Tag Archives: Soy Free

Chocolate Banana Quick Bread (Grain Free)

Who doesn’t love a portable quick bread that you can pack? My kiddos like a slice in their lunches, and I can feel good about the great ingredients in this recipe knowing it is good for them, and me, and sweet at the same time. It’s mostly those bananas with a touch of good quality honey baby! Quick breads are supposed to be soft, but not mushy, and I totally consider them a comfort food. How many of you had Mom’s or Grandma’s that made quick bread when you were young? My favorite, and it’s a classic, is banana bread.

Chocolate Banana Quick Bread Slices

Here is a healthy spin on Banana Quick Bread. It is chocolatey too with the addition of magnesium rich raw cacao! It also contains nice amounts of potassium, protein, and uses unprocessed, real food ingredients.

Chocolate Banana Quick Bread (Grain Free)

Preheat your oven to 350º degrees. Line a 8 inch loaf pan with parchment paper. This keeps the loaf from sticking and helps it lift right out of the pan, so leave some edges sticking out to grab on to.

Chocolate Banana Quick Bread Batter Ready for the Oven

Ingredients:

2 Cups of Superfine Almond Flour

2 Tablespoons of Coconut Flour

1/2 Cup Raw Cacao

1 Teaspoon of Baking Soda

1 Teaspoon of Baking Powder

1 Teaspoon of Cinnamon

1/2 Teaspoon of Allspice

1/2 Teaspoon of Sea Salt

Whisk together the dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

4 Ripe Bananas with black spots

4 Eggs (I used soy free eggs due to a sensitivity)

1/4 Cup Honey, I used raw honey

1/4 Cup Coconut Oil, melted

1 Teaspoon of Vanilla Extract

In a food processor, add all the wet ingredients and blend until completely smooth. Alternately, using a hand mixer, do the same. It will just take longer to incorporate, making sure the bananas are completely smooth.

Add in the Dry Ingredients, and continue to mix until completely blended. Pour into your prepared loaf pan. Bake in the preheated 350º oven for 60 to 75 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean with just a few crumbs attached. Cool in the loaf pan five minutes on the counter before removing the loaf to cool completely before slicing.

Chocolate Banana Quick Bread Baked and Ready to Remove from the Pan

This bread keeps for three days at room temperature. For longer storage, refrigerate the loaf well wrapped.

Sliced Chocolate Banana Quick Bread

Eat Your Nutrients!

Pumpkin Pecan Quick Bread (Grain Free)

Pumpkin Pecan Bread Loaf

This loaf of Pumpkin Pecan Quick Bread is moist and delicious! It is also grain free. The structure of the loaf is fantastic. There is 24 grams of protein in this recipe from the eggs, as well as healthy Omega 3’s and Vitamins A, D, E and K from the yolks, along with 36 grams of protein from the Almond Flour. I used soy free eggs since I can eat eggs without problems if they are soy free. I consumed a fair amount of soy in the past and developed an intolerance to it, and it is present in the eggs of chickens who are fed soy. You can read more about this topic here. You can use any egg you like in the recipe. I recommend a good quality, pastured one.

The bread comes together quickly, just like a quick bread should! It is great for breakfast, a snack, or packed in lunches!

Let’s bake a good quick loaf!

Pumpkin Pecan Quick Bread

Ingredients:

1 1/2 Cup Superfine Almond Flour

1 Tablespoon Coconut Flour

1 Teaspoon Baking Powder

1 Teaspoon Baking Soda

1/2 Teaspoon Sea Salt

1/2 Teaspoon Cinnamon

1/4 Teaspoon Cardamom

1/8 Teaspoon Nutmeg

1/8 Teaspoon Cloves

1/2 Cup Chopped Pecans

1 Cup Pumpkin

4 Eggs

1/4 Cup Honey

1/4 Cup Coconut Oil, melted

1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Directions: Preheat the oven to 375º degrees. Line a 8″ loaf pan with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients through the cloves. Set aside. In a small bowl, with a hand held mixer blend together the pumpkin, eggs, honey, coconut oil and vanilla on high speed for 1 minute.

