Banana Double Chocolate Almond Flour Donuts (gluten-free, soy-free, dairy-free, and grain free)

Today I woke up to gorgeous sunlight in my kitchen. When that sunlight hits the table just right at about 9am on Saturday mornings it's perfect for taking food photography! I'm no expert, but it's a great time to pull out the camera and practice different techniques and angles. I prefer natural morning light to any other type of light for photography. It just works SO well with food. Of course that means you end up baking a lot of breakfast items to take pictures of! :-)

Charlie thought they looked pretty dang tasty!

I asked Michael what he wanted me to make. He said waffles... except... I'm pretty sure I goodwill-ed the waffle iron in a kitchen purge. It didn't have a dual purpose in life... it just made waffles, so out it went! (This logic makes no sense to my husband! lol) But when you have a tiny kitchen and very limited cabinet space... out goes the waffle maker... but I think I'm getting side-tracked...

So then I started thinking donuts. I made vegan powdered sugar donuts last weekend when we had friends come over for dinner. My friend Heather is also gluten-free and hadn't had donuts in years, so we gladly ate donuts and coffee for dessert! The donuts were still on my mind. Even though, technically, a baked "cake-like" donut is basically a muffin in disguise, it just seems a lot more fun because it's round and has a hole in the center! lol... Funny how life plays little tricks on us like that isn't it! 

Below is the recipe for the donuts I came up with. I based the recipe loosely from the low glycemic chocolate donut recipe I have in my cookbook, "The Everything Gluten-Free Baking Cookbook."  Michael likes chocolate chip anything, so I thought that would be fun to throw in the batter. I also had some bananas that were a bit past their prime, so I used the banana in place of 1 egg and some additional liquids in the original recipe. I also used both almond flour and arrowroot starch, because I think the combination of the two give a great texture for gluten-free baked goods.

Banana Double Chocolate Almond Flour Donuts
--created by Carrie Forbes, author of Gingerlemongirl.com
--adapted from a recipe in "The Everything Gluten-Free Baking Cookbook"
--free of gluten, dairy, soy, and grains
--printer-friendly version

Yields: 6 large donuts

Dry Ingredients:
3/4 cup (81 grams) blanched almond flour
1/2 cup (61 grams) arrowroot starch
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Wet Ingredients:
1 large (98 grams) banana
1 large (49 grams) egg
1/3 cup (56 grams) brown sugar
2 tablespoons light tasting olive oil
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

Add In's:
1/3 cup (55 grams) chocolate chips

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spritz a large donut pan with non-stick cooking spray or grease with coconut oil or butter.
2. In a large bowl whisk together all the dry ingredients. 
3. In a smaller bowl mash the banana with a fork until pureed. Stir in remaining wet ingredients. Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until you have a wet batter. 
4. Spoon batter evenly into the donut pan for each donut. You should have exactly enough batter to fill each donut mold/indention about 3/4 full.
5. Bake for 10-13 minutes until donuts have doubled in size and are crisp and dark brown around the edges. 
6. Allow donuts to cool in pan for 5-10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack or plate to cool completely. 
7. IF DESIRED, you can create a white glaze for the donuts by simply mixing 1 cup of powdered sugar with 2 tablespoons water or almond milk. Dunk each donut in the glaze and allow to rest on the wire rack for an additional 20 minutes or so to let glaze harden.  Serve immediately. These donuts are best the day they are made, but will also freeze well. 

Slow Cooker Chicken Provence with Red Potatoes

 I still love my slow cooker! Especially this time of year, when life is busy and you don't want to be inside all afternoon. The days are getting warmer, the sunlight lasts longer and you want to enjoy every minute of it.

This is a recipe I threw together the other day with ingredients I had on hand. Defrosted bone-in chicken thighs, and a big five pound bag of large red potatoes.

One way I love to fix potatoes with any protein in the slow cooker, is to simply place the potatoes in the bottom of the slow cooker whole. The potatoes will then sort of act like a rack to hold the protein up. it's great because the protein will actually roast and turn golden brown, especially if you have a little fat on the protein that will get crispy over the long cooking period.  The potatoes will then cook in the savory juices from the meat along with any additional ingredients you add.

This one's super easy and super versatile. Don't have Herbs de Provence? Try it with your favorite seasoning blend instead! It would be delicious with Victoria's Gourmet Tuscan Blend, Chili Cinnamon Rub, or even the Ginger Citrus blend! Victoria's Gourmet sent me a huge package of seasoning blends several years ago and I still use them nearly every day! Check out my favorite way to store the small seasoning tins!

Slow Cooker Chicken Provence with Red Potatoes
free of gluten, dairy, soy, and grains
created by Carrie Forbes of Gingerlemongirl.com
printer-friendly version

Ingredients:

• 4 bone-in chicken thighs (about 1 1/2 pounds)
• 5 medium size red potatoes (enough to fit the bottom of a 4 quart oval slow cooker)
• 1/3 cup white wine or cider vinegar
• 2-3 tablespoons good olive oil
• 1 tablespoon herbs de provence seasoning blend (McCormick's Gourmet is a great brand too, look for it in the spice aisle of your grocery store)
• freshly ground salt & pepper, to taste
• Optional: 2-3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice for serving

Directions: 

1. Place (washed & patted dry) whole red potatoes in the bottom of a 4-quart slow cooker. (You can easily double this recipe if you have a larger 6-quart slow cooker!) 
2. Place the chicken thighs on top of the potatoes. Drizzle the white wine over the potatoes followed by the olive oil. 
3. Sprinkle the herbs de provence and the ground salt & pepper evenly over the chicken. Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook on low for 8-10 hours, or on high for 4-5 hours. 
4. Serve 1 chicken thigh per person with a quartered red potato. Make sure to ladle some of the juices from the bottom of the slow cooker over the chicken and potatoes, it's delicious! To brighten the dish just before serving squeeze some fresh lemon juice or lime juice over each plate. Serve with a fresh salad on the side. 

