Banana Dogs with Strawberry Ketchup

No real recipe here. I just thought it turned out cute.





Hot Dog Buns
Bananas
Strawberries
Peanut Butter

Spread peanut butter on hot dog bun, place in banana like a hot dog, top with crushed strawberries and ENJOY!

Strawberry Lemonade Chicken and Swiss Sandwiches

I dont know how I came up with this but it just sounded tasty. And I was right LOL










6 smallish chicken breasts, pounded to an even thickness(I actually did 2 breasts and a bunch of tenders)
1 1/2 cups lemonade concentrate*
1/2 cup frozen strawberries, defrosted and crushed
1 TB brown sugar
1 clove garlic, minced

Combine all in a dish and allow to marinate for several hours or over night.









Remove from marinade and set on foil lined pan











broil chicken until 165 degrees.(also great on the grill!)











Strawberry Sauce:
1 cup frozen strawberries, defrosted and gently crushed(you want somewhat large chunks left)
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp water
1 TB cornstarch
sugar to taste


In a sauce pan combine lemon juice water and cornstarch,










add strawberries and stir gently. Heat over medium heat, adding in sugar as you see fit.(I did a little less than a teaspoonful) Heat and stir until thickened.
Remove from heat and allow to cool.








Toast your buns or bread(we used  hamburger buns, sourdough would be a great choice too)

Lightly spread with mayo top with chicken, a scoop of strawberry sauce and a slice of Swiss cheese.




Place under a broiler until the cheese is slightly melted.









Top with baby spinach and the top bun...(or add other toppings per your tastes too!)

*store bought is fine, but here is a homemade lemonade concentrate if you like: (this is for 1 cup, double for 2 , then with the remaining 1/2 cup you can add water, 1-1 1/2 cups, and have a glass of lemonade)

1/2 cup sugar(you can adjust sugar plus or minus as you like, I like it tart!)
1/2 cup water
3/4 cup fresh lemon juice 

bring water to a boil over medium high heat, add sugar and boil until sugar completely dissolves, add lemon juice and allow to thicken and boil down to 1 cup liquid. Chill thoroughly.

Cinnamon Roll Waffles

Kind of a long process but SOOOO tasty! I made a big batch of these for the kids to pull out and pop in the toaster on school mornings.







2 tsp yeast
1/4 cup warm water

1 TB sugar

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp baking powder 

3 cups all purpose flour 

OR( for GF)
2 tsp xanthan gum

1 1/2 cup sweet sorghum flour
1 cup superfine brown rice flour
6 TB potato starch
3/4 cup tapioca starch
2 TB corn starch

1 cup warm milk
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 tsp cider vinegar

In a bowl combine yeast, warm water and 1 TB sugar. Allow to proof until nice and foamy.

While it is proofing combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl, whisking together gently.

When the yeast is proofed add milk, butter, vanilla, egg and cider vinegar. Mix well. 

Add flour ingredients 1/2 cup at a time until well incorporated. (if you are using all purpose you may need a touch more flour, you want to be able to handle it but still slightly sticky)

Gather into a ball and place in a greased bowl and allow to rest in a warm location for 30 minutes.

Prepare the filling:

2 TB butter, softened(not melted)
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 ts cinnamon

Stir together butter, sugar and cinnamon.

Heat your waffle iron

On a sheet of wax or parchment paper place the dough. 

Pat out gently until you have a 9 x 12 triangle.(You can use extra all purpose or sorghum flour for dusting to aid in this)

Spread filling to over the entire thing.

From the long side GENTLY roll up

Slice into 16(ish) rolls. Pat down gently

Place on the greased waffle iron and cook according to your iron instructions...

Serve with syrup or if you really want the sugar points mix 1/4 cup sour cream and 1/2 cup(plus or minus) powdered sugar and drizzle over the tops.

The freeze well. Cool completely, freeze in a single layer on a cookie sheet, then wrap (I do pairs) and freeze until ready to use.....pop them in the toaster just like an eggo! (just watch carefully for brown sugar drippage!)

