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Category: Snacks

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Healthy Gluten Free Pumpkin Banana Bread!

posted on : September 18, 2015 posted by : Stnkrbug 0 Comment
Year after year, I start getting excited about fall more and more. It reminds me of when I was a kid, and the afternoons after the first days of school spent lighting candles with my mom and telling her about my new classes. Fall is also the time of sweaters, warm drinks, and yummy pumpkin flavors. Pumpkin pie, as you all know, is one of my favorite things, so this year I am trying to find new recipes to add pumpkin to.
The back story to this banana bread is a funny one; my dad and I both like to eat bananas when they are still green, but we had a couple that were too brown for us, and my mom just doesn’t really care for bananas in general. My dad always gives me a hard time about not eating the bananas before they get too brown, so I bet him (we’re a slightly competitive family) I would eat them before we ended up throwing them into the yard for the raccoons to eat. 
I was just about to suck it up and eat one of the too-ripe bananas when I realized I could use them to make a really yummy banana bread. I started looking up recipes for healthy and gluten-free banana bread, and found a couple that looked promising. Applesauce was used in a lot of them to make sure the loaves were moist, and I thought, why not replace the applesauce with pumpkin and make pumpkin-banana bread?! I was skeptic of how it would turn out since pumpkin is a lot thicker than applesauce, so I used less pumpkin than applesauce was called for, and added some water to thin it out a bit. This worked really well, and the batter ended up really smooth!

I used the one-to-one baking flour from Bob’s Red Mill, and it is my favorite gluten-free flour! You literally just substitute it with the exact measurements as regular flour in recipes, and they turn out great. I would definitely recommend buying this for gluten-free recipes! My mom uses it to make our family-favorite cheese sauce, and you can’t tell a difference in taste. 
The whole process of putting the bread together is really simple: you just mix the dry ingredients separately from the wet, and once they are ready, you mix the two together in one bowl!

 I used about 3/4 cup of pumpkin and added in 1/4 of water to make a full cup!

 Mash the bananas until they look about like this!

 All of the wet ingredients mixed up should look like this!

The batter should be really smooth once you combine the wet an dry ingredients.

You can totally add in some chocolate chips, too, because why not…

 I made muffins as well as a loaf of bread since I had enough batter!

 Just look at that pumpkin-chocolate-banana-y goodness!

Healthy Gluten Free Pumpkin Banana Bread
3/4 cup canned pumpkin (plus 1/4 water)
2 eggs
1/2 cup honey (or sugar if you would like!)
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cup Bob’s Red Mill One-to-One Gluten Free Baking Flour (or any other gluten free flour!)
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 mashed rip bananas (or about 1 1/4-1/2 cups)
1/2 cup chocolate chips if you would like!

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a small bowl, and in another small bowl, mix the pumpkin and water together until it has an applesauce consistency. Add the other wet ingredients together, and mix until everything is combined. Mix the wet and dry ingredients together in a large bowl, and add in chocolate chips if you prefer – if not, you could add in some nuts, or nothing at all! Melt some coconut oil and soak a paper towel in it to coat your muffin tin and/or bread pan with. Pour the batter into the pans, and put the muffins in the oven for about 16-18 minutes, or until golden brown, and put the bread in for 45 minutes. Check on them regularly if there isn’t as much batter in the pan. Let your yummy gluten-free goodies cool and enjoy the wonderful taste that is pumpkin!

I think I could eat pumpkin year-round and be perfectly happy, but there’s something so special about getting to enjoy it as soon as it turns to fall! I’m so happy I decided to use those pesky brown bananas instead of throwing them away, because now I get to enjoy these gluten-free muffins and bread! The Bob’s Red Mill flour really does make gluten-free baked goods taste just as good as regular goodies, and it’s so easy to work with. I would definitely try it out if you haven’t already!

What is your favorite fall flavor?

Thank you so much for reading, and have a wonderful day! 🙂

Food,Healthy,Healthy Snacks,Snacks

Healthy snacks: Greek Yogurt Parfait

posted on : February 17, 2015 posted by : Stnkrbug 0 Comment
It’s time for another addition to my healthy snacks series! Today I’m going to be sharing with you guys one of my obsessions – greek yogurt parfaits!
I absolutely love eating this whenever I need an afternoon pick-me-up, or honestly anytime I’m hungry…it’s just so yummy!!
 Start off by putting about 3 or 4 spoonfuls of plain greek yogurt into the bottom of your bowl. You can put as much or as little as you would like!
 Drizzle some honey over the yogurt, and mix it together until it’s smooth.

 With whatever berries you would like (I always use blueberries and strawberries, but you can use as many or as little kinds of berries you please), wash them and layer them over the yogurt!
 If you use strawberries like I did, I would suggest slicing them up into smaller pieces!
 Layer some more yogurt over the berries, and repeat the process of drizzling and mixing the honey in!
 Put some more berries on top, and then sprinkle on some granola! I personally love the granola from Kind because it is not only good for you (and gluten free!), but it tastes amazing!
JUST LOOK HOW PRETTY. Looking at these pictures makes me want to eat some now…even though I had some already today…
Alright, there you have it – greek yogurt parfait! This is my personal take on this pretty common recipe, but there’s so many more combinations you can do! I’ve found a lot of different recipes that I want to try out, so stay tuned for them!
What do you like to eat greek yogurt with?
Thank you so much for reading, and have a wonderful day! 🙂
Cooking,Healthy,Healthy Snacks,Snacks

Healthy Snacks: Chocolate Banana Peanut Butter Mini-Sandwiches

posted on : February 1, 2015 posted by : Stnkrbug 0 Comment
The title of this post is about as much of a mouthful as these amazing mini-sandwiches, and trust me, they are a very yummy mouthful. If you love bananas, peanut butter, and chocolate, this snack is for you!
Lately I’ve been really hungry because I’ve been working out a lot, and I have a lot of walking to do for my classes, but I haven’t been wanting to eat unhealthy snacks like chips or anything really sugary. So, I took to Pinterest to find some healthy ideas and wasn’t disappointed! I found a lot, so I decided I’m going to do a “Healthy Snacks” series, and post all of the recipes I try! They will all be gluten free and vegetarian since I’m allergic to wheat, and don’t eat meat (ha ha ha…insert cringe-y face), so anyone can eat them! I’m super excited for this because it means I get to eat a bunch of yummy healthy snacks! Without further ado, here are the Chocolate Banana Peanut Butter Mini-Sandwiches!
Ok these little globs are a little piece of heaven! Each bite is filled with the perfect amount of bananas, peanut butter, and chocolate!
 The whole process is really simple: start by cutting a couple of bananas into little chucks about 1/4 of an inch thick. Match up the slices for the mini-sandwiches to make sure there is an even amount.
 Look at that peanut butter.

 Spread some peanut butter on one little slice, probably about half of a tablespoon.
 Put the other slice on top, making a little sandwich.
 Once you have made all of the sandwiches, put them on a plate and place them in the freezer for about an hour. (Don’t you just love dorm freezers…)
Melt some chocolate in the microwave, or the stove top – just make sure the chocolate doesn’t get burned! Then dip half of each sandwich into the chocolate. I didn’t take any pictures of this part because it was extremely messy haha. Once all of the sandwiches are dipped, put them back in the freezer for another hour. After they’ve all set, they are ready to eat! I didn’t eat all of them at once of course, so I kept them in a tupperware container in the freezer. I finished them in a couple of days, and they kept just fine!
Alright, so that’s it for the first healthy snack in the series! I have a lot planned, so expect many more in the coming weeks!
What healthy snacks do you like to eat?

Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you have a great day! 🙂