicken stock (make sure no sugar added)

1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 cup spinach roughly chopped
1 cup kale roughly chopped
1/2 cup chopped almonds

3 pears, cut up into small pieces
1/2 cup kale salad mix**

Dressing:
2 cloves garlic minced
1/4 cup oil (whatever you prefer, I used coconut)

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon gluten free soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons fresh ginger
salt and pepper

Directions: 

• Cook quinoa according to directions (I use the chicken stock instead of water to give it a lot more flavor). 
• Chop up onion, parsley, spinach and kale and put in a bowl. 
• Chop almonds, and in a dry pan, saute them for about 5 minutes. You will smell them when they are ready, you just want to get some heat on them to bring out their great flavor. Once they are done. Roughly chop them. 
• Mix all the ingredients of the dressing together
• Let the quinoa cool a big and then add the quinoa to the salad mix, then add cut up pear and dressing mix. 
• Serve up next to some amazing sauteed pork chops seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic powder!

** The kale salad mix is optional. It was a bagged kale mix that had Brussels sprouts, cabbage, and a couple different kale types!

Crock Pot Thai Chicken

I had been wanting Thai food, but wanted to make sure there wasn't a ton of sugars and other stuff I couldn't eat in it. So I came up with this recipe! Best thing about this recipe is that I pretty much always have all the ingredients on hand, just had to run to the store for some limes and fresh ginger!

Small jar salsa

1/2 cup peanut butter

1 cup light coconut milk

2 tablespoons lime juice

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon garlic chili paste (no sugar added)
2 teaspoons salt

3 chicken breasts 

chopped peanuts, green onion and cilantro as garnish

Red pepper cut very thin
bean sprouts

Brown rice or quinoa

Directions: 

• Mix all of the ingredients (minus the last 5) together in a bowl. 
• Put the chicken in the crock pot and cover with the sauce.
• Cook on low for 8 hours. 
• When it is done and you are about to eat, mix in the thinly cut red pepper and the bean sprouts. You want the pepper to be very fresh. You can also add other veggies at this point too if you want!
• Make some brown rice or quinoa to serve it over. 
• Garnish with chopped peanuts, green onion and cilantro. 
• Salt a little more if you need it. I also served it with more garlic chili sauce. 

Roasted Sweet Potatoes

These were Stephen's idea last night, and they were bomb! We literally could have eaten wayyy more! I will definitely be making these again soon, especially since they are the easiest thing ever. We served them up with a roasted chicken and sauteed kale and broccoli!

2 sweet potatoes

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 teaspoons garlic powder

2 teaspoons oregano

1 1/2 tablespoons dried minced onions

salt and pepper

1 teaspoon natures seasoning

Directions: 

• Cut the sweet potatoes into rounds and 1/2 rounds and lay out on a baking sheet.
• Drizzle with olive oil and all seasonings and mix up so that they are all coated.
• Roast in a 450 degree oven for about 20-25 minutes until they are tender in the middle and crispy around the outside!

Paleo-ish Challenge!

At our gym, we are doing a food challenge for the month of January- into Feb. It is called the Dinosaur and Neanderthal Food Challenge!! As part of this challenge, we are tasked to eat a paleo-ish diet. The "ish" I refer to is that we can add beans, brown rice, quinoa and some protein powder before/after workouts. There are some other flexibility but Ill keep it short and simple. You get 1 point for working out, 1 point for getting 6-8 hrs of sleep, 1 point for drinking your body weight divided by 2 - ounces of water per day and 1 point for not eating 2 hours before you sleep. You lose points by eating most grains, alcohol, dairy and sugar!

For our first night of the challenge, I made a yummy garlic roast and Stephen made some mixed veggies. Delicious! Maybe this won't be as hard as we thought?

Balsamic Brussels & Beets

This is my favorite way to eat beets and Brussels. A coworker made this for a party several years ago, and I have loved it ever since! This dish is packed with flavor, so I typically pair it with a protein that is a little more mellow. Tonight I made Italian Panko breaded chicken strips!

2 cups Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved

1 bunch of golden beets

1/2 cup roughly chopped almonds

1 cup beet leaves

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon coconut sugar or brown sugar (optional but amazing)

3 cloves garlic, minced

salt and pepper

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Directions: 

• Prepare the Brussels sprouts and peel and chop beets into quarters
• Chop beet leaves
• In a large pan, add 1 tablespoon olive oil (or coconut oil) and saute Brussels and beets for about 5 minutes. Then add garlic, beet leaves, balsamic, seasonings and brown sugar. 
• Cook about 10 minutes until the veggies have softened and slightly browned. Add almonds and cook another 3-5 minutes.  I like my veggies to still have some firmness to them, but you can cook them to whatever you like!
• Enjoy!

For the chicken, all I did was get chicken tenders and season with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Dredge in flour, then an egg/milk mix, then the Italian Panko. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes, then turn over and cook another 10 minutes! Done!

Skinny Gluten Free Banana Coconut Bread

Having a good friend over for brunch tomorrow and I wanted to make some homemade goodies that were still...eh sorta good for me? I decided to make some banana bread with some bananas I had on the counter and I found this recipe! I made a couple changes from the original, seriously, YUM. These are sugar free (besides honey), gluten free and packed with great stuff for you.  I love this bread!

3/4 cup coconut oil

1 cup honey

6 egg whites

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups mashed bananas

1 1/4 cup Gluten Free AP flour *

1 cup Gluten Free Oats (rolled oats), pulsed in food processor to make an oat flour

1/2 cup vanilla protein powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

3/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk

1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

1 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions:

• In a large bowl, cream the coconut oil and the honey. do not melt the coconut oil first, you want it to be solid so it acts like a butter mixing with the honey.
• Add the egg whites, vanilla and banana and mix completely. 
• Sift the flour, oats, protein powder, cinnamon, and baking soda. 
• Slowly add the flour mix, alternately with the coconut milk, to the banana mixture. Do not over mix. 
• Stir in the shredded coconut and chocolate chips by hand. Next time i make this recipe i will also add 1 cup chopped walnuts too!
• Divide the batter in the loaf pans and sprinkle with some additional mini chocolate chips.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. 
• Let cool in the pans before flipping out onto cooling racks. 
• Keep bread in sealed container for 5-7 days or freeze the loaves to have on hand later! Makes 4 mini loaves or 1 large loaf. 

* If you don't want to make it with Gluten Free flour, you can easily substitute 1-1 normal AP flour and rolled oats.