Food Budget Woes & A Weekly Meal Plan

I know I'm not the only one who spends a ridiculous amount of money on food every month. Right? Right? Please comment and tell me you also have this problem. I see all these Pinterest posts about feeding a family on $80 a week and I'm like, WTF? You all must be hungry. But I always say I want to get our grocery spending down to a more reasonable amount. I have a generous amount budgeted and we almost always go over by a substantial margin. (I'm looking at you, COSTCO!)

In an effort to do more things that I keep saying I want to do, I'm taking action! I'm meal planning for 3 meals a day, plus snacks and only shopping for the items needed to create those meals. Because I think my problem is that I'm a stock-piler. (Once again, thanks, COSTCO!) There are times when you should stockpile. Say, for example, one of your staples is on sale, buying a few extras (preferably enough to get you through to the next time it is on sale) makes good fiscal sense. Hoarding olive oil...not so much. Also, I should probably use less olive oil. Haha. No.

Here is my plan for the coming week.
(Note: I eat a homemade gluten free muffin for breakfast every day, so the breakfast plan is just for the fellas.)

Monday
Breakfast: Oatmeal with Applesauce, Cinnamon, and Raisins
Lunch: Thai Quinoa Salad
Dinner: Spicy Lamb and Bean Tacos

Tuesday
Breakfast: Yogurt with Museli
Lunch: Salad (I like to make an enormous salad with veggies, nuts, beans, and a vinaigrette.)
Dinner: Jerk Chicken and Brown Rice with Serrano Lime Slaw

Wednesday
Breakfast: Oatmeal with Raw Cacao, Peanut Butter, and Banana
Lunch: Black Beans and Quinoa
Dinner: White Lasagna

Thursday
Breakfast: Yogurt with Museli
Lunch: Pasta Salad
Dinner: Mung Bean Dal with Basmati Rice and Curried Veggies

Friday
Breakfast: Oatmeal with Blueberries
Lunch: Coconut Curry Noodles
Dinner: Taco Pizza with this crust

Saturday
Breakfast: Pancakes
Lunch: Quinoa Veggie Bowls
Dinner: Date night in! Garlic Stuffed-Bacon Wrapped Dates and Mojitos followed by Cauliflower-Almond-Sage Risotto (veganized) and Salad
 Dinner for the kids: Cheese Quesadillas and Tomato Soup

Sunday
Breakfast: Egg and Cheese Sandwiches and Hashbrowns
Lunch:Vegetable Fried Rice
Dinner: Bean and Bacon Soup and Chickpea Fritters

Snacks: Almonds, Trail Mix, Fresh Fruit*, Ceci-Rosemary Spread w/ Crackers
Beverages: I still buy juice and milk for the kids, but we all drink water most of the time.

*I would just like to point out that for each of us to have one piece of fresh fruit a day is 35 pieces of fruit! How could you do that on $80 a week? I don't even know. I'm not shooting anywhere near that low, thankfully. But it makes me sad that healthy, high quality food is what people must sacrifice to make ends meet. I have a feeling that whatever I decide to be when I grow up will have something to do with solving that problem. 

Chewy Granola Bars

These chewy, no bake granola bars are kind of a cooking epiphany for me. For a long time after I began my home cooking journey, I struggled with finding a good granola bar recipe. They were either too crunchy or too soft or too crumbly. A friend of mine gave me a recipe that worked, finally! I was even able to successfully vegan-ize it! But when I realized I couldn't have oats, the process started all over again. How do you make granola bars without rolled oats? I wasn't interested in bars with that homogeneous "Clifbar" texture. I tried using all nuts, but they didn't stick together well, and they were awfully expensive compared to using oats. I tried toasting seed grains, like Millet and Quinoa, and those were just kind of weird. But, alas, I discovered buckwheat cereal and quinoa flakes, which make a great replacement for rolled oats. These are made lighter in texture with the addition of puffed cereal. 

Chewy Granola Bars 

gluten free, dairy free

makes 2 dozen (recipe can be halved)

Wet:

1 c almond butter (store bought or homemade, you can also use peanut butter)

1/3 c honey

1/3 c sugar

1/4 c coconut oil

1/4 c brown rice syrup (this makes them a bit firmer, but you can omit and double the honey)

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Dry:

1/2 c buckwheat cereal (looks kind of like steel cut oats, I used Bob's Red Mill)

1/2 c quinoa flakes

1/2 c ground flaxseed

1 c puffed brown rice

1 c puffed millet

1 c sliced almonds

1 c finely chopped walnuts

1 c chopped dried cherries (or other fruit)

Optional: chocolate chips

In a small pot, combine wet ingredients. Heat on low or medium low, stirring, until the sugar dissolves and everything is well blended. 

Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl, combine your dry ingredients. 

Pour your wet mixture over the dry mixture and stir well to thoroughly combine. Use your hands if needed! 

Line a 9x13 glass dish with parchment paper. Helpful hint: use clothes pins to hold the parchment in place as you dump in the granola. Remove the clothes pins, and start pressing everything down in to an even layer. I use an extra piece of parchment to keep my hands from getting sticky, but you could use wet or lightly greased hands if you wish. You really want to get it compacted tightly. That is what makes them stick together. 

If you wish to use chocolate chips, press them into the top of the bars as you are compacting them. (If you add them while stirring, they will probably melt.) I added some to half of mine. 

Allow to sit and cool for at least an hour. You can speed up the process by putting them in the refrigerator, but it's not necessary. 

Cut into 24 squares. Prepare to make more tomorrow, because everyone will eat them all up. At least that is what happens in my house. 

Black Eyed Peas with Caramelized Onions, Chard, and Sweet Potato Chips

This is not a quick and easy meal, okay. But it's lovely and tasty! If you are in a hurry, you could ditch the sweet potato chips and it would still be delicious without as much work and time. Those really are the only time consuming part. 

Black Eyed Peas with Caramelized Onions, Chard, and Sweet Potato Chips

Serves 4-6

1 lb dried black eyed peas, cooked with salt
1 large bunch of chard (swiss, red, or rainbow)
3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 large onions, halved and then sliced
1 medium sweet potato
salt & pepper
olive oil
oil for frying (I used sunflower)

First, cook your black eyed peas. They can be soaked, but don't have to be. They cook faster than most beans. Add a generous amount of salt to the water. Salt brings out the flavor in food. Home cooked food NEVER has as much salt as processed food, so don't be afraid to use salt when cooking.

For the onions, I like to cut them in half, then slice to create long skinny pieces. Spread them out in a skillet with olive oil and sprinkle with a little salt. Cook on medium low until the turn a golden brown and the smell makes you want to eat them all right out of the skillet.

For the sweet potato, you'll get the crispiest chips if you slice them very thin. I experimented with different thicknesses and liked the thin ones best because they curl up a bit. Makes for lovely presentation! So, slice them up, fry them in a couple inches of oil. I don't like to use a ton of oil for frying, so I use a small pot and just fry a few at a time. But if you have a giant Fry Daddy, that would be great, too!

You'll want to cook your chard in two stages, first the stems, then the leaves. So, cut the stems away and chop them up. Saute them in some olive oil with your minced garlic for a few minutes. Meanwhile, slice up your leaves. Add them to the pan and then cover. Cook until they are wilted. Salt to taste.



To assemble, spoon beans into a bowl, top with chard, then onions, then chips. Looks fancy, doesn't it? :)

White Lasagna - Vegan & Gluten Free

I'm a fair weather blogger, obviously. But when I'm here, boy, do I have good things for you! This new lasagna recipe is EPIC. Not long and drawn out as in epic poetry, but rather