Snack Time: Banana Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

I found this super easy cookie recipe online the other day and tweaked it for our family.  The kids loved these cookies and thought they were getting a huge treat!

Banana Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Ingredients:
3 ripened bananas, mashed
2 c. quick oats
1/3 c. applesauce (I used 1 GoGo Squeez)
1/4 c. hemp milk (or your milk of choice)
1/2 c. raisins
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. cinnamon (we were out of cinnamon so I used pumpkin pie spice, YUM)

Combine all ingredients and scoop onto baking sheet.  350* for 15-20 min.

I served these as a snack with some fresh cut watermelon and cantaloupe chunks.

What's for Dinner Tonight? Beef & Broccoli

I had Beef and Broccoli on the menu for this week, but I couldn't find the recipe I'd originally looked up when it came time to cook it.  So I decided to just throw some stuff together and hope for the best.  I wasn't super impressed with the last recipe for Beef and Broccoli I'd tried, so I figured I couldn't do much worse.  I am not one to toot my own horn, but *toot toot*!  This was sooo good.  I didn't measure anything, so these are all approximate measurements.

Ingredients (in parentheses are the "normal" foods you can sub):
1 lb. flank steak or thin sirloin
1 c. beef broth
1/4 c. coconut aminos (soy sauce)
2 Tbsp. garlic
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. dried onion flakes
2 Tbsp. arrowroot powder (cornstarch)

Directions:
1.  Combine beef broth through onion and whisk together.
2.  Slice steak into 1/4" strips and let marinate in sauce mixture for at least 10 min. or up to an hour.
3.  Heat a skillet over med-high heat and drizzle with oil (I used olive oil).
4.  Cook steak in skillet until browned on both sides and cook through to desired doneness (reserve marinade)
5.  In a small saucepan, combine 2 Tbsp. of the reserved marinade sauce and the arrowroot powder.  Mix and cook until bubbly.
6.  Add the rest of the marinade and cook until desired thickness. (I'll admit that I got distracted and let mine thicken a little too much.  If this happens, just add a little extra beef broth)
7.  Toss the cooked steak and some steamed broccoli in the sauce and serve over steamed white (or brown) rice.

Next time I plan to double this recipe.  There was just not quite enough meat for the kids to have more than a couple pieces each.  I hadn't anticipated them asking for more!

 My kids are, well kids, and they tend to like their meals deconstructed.  So I served theirs like this...

Maple Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes might just be Rapunzel's favorite food ever.  Before her corn allergy was discovered, she could devour half a pan of "candied yams" in one sitting if I'd let her.  It's a Thanksgiving staple in this house and I had a heck of a time finding allergy-free marshmallows last year.  But I did.  And they were gross.  And expensive.  Since then, I've tried a few different sweet potato recipes that would be sweet enough to satisfy without marshmallows.  This one is a real winner.  And it's only 2 ingredients.  And she LOVES them.

MAPLE ROASTED SWEET POTATOES

Cut sweet potatoes into chunks and drizzle with 100% pure maple syrup.  Cover with foil.  Bake at 400* about an hour.  I like to slightly mash mine when they're done.  And feel free to drizzle a little extra syrup on top before serving.

 Tonight I served these with sauteed chicken breast and steamed green beans.

Aurora gave this meal 2 thumbs up!

An after dinner ammendment:  Rapunzel declared she didn't like these afterall.  I'm not even sure she took an actual bite and swallowed.  I've made these before and she's inhaled them.  She asked me, "do they have marshmallows on them" and I said, "no, these are the maple sweet potatoes I've made for you before, and you like them!".  But that was met with a grimace.  I think I may have fibbed to her last time and let her believe that the marshmallows were melted in.  Maybe from now on I shall melt one tiny marshmallow into a corner of the dish so that I can tell her, "yes, there is marshmallow melted in". 

What's for Dinner Tonight? BBQ BAKED POTATOES

I am a homeschooling mom of 4.  I live for EASY meals.  And tonight's dinner is about as easy as it can get.

BBQ BAKED POTATOES

Ingredients:
1 pork butt
1 bottle BBQ sauce (I used Trader Joe's Kansas City BBQ sauce)
Potatoes
olive oil
sea salt

Directions:
Throw that pork butt in the crock pot and pour that bottle off BBQ sauce over top.  I've found a few different bottled BBQ sauces that we can use, but you can obviously make your own as well.  Here is a great allergy-free BBQ sauce recipe.  I cook mine on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours (today I cooked it on high for about 4 hours).  When it's done, shred it with 2 forks and mix it in with the extra sauce and let it warm until ready to eat.

I bake my potatoes by smothering them in olive oil and sea salt, poking holes in them with a fork, and baking them at 350* for one hour.

What you add to your potato will depend on your own allergies/tastes.  Rapunzel eats hers with just the pork and a little Greek Coconut Plain Yogurt (it's a good sub for sour cream).  The rest of us might put some butter, sour cream, shredded cheese and/or chives on ours.  But they're good with just the meat and potatoes too!

Acorn bread

When we first learned of Rapunzel's food allergies, it was very overwhelming.  I made healthy choices when choosing foods for the kids to eat, but I also bought things in bulk, and bought "cheaper" things since I'm feeding so many.
 
When I started reading labels, I couldn't believe how many things had corn syrup in them.  Even the things that boasted "NO HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP".  Guess what the first ingredient in a lot of those was... "corn syrup".  Sure, it wasn't high fructose, but it was still corn. 

And cornstarch.  It's used so much for it's anti-caking properties.  It's in powdered sugar.  It's in lunchmeat.  It's in frozen french fries.  And more.

After researching and reading HUNDREDS of labels, I was able to find brands for these items that were corn-free.  When Trader Joe's opened here, I fell in love.  I found SO MANY corn-free items there for a FRACTION of what I was paying at Whole Foods or Sprouts.  And they tasted GOOD.

Corn isn't the only food allergy that Rapunzel has, but it was definitely the hardest to adjust to.  But after finding corn-free brands, it was easy to make subtle changes to my recipes.

The only thing we really miss is actual corn, which I obviously can't replace.  And cornbread.  Oh how my girl loved her some cornbread.  I didn't think there was any way to make a comparable substitution.  Until I came across a recipe for "corn" bread made with Cream of Wheat.  I didn't know if it would be similar enough, but it was worth a try!  So I bought some Cream of Wheat and gave them a try last night.

They're not exactly like corn bread, but they are definitely similar.  And they were a hit with everyone!  I think these will go into regular rotation around here!

Here's the recipe, for our "Acorn Bread" (you know, as in, non-corn bread)

Ingredients:
1 c. dry cream of wheat (regular, not instant)
1 c. flour
1/4 c. sugar (I actually used 1/3 c. because I like my cornbread sweet, and it still wasn't quite sweet enough, so next time I think I'll try 1/2 c)
2 eggs
1 c. milk
4 tsp. baking powder
4 Tbsp. cooking oil

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400*
Mix all ingredients together.  Pour into baking dish.
Bake at 400*:
12-15 minutes for muffins
20-25 minutes for square pan

We ate them with some butter spread on.

If you're trying to avoid corn, be sure that you have corn-free baking powder (yes, corn is in most brands), and don't use corn oil for your cooking oil (I use Canola oil).  We found this to be a pretty good substitute for corn bread!