Pinto Beans {Slow Cooker}

Who loves pinto beans?  I do, I do.  I must admit, in the interest of time and with two little boys and a third on the way I usually opt for canned pinto beans or vegetarian refried beans {gasp}.  My sweet hubby is always trying new things, which I love because it gets me out of a cooking rut.  He decided to try making pinto beans in the slow cooker, much like our very popular Peruvian Bean recipe.  They, of course, turned out wonderfully delicious and oh so much more tasty than anything out of a can.  Best part...they're easy to make, just soak the dried beans overnight then put that slow cooker to work.  We had ours with our Baked Chicken Taquitos and Spanish Rice. *TIP* It's especially tasty to use the broth from our Crock Pot Chicken, if you're using that to stuff your taquitos, in the Spanish Rice, in place of the chicken broth and water (2 1/2 cups)! Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

Recipe: (serves 8)
Ingredients:
3 cups dried pinto beans
2 pieces of cooked bacon and 1 pieces worth of grease
2 T agave nectar (or 1 T brown sugar)
1-1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ginger powder
1/2 tsp ground coriander seeds
3 c chicken broth (low sodium)
1-1/2 cup water

Directions:
1. Soak beans overnight in a pot with 6 cups of water.  In the morning, drain and rinse the beans.
2. In a large pot, bring about 6 cups of water to a boil.  Once the water is at a rolling boil, add the beans and boil for about 3 minutes.  Drain and rinse the beans.  (This flash boiling is an optional step, it really helps remove the {ahem} excess gas from the beans)
3. Place beans into your slow cooker and add remaining ingredients, stir to combine and cook on high for 4-6 hrs.
4. About a half hour before serving, check the consistency of your beans.  If they are too liquidy, remove the lid of your slow cooker for the last 30 minutes of cooking time.  Stir beans a few times near the end of cooking to mix well and to make the beans creamy.  Serve hot.  These reheat well and are great for leftovers too. ...click here for the recipe!

Banana Bread {Gluten Free, Dairy Free}

It's been awhile since we've had banana bread so I was excited that my hubby wanted to make some. He came up with this recipe and you'd never guess it's gluten free and dairy free! It was so moist and dense and flavorful and the whole loaf was eaten in one day, yum! You may also like to try our Low Fat banana bread or our Low sugar, Vegan banana bread. Enjoy!

Recipe: (makes one loaf, 10-12 slices)
Ingredients:

{dry ingredients}
3/4 cup white rice flour
3/4 cup tapioca flour
1 cup sorghum flour
1/2 cup millet flour
1 Tablespoon xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1-1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

{wet ingredients}
3 ripe bananas, peeled and mashed
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla
3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened (or use 2 Tablespoons of vegetable oil for dairy free)
1 1/3 cups oat milk
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs

extras: 1 cup walnuts (optional)

Directions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 350'F.
2. Whisk dry ingredients together in a large bowl. In a separate bowl or stand mixer, beat wet ingredients together until well combined.
3. Slowly (by the 1/2 cup) add the dry ingredients into the wet with your mixer on low speed.
4. Gently fold in walnuts by hand with a spoon. Pour the batter into a greased loaf pan (about 9"x5" size), or use a Stoneware loaf pan like us, then no cooking spray is needed. Bake at 350'F for 60-70 minutes until it reaches an internal temperature of 170'-200'F and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool for 5 minutes and then enjoy. ...click here for the recipe!

Chicken Almond Satay and Veggie Spring Rolls {Gluten Free}

This is a tasty dinner with an Asian flair.  Traditional satay is generally prepared with peanuts or peanut butter but why not try it with almond butter?  I love the more subtle flavor of the almond butter and the great richness it has as a tasty dipping sauce. Get your chicken in the marinade a few hours before dinner to really infuse some great flavor. We had our chicken almond satay with some steamed jasmine rice and some fabulous veggie spring rolls on the side. The spring rolls were stuffed with delicious veggies and are baked not fried. Check out our fun tip for adding some extra savory mushroom flavor to your recipes. Try this Make Your Own Take Out Dinner (MYOTO) tonight. Enjoy!

Chicken Marinade Recipe: (serves 6-8)
2 cups chicken broth
2 Tbsp Tamari
1/2 tsp rice vinegar
1/2 tsp ground ginger powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
3 tbsp agave nectar
16 chicken tenders

Directions:
1. In a medium bowl combine broth, Tamari, rice vinegar, ground ginger, garlic powder and agave nectar. Place chicken tenders in a large resealable bag or shallow baking dish and pour the marinade over the top so that the chicken is mostly submerged. Allow chicken to marinate for 2-4 hours in the refrigerator.
2. Grill chicken on outdoor grill or grill pan over medium-high heat for about 3 minutes per side or until chicken reaches an internal temperature of 160'F. Remove from heat, cover and set aside.