EDIT- I have found that for reheating these they do better in the microwave, I suggest covering with a damp paper towel or putting in a glass of water on the side. In the toaster they hardened up a bit too much.

Gluten Free Chocolate Almond Milk Waffles

I was setting out to make some freezer stock for back to school mornings and I decided I was going to try something new!








2 cups rice flour(brown or white or combo)
1/2 cup potato starch
1/2 cup tapioca starch
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 cup flax meal
1/4 cup sugar(plus or minus, to your sweetness preference)
1 TB baking powder


2 TB canola oil
2 eggs
3 cups Silk Dark Chocolate Almond Milk
2 tsp vanilla


Optional Nutrition Boost
1 cup shredded carrots

Replace rice flour, starches and xanthan gum with 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour and 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour for non-GF.



Whisk all your dry ingredients together gently.












Whisk oil , eggs, milk and vanilla together










Add the liquid ingredients to the dry and stir well( you can add a touch of water if you feel it is too thick)

Gently fold in carrots if using.








Proceed according to your waffle maker's instructions.









Serve immediately.

Freezable!

Cool Completely , then freeze in a single layer about 60 minutes, place in a freezer bag and return to the freezer.

Pull out as needed and pop in the toaster just like an "Eggo" waffle!

Strawberry Breakfast Ice Cream

Ice Cream for Breakfast????? SURE!!!
I got the idea from the Sneaky Chef cookbooks so I decided to take it a step further. It is actually frozen yogurt but the kids don't have to know that LOL. Good for a low fat healthy anytime treat too








1 ripe avocado
2.5 cups strawberries
3.5 cups vanilla yogurt(I used Safeway's O Organic Vanilla Bean, you can use what ever kind you like, Greek yogurt would be great, or even plain, but you might want to add a little honey or sweetener)








Place all ingredients in a blender and process until very smooth.















Put it in your ice cream maker and process per your manufacturers instructions....










Freeze then scoop and enjoy!



Makes about 6 cups Nutrition per 1 cup LINK

Black Bean and Cheese Taquitos

I had planned on making shredded beef taquitos but when I went into my freezer I found that my list had not been updated and the small roast I was planning to use was gone.... So I opted to make a black bean taquito instead....









2 cups prepared black beans(approx 15 oz can, drained )
2 cups prepared refried beans(approx 15 oz can)
1/4 cup salsa(mild, medium or hot to your preference)
1/4 cup chopped pepper(pick a pepper to your heat preference, I used fresh green chilies)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 TB chili powder
1 tsp cumin
cheese(What ever kind you like, I used  precut pepper jack and sliced 5 slices each into 4 sections)
salt to taste

20 thin tortillas(I used homemade corn tortillas, you can use store bought or even flour tortillas if you like)

I also added 1/4 cup chopped pickled cactus


Combine all in a sauce pan and heat over low heat, stirring often.

When heated through remove from heat and mash the black beans slightly.









Preheat oven to 400 and line a jelly roll pan with foil, generously spray with cooking spray.

Place a tortilla(warmed for flexibility if necessary) on a clean flat surface and scoop about 2 generous TB of the bean filling on to it. Then top with a slice of cheese.





Roll up and place seam side down in prepared pan. Repeat with remaining filling and tortillas
Brush the tops of the rolls lightly with canola oil









Bake about 20 minutes , then set them under a broiler set to low(or a low rack if you dont have setting options) for 5 minutes until crisp and browned.

Serve with sour cream, salsa, guacamole, jalapenos, hot sauce.....whatever you like.



You can fry these too for extra crispy!

Heat 1/2 inch oil in a pan to about 360 degrees add taquitos (dont overfill your pan!) and fry 90 seconds per side or until desired brownness is reached.
Drain on paper towels and continue with the rest of the rolls.

Fantastic Chicken Bacon Nachos

We have my little brother in law staying with us for a few days so we decided to do a Nacho and Movie night. These turned out so delicious I had to put them on here.








