RECIPE OF THE WEEK! GLUTEN FREE-SUGAR FREE-DAIRY FREE- BANANA BREAD

banana bread loaf

     This is the recipe of the week. 
     I've never really liked banana bread so this is a BIG jump for me to even list a recipe with banana and bread in the same sentence. Ask my friend Elly. As a kid, one of our childhood friend's mothers would always make us eat banana bread for birthdays, potlucks, and when we went over to her house. We had soo much of it that it ruined it for the both of us. 

     The other day, Brian had this "NECESSITY" to make this bread.  Knowing how I did not have one bit of interest in making it, let alone eating it, he found the recipe, got the ingredients together, and did the baking.  Elly and I were driving back from surfing and he says "There is some awesome banana bread waiting for you" We just started making fun of how gross it was and how we suffered childhood trauma by eating banana bread. Anyways, we got back and gave it a shot. I wanted to say that eating it reconfirmed the dislike in banana bread, but when we realized how good it was, this had to go in the blog.... so this is to giving banana bread another chance... and a big-ups to Brian who found the recipe!

1 cup brown rice flour
1 cup almond meal
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt

3 eggs
3 very ripe bananas (if you the bananas are still not super ripe to the point of being black, you can also blend them for a few seconds)
1/2 cup conola oil
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract

Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl.
Mix the wet ingredients in a separate bowl.
Add the dry to the wet. (you can add additional items if you want to make the banana bread a little fancier... try grain sweetened chocolate chips)
bake @ 340 degrees for 1 hour
photo courtesy of Brian Mott

















photo courtesy of Brian Mott




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SHOE MONSTER





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i LOVE COFFEE, & San Francisco

I took a few days off from work for some R & R from the daily grindand headed up north for a week. Little did I know that I would come back a coffee snob.
I woke up, packed, and started to head up north on a Friday morning. Luckily, Venice wasn't far, so we stopped by one of my favorite coffee shops, Intelligentsia for a good 'ol morning wake up. I know some people think this place is overrated, but i think they make one of the best lattes. This place has also got a bit of an awesome old time EDISON-esque flare. It's no frills, but pretty cool.


I ordered a latte (of course, and Brian got an iced coffee. Yeah, so I know I am on a gluten free kick but the pastries here are pretty darn good, so i had to get one. Yup, there is that half eaten muffin...                              







After our breakfast, we just DROVE, DROVE, and DROVE SOME MORE.....
Stopping at In n' Out, (not my favorite place in the world) but we got there just in time for lunch.
Even if you are on a relatively healthy diet, you can still eat here without feeling nauseous afterwards.

Get the following:
Double Double (yes..that's 2 meat patties) or just get a single patty
Grilled onions
Tomatoes
Protein Style ( it comes wrapped in lettuce and not sandwiched between 2 pieces of white bread)
No sauce
Some cheese, or NO cheese if you are dairy free
If you absolutely need fries, go for it! (just try and share it with another person)



Those were the only stops that were made until we got up to SF 7 hours later to brian's parent's house.

I won't bore you with the rest of the details, but here are some highlights below!

SATURDAY:
Woke up at 8:00am
Had an awesome egg omlette (recipe to follow in a future blog)
Went for a swim
Lunch
12:00pm went on a bike ride up to the top of Mt. Tam
(I curse the mountain all the way to the top, but then am loving the downhill portion of it on the way back)
5 hours later, we ride continue on to Sausalito for a refreshing drink.
We are home at 6:00pm
Tired...

here is a picture overlooking Marin County.
Here's up near the top of the mountain, nearly 2200 ft up. Below that, me enjoying an ice tea after a 5 hour bike ride.

SUNDAY:
WOKE UP and got a manicure at 8:00am
Ate a nice crepe breakfast (see the recipes in my june blogs)
Went for a run to Stinson Beach
Came back
Ate lunch
Went down to the city to hang out and to wish a friend happy birthday
Watch invisible fireworks (unfortunately, the city was cold and cloudy that day)

MONDAY:
 Brian's parents buy us a spa package at SOLAGE in Calistoga  (THANKS GUYS!!!)
Spent pretty much the entire morning and afternoon there to relax!
Where is the coffee in all of this?  WELL, we drank coffee everyday, every morning. Yes, I think i've become an addict.

Betty recommends doing half decaf and half regular coffee, for a more mild caffeine "wake-me-up."
(I think this is great for some people that need something in the afternoon, but shouldn't have a full does of the caffeine)


I will skip Tuesday, but on Wednesday, we went to BLUE BOTTLE COFFEE in Oakland.
AMAZING NEW ORLEANS STYLE ICED COFFEE! The coffee is slightly sweet, but has a bit of a bite and it's somewhat syrupy as well. IT'S SOOO GOOD!
http://www.bluebottlecoffee.net/coffee/preparation-guide/chemex/
Did I mention that I highly reccomend this place?!


