Banana Oatmeal Cookies: Easily Vegan, Gluten Free, No Added Sugar ( except for the totally optional chocolate bits)

According to whoever "They" are, this is the week when New Year's resolutions are broken.  That is why I tend to wait a few weeks into the new year to even think about mine.  Of course I always make the usual resolutions, but my biggest one this year is to be a healthier, better me.  That means eating healthier, with less fat and sugars added.  Boring?

When I saw this recipe on the blog Oh She Glows I  knew it was something I would try. They are called muffin tops on her blog, but after baking them I really think they are more like cookies.  I love sweets but I really love the idea of making something desserty with no added sugar ( except for the tad in the chocolate chips)  I would not call these sugar free because it has quite a bit of natural sweetener, but that being said, it is all sugar in its natural unprocessed fruit form.

Banana Oatmeal Cookies

2 ripe bananas ( make that very ripe, almost to the throw away stage)

1/2 cup pitted dates (firmly packed)

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 cup virgin coconut oil

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 cups rolled oats, divided

3-4 tablespoons non dairy* or regular chocolate chips (no judgement either way) or unsweetened carob chips for zero added sugars

3 tablespoons chopped walnuts or pecans

In a food processor using the center blade blend 1/12 cups of the oatmeal until it is a very coarse flour.  Remove from the processor bowl and put aside.  Put the banana and dates in and blend.  Add the coconut oil and the vanilla and continue blending until it is relatively smooth. Because coconut oil remains solid at room temperature you might prefer melting it first.  I did not since I guessed it would incorporate pretty well as it was.  It did. ( Use a spatula to scrape down the sides a couple of times, being sure to turn off the food processor when you do it. Don't just stick a rubber spatula down the chute.  The spatula will lose that battle every time.)  Add the salt, baking powder, and cinnamon and blend a few seconds to mix well. ( Personally, I left the cinnamon out because I do not like chocolate flavors mixed with cinnamon)  Add the oat flour and blend about 5 seconds.  Scrape the batter into a clean bowl and stir in the remaining oats, chocolate bits and the nuts.  Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper and scoop  the batter into mounds.  Do not smooth or flatten them. It made 12 cookies.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for 6 minutes, rotate the pan and cook for another 7-8 minutes.  Let cool (so you won't burn your mouth) and enjoy.

I am always highly skeptical of recipes like this and thought they would taste like banana flavored sawdust, especially after  I saw the cooked product.  They are not very pretty.  I was actually kind of surprised at how good they tasted.  I had one with a cup of coffee and felt like I was indulging.  What a treat!  But alas, since they are ugly, don't serve them to your Mother-in -law or anyone else you are trying to impress.

I did learn a couple of things while making them. ( I tried a couple of batches to see what I liked better)

Blending the oats into coarse flour helped the consistency quite a bit.  The first batch was a bit more rustic. The ones pictured are the first batch.

I used pecans for the first batch because I had no walnuts opened and I did not want to open a new bag to use such a small amount.  They were good but would have been tastier if I had toasted them first.
In the second batch I added a little orange peel and cinnamon.  They tasted like banana nut bread cookies.  This is something I will make regularly.

It seems each time I buy bananas there is one that gets too ripe for eating.  I always put those, unpeeled, into the freezer.  Since this is so easy to make it will not take but 2 bunches of bananas to have enough to make them.

And this answers the question about my aversion to bananas.  It is not the taste I object to, but the texture.  So, a nice little banana oatmeal cookie works quite well.  Now the only critical question left is why on earth I had 3 pounds of dates on hand!

Chopped Apple Cake

What do you do when you get back from a  trip and realize you forgot to put the apples that were in the fruit basket into the crisper.  I arrived home to a bunch of wrinkled apples, and not just any apples but Honeycrisp which are my all time favorite.  I hated to toss them but they were very wrinkled and felt soft.  I decided to feed them to the garbage disposal and was cutting the first one into disposal size chunks when I realized all they needed was a deep peel.  Inside they were still perfectly crisp and juicy.  After eating one of them, there were still  4 bare naked apples left.  What to do with the remaining four?  Dilemma, Dilemma! (Sung to the tune of "Traditions" from Fiddler on the Roof).  

