Banana Bread - Gluten Free

Banana Bread

Banana Bread

My mom handed this recipe down to me from one of her grandmothers.  This is by far the best banana bread I have ever eaten.  I loved it so much, it was one of the very first things that I converted to be gluten free.  I have made it for holidays, and no one could tell it was gluten free, so I would say I did a good job.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
3 beaten eggs
2 cups GF AP flour (I use Bob's Red Mill AP flour)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1/4 tsp salt
3 bananas, very ripe (when the peeling start turning black)
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)

Cream butter in mixer.  Add brown sugar and eggs, mix well.  Add bananas (just break them into chunks and drop them in the mixer).  Add remaining dry ingredients, making sure you are scraping the sides of the bowl well.  Pour mixture into one greased loaf pan.

Bake at 350F for 1 hour or until done.

I have made this with and without nuts.  I don't care for nuts, but my husband loves them.  Today, I made two loaves (I had 6 bananas I needed to get used up), one with nuts, and one without.

Banana Bread with Walnuts

Banana Bread with Walnuts

Menu Plan 4/16/12

I am very much the bad blogger lately.  Have you ever had the feeling that you just don't want to do something?  Yeah, me too, hence the no blogging the last couple of weeks.  It's been crazy busy around here lately.  My 7 year old son has epilepsy (and ADHD), and his neurologist is out of Burlington, VT, which is a 4 hour drive.  He had an appointment this past week, so we made a trip of it.  We stayed two nights, and even went to the Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Factory and went on a tour.  The kids loved it. :)

So, needless to say, there was no menu plan this past week.  What I had wrote down totally went out the window.  Then I decided I didn't care for what I had planned out for the rest of the month, so I completely redid the rest of my April menu!

I am going to try to start including breakfast and lunch in my menu plans.  I have a big food problem (major food addict and compulsive over-eater), and thought that if I planned all my meals, there would be less roaming the kitchen and eating whatever I see.  So, I am really hoping this works, as nothing else seems to work.  I will be meeting with a dietician soon, and I hope to learn a lot from that as well.   I am home alone for breakfast and lunch on Monday-Friday.  Weekends we all get to eat together.

Friday, my 12 year old daughter meets with an orthodontist for the first time, so we will be gone all day.  Due to insurance issues, the nearest orthodontist is 4 hours away, so we will be eating on the road that day.  That's what we get for living in the middle of nowhere!!

So, onto the Menu Plan for this week!

Monday -

• Breakfast- Flax & Cranberry Oatmeal, Peach Yogurt, Grape Juice
• Lunch- Roast Beef Sandwich, Progresso Garden Vegetable Soup
• Dinner-Cheese Chicken & Rice Casserole, Broccoli, Bread & Butter

Tuesday - 

• Breakfast- Glutino Strawberry Bright Beginnings Cereal, Apple Slices, Grape Juice
• Lunch- Egg Salad Sandwich, Tossed Salad
• Dinner- Nachos, Spanish Rice, Corn

Wednesday -

• Breakfast- 1 Egg, over-easy, 1 slice of toast, 1 Banana, Grape Juice
• Lunch- Butter Stuffed Shrimp, Rice, Tossed Salad
• Dinner- Garlic Tomato Soup, Grilled Cheese sandwiches, Tossed Salad

Thursday -

• Breakfast- Raisin Spice Oatmeal, Yogurt, Grape Juice
• Lunch- Roast Beef Sandwich, Tossed Salad
• Dinner- Oven Baked Chicken, Mushroom Rice, Vegetables

Friday - 

• Breakfast- 1 Slice of toast with PB & J, Yogurt, Grape Juice
• Lunch- OUT (most likely packing sandwiches and fruit)
• Dinner- OUT (the kids are looking forward to the Golden Corral, but I have a hard time finding things I can eat that don't have gluten in them!)

Saturday -

• Breakfast- Pancakes, Sausage links, Bananas, Orange Juice
• Lunch- Turkey Sandwiches, Kids choice of soup
• Dinner- Cheesy Chicken Chowder, Cornbread Muffins

Sunday -

• Breakfast- Breakfast Sandwiches (over easy egg, sausage patty on English muffins), Orange Juice
• Lunch- Leftover Cheesy Chicken Chowder and Cornbread Muffins
• Dinner- Smothered Pork Chops, Seasoned Rice, Vegetables or Tossed Salad