Happy Memorial Day! The holiday weekend has me running a bit late on menu planning, but I think it might be doing that a few of us if I were to guess! Here goes…

MONDAY:
– Grilled Tri Tip
– Roasted Potatoes and Salad

TUESDAY:
– Cora’s Mexican Ground Beef Tacos (with ground turkey!)

WEDNESDAY:
– Lentil Rice Bowls with Lime Tahini Dressing

THURSDAY:
– Leftovers

FRIDAY:
– Spaghetti Bolognese (with ground turkey!)
– Salad and garlic bread

SATURDAY:
– Eat out night

SUNDAY:
– Enchiladas

Your turn! Share your meal plans in the comments below!

I will admit, I wasn’t super excited to plan this week’s menu. But once I sat down, looked at everyone’s menus from last week as well as the calendar, it came together easily and nicely and I’m excited for the week. So glad I have this blog to keep me accountable, it helps tremendously, as do your menus you share each week. 

MONDAY:
– Chicken Caesar Wraps

TUESDAY:
– Eat out night (this day is going to be bananas, so I’m being realistic!)

WEDNESDAY:
– Grammy’s Orange Chicken
– Rice and salad

THURSDAY:
– Vegetarian Curry in a Hurry

FRIDAY:
– Leftovers

SATURDAY:
– Memorial Day Block Party Potluck

SUNDAY:
– Hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill
– Potato salad and garden salad

Okay, people, share your meal plans in the comments! They are SO helpful and wonderful!

I gave up wheat for the most part over a year ago, completely six months ago when I received my allergy test results. In the beginning I didn’t do any gluten-free baking because, well, I don’t eat much sugar anymore so I figured I may as well not tempt myself. BUUUUT…I couldn’t resist the baking bug forever. And now that I am finding and finessing more and more gluten-free baked goods recipes, I’m kind of hooked, as well as surprised and delighted at how good the new recipes are. The latest endeavor has been creating a recipe for gluten-free banana bread. Today I am ready to share that recipe and it is great, whether you eat gluten free or dairy free or not!

The base (like many of my new gluten-free recipes) is oat flour. Oats have really stepped it up for me this past year in more ways than one, and this recipe is no exception. Using oat flour for this gluten-free banana bread yields a very moist quick bread with tons of flavor and great crumb. The texture is not quite as light and fluffy as my other regular banana breads, but it’s not a huge difference and, honestly, this bread is so good I don’t feel like I’m missing out at all. Also, this recipe is dairy free, so if you’re looking for dairy-free baking recipes, add this one to your list!

Just like regular banana bread, I absolutely love putting leftover slices in the toaster before eating. With this particular bread you just need to be careful pulling the banana bread out as it tends to fall apart even more than regular banana bread. I use a toaster oven and not a top-loading toaster, too. I imagine it would be easy to lose your bread in a top loader!

Without further ado, here is my recipe for gluten-free banana bread. And I swear that even people who can eat gluten will love this recipe, too. Banana bread for all!

Gluten-Free Banana Bread (Dairy Free)

 

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Inspired by a recipe for banana-bread muffins in "The Low-FODMAP Diet for Beginners" by Mollie Tunitsky. There are a lot of changes in my recipe below, but Mollie's original muffin recipe is also very good if you have her book and want to try it.

Author: Jane Maynard

Ingredients

• 2 cups oat flour
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ cup coconut oil
• 3 medium-sized or 2 large unripe bananas (my bananas were still a bit green and worked really well; the riper the banana, the sweeter things will be and it could change the moisture content of the batter a bit, too, which may add cooking time)
• 2 eggs
• ½ cup raw turbinado sugar
• ¼ cup maple syrup (if you don't have pure maple syrup, you can simply do ¾ cup raw sugar and leave out the syrup)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325º F. Grease a standard bread loaf pan well with coconut oil. (If you don't need to go dairy free, you can also use butter for greasing the pan.)
2. Whisk together the oat flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl and set aside.
3. In a large microwave-safe mixing bowl, melt the coconut oil in the microwave (about 20 seconds on high). If your coconut oil is already in liquid form, skip this step.
4. Add the bananas to the bowl with the oil and using a potato masher mash the bananas, being careful not to splash oil. (You can mash the bananas before adding them to the bowl, but I like doing it this way to save on dishes!)
5. Add the eggs, sugar, syrup and vanilla. Mix well.
6. Add the dry ingredients and stir until combined with no more dry spots in the batter.
7. Pour into the loaf pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. I usually start checking for doneness around 20 minutes and then check every 3-5 minutes after that, depending on how done the bread is. The cook time could go much longer depending on the exact size and ripeness of your bananas. Just make sure that toothpick is squeaky clean and the loaf is rising in the center.

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Yesterday was Mother’s Day. And for about half a second I thought, “I really should go plan the weekly menu.” And then I picked up my book and read. I think I made the right choice. 😉 But Mother’s Day doesn’t last forever, so now it’s back to normal. (Wah-Waaaah.)