Years decades ago I bought a cookbook "The Grassroots Cookbook" which consists of recipe collections of women from all parts of the country.  They were older gals with hundreds of cumulative cooking years between them, nice, no frills down home cooking representing each area of the U.S.  Whenever I have had an abundance of apples  I make Annie Poole's Fresh Apple Cake.

Now I don't know Annie or any of her kin and to my knowledge can't think of a soul I know from the Ozark's, but I do like her  area's recipes and the little asides about her life and family. Everything in her book section conjures images of a warm loving family centered in a kitchen smelling of one pot meals, cakes and cookies.  This cake will provide you with those same warm fuzzies plus it tastes delicious.

Annie Poole's Chopped Apple Cake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1/2 cup butter at room temperature

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 1/2 cup peeled and chopped apples ( about 4 medium small apples)

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla

Cream the butter the add the sugar beating until it is light and fluffy.  Beat in the egg and then stir in the apples.  Combine the flour and baking soda and mix with the wet ingredients.  Add the vanilla and stir well.  The batter will be pretty thick.  Spread into a greased and floured (or Baker's Secret spray) 8x8 

pan.  I have used  an 8 inch round also and both work very well.  Spread the batter and bake for about 40 minutes, until the cake is nice and brown and it pulls away from the sides of the pan.  Because this cake is so moist it has to cool before it is cut so put the hot pan on a cake rack until it is completely cool to the touch.  ( Who are we kidding, pull it out of the oven and plop it on a cool burner on the stovetop and save washing a cooling rack.)  Then cut into squares or wedges ( your cake pan will determine that) and serve.   I usually zap it a few seconds in the microwave just to warm it a little. I love it plain, but The Hub loves his with a little vanilla ice cream.

This is a moist light flavored cake.  Instead of spices usually associated with apple cake this tastes like vanilla, apples and butter.  I have served it every season of the year and it goes over well, but I find we like it best in cold weather with a hot cup of coffee or tea.  If you have a piece left and do creative reasoning it makes a fantastic breakfast.  Follow my logic here: apple is the fruit,  egg-protein, the flour is the grain and  butter is the dairy. See, a complete meal!

If you want a home baked cake but don't want a lot of fuss and bother this is the one for you.  And if you make it give me a call.  I can bring the coffee!

Ranch Pesto Pasta Bake

A few days ago I was looking at my Facebook page and saw a link on a friend's status.  Jill has a blog called Cooking What I Pin  and each time she posts I wander over and look at her latest Pinterest conquest.  When I saw this I knew I would be making it soon, just not as quick as I did.  

We had just returned from Portland to meet our new granddaughter (BTW she is the most beautiful, smartest, most athletic, and most loved baby in the entire world.  I know some of you will disagree, which is fine.  Joining the Granny Club is the best thing in the world and I would think any of you who are members would be insane to not think the same of your Grands.)  Time was short and dinner needed to be cooked pretty darn quick and per usual I had not gone to the store and had nothing  defrosted.  Thanks to Jill we actually had supper that was not the take out variety. ( The best part of this recipe is it contains ingredients I have on hand all the time.)

Ranch Pesto Pasta Bake

1 pound pasta ( I used rigatoni) cooked and drained

1/2 cup ranch dressing

1/4 cup pesto

28 ounce can well drained diced tomatoes

2 cups  grated Mozzarella, divided in half

In a large bowl, stir together the ranch dressing, pesto, tomatoes and 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese.  Add the pasta and gently toss to evenly coat.  Put it in a baking pan. ( I used a pyrex 9x13 hit with a couple of sprays of Pam) and evenly sprinkle the remaining cheese on top of the pasta. Cover with foil.

