Day Three hundred and fifty-three

Gluten-free banana muffins.  These were SO good, moist and filling.  I found the recipe online but I didn't write down the source, and now I can't track it down. The recipe is worth sharing, though, so here it is.  Next time, I'm going to try making it as a loaf.

Gluten-free banana muffins

2 c. gluten-free flour blend

1 t. baking powder

1 t. baking soda

3/4 t. xanthan gum

1/2 t. salt

1/2 c. unsalted butter

1/2 c. sugar

2 eggs

6 ripe bananas, coarsely diced

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well.  In a separate bowl, whisk first five ingredients ingredients (through salt) then add to sugar mixture, stirring only until moist.  Fold in bananas.  Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes, until toothpick comes out dry.

Spaghetti squash Parmesan.  If you haven't made this, you should!  It's my older daughter's favorite meal. In fact, this day was her birthday, which was why I made it.

Dinner: Spaghetti squash parm, french bread, and fruit salad.

Pureed yellow squash, for the freezer.

Tomorrow's school lunch: Chunks of grilled chicken, gluten-free crackers, cottage cheese, carrots and apples.

Day Eighty-eight

Dinner: Turkey meatloaf (with pureed yellow squash and green puree), steamed carrots and green beans.

Dinner: Butternut squash soup (made from a batch I made a few weeks back, and had frozen).

Mini gingerbread house: My daughter made this in school so technically it wasn't made in my kitchen, but she was proud to have made it, so here it is.

Day Eighty-five

Purees for the freezer: Yellow squash

Before: Chicken and potatoes. My parents bought us this chicken and although I'd never actually roasted a whole chicken before, it was on my kitchen to-do list. Since it had bones (I usually only cook boneless breasts), my husband was all excited and actually made the rub and put it on without me even asking. He was giddy.

After: Chicken and potatoes

Dinner: Roasted chicken, roasted rosemary potatoes, cream cheese spinach, steamed carrots, chicken gravy, and clementines.

Spinach, being steamed for purees.

Purees for the freezer: Purple puree (recipe: Sneaky Chef). This is a blend of spinach and blueberries, and is awesome for making brownies.

Strawberry frozen yogurt. Not sure why I felt the need to bust out the ice cream machine on such a cold day, but it seemed right. Made with skim milk and homemade fat-free vanilla yogurt.

Day Seventy-nine

Maple spice muffins (Recipe: Doubly Delicious). These were really yummy.

Gingerbread house. We do one every year, and the girls love doing it, but they always try to eat it immediately afterwards.

Honey whole wheat bread- this one came right out of the bread machine. This is our favorite bread.


Dinner: Homemade chicken nuggets, which I made in the crockpot (recipe: Make it Fast, Cook it Slow), whole grain mac & cheese with cauliflower and yellow squash puree (recipe: Sneaky Chef), green beans, and clementines.

My husband was craving steak, so he BBQ'ed this for himself. I take no credit or responsibility for it.

Chicken soup with egg noodles- my daughter wanted this for lunch for tomorrow, so I let it simmer on the stove during the day and poured it into a thermos for the next day.