MONDAY:
– Turkey Chili

TUESDAY:
– Sweet Korean BBQ Beef Tacos and Rice Bowls

WEDNESDAY:
– Baked Buffalo Chicken
– Salad

THURSDAY:
– Leftovers

FRIDAY:
– Chicken Caesar Wraps

SATURDAY:
– Eat out

SUNDAY:
– Dinner at Friends’

Your turn! Share those menus! We all need them for inspiration! 🙂

Hey everyone. I have a few carry-overs from last week’s menu. I did cook last week but ended up cooking totally random stuff that wasn’t on the menu. Which means we still had a delicious week and I don’t have to think that hard with planning this week. Win win!

MONDAY:
– Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken Rice Bowls

TUESDAY:
– Turkey Chili

WEDNESDAY:
– Pesto Gnocchi

THURSDAY:
– Leftovers

FRIDAY:
– Eat out night

SATURDAY:
– Carne Asada Salad

SUNDAY:
– Breakfast for Dinner: Waffles, Smoothies

You know the drill, share your menus and meal plans in the comments below!

Today I am sharing a gluten-free oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe that is for everyone, not just gluten-free people. No, seriously, these cookies simply taste like awesome chocolate chip oatmeal cookies and no one would know they are gluten free just from eating them. They are also dairy free. And you also use a bit of black magic to make them so perfect sans flour and butter. But I swear this recipe is worth selling your soul to the devil for. 

Over a year ago I chose to stop eating wheat products and felt better so I stuck with it, for the most part, indulging now and again when it made sense (trip to Sweden, birthday cake, etc). Then in September I did a whole bunch of allergy testing and learned that I am actually allergic to wheat. So my optional break from wheat became a permanent one. Which, in all honesty, was a major bummer. Although, six months in and I can honestly say it’s been easier than I thought it would be. Except for a few items, I mostly don’t miss wheat products. But there are a couple foods that I really am sad I’ll never eat again, one of them being my homemade chocolate chip cookies. I spent about a decade tracking down recipes for and perfecting chocolate chip cookies. (Click here for the ultimate winning recipe in that decade-long quest.) I tried subbing in gluten-free flour in my favorite recipe, but the cookies were nowhere near as good. Not even close. I had pretty much given up hope on ever enjoying a homemade chocolate chip cookie 10-minutes-out-of-the-oven ever again. 

Then Nate’s cousin Amanda told me about a gluten-free oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe she loves in The Low FODMAP-Diet for Beginners cookbook by Mollie Tunitsky. Amanda told me this recipe would make it so I didn’t miss chocolate chip cookies anymore. I didn’t believe her. Then I tried the recipe and everyone was blown away at how good these cookies are. They just taste like awesome oatmeal cookies. IT IS THE BEST.

I have made these cookies many times since that first try. The cookies came out differently between takes, so I really worked on the recipe to make sure it would be consistent as well as have perfect texture. I credit The Low FODMAP-Diet for Beginners with introducing me to this recipe, but I have made some ingredient adjustments and modifications to the technique, which I will share in the recipe card below.

If you are dairy free, gluten free or just want to eat a really good oatmeal chocolate chip cookie, this recipe is for you. Enjoy!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies (Gluten Free, Dairy Free)

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

10 mins

Total time

20 mins

 

These gluten-free and dairy-free oatmeal cookies are amazing and taste like the real deal. Adapted from "The Low FODMAP-Diet for Beginners" by Mollie Tutnitsky

Author: Jane Maynard

Serves: 20-24 cookies

Ingredients

• ½ cup coconut oil
• ⅔ cup lightly-packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ¾ teaspoon coarse sea salt, plus more for sprinkling (or ½ teaspoon kosher salt)
• 2¼ cup oat flour
• ½ cup rolled oats
• 1¼ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350º F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
2. Put coconut oil in a large, microwave-safe mixing bowl. If the oil is already a liquid, you're all set. If it's in a solid state, microwave for appx. 20 seconds to melt it. Add the brown sugar, egg and vanilla extract to the oil and mix very well.
3. Stir in the baking soda and salt.
4. Stir in the oat flour, rolled oats, and chocolate chips.
5. Place cookie dough balls on cookie sheet, leaving space between them for spreading. The dough balls should be about 2 tablespoons (medium cookie scoop size). Once you place the dough on the cookie sheet, using wet fingers gently smooth out the cookie dough balls and light press down on them, to make them all the same shape and size. They don't need to be flattened, just lightly squished a bit.
6. Bake for 9-11 minutes, until the cookies are lightly browned and look done in the centers. Sprinkle with coarse sea salt immediately after taking out of the oven, then gently drop the pan flat onto the stovetop or counter to force the cookies to settle. Let cool then enjoy!

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