Pop it into a preheated 350 degree oven for 15 minutes.  Remove the foil and bake an additional 5 minutes. ( Or do like I did and just put it in the microwave.  I cooked it 3 minutes on full power then an additional 4 minutes on 25 percent power)

I served it with an iceberg wedge and French dressing.  Personally I dislike French dressing, but I am trying very hard to limit food waste and The Hub had bought it and opened it.  So bad salad dressing was what we had. (Mumbles something about hoping this stuff disappears soon! )

Everyone here loved it.  I can always tell whether something is a success by the number of times Son3 refills his plate.  I think he ate the first then grabbed 2 additional servings.  He has asked that we add this to our  regular food rotation.

Next time I plan to add some additional vegetables to the mix.  I think some julienned onion and zucchini would add a vegetable serving without altering the delicious flavor.  I will also reduce the mozzarella topping to 1/2 cup and add 1/4 cup grated parmesan.  Mozzarella is not our favorite cheese so I think the sharper parmesan would be a little more in keeping with our preferences.  I might also add some cubed cooked chicken next time just to see how that tastes.

I would suggest you try this for a quick meal.  Use your imagination and add whatever sounds good to you.  Let me know the results of your experiment.  Play with your food!

Delicious Pecan Bars ( Low Sodium To Boot)

I am still doing a good bit of cooking for my parents.  Mother's low sodium diet is really not that difficult, but Mom tends to think all she can eat is unflavored baked chicken/fish and a green salad with nothing but olive oil and vinegar.  She seems quite surprised when I show up at her door with food that not only smells good but is pretty tasty also.

She has been missing baked goods. I thought it would not be a big deal to leave the salt out of foods but did a bit of research mainly to see if it would alter the kitchen chemistry much.  I am glad I did and was surprised at what all I learned.  I know I did not realize how many mg. of sodium are in both baking powder and baking soda.  I also found there are either sodium free or extremely low sodium alternatives for both available though our good friends at Amazon. ( Is there anything you can't buy from them?)

I have been scouring low sodium web sites and blogs and have found many things to try, but so far have baked only one thing.  Mom said she would like something sweet and nutty.  It was not much of a request but I had no idea what direction I would go.  I wanted something fairly easy to make that would be delicious and not taste like a low sodium dish.  By combining a couple of recipes and a little trial and error I came up with these pecan pie bars.  Ok there is nothing remotely pieish about them, but it was a dang fine substitute, plus not just the restricted diet person ate them.  Everyone ate them, then went back for more!

                                                             Pecan Pie Bars

Cookie crust
1 1/2 cup unbleached flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter

Mix the flour and brown sugar together.  Cut in the butter until it resembles cornmeal. Mix to incorporate everything.  ( I used clean hands, but use whatever tool you choose.  Hands just work better with dough.)  If necessary add a few drops of water. Dough will be mostly smooth.  Pat it out into the bottom of a greased 13x9 pan.  Bake at 350 degrees until it is light golden brown.  Remove and spread the topping over the cookie crust.

Pecan Topping
1/4 cup dark corn syrup ( Corn syrup has a fairly high sodium content for sweeteners)
1/2 cup brown sugar ( I used light because I had it.  Dark might taste better)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon real vanilla extract
1/2 cup broken pecan pieces ( can coarse chop if desired)

In a small bowl mix the first 4 ingredients until they are smooth. Add the pecans and stir to mix.  Spread on top of the cookie crust and bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool to lukewarm then cut into 36 squares. ( If you let it cool completely before cutting it will break rather than cut)

The entire recipe has about 300 mg of sodium, so each piece has negligible amounts.  2 pieces satisfied my mother's cravings for something delicious, sweet and nutty.  I call it a win-win situation.

Uber Low Sodium Pork Roast

What is the old saying?  If you want to make God laugh make a plan.  I had intended to return to cooking full time after the work at the lake was done.  Instead, I have been busy helping my folks through a difficult time.