Almond Satay Dipping Sauce Recipe:
Ingredients:
4 tbsp smooth almond butter
2 tbsp agave nectar
4 tbsp oat milk (or coconut milk)
1-1/2 tbsp tamari
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp rice vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground coriander
1/8 tsp Sriracha hot sauce

Directions: In a medium bowl whisk together all ingredients for the sauce until well combined and smooth. Drizzle sauce over chicken and bring more to the table for dipping.

Spring Rolls Recipe: (makes 12 rolls)
1 tbsp olive oil
1-2 cups mushrooms, sliced
4 heads bok choy, julienne
1 medium carrot, thinly sliced
1 stalk celery, thinly sliced
2 radishes, thinly sliced
1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth
1 tbsp tamari
1 tsp mushroom powder, optional (ground dehydrated mushrooms see *TIP* below)
1/2 tsp fresh ginger, minced
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup of edamame, shelled (frozen is okay too)
12 spring roll papers (rice or tapioca paper)

*TIP* 

Finely grind dehydrated mushrooms in a food processor or spice grinder 

and add the fine powder to your dishes for added savory flavor

Directions:
1. In a large saute pan over medium-high heat, add olive oil and mushrooms.  Saute mushrooms until they are tender and browned, about 4-5 minutes.
2. Add the bok choy, carrots, celery and radishes to the pan and saute for about 2-4 minutes more. Add the chicken broth, tamari, mushroom powder, ginger, and salt and saute over medium heat about 7-10 minutes or until the liquid evaporates.
3. If using frozen edamame, place shelled edemame in a small bowl and cover with water; microwave on high for 3 minutes. Add edamame to the veggies in the pan.

4. Soak the spring roll paper in luke warm water until it starts to soften ~1 minute then shake off the excess water and place on a clean surface. Put 2-4 tbsp of the veggie mixture on the spring roll paper and wrap tightly. Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray and place the roll with the end of the wrap down to hold it in place. Repeat for all 12 rolls. Bake at 450'F for 20 minutes or until heated through and golden brown.

...click here for the recipe!

Chicken Teriyaki {Crock Pot}

I'm sure you have noticed that we have been making mostly gluten free dinners (& sweets) around here and this is another one. My hubby decided to go gluten free about 9 months ago and has noticed a huge improvement in how he feels, particularly in the fact that he no longer has dry itchy skin or insomnia! Our boys and I are not 100% gluten free at all but when it comes to family dinners we feel strongly about eating together. We have never made "special kid food" for our boys, so for our dinners we all eat the same thing, which for now means gluten free.

One of my hubby's most favorite go-to meals is chicken teriyaki. It's high in protein, low in fat, gluten free and the rice is easy for him to digest. I decided to try making some at home. It turned out great and got the whole family's seal of approval. If you're feeling like a little Asian take-out try this instead. Enjoy!

Recipe: (serves 4)
Ingredients:
1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce
3 Tablespoons rice vinegar
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (frozen is okay)
fresh cilantro, chopped for garnish

For the sauce:
2 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 1/2 teaspoons water

Directions:
1. In a medium bowl whisk together soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, water, ground ginger, garlic powder and pepper until combined. Place chicken in the bottom of your slow cooker and pour sauce over the top. Cover and cook on HIGH for 4 hours.
2. Remove the chicken to a plate and cover to keep warm.  Pour the sauce from the slow cooker into a shallow saucepan over medium-low heat (be sure to skim off and discard any fat or small pieces of chicken first). In a small dish, combine the corn starch and water until the cornstarch is completely dissolved. Add the cornstarch mixture to the sauce in the pan and whisk gently for 5-7 minutes over low heat, allowing it to come to a gentle bubble until the sauce reaches desired thickness.
3. Plate chicken over some steaming Jasmine rice and pour thickened teriyaki sauce over the top. Garnish with fresh cilantro.  We served ours with some steamed fresh organic broccoli. ...click here for the recipe!

Pumpkin Ginger Snap Cookies {Gluten Free}

We have been enjoying this fall weather so much! This is my favorite time of year to cook. Sounds silly but I love to make soups, casseroles and generally warm and comforting dinners when it's chilly out. This week we had an old favorite, chicken enchiladas, but mixed it up with corn tortillas, yummo! We also had taco salad, wild rice stuffed acorn squash, tamale pie and our tasty pumpkin chili! This week I'm going to try out a couple new dinner recipes, if they turn out, I'll be sure to share. What yummy dinners have you had lately?

We also love our sweets around here. When I showed my hubby a picture of some ginger snap cookies online he said, "those look awesome!". I decided to set out to come up with a gluten free version with a fall twist. I enlisted my husband's help since he's our resident expert on gluten free baking. Together we came up with this recipe. Ginger snaps have such a great warm smokey flavor from the molasses and ginger and our addition of fresh pureed pumpkin gave them a wonderful fall flavor and an extra fluffy chewiness. This recipe makes a lot of cookies, which is good because they won't last long. Enjoy!

