Banana's Foster Coconut Ice Cream

I was searching Pinterest for coconut milk ice cream recipes, and I saw one for a roasted banana ice cream. It had no added sugar. Just bananas, coconut oil and coconut milk. After our disappointing venture into date sweetened coconut ice cream (somehow it tastes like a weird medicinal bourbon), I'm leery of ice cream without added sugar. As Ben said, "There's a reason you never see date sweetened ice cream." I decided if banana ice cream was good, then Banana's Foster ice cream must be amazing! In the pre-Tommy days sometimes I would saute some bananas in butter, brown sugar and cinnamon and serve it over ice cream. So I took those flavors and just blended it all together.

OMG, I wish I had a video of Ben licking the spoon after I poured the mixture out of the blender. He said, "Wow, that could be the best ice cream ever made." Unlike the date ice cream, which tasted good before we froze it but tastes weird now, this ice cream just tastes amazing. It's nice and sweet and the flavors of banana and cinnamon really come through. I think I'll have to make another batch in the near future.

Banana's Foster Coconut Ice Cream

3 medium or 2 large bananas
1 Tbsp coconut oil
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 can full fat coconut milk

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Slice the bananas in half through the width and half through the length.
3. In a small microwave safe bowl, melt the coconut oil. Stir in the brown sugar, cinnamon and salt. 
4. Toss the bananas in the sugar mixture. Bake for 10 minutes. Be careful, the syrup will be VERY hot.
5. Combine the banana mixture and coconut milk in a blender. Be sure to include all the syrup. Puree until smooth.
6. Cool mixture in a bowl with a spout in the fridge for 2 hours. Follow the directions for your ice cream maker. Enjoy!

We're Home! Creamy Broccoli Soup

Tommy's tonsils and adenoids are gone! His surgery went very well, and after a night in the hospital for observation since he's not even two years old yet, we're finally back home. The first day he was feeling pretty good. He even roamed the halls a bit and played in the peds playroom. But last night and today he's been a lot more miserable. He has a pretty sad little cry and cough and he just seems to be a lot more uncomfortable. Poor little guy. But we're all happy to be home. Now he's had dinner and a bath and he's pretty happy for the moment!

Tommy hasn't been all that interested in drinking today, but he's eating food like a champ. Lots of jello, oatmeal and applesauce. He hasn't had much fat or salt, so for dinner I made Creamy Broccoli Soup and Corn-Free Cornbread. By far this is Tommy's favorite way to eat broccoli.

Creamy Broccoli Soup

1 Tbsp canola oil
1 large onion, diced
4 carrots, peeled and diced
3 ribs celery, diced
1 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp minced garlic
3 chicken broth
2 cups water
2 heads broccoli, chopped
1 can full fat coconut milk

1. Heat the oil in a dutch oven sized pot over medium low heat. Add the onion through garlic. Saute until the onions are translucent.
2. Add the broccoli and broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until the broccoli is soft (about 15 min).
3. Add the coconut milk and puree the soup with an immersion blender or in batches in a blender.
4. Heat the soup over medium low until warm.

Corn-Free Cornbread

I make this cornbread often enough that I figured it should have its own page for easier referencing. I have made it without the guar gum and it can definitely be omitted, but the texture will be a little more crumbly. You can easily double the recipe and bake it in a 9 x 13 baking dish for 30 minutes.

Corn-Free Cornbread
Makes 9 pieces

2 Tbsp psyllium husks
1/4 cup water
1 cup coconut milk (I use the Silk Vanilla Coconut Milk from the carton)
1/3 cup canola oil
1/4 maple syrup
1 cup millet flour
1/4 cup sorghum flour
1/2 cup tapioca starch
1/2 cup potato starch
2 teaspoons corn free baking powder
1 teaspoon guar gum
1 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Spray a 9x9 inch square baking dish with oil or nonstick spray.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, milk, syrup, and psyllium husks and water.
4. Add the remaining ingredients and stir well.
5. Pour into baking dish and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Nutritional Info (Calculated from My Fitness Pal)
Calories: 228
Fat: 9 g
Fiber: 2 g
Sugar: 7 gSodium: 269 mg
Protein: 2 g

Anxious Mommy = Delicious Chocolate Dessert

Tommy's getting his tonsils and adenoids out tomorrow. I know it's very routine, but I'm still anxious. He's my baby and I can't help but be nervous. 

I had a nice distraction this evening with a little girls wine, snacks and hot tub at a friend's house. It was a great way to relax and take my mind off of packing our hospital bag. I wanted to bring something to share that was gluten free, so I made some mini chocolate pudding tarts. 

I used the Dark Chocolate Coconut Pudding and Single Pie Crust recipes. This time for the crust I used coconut oil instead of vegetable shortening. 

I made the pudding in advance so it had already thickened in the fridge. I made the crust recipe and let it rest for 10 minutes in the freezer. I took balls of the dough a little less than an inch in diameter and pressed them into mini muffin tins. I baked them for 15 minutes, let them cool for 15 minutes, and then filled with about a teaspoon of chocolate pudding. They are sooooo good. Nice little rich morsels of gluten-free, vegan goodness. 