 Things are more stable and my stove is going full steam ahead with just a slight difference.  Mom is now on a reduced sodium diet and does not need to be cooking at the moment. Since I live very close  it is easier for me to cook for them and run it down to their house than it would be to cook in their home.  I truly feel grateful that I can do something like this.  They are both so stubborn they refuse to let us help any other way.

One of the things I have learned through this process is how insanely salt laden most commercially prepared foods are.  I am not sure I really looked at packages well enough in the past.  Just check out the labels of whatever you are eating and you will be shocked.  Even something as simple as the chili powder in your spice cabinet most likely has salt added. (Well done Penzy's, who has not one but two chili blends that are totally sodium free!)

Another thing I have learned is how easy it is to mask the true taste of food with salt.  After about 2 weeks of eating what I prepare for Mom and Dad my salt tolerance has really decreased.  I ate some slightly salted popcorn last night and was dying for water to wash the salty taste away.

Today's food is a rather simple pork roast that is packed with flavor.  I found the original recipe on The Pioneer Woman  here.  I did a bit of altering so it would work for Mom.  The result was a truly tasty meal with zero added salt.

                                            Pork Roast With Apples And Onions

2 tablespoons cooking oil ( I used sunflower oil)
1 pork loin roast ( about 3 pounds)
coarsely ground black pepper to taste
3 onions, julienne sliced
3 hard, crisp apples, cored and cut in wedges ( I used Granny Smith because I had them in the crisper drawer )
1 cup apple juice
2 envelopes no sodium beef bouillon
2 cups water
3 bay leaves

In a heavy large pot with a lid heat the cooking oil to medium hot. Generously pepper the pork loin on all sides.  Brown turning so each surface of the roast is uniformly brown.  Put the onion slices in the pan and let them wilt slightly.  Add the apples.  Sprinkle the bouillon powder on the roast then pour the apple juice and the water over it.  When the liquid gets hot add the 3 bay leaves.  Turn the heat down to a medium heat and put the lid on the pan.   Cut the heat down to a medium low and cook until the roast is tender. (About 2-2 1/2 hours)

 Remove the roast to a cutting board.  Using a large slotted spoon remove the onions and apples and put them on individual plates or on one large platter.  Turn the heat under the pan on high and cook until the remaining liquid is reduced by 2/3 and is very thick and sauce like.   Cut the roast into slices and place it on the cooked apples and onions.  Top each slice with some of the reduced sauce.  Serve with whatever starch you prefer and a side green vegetable.

If you prefer a salted version, salt and pepper the roast before browning and use regular beef broth instead of the no sodium bouillon.

This was extremely tasty and quite filling.  The apples tend to turn to mush, which creates the thick sauce.  If you want the apples to have a little more shape and texture, I would add a couple more during the last 45 minutes of the cooking time.

 I served this with a plain boiled red potato and steamed asparagus.  I hesitated to serve it with rice ( I would have used short grain brown rice rather than the wild rice The Pioneer Woman used) because Mom is still balking at the way unsalted food tastes.  I was able to cut her potatoes in fourths  and drag them through the sauce left on the bottom of the plan.  Every bit of flavor counts!  I ate this for lunch and thought it was fantastic but the true test was my salt loving mother's opinion.  She thought it was delicious and actually called me to tell me.  I take this as high praise since she has been telling me how bad most things have tasted so far.  So yeah!  Success that was really good.

Can't wait to see what she thinks of the no salt sausage!

Return To Cooking, Chicken Marinades

I don't think I have cooked at all in three weeks.  Oh I have made a meal here or there but I am not sure grilled cheese and tomato soup count as real cooking.  Pretty sure slicing a hot dog into kraut and heating it doesn't either, but that is what you do when you are in the process of re-doing a small place at the lake.