After Blue bottle, it was lunch time... and went for another dose of a little wheat in Oakland China town.

I just bought 2 pork buns at only $0.90 each.. who could beat that! 
After this, it's no more bread for me.... :)
My vacation was awesome, but as always, TOO SHORT!!
UNTIL NEXT TIME!


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San Diego International Triathlon...According to my mom, "since when did you get so tough?!!"

June 27th was quite an experience for me. I actually participated in an international distance triathlon. First one of the season as a matter of fact.


We had to bring our bikes to the transition area the day before. so once i racked my bike, I took a few pictures from my phone.

Here's my bike: the white one with the blue handlebars #1034
 Still trying to think of ways to make it a little more aggressive and a little less girly.. Any suggestions?





The following day, we got up at 3:45am and ate a pretty hearty breakfast... oatmeal with honey and bananas, blueberries, and almond butter (straight from the spoon)...


AMAZING OATMEAL W/ BERRIES AND MAPLE SYRUP 

1/2 cup Bob's Red Mill GLUTEN-FREE Oatmeal
1 cup of water
splash of milk (use regular milk, coconut milk, almond milk, whatever you desire, just make sure it is organic)
1-2 tsp of maple syrup


In a medium pot add water and bring to a boil.
Stir in the oatmeal and lower the heat to a simmer.
15 minutes later, you've got oatmeal.
put in a bowl, add in milk and maple syrup.


I add in the following fruit to make it even better:
strawberries
bananas
blueberries
raspberries

Yum! this is one breakfast that fills you up and has a ton of fiber in it.
for me FIBER=GREAT!
Luckily, we had a few hours to digest before the race.

Below.. the boys gettin' ready with some tight wetsuits..




this was an in water start... i'm somewhere in the mass of purple caps











 and the start..... notice the "slight" splashing of my group (purple caps) as opposed to the large slashes of the guys group (light blue caps)...








me running out of the water....
and into the bike transition... for serious, running in cleats made me almost slip and fall.. haha
and onto the final leg of RUNNING!  my worst of the 3.... but happy... i apparently wasn't pushing myself hard enough.




YAY. DONE!!! Left to Right: Mark, Brian, and Stephen... Way to go boys! (notice their scary resemblance to each other)



Regardless, I have to say that my morning breakfast gave me the fuel I needed to finish in great standing! To be honest, I still had a ton of energy left over after i was done!
GOT OATMEAL?
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Vanilla Custard Filling

Hey so... here's the vanilla custard recipe to fill crepes or to eat with fruit, etc.
As a side note:
I am around 90% processed sugar free. I don't include anything that has white or brown sugar in it, but will utilize maple syrup, honey, agave nectar, and brown rice syrup as a source of sweetening something up. (Try using grade B maple syrup whenever possible as it is more nutritious than grade A. Also, try to buy your honey from a local farm near your area)

Most custard recipes call for sugar, but I substituted this one with maple syrup and rice flour as a thickening agent.

1 cup milk
1-2 Tbsp Maple syrup (depending on how sweet you want it. Just note that a little goes a long way)
1 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp mochiko (sweet rice flour or you can substitute with cornstarch)
2 egg yolks

Slow boil the milk.
Add in the maple syrup and vanilla.
whisk, whisk, whisk, until the milk becomes frothy.

Add in the egg yolks one at a time and whisk thoroughly.
keep stirring and out the final 2 tbsp of rice flour to thicken.
It should take around 5 minutes or so to thicken once everything is incorporated.
Cut up fruit and enjoy inside crepe or by itself!

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Coconut Almond Muffins

This is probably one of the tastiest breakfast muffins i've made to date. It's soo awesome with tea or coffee in the morning! By the way, they are totally gluten free and sugar free.

1 1/2 cups almond flour
1/2 cup shredded coconut (optional)
1 tsp. baking powder
2 eggs
1/4 cup maple syrup or honey (use grade B maple if possible)
1 1/2 tsp coconut or almond extract
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp salt
2 Tbsp coconut oil

Mix together ingredients until smooth.
Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.
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Gluten Free Buckwheat Crepes

I decided to try some gluten free buckwheat crepes and they actually turned out pretty well. Fill the crepes with your favorite fillings or if you want to try something sweet, try my vanilla custard filling....

1 cup buckwheat flour
2 tbsp tapioca flour
1 cup milk
1/3 cup water
3 eggs
3 tbsp canola oil

Mix it all together & let sit covered in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Heat a frying pan with coconut oil and let warm up.
Take a ladle-full of the batter and pour into the pan.
Take the back of the ladle and spread out the batter making an evenly thin crepe.
Flip crepe after 30 sec-1 minute.
Fill with your favorite items and enjoy!

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