Blueberry Applesauce Banana Bread

So, bananas don't normally have the opportunity to become ripe enough for banana bread in this house!  It just so happens though that I forgot some in the diaper bag and they got a wee bit mushy on me.  Sounds like a great time to make some banana bread! This is a super simple recipe that is dairy free as written, but can easily be done with cow's milk if you please. 

 Ingredients:
1 Cup AP Flour
1/2 Cup Granulated Sugar
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
2 very ripe Bananas
1/2 Cup Applesauce
1/2 cup Frozen Blueberries (or fresh, but if using frozen do not thaw)
1/4 Cup Almond Milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Sift all dry ingredients (except brown sugar) then stir in brown sugar.

 In a 2nd bowl, beat the egg, then add the banana and smash, then add the applesauce and milk.

Add the blueberries to the dry ingredients and mix well.  Then add wet ingredients to the dry and mix just until incorporated. 

 This will make 2 small loaves or 24 muffin size.  I found this cute silicone pan at the thrift store and have been waiting to use it!! Bake in preheated oven for 25-40 minutes depending on the size of your vessel.  Note to self: I won't use the mini-bundt again if using berries ;)

Dairy Free Corn Muffins (option to add green chilies)

For a long time I struggled with cornbread/ muffins.  I LOVE the stuff!!  However, I was stuck in a rut because I had that one tried and true recipe that just didn't work well with dairy free alternatives.  I think that because it was something that was tied to such a strong memory that any slight variation made a big difference in my mind.  So, I was off in search of a good alternative.  Once again I was faced with search results that yielded Gluten and Dairy Free....... most of these call for ingredients that we just don't keep on hand.  I ran across a vegan version, switched around a few things and we are very happy with the outcome.  This is not sweet cornbread!  Muffin refers to the shape, not sweetness of the bread.

 Ingredients:
1 Cup Almond Milk
1 TB Lemon Juice
1 Cup Corn Meal
1/2 Cup All Purpose Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
2 TB Granulated Sugar
2 TB Oil
1 tsp Salt
Diced green chilies (optional)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

 Mix the lemon juice in the milk and set aside.  (This will actually make a buttermilk style/ taste)

 Sift together all dry ingredients in a large bowl.  In a small bowl mix the wet ingredients very well.

 Add wet ingredients to the dry.  Mix thoroughly but do not over mix.

 I spoon half of the mixture into a muffin tin (with paper liners) then add a few spoons of green chilies to the remainder of the batter.  These will be for the adults!

 Ready to bake in the 450 degree oven for 12-15 minutes.

 The tops get nice and brown while the inside stays nice and moist.

Spaghetti Squash Breakfast Cups

I'm always looking for ways to add more veggies to breakfast and I think I have a new favorite!  All over Pinterest I kept seeing ham, bacon, or potato cups....... that's when it hit me that using spaghetti squash might just work.  I imagine that the squash may be a bit too watery or seem mushy for this application but cooking them and letting them dry out a bit before adding the egg seemed to do the trick.  I can't wait to make these again and I love new ways to use leftovers.

Ingredients:
Leftover spaghetti squash
Salt & pepper
Coconut oil
Eggs

This is also so easy that making them for a crowd would be a snap!! Preheat oven to 350 degrees

 Grease your tin with coconut oil

 Put a spoonful of squash into the tin, use your fingers to smoosh it around the edges.  Sprinkle with salt to help pull out excess moisture.  Bake for 8-10 minutes.

 Add your egg to the hot squash, season your egg, bake for 13-16 minutes depending on how done you like your eggs.

 Use a thin spatula to work your way around the edges and place on your plate.  ENJOY!

Dairy Free Drop Biscuits with Sausage Gravy

 
Here are two great recipes that are actually quite easy to adjust to dairy free.  Honestly even before we were dairy free I was never much of a biscuit maker.  I tended to work the dough too much and ended up with hockey pucks instead of fluffy biscuits.  Recently I saw someone making drop biscuits on a show.  Hmmmmmmmm, maybe this is finally a way that I can successfully make biscuits!?  So, the search began for a dairy free version.  I found lots of Gluten Free/Dairy Free....... but I just wanted dairy free, so the search continued.  A lot of times I have realized that you can easily substitute almond milk for dairy milk but I know that with biscuits you need the fat.  Then a search yielded an unconventional recipe that I HAD to try to make dairy free, they were called Mayonnaise Drop Biscuits!  Now I have used mayo as a fat for baking before, why did it never occur to me to try it in a biscuit?!  TRUST me, these do NOT taste like mayo!  Here we go, biscuits first.  If I can do it, so can you!

 Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Ingredients:
2 Cups All Purpose Flour
3 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup Almond Milk
6 TB Mayo

Sift dry ingredients, then add milk & mayo JUST until combined.  It's better to have a little flour on the sides than work it too much!  You can use 2 spoons to drop the dough onto your pan (lined with silicone or parchment paper) or you can use a scoop.  Bake for 10-15 minutes depending on the size of your biscuits.

 DONE!  They were more browned than they look, gotta work on the kitchen lighting for pictures.  Start to finish these were done, including pictures, in less than 20 minutes!

Now, on to the Sausage Gravy!!  This is by far one of our very favorite recipes!  On a side note, this is not a low fat/calorie meal =) 

Gather all ingredients and tools.  This is important because once you get going on the gravy, it's hard to stop!
Ingredients:
1 lb Sausage
4 spoons All Purpose Flour
2 cups (plus extra) Almond Milk
Salt & Pepper to taste

 Pan with deep sides, nylon wisk (or other wisk safe for your pan), small pot with 2 cups of hot almond milk (not boiling), a slotted spoon, and plate or a bowl for sausage once browned.

 Brown the sausage well and remove to a plate.  I put 4 spoons (these are eating spoons) of flour to the pan and immediately start whisking.  The key to a good gravy is making sure that the ratio of fat to flour is about the same.

 Whisk for a minute or two, cooking the flour.

 Using hot milk, add about 1/2 cup and immediately whisk.  Keep whisking until lumps are beginning to smooth and bubble, that's when you want to add more milk 1/2 to 3/4 of a cup.  Once again, whisk immediately until mixture begins to get smooth and you see bubbles.  Add more milk and whisk again.  At this point once it comes up to a bubble, reduce heat to medium-low.  If gravy seems to be too thick add a bit more milk (cold is fine at this point)  Don't add too much, you can keep adding as you need to thin the gravy, but at this point you won't be able to make it any thicker..... at least not easily. 

 This is what it will look like when it is ready to add more milk.

 Now is when you add the sausage back to pan, make sure that it is on low heat until ready to serve.