As of mid-October we are the owners of a little house on a gorgeous lake lot.  The Hub is thrilled beyond belief to have a place to escape from civilization.  I am not as thrilled as he is.  For the past three weeks Son2 and I have painted and scraped and cleaned  and scrubbed and done minor repairs to the house.  The Hub has mostly come after work to tell us that things look good.  Rah.

So__rather than cooking I have been covered with paint and dirt and sawdust and living off of whatever food is brought to me in whatever paper bag whichever take-out place uses.  I think I ate the grilled chicken salad from Jack's for 4 consecutive days.

Now that the place is livable and furniture is in, I am no longer having to go there daily. I am returning to a  more normal life, which is wonderful since The Pig is having incredible sales in it's meat department.  $1.99 per pound for boneless skinless chicken breasts, means I buy at least 20 pounds of it.  The down side of buying that much means I also have to process 20 pounds of it. Tonight I grilled about 10 pounds and then vacuum sealed it for the freezer.  ( Thanks to my newest toy, the Food Saver)

We are trying to eat as many unprocessed foods as we can, so bottled marinades were out.  I looked at a couple of recipes and couldn't find anything that  I had the ingredients for  sounded good, so as usual I punted.

Italian-ish Marinade

1/2 cup olive oil
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons red wine
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon parsley
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Whisk together all ingredients in a bowl and pour into a food safe zip lock bag.  Add chicken breasts and let marinate for about 15-30 minutes (I put 10 whole chicken breasts in the bag of marinade)
Cook over a medium grill for 5 minutes, turn and cook for 3 more minutes, if freezing or until done if eating immediately.  I always allow for a little more cooking time when I plan to thaw and reheat. This purposely has no salt in it at all.  I have found when freezing the salt tends to draw the moisture out of the chicken.  I will add a bit when I reheat it.  If you are eating it immediately salt it while it is on the grill or add 1/2 teaspoon to the marinade bag.



Asian-ish Lime Chili Marinade

1/4 cup neutral oil ( I used grapeseed)
1 tablespoon sesame seed oil
1/4 cup lime juice (fresh or bottled, I am not judging)
2 cloves  minced garlic
1 teaspoon grated ginger
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons brown sugar

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and pour into a zip lock bag.  Put the chicken in and seal.  Using your hand mash the bag to get the marinade over every piece.  Let it sit for about 20 minutes and follow the same steps as above for grilling.  Once again this has no salt by design, so salt it while on the grill if you are eating it right away.  Otherwise salt it while reheating.

I only tasted a small bit of each and I would be hard pressed to pick a favorite at this point.  They are both very tasty, but very different flavors.  Because of the brown sugar, the Asian marinade is a little sweet, while the Italian is absolutely just savory.  I say try the both and decide for yourself.

Meanwhile I now have a lot of ready to go foods in the freezer.  When we go to the lake I can pull a few out to take with us.  It will make lake cooking a non-issue.

I still have a boatload of chicken to grill.  Tomorrow I am trying 2 different recipes.  Who knows, I might even go to the store and buy everything so there will be no punting!

Quack, Quack...Yum

I think I have mentioned that I am in the process of eating things from the freezer to get rid of food that is on the cusp of being in there too long.  I took out every single thing on each shelf, and as long as it could be identified, dated it with a very short use by window.  (For my personal future reference and so you don't have to make the same mistakes I did, write the name of each cooked leftover on the little space for it on the freezer bag.  Beef stew, Shepherds pie and scraps for the dog all look remarkably similar once frozen.) I also found all kinds of things I didn't even know I had, but after seeing them I did remember buying them.

One of those forgotten items was a whole duck.  I have no idea why I bought it, though we do like duck occasionally. We usually eat it out though, because I am not a huge fan of cooking it___until today.

I found the beginnings of this recipe on  Jamie Oliver's website.  As usual, once I got in the middle of it, I realized I did not have some (many) of the ingredients so I had to punt__ again. This is exactly how I made it.  Seems I should have served it with an Asian noodle bowl rather than a salad.  Oh well!

