Banana Pancakes with Peanut Butter Sauce

My lovely, wonderful super mom friend Gillian pointed me in the direction of this tasty breakfast food!

The Gluten Free Pancakes

1 cup rice flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp sal
1 TBSP sugar
a pinch of cinnamon
1 TBSP veg oil
I cup milk or soy milk or water


Mix the dry ingredients.

Mash the banana with the milk and oil

Stir well to combine, and let sit about 5 minutes while you heat up your griddle (or cast iron pan, or pan, or whatever)

Cook as you would pancakes, dropping about 1/4 c at a time and wiggling the pan to spread.

And to make some Peanut Butter Sauce I mixed

1/2 cup maple syrup
1/4 peanut butter

Warmed up in a pot until it was all smooth and creamy.

YUMMY! And cholesterol free (we used the soy milk option)

Chickpea Burgers

I found this recipe in a Thrify Foods Flyer ... I have never served them as burger, just as patties.

Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cooking Time: 6-8 minutes
Makes: 4 servings

1 (19 oz.) can chickpeas2 Tbsp. tahini (I use Sesame Oil1 large egg, beaten1/3 cup grated onion1/3 cup grated carrot3 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro1 Tbsp. curry powder1/2 tsp. salt3/4 cup breadcrumbs (I omit this part and just cook as is ) 3 Tbsp. vegetable oil4 whole-wheat hamburger buns

Method:

Drain the chickpeas, rinse in cold water, and drain well again. Place in a food processor with the tahini and egg and pulse until almost smooth but still a little coarse in texture. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and mix in the onion, carrot, cilantro, curry powder and salt. Place the breadcrumbs in a shallow dish. With hands slightly dampened with cold water, form 1/4 of the chickpea mixture (it will be quite moist) into a 3/4-inch thick patty. Coat the patty completely with the breadcrumbs, pressing on the crumbs to help them adhere. Set the coated patty on another plate. Form and coat three more chickpea burger patties. Cover and refrigerate them for 30 minutes to firm up (can be made to this point and kept refrigerated for several hours).

Heat the oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add the burgers and cook 3 to 4 minutes per side, or until well heated through. Serve them in the buns with your choice of toppings, such as tomato, cucumber, lettuce and tzatziki sauce.

Salad Dressings

All amounts truly are a big giant guess ...

Balsamic Diijon

1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup (give or take depending on your love of balsamic) balsamic vinegar
1 tsp ish of diijon mustard
1 TBSP ish of maple syrup

sometimes I add a glove of crushed garlic

Combine in container, shake to mix.

The best idea .. is to play with the ingredients till they meet your palette's desire. This one is loved by all in our house.

The kids love it over just cucumbers and feta.


Curry Mango

1 Mango pit removed

2 TBSP Rice Vinegar (can be omitted for those with sulphite allergy)

1/4 to 1/2 cup of Olive Oil

2 tsp curry powder

Combine in container and puree. I use my hand mixer. This one is a thick dressing really nice for coating lettuce leaves prior to adding the rest of the salad parts.

Again play with ingredients till you find the right mix for your family

Marinade for Grilled Vegetables

This one comes from my mom and we all LOVE it around here. The most favorite veggies to use if for are:

Mitchel: Broccoli

KJ : Mushrooms

Puck : Peppers

Me: I'll take em all

1/2 cup olive oil
2 TBSP lemon juice (I use fresh squeezed)
2 TBSP soy sauce (wheat free for those with gluten issues)
2 tsp worchestire sauce
1 clove garlic
1/2 tsp rosemary (I cut straight from my garden and rarely measure precisely)
2 tsp basil (I cut straight from my garden and rarely measure precisely)

Mix together and pour over your chopped veggies of choice. Marinate for as long or short as you like. I love to remember to put this together hours ahead of time.

To cook, I put them on a medium to hot grill with the element directly under the veggies turned off. Here is the best gadget I have ever come across for cooking veggies on the grill.

I just drop the veggies in and give is stir every now and then. Cooking time depends on heat, I find a good 30 minutes usually gets them where I like them.

BBQ your corn

With the discovery of our local farmers market, I have been loving all the fresh produce. This week I bought sweet corn and decided to try it on the Barbecue. The idea is to soak the corn in its hull submerged in water for 15 minutes. Once the cue is all fired up put the corn on and turn every couple of minutes until the hull is browned all over .. about 18-20 minutes.

Remove the cover and enjoy your wonderfully steamed corn. I simply can't imagine I will ever boil it again !!!

Little Changes

.. so I thought I would do a quick post of a few subtle changes we have made to the diet to kick out some cholesterol and to also reduce the fat intake ...

Cholesterol Free Mayo, made with Canola oil, none of the Mayo eaters in the house have noticed the change from a flavor stand point. It has zero Cholesterol and 7% fat as opposed 15% .. the temptation of course is to go ahead and eat twice as much, which defeats the purpose all together.

Earth Balance (whipped version is our favorite) has replaced butter and again there have yet to be any complaints from anyone in the house. I am not sure of the exact numbers, I know we kicked out the Cholesterol and some of the fat.

We have also been buying raw sunflower seeds and toasting them in a non stick frying pan, yum from the adults.

Home made Pesto .. lots of basil, pine nuts and olive oil and omitting the cheese again no noticeable change in flavor and great tossed on for us brown rice pasta or used as a Pizza sauce. I usually make a big batch and then freeze it in an ice cube tray so I can just plop out a cube or two to toss in a recipe.

Oh and yummy homemade croutons .. for us we use our favorite gluten free bread, though you could use any bread you love, cut in to cubes, toss lightly with extra virgin olive oil, sprinkle with a seasoning of choice and bake at 350 until the start to get brown and crispy !!!

And so far the lowest cheese for Cholesterol has been a grated lite asiago .. actually coming in at zero!!

Mexican Pasta

... one would think with these two opening recipes that we were eating a lot of Mexican and likely we are. I suspect the reason being is that I understand the spices and so am able to make it tasty for the finicky fellow I call my husband.

This one I found using the All Recipes App on my Iphone .. great cause you can choose the style of meal and a few different ingredients. It also lists the cholesterol and other contents.

This one got two thumbs up in our house .. the other two thumbs were eating "naked" noodles.

The only change I made was to use Brown Rice Pasta .. in a spaghetti shape ..

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound seashell pasta
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 onions, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1/2 cup sweet corn kernels
• 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can peeled and diced tomatoes
• 1/4 cup salsa
• 1/4 cup sliced black olives
• 1 1/2 tablespoons taco seasoning mix
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
2. While pasta is cooking, heat olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Cook onions and pepper in oil until lightly browned, 10 minutes. Stir in corn and heat through. Stir in black beans, tomatoes, salsa, olives, taco seasoning and salt and pepper and cook until thoroughly heated, 5 minutes.
3. Toss sauce with cooked pasta and serve.