Coconut Banana French Toast

I needed to do something with the leftover coconut milk liquid in the bottom of my can after making chocolate coconut whipped cream so I decided to use it for french toast.  I loved the flavors that the coconut and banana gave to the french toast.  My daughter wasn't pleased with the banana chunks part as the banana is mashed then added into the liquid and when cooking it bakes into the french toast.  I loved that, she wasn't pleased.

Coconut Banana French Toast

3 eggs
1/4 c. coconut milk
1 mashed overripe banana
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. cinnamon
6-8 slices of bread

Preheat your skillet or griddle and make sure it is greased with either butter or oil.  Whisk together the coconut milk, eggs, mashed banana, cinnamon and vanilla together.  Dip slices into the egg mixture and then place onto the hot griddle.  Cook until both sides are golden brown.  Dust with powdered sugar to serve. 

Chocolate Coconut Whip Cream (Dairy-Free)

As a person that has eaten dairy my entire life I know how awesome things like ice cream, pizza, and whip cream are.  Of course, realizing that I'm allergic to dairy and can't eat it without getting ill I have to miss out on certain things.  I can make a dairy-free molten lava cake but I don't get that dollop of whip cream on top anymore.  Or do I?  I saw this recipe somewhere on Pinterest at one point and thought no way, can it be, can it really be whip cream that is dairy-free?  The answer is YES!  Not only is it a whip cream like consistency I personally think it's even better than regular whip cream!  It is super easy to make.  My entire family really enjoyed it and complained that I didn't make enough. This recipe made about 4 shot glass sizes worth of whip cream.  This to me tastes like a chocolate mousse.  Totally worth trying and I'm exciting to make a non-chocolate version to top my favorite pies and desserts with in the future!

Chocolate Coconut Whip Cream

1 can of coconut milk (refrigerated)
3 tbsp. powdered sugar
2 tbsp. cocoa powder
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

First you must place a can of coconut milk (not lite or coconut cream, but a regular can you find in the ethnic aisle at the store like Thai Organics Coconut Milk) in the refrigerator overnight.  The next day open the can and remove all of the thick coconut cream off the top of the can and leave the liquid at the bottom of the can (save that, I'm going to post a recipe using that for coconut banana french toast next).  Sift your powdered sugar and cocoa powder to make sure there are no lumps.  Add it to the bowl with the coconut cream and whisk to combine.  Add in the vanilla.  Whisk until fluffy.  Taste to determine if you want more sugar added in or not, I like mine a bit more bitter.  Then place back into the fridge for another hour or two and it'll get thicker.  You can spoon it into whatever you plan to serve it in before placing it back in the fridge so you can just serve it as a dessert or top your favorite dessert with it.  You will not be disappointed!!  

Pumpkin Banana Bread

So you know how the story goes.  You buy one too many bananas and they are getting a little too ripe to eat so it turns into banana bread time.  Of course, what time isn't a good time for banana bread?  Banana bread is delicious.  Wanna know what is even better than banana bread?  Pumpkin banana bread.  My kids devoured this bread and begged for more.  What felt really good about that is the fact that it was healthy so I didn't mind them having an extra piece.  And of course, do you know how delicious banana bread is with a cup of coffee for breakfast?!  I tweaked this recipe I found here just a bit - Cooking Light.

Pumpkin Banana Bread

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder 
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup melted coconut oil
2 large eggs
3 large bananas, overripe
1/2 cup pure pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 tbsp. ground cinnamon 



Preheat oven to 350°.  Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and sugar into a mixing bowl and whisk to combine.   Mash the bananas until desired consistency, I like a little bit of chunk left to mine.  Whisk in the pumpkin puree and melted coconut oil.  Add in the eggs one at a time and then the vanilla.  Now add the flour mixture into the pumpkin banana mixture and whisk until just blended but don't over mix.  Pour batter (it will be a thick batter) into a bread pan and bake 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack. 

Protein Packed Banana Nut Oatmeal

Yum!  I just love oatmeal.  This oatmeal is one that I make quite often and it is super filling.  Lots of fiber, lots of protein and lots of flavor.  My son loves this too.

Protein Packed Banana Nut Oatmea

1 c. water
1/2 c. old fashioned rolled oats (dry)
1 scoop vanilla protein powder (I use soy)
1/4 c. almond milk (original)
1 ripened banana
1 tbsp. chopped almonds
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

Start by cooking your oats in the water according to the directions.  Once the oats are fully cooked add in your protein powder.  It will get really thick really fast.  Then use your  almond milk to thin it out to the consistency you enjoy.  Mash in your banana or chop into chunks, add in the vanilla and top with nuts.  Yum! 