Roasted Asian Duck With Asian Side Salad

1 whole duck, giblets removed
1 orange, quartered
2 teaspoon chopped rosemary ( I used fresh, if using dried reduce to 1 teaspoon)
1 teaspoon dried sage
2 tablespoons Chinese five spice powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

After removing the giblets wash the duck and pat dry with paper towels.   Mix together the five spice powder, salt and pepper. Take the rosemary and sage and rub it into the cavity of the bird.  Use about 1 teaspoon of the salt, pepper, and five spice mix and rub it in the cavity also.  Stuff the quartered orange into the bird and set it in a deep baking pan.  Rub the remaining spice over the skin of the bird, making sure to get in the folds of the legs, thighs and wings.  Bake in the oven for one hour.  Pour all the fat into a jar and save it for later.  Return the bird to the oven for one more hour, repeating the process of pouring off and saving the duck fat.  Let the duck cool and cut the legs and thigh from the body of the bird.  Cut the breasts and wing portion from the backbone.  Throw out the carcass.  Strain the warm duck fat through a sieve that has been lined with a coffee filter. (This can be a rather long and kind of messy step, just be patient.)  Put the duck in the smallest  bowl with a lid you have that it will fit into.  Smash all the pieces together tightly then pour the fat over the top of it all, cover with a tight fitting lid and put it in the fridge until tomorrow or the day after.

The day you are serving it, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Scrape the duck fat from the top of the container* and get as much of it off the duck as possible.  Put the pieces of a rimmed baking sheet and cook for about 20 minutes to heat through and crisp the skin.

Asian Inspired Salad

1/2 head of iceberg lettuce washed and torn in bite size pieces
1/2 head leaf lettuce, washed and torn in bite size pieces
1/2 head of chinese cabbage
1/2 bag of sugar snap peas ( steamer bag) thawed
4 scallions sliced in rounds
chow mein noodles sprinkled to taste

Dressing

Juice of 1 lime
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon Bangkok seasoning blend ( Any Asian blend would work)
dash of salt
dash of pepper

While the bird is heating, make a salad of mixed greens, sugar snap peas and the scallions.  Sprinkle the chow mein noodles on top of the salad and top with the dressing.

I know this seems like a lot of steps and work, but because it is a two day process there really is nothing to it.  I roasted the duck while I was  baking some chicken for supper.  By the time the chicken was done and we had finished eating the duck was done.

 I did have to drain the fat (If you have a turkey baster use it for this) when I took the chicken out of the oven but I had a clever little contraption rigged so I didn't have to do anything with it but pour it in the sieve.  I had a conical sieve with a coffee filter in it.  The sieve was suspended over a 4 cup pyrex measuring cup and it just slowly dripped and cleaned the fat of the browned duck bits.  I left it there the entire second hour of cooking time and when it was time to remove the bird, it had finished dripping.  I simply had to throw away that filter and replace it with a clean one then I repeated the process.  Worked like a charm!

The duck was delicious.  It might be the best duck I have ever eaten and the sentiments were unanimous, we all loved it.  It was moist and juicy, tender and delicious.  The five spice was the predominant seasoning, but it did not overwhelm the flavor of the duck.

The salad on the side was the perfect compliment to the heavy flavor of the duck.  I think the only thing I would do differently is to add some slivers of sweet and hot red pepper for a hint of color, sweetness and heat.

Son2 just walked by and asked if I was putting this on the blog.  When I said yeas his reply was "Good, it was so good it is worth putting there"  High praise from someone with his cooking skills.

If you are cleaning your freezer and find a duck, try this.  If not, go buy a duck and try it anyway.  I promise it is that good.

* Save the duck fat to cook potatoes in.  Tonight Son3 grated some potatoes and cooked them like hash browns in the duck fat.  Oh My Goodness!  It was fantastic.