Carrie's Kitchen Notes: 

•  If you have any leftover chicken and potatoes, remove the chicken from the bone and cut into small pieces, dice up the potatoes and mix with the juices in the bottom of the slow cooker for a chicken & potato stew. You can add cooked green beans and carrots to make a more complete meal. 
• I prefer bone-in chicken because it has more flavor and it will withstand long cooking times in the slow cooker without falling apart or losing texture. 
• You can use any type of potatoes you'd like in this dish. Red potatoes worked great, but it would be delicious with yellow, white, or purple potatoes too! 
• You can also add a few heirloom tomatoes chopped up to the slow cooker before cooking for extra flavor. 

Store Sales + Store Coupons = Getting the Most Bang for your Buck at Food Lion

I do most of my shopping these days at Food Lion in Greenville, NC. It isn't fancy. It isn't organic (most of it anyway), but it's healthy, real, and affordable food and I'm usually able to stay within my weekly $50 food budget for the two of us. 

This budget generally ONLY includes food and sometimes things like dish soap or toothpaste. I buy MOST of our other household items in bulk for super cheap from Amazon once every few months. The last time we bought toilet paper and paper towels was in December.  I also buy all of our cat food online through Amazon, again because I can get it in bulk, get it deeply discounted or at least for a comparative price, AND it's delivered. 

One way I'm able to stay within my $50 budget is buy ONLY shopping the store sales and store brands. There are a few items that are rarely on sale (like butter, eggs, and/or organic milk), but generally at least half of what I buy is on sale. Each week I check out the online sales paper for our local store. 

• Money-Saving Shopping Tip: GET to KNOW your favorite store's websites! They often have special coupons available (often customized JUST for you and your shopping habits), they ALWAYS have their current sales flyer available. They also often have great custimization tools to create your own shopping lists that can be emailed to you or your smart phone or just printed for your convenience. You can check out all of the store's coupon policies along with all the details of any current store promotions. I have become a HUGE fan of Food Lion's customer website, it has helped me tremendously each week to create my shopping list and stay within my budget. (And NO, they have NOT paid me to say that or review their store, I've just been shopping there for years, and I'm a loyal customer!) 

I create a shopping list just from the items in the flyer and then I create a weekly menu from those store sale items. Sometimes the menu isn't very exciting... but it's nearly ALWAYS healthy, real, unprocessed foods. 

Here is a breakdown of the items I bought this week (highlighted items were not on sale, just store-brand regular priced items): 

• 2 boxes Honey Nut Cheerios (on sale with MVP card = 2 for $3.98)
• 1 box Corn Chex cereal (had a .50 off coupon ON my store MVP card, that I found on the food lion website = $2.99)
• 2 small cans of tomato sauce (.64)
• 1 bag dried lentils (1.39)
• 2 cans green beans, 1 can corn, 1 can sweet peas (on sale with MVP = $1.68)
• 1 pound ground beef (on MVP sale for $3.35)
• 2 turkey drumsticks ($3.07)
• 2 whole chickens (on sale for .99/ lb. = $10.79)
• 1 head cauliflower ($2.99)
• 3 pounds sweet potatoes ($2.52)
• 1 bunch celery (on MVP sale, $1.29)
• 3 pounds yellow onions (on MVP sale, $1.79)
• 1 pound asparagus (on MVP sale, $3.77)
• 1 green pepper (.89)
• 1 pound carrots (.79)
• 1 package sliced mushrooms (on MVP sale, $1.69)
• 1 package (2 cups) shredded mozzarella cheese ($2.49)
• 1/2 gallon organic milk ($3.59)
• 2 dozen medium eggs ($2.09 per package = $4.18)
• 1 pound butter ($2.97)
• 1 package paper plates (on MVP sale, $1.99)

TOTAL with store coupons & store sales = $54.10

So it turns out with this trip, it was about half MVP store sale items and half store-brand lower priced items. My goal every week is to try to make sure to buy as many REAL food items as possible and very few processed items for the best prices I can find. Right now, I don't focus on organic foods. When we have the money for them, I definitely go for organic, but I think overall if you have a tight budget and can simply focus on whole foods, you're still doing pretty darn well! 

Cheryl's lentil dal, roast cauliflower, and baked sweet potatoes

We will use the food from this trip combined with the food in our pantry and freezer to make some of the following meals: 

• Roast chicken with lemon and artichokes or asparagus (see recipe below!)
• Cheryl's lentil dal (I used the regular lentils I found instead of red lentils, it worked fine!), with roasted cauliflower and baked sweet potatoes
• Breakfast for dinner = eggs, bacon (from freezer stash), and gluten-free pancakes
• Homemade gluten-free pizza (pg. 104, The Everything Gluten-Free Baking Cookbook) with toppings of browned ground beef, green peppers, onions, homemade tomato sauce, and mozzarella. 
• Hamburger gravy made with remaining browned ground beef, celery, and onions and served over gluten-free, low glycemic biscuits or GF almond bread toast
• Homemade pulled turkey barbecue and homemade coleslaw (with cabbage from last week's shopping trip)
• Mushroom & Asparagus Omelettes with sliced oranges from last week's shopping trip

Slow cooked roast chicken with artichokes and lemon - see recipe from my slow cooker cookbook below!

Recipe shared courtesy of Carrie S. Forbes (myself), author of "The Everything GF Slow Cooker Cookbook"

Do you have a favorite store that you shop at consistently? 

What's your favorite thing about the store?