Pumpkin Pecan Bread Batter

Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and blend with a handheld mixer until completely smooth on medium speed. Fold in the chopped pecans, reserve a few pecans to sprinkle on the top.

Pumpkin Pecan Quick Bread Ready for the Oven

Place in the preheated oven, and bake for 50 minutes. Remove from the oven. Use the sides of the parchment paper to lift the loaf from the pan. Cool completely before slicing.

8 to 12 Servings

Go to In My Pantry for where to buy ingredients and my favorite brands

Eat Your Nutrients!

Creamy Italian Dressing

MMMmmm! Creamy Italian dressing that is healthy! It uses avocado oil mayonnaise, dried herbs that you should have in your pantry, a touch of honey, and a white balsamic vinegar to give it zing! There are no funky additives in homemade dressings. This recipe actually started one of my kiddos eating salads and liking them, but don’t limit it to the greens. It also makes a scrumptious dip!

Creamy Italian Dressing

The benefits of avocado oil are plentiful, including it is a source of essential fatty acids, is heart healthy, is one of the top five food sources of Vitamin E, and it is loaded with chlorophyll which is detoxifying! Read more about the benefits here.

Incorporating herbs into recipes gives us added vitamins and minerals in our diet. Each one has its own special properties and benefits. The whfoods.org database is a wealth of information if you want to dig further.

I don’t know about you, but I am planning to enjoy this dressing often!

Creamy Italian Dressing

3/4 Cup Avocado Oil Mayonnaise

1 Tablespoon Garlic Infused Olive Oil

3 Tablespoons of White Balsamic Aged Vinegar

1 Teaspoon Honey

1/2 Teaspoon Dried Organic Parsley

1/4 Teaspoon Dried Organic Oregano

1/4 Teaspoon Dried Organic Basil

1/2 Teaspoon Himalayan Pink Salt or Sea Salt

1/3 Teaspoon Black Ground Pepper

Directions:

Whisk all the ingredients together until completely blended. That’s it! Enjoy!

Eat Your Nutrients!

Chinese Five Spice Chicken Bites – Paleo

Chinese Five Spice Chicken Bites - Paleo, Soy Free

Chinese Five Spice Powder is Amazing! It is a combination of Star Anise, Fennel, Black Pepper, Cinnamon and Cloves. It is a warming blend that pairs wonderfully with meat! Here I use it to make Five Spice Chicken Thigh Bites using boneless chicken thighs. This is very kid friendly because of the bite size pieces, and it is slightly sweet with fresh squeezed orange and lemon juices and just a bit of heat with red pepper flakes. You can turn up the heat by adding more red pepper flakes if you like, but don’t leave them out. You need them to balance the dish.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 pounds of boneless skinless chicken thighs

3 Tablespoons Coconut Oil

2 Tablespoons of Chinese Five Spice Powder (Gluten Free)

2 teaspoons Ground Ginger

3 Tablespoons of Clear Honey

1/4 Cup Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice

1/4 Cup Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice

1 1/2 teaspoons Himalayan Pink Salt divided

1/2 teaspoon of Black Pepper

1/4 teaspoon of White Pepper

1/4 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes

Preheat oven 375 degrees. Quarter each boneless chicken thigh into 4 cubes. Mix together in a small bowl the Chinese Five Spice Powder, Ground Ginger, 1 Teaspoon Salt, White Pepper and Black Pepper.

Place Chicken Thigh cubes and powdered spice mixture into a gallon ziplock bag and shake until very well distributed. Get in there and massage with your hands if necessary. 🙂

Mix together the orange juice, lemon juice, honey, red pepper flakes, and the other 1/2 teaspoon salt in a small saucepan and bring to a boil, then simmer until reduced by half. Melt the coconut oil in a large oven safe skillet or fry pan. Add the chicken cubes in one layer (very important for browning, so make sure your pan is big enough).

Chinese Five Spice Chicken Bites

Brown for five minutes not touching, then flip the cubes and brown 5 more minutes. Pour the reduced sauce over the chicken cubes and transfer to the oven in the pan and bake for 5 minutes. Viola! Done! Pour the chicken and sauce into a serving dish and toss a couple times to coat with the sauce.