Recipe: (makes 34-36 cookies)
Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar, plus some for garnish
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses
1 teaspoon good quality vanilla extract
3/4 cup pumpkin puree (we used fresh roasted pumpkin using this method, or you can use canned, just be sure it's plain pumpkin puree)
4 cups Pamela's Baking and Pancake Mix
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground all spice

Directions:
1. Cream together the sugar and butter with an electric mixer. Add in egg, molasses, vanilla and the pumpkin and mix until well incorporated.
2. Slowly, one 1/2 cup at a time add in the flour to the mixing bowl and continue to mix until well combined. Add in the ginger and all spice and mix another few seconds to incorporate.
3. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Using a cookie scoop, scoop dough onto a cool cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and bake in a 350'F oven for 14-16 minutes, rotating trays halfway through, until cookies are crackled on top and have a slight give to the touch. Remove cookies from the baking sheets to wire racks to cool. ...click here for the recipe!

Blueberry Muffins {Gluten Free}

My hubby made these tasty little muffins for breakfast and they were a treat! I especially love the mini muffin size (I can eat more that way). These are a delicious gluten free alternative to our other Blueberry Muffin recipe. The crispy streusel topping is my favorite part, yummy.  Enjoy!

Recipe: (Makes 48 mini muffins or 24 standard muffins)
Wet Ingredients:
2 eggs
1 1/4 cup Gluten Free oat milk (you can substitute with any milk or milk substitute)
1/2 banana, smashed (slightly green banana works best)

Dry Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup All Purpose Gluten Free Flour
1 cup sorghum
1/4 cup almond flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 teaspoon xantham gum
1 cup frozen blueberries

Topping:
1/4 cup Pamela's Baking and Pancake Mix flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375F'. In a large bowl, whisk all dry ingredients together. In a separate bowl whisk all the wet ingredients together until well combined.
2. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir until thoroughly combined. Gently fold in frozen blueberries.
3. In a small bowl combine topping ingredients together and cut in cold butter using a pastry cutter or two forks
4. Scoop batter into a muffin tin coated with cooking spray, fill cups 3/4 full, sprinkle topping evenly over all the muffins. Bake at 375F' for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. (Increase bake time to 20-25 minutes if preparing standard size muffins) ...click here for the recipe!

Jack-'O-Lantern Fruit Plate {Halloween Party}

This is more of an idea inspiration than a recipe. Just wanted to share the fun little fruit Jack-'O-Lantern my 4 year old and I made together this morning for his Preschool Harvest party. I peeled all the little Mandarin oranges (which are SO sweet and delicious this time of year) and together we arranged the fruit. All together it only took about 20 minutes (lots of peeling), which was good since we did it in a mad dash before school this morning.  I didn't want those oranges getting dried out.  It was a fun and tasty project and one that I hope all the preschoolers will enjoy as well.

Tip: We used an orange "Pumpkin-shaped" plastic platter, with slightly upturned edges, to help with this. Any circular or oval platter will work. We used just about 1 bag of Mandarin oranges, 1 celery stalk, about 8-10 strawberries, two handfuls of grapes and a 1/2 handful of blueberries.

Update: We've gone on to make this multiple times and every single time it's been a huge hit for both kids and adults alike. It's so fun and attractive to look at and everyone loves to see fresh fruit at an otherwise candy-overloaded party. It is important to wait until the last minute to peel the oranges and I like to keep them covered with plastic wrap until it's time to serve to keep them from drying out. ...click here for the recipe!

Black Bean Brownies {Gluten Free}

Are you ready for the best chocolaty, delectable, light and cakey gluten free brownies ever?  My amazing hubby came up with this "from scratch" recipe and these are delicious!  Have you ever tried adding black beans to brownies?  We've tried it a few times before and I was never a big fan of the beanie taste.  By blending the beans with the wet ingredients in a blender and using good quality chocolate the "bean" flavor is really undetectable.  I'm sure if you don't reveal the secret ingredient no one would ever guess they were enjoying the added fiber and protein of black beans in their dessert.  If you are wanting a sweet chocolaty treat these should be next on your list to try.  Enjoy!

Recipe: (makes about 9 brownies)
Ingredients:
3 Tablespoons butter, melted
3 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons good quality vanilla extract
1/4 cup chocolate flavored Rice Dream rice milk, may also substitute milk or any other milk substitute
1 (14oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup Ghirardelli premium unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup Gluten Free flour (we used the Gluten Free Pantry brand all purpose Gluten Free flour)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup good quality semi sweet chocolate chips (we used Guittard)

Directions:
1. In a blender add melted butter, 3 eggs, vanilla extract, rice milk and black beans (drained and rinsed), blend until well combined and smooth.
2. In a large bowl whisk together the dry ingredients; cocoa powder, GF flour, baking powder, sugar and salt until combined.
3. Add the liquids from the blender to the dry ingredients in the bowl and stir until well combined.
4. Spray an 8x8 glass baking dish with cooking spray and pour batter in evenly. Sprinkle chocolate chips on top and bake in a 350'F oven for 24-28 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. ...click here for the recipe!