Mini Chocolate Pudding Tarts

1 recipe Dark Chocolate Coconut Pudding
1 recipe Single Pie Crust

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Break dough into balls a little less than 1 inch in diameter.
3. Press the dough into mini muffin tins, spreading the dough up the sides.
4. Bake for 15 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes.
5. Fill each cup with 1 teaspoon chocolate pudding.

Recipe Trial Number 1 for Thanksgiving (Corn-Free Cornbread Stuffing with Sausage)

This year we'll be at my mom's for Thanksgiving. For the first time, we're going to try making a complete Thanksgiving dinner that Tommy can eat. So between now and then I'm going to be trying out some new recipes. I've already had two dreams about Thanksgiving, and neither of them ended very well. Both dreams involved me basically doing no preparation in advance and then dinner didn't end up at all what I had hoped. Yes, I am aware that I have very mundane dreams...

The first recipe I'm trying out is a cornbread and sausage stuffing. I had great intentions of grinding my own pork and spices to make sausage. But then I ran out of time. We already had some leftover cooked ground turkey, so I just seasoned that to make a mock sausage. I just mixed the spices in with the cooked turkey, but it would be better to cook them with the turkey. 

Success! If you didn't know better, you might not realize it's a gluten, corn, dairy and egg free stuffing. I still plan on trying a stuffing recipe with Tommy's bread, but so far this recipe is a real contender for Thanksgiving. 

Corn-Free Cornbread Stuffing with Sausage

1 recipe Corn-Free Cornbread
1 lb ground turkey
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground sage
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp granulated garlic
1 Tbsp canola oil
1 large onion, diced
3 celery ribs, diced
salt and pepper
2 cups chicken stock
2 Tbsp flaxmeal

1. Preheat oven to 300°F. Break the cornbread into chunks and spread on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool, then transfer cornbread to a large bowl.
2. Raise oven temp to 375°F. Spray a 9" x 13" baking dish with non-stick spray.
3. In a large non-stick skillet, cook the ground turkey and spices. Transfer ground turkey to the large bowl.
4. Add 1 Tbsp oil to the skillet. Saute the onions and celery with a sprinkle of salt and pepper over medium heat until tender. Add to the large bowl.
5. Whisk together the chicken stock and flaxmeal. Let set for a couple minutes. Pour over the cornbread mixture.
6. Gently mix and place in baking dish. Bake for 35 minutes.

The Adventure Continues...

Agh. It's been another bout of confusing allergy symptoms. We re-introduced grass-fed beef recently. It seemed to be going ok, but then the horrible diapers returned. Like the worst smelling thing you could imagine. Poor little guy. He still manages to keep his sunny personality even when it's obvious that his digestive track is in turmoil. 

We were thinking maybe it was the beef, or possibly a reaction to trace amounts of egg protein in the flu shot he got on Friday. It's so tough to pinpoint the cause when it's a delayed reaction like diarrhea. It's much easier to figure out what causes it when he has hives or even vomiting. He seemed to be getting better, but now it's back. So maybe he's developed an allergy to salmon too. 

I hope this won't delay his tonsil surgery. As anxious as I am about his surgery (even though I know it's very routine), I really don't want it to be delayed. 

Oh the joys of food allergies...

Sausage Making and Sausage, Kale and Bean Soup

Today I helped one of our friends make sausage. He had already ground the pork and spices together, and I helped him with the stuffing process. He made a delicious Italian sausage and the best part was we knew every ingredient in it and there was nothing Tommy was allergic to. He gave us some sausage to take home and that inspired our dinner tonight. The sausage making process is labor intensive, but doesn't seem too difficult. I'm excited to start making our own sausage too. 

I met with a dietitian yesterday to talk about Tommy's diet. I make a conscious effort to provide a balanced diet for him, but with all of his food allergies I was worried that there was some sort of hole in his nutrition. She gave me some resources including a handout on how many servings of each food group kids need in a day. And reassured me that Tommy's diet looked great and well balanced. She did say that if she had to pick one super food, it would be beans. She recommended cooking any veggie Tommy can eat with the beans as an easy all in one meal. 

So, tonight we had Sausage, Kale and Bean Soup. Ben and I loved it. Tommy wasn't as thrilled. He's not a big fan of tomatoes or kale. But it was a good exercise in fine motor skills as he meticulously picked out things from his bowl. And Lily seemed to like the soup a lot as she ate it off the floor.

In other news, who decided it would be a good idea to give a toddler chocolate pudding? Oh right, that was me...

Sausage, Kale and Bean Soup

3 links Italian sausage
4 carrots, peeled and diced
2 celery ribs, diced
1/2 large onion, diced
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can Great Northern Beans, rinsed and drained
1 can chicken broth
2 cups water

1. Remove sausage from casings. Brown in a non-stick dutch oven pot over medium heat.
2. Remove sausage from pot and leave the grease in the pot. Add the carrots, onion, celery, salt and pepper. Cook veggies over medium heat for several minutes until the onions are translucent. 
3. Add the tomatoes, beans, broth and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the carrots are softened. 
4. Add the kale and sausage. Cook until the kale wilts.