I did some baking at The School House in the Blue Kitchen this week. I just love the light in that kitchen : ) 
We have had the longest and most boring winter. I got very, very lazy in the kitchen. I’m sure we can all relate, especially if you have kids – too often I’ve taken the easy way out lately. For me, that means Pasta, Pasta, Pasta. It is just too easy to throw in a pan, add some veggies and meat, come up with a sauce, boom, dinners done in about 30 minutes and everyone is full and satisfied. I was loving this solution, until I realized that I was also eating those leftovers for lunch. And usually a PBJ for breakfast. That is a lot of pasta and bread… especially when there wasn’t much else going on for nutrition’s sake.
For spring, I’m going to try to brighten up our meals for a bit. For all of you that said this back in January, bravo. It took me 3 months to get on board! I’ve been doing some research on what kind of foods I want to focus on and what I could focus less on. It is pretty obvious that focusing our meals around pasta and/or bread was not helping me get a balanced diet – I was missing a lot of daily vegetables and nutrients (especially magnesium – turns out that seems to be what I don’t get enough of). So, here we are. I’m going to do a couple of weeks Gluten “Light” and see how I feel. I’m really not into avoiding foods, but more into adding better things in – that is the goal for me – eat more colorful vegetables (especially greens, which I was not good at), nutrients and add more healthy nuts. And not eat pasta for every meal. With all of this said – there are SO MANY OPINIONS* about this out there. I’m sure many of you have experience with this, but I really want to stay away from too many extremes. I love being active and having the energy to do so, so I’m hoping adding some of these healthful things to my day and lightening up on the flour intake will help me just feel better. *To the Celiac population : I did not mean to be insensitive to your disease : ) I am not claiming that your disease is a fad, only that it seems a lot of non-celiac people are trying to be gluten free to solve a number of ailments and or weight issues and therefore the GF lifestyle has become a trend among non-celiacs. It seems to be the most recent “magic bullet” which I’m always weary of. This post was merely my weariness to this phenomenon to be the cure-all that many claim it is. I completely empathize with your celiac diagnosis, as after trying it for a week, there seems to be gluten hiding everywhere. It seems that many people are sensitive to this topic… and to gluten! I didn’t mean to offend anyone, just exploring this new idea for myself personally. I was directing this post more to people, like myself, who stay away from the newest thing that everyone else is doing and try to just listen to my body and enjoy food. I’m just personally curious if after avoiding gluten for a while, if my body will tell me that that’s my answer – and honestly, I hope not! It is hard : )
…… Packaging : Rectangle Basket (being restocked next week – all shapes and sizes) Slate Linen Cocktail Napkin Thistle Satin Ribbon Basket Tag Baking Supplies Used : Disposable Pastry Bag Large Scoop Jumbo Brown Cupcake Papers Shop all Packaging & Baking Supplies >
Luckily this GF phenom has opened up lots of modifications for bakers, so this new “gluten light” adventures has also sort of made me excited about trying some old recipes with new modifications. One of our all-time favorites is Banana Muffins (original recipe here for those all not interested in anything GF, like my former self) for breakfast. I love a quick and easy breakfast and often have muffins and coffee every morning (what, isn’t that healthy?!?!), so I wanted to take this favorite routine and make it a bit healthier. I switched the regular flour for Glueten Free Flour Blend (I used Simply Balanced, Target’s brand). I also added 2 tablespoons of olive oil at add to the moisture factor since there isn’t any gluteny gluten. To pack it with extra nutrients, I tripled the nuts and added lots and lots of walnuts. I should have saved some to add to the top along with the banana chips (which are one of my favorite parts – don’t skip the dehydrated banana chips!), but I forgot. It is still a muffin for breakfast, but hey, baby steps. The results? They were good! Really good. In fact, I don’t know that I could tell the difference between regular – when they were hot out of the oven with some butter. I had one later for a snack and had to re-heat it to get the same effect. I’d love to know what you think… and what you think about all of this GF business. For the birds? Or has it helped you? 
Gluten Free Banana Muffins
5 overripe bananas
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups Gluten Free flour blend (I used Simply Balanced found at Target)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
1/2 cup of dehydrated banana chips
Peel 3 bananas and place them in the mixer half of them in a KitchenAid fitted with the whisk attachment. Add sugar and mix them together for 3 minutes until a frothy mixture forms. Add butter, eggs and vanilla. Mix together until combined.
Add flour, soda, salt, and nuts. Mash up remaining bananas with a fork and mix them in.
If baking immediately, scoop the mixture into Brown Jumbo Cupcake Papers in a muffin tin with a Large Scoop. Top with walnuts and dehydrated banana chips.
Bake at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes until baked through. Serve with soften butter. 
Make Ahead : One of my favorite shortcuts that I use almost every week, is to make a large batch of muffin batter and keep it in the fridge or freezer in a Disposable Piping Bag. If we want fresh baked muffins, I just get the bag out of the fridge in the morning, snip off the end, squeeze the batter into muffin papers, and in 15 minutes we have warm, buttery Banana Muffins.
If you keep the batter in the freezer, just put the bag of batter in the fridge the night before and it should be perfectly thawed in the morning.
Packaging : Rectangle Basket (being restocked next week – all shapes and sizes) Slate Linen Cocktail Napkin Thistle Satin Ribbon Basket Tag Baking Supplies Used : Disposable Pastry Bag Large Scoop Jumbo Brown Cupcake Papers Shop all Packaging & Baking Supplies >