1 bag of tortilla chips
2 small chicken breasts, cooked andshredded
1/2- 1 cup salsa
12 oz  jalapeno bacon( regular bacon if you dont want spice) crumbled
2-4 cups shredded cheese(depending on how cheesy you like it), we used a Mexican blend

1 TB canola oil
3 green onions, chopped and whites separated
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup red pepper, chopped
1/4 cup green pepper, chopped

optional:
2 cups refried beans
3 oz cream cheese
1 tsp taco seasoning

Preheat oven to 325

Mix shredded chicken with salsa

In a saucepan over medium heat, heat the oil add the onion whites, garlic and peppers, saute until soft and fragrant.


If you are using refried beans, heat with cream cheese until thoroughly softened and mixed, add taco seasoning.

In a large rimmed baking sheet spread refried beans (if using) Place 1/2 the chips over the beans, then half the onion mixture and half the chicken and half the cheese. Pour over the remaining half of the chips, then onion mixture, then chicken, then cheese.

Sprinkle bacon crumbles over the top.

Bake for 10-15 minutes until cheese is melted well and heated through...


Top with greens of the green onions. We leave the remaining toppings to everyone's preference.

Jalapenos, Olives, Green Chilies, Sour Cream, Salsa, Guacamole, Tomatoes, Chipotle Powder...what ever your hearts desire!!

Gluten Free Twinkies

I have been meaning to get around to these for a while. These turned out a little denser than I would have preferred but still DELICIOUS! I will come back to this and play around with it a bit.





First make your packets..

10- 12x 12 sheets of foil.(mine ended up pretty big, I think next time I might make 12 packets)

Fold each sheet into quarters











Place a 4 inch spice jar in center of a folded sheet lengthwise, fold up the longer sides












Press in the shorter sides
then fold them back tightly.

Remove the jar and set the molds on a shallow cookie sheet.

Spray them generously with non stick cooking spray.











Cake:
3 cups gluten free flour (see below for recipe)
2 cups sugar
1/4 cup non fat milk powder (*sub 3 TB sweet rice flour if you are milk free)
1 tsp xanthan gum
2 tsp baking powder
4 egg whites, room temperature
2/3 cup water
1 TB quality vanilla extract






For the cake:

In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, milk powder, xanthan gum and baking powder. Mix well and set aside.









With a mixer beat egg whites until stiff add vanilla and mix well.












Add water to the flour mixture and mix well(I found kneading it with my hands made it easier)








Then switching to a paddle attachment add the flour mixture to the  egg whites,  and beat until completely combined.










Pour batter into prepared molds about 3/4 full(again mine turned out a little on the big side, next time I would do 12 and do 2/3 full) and bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Keep in mind that GF baked goods dont brown up quite like wheat products.





Remove from oven allow to cool 5 minutes, then remove the foil packets and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.

Filling:
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup water
1/4 tsp salt
2 egg whites, room temp
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp quality vanilla extract
( you can replace the above ingredients with 2 cups commercial marshmallow creme if you like!)

2 tsp very hot water
heaping 1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup shortening
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp quality vanilla extract





For the filling:
Part 1:

Combine sugar, corn syrup, water and salt in a sauce pan. Heat over high heat.










Clip a candy thermometer on the side of the pan, bring to a boil, stirring occasionally and heat to 240.











While that is boiling whip egg whites and cream of tartar to soft peaks on medium heat










When your mixture comes to 240 reduce mixer speed to low and add about 2 TB of it to the egg whites to warm them. SLOWLY drizzle in the rest of the sugar syrup.(dont go too fast, you dont want your egg whites to scramble) Increase speed to medium high and whip until the marshmallow creme is glossy(about 7 minutes or so) add vanilla and whip 2 minutes more.





Part 2:
Combine salt with hot water and stir until dissolved, set aside to cool









To the marshmallow creme add the coconut oil, powdered sugar and vanilla beat on high until it is nice and fluffy.


Add salt water solution and combine well.






When cakes are completely cool turn over and poke 3 holes with a toothpick in the bottom of each cake, moving them around to create a space for the filling.








Using a pastry bag or cake decorator, squeeze a little filling into each hole.....










and DONE

Gluten free flour

2 cups fine white rice flour
2/3 cup potato starch
1/3 cup tapioca starch

sift together well and spoon into measuring cup gently and level