Asian Stuffed Peppers

I've been wanting to do stuffed peppers for a while now but everyone in my house starts complaining as soon as I mention it.  Tonight is my birthday and I can make whatever I want and no one can say a word so I decided to make these peppers.  I'm totally in love with ground turkey with Asian flavors and could eat it all day long so I decided to stuff it with my favorite.  I used baby red bell peppers so I only needed to bake them about 20 minutes until the peppers were really soft and tender.  I imagine using full sized peppers might take a bit longer.  I also opted to not mix my rice into my mixture as I originally planned to do for no reason other than my rice cooker was taking way to long cooking the rice and I didn't feel like waiting on it.  So I served it over brown rice instead.  This was a huge hit with my kids.  My husband of course doesn't care for ground turkey, peppers, onions or brown rice so I didn't expect him to jump up and down over it.  My 2 year old absolutely loved it and ate his entire pepper too before asking for more. 

Filling:
1lb. ground turkey
8 small red bell peppers
1/2 red onion
1/4 c. hoisin sauce
1/3 c. low sodium soy sauce
1/4 c. chili sauce (or any spicy Asian sauce)
1 tsp. olive oil 


Preheat oven to 375.  Chop the onion and 2 of the small bell peppers and add a bit of olive oil to a skillet and saute until just tender. Meanwhile slice the remaining peppers length wise and scoop out inside seeds and flesh to give the meat a place to rest.  Now, add ground turkey to pan with the onions and peppers and cook until not longer pink.  Add in the soy sauce, hoisin sauce and chili sauce and allow to cook a few more minutes.  Now taste to determine if you need salt as I don't add extra because the soy sauce is salty enough.  Place peppers on a non-stick baking sheet (or simply spray baking sheet with pam).  Fill peppers to the top and bake 20 minutes or until tender.  Serve over brown rice.  

Pancake Cups

Peanut Butter Banana Nut Pancake Cups

My kids beg for these almost every morning since the first time I made them.  I originally saw this recipe on pinterest (here - Real Mom Kitchen) and though they don't come out exactly as it says it is a HUGE hit in my house.  The middle sinks in just a bit so it looks like a bowl.  Of course, I modified it to fit what we like a bit better to make it healthier.  I actually love making these because everything goes directly into a blender then poured into a muffin tin so little mess and little clean up.  Plus my kids use almost no syrup this way which I really like.

We've done quite a few variations of this now.  We've done it with peanut butter and bananas.  We've done it with chocolate chips and peanut butter, we've done it with blueberries and lemon zest and we've done it melted jelly or jam over the top as well.  YUM!!!  This makes 24 pancake cups.  If you want just 12, cut the recipe in half.    

Lemon Blueberry Pancake Cups

Peanut Butter Banana Pancake Cups

6 whole eggs
1 c. almond milk
1 c. whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 c. vegan butter melted
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tbsp. honey

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Add your eggs, milk, flour and vanilla into a blender and let it whirl until smooth.  Add in your butter and honey and again let it whirl.  Pour into a muffin tin (well greased) and fill it a little under half way full.  Bake for 15 minutes.  Allow to cool a few minutes then remove from pan and add your toppings of choice.  I like to add a dollop of peanut butter, sliced bananas and chopped nuts to mine.

 

Whole-Grain Pancake Mix

I'm always so jealous of people that can wake up and make a pancake breakfast for their family out of a box of mix.  It seems so quick, so easy and I've never been one to do that.  I do everything from scratch so of course I spend a great deal of time in the kitchen having to prepare things.  I love the idea of making a huge bag of pancake mix and then just adding in your oil, eggs and milk when it is time to whip them up for breakfast.  It saves so much time on my part and is still just as delicious.  I found this recipe at King Arthur Flour.  I didn't add the oil into the mix like the original recipe called for but opted to add that at the same time as the eggs and milk later on and I opted to make them 100% whole grain and not use the all-purpose flour but add extra whole wheat flour and oats instead and it worked just fine that way.  I liked to write on my bag what I need to add so there is no confusion.  1 cup of the pancake mix + 2 tbsp. oil (such as canola) + 1 egg + 1 c. milk.  This bag makes about 7-8 1 cup servings. 

Pancake Mix 

4 1/2 c. whole wheat pastry flour
4 c. old fashioned rolled oats

3 tbsp. sugar
3 tbsp. baking powder
1 tbsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt

Pancakes:

1 c. homemade pancake mix
1 c. almond milk
1 large egg
2 tbsp. vegetable oil

1 batch of the pancake mix made as stated above can make about 8 small pancakes.  The nutritional information for them is below.

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION - 97.4 Calories * 5.0g Total Fat * .5 Saturated Fat * 1.3 g. Polyunsaturated Fat *  2.4 g. Monounsaturated Fat * 23.1 mg. Cholesterol * 27.5 mg. Sodium * 31.3 mg. Potassium * 11.4 g. Total Carbohydrate * 1.5 g. Dietary Fiber * 2.6 g. Sugar * 2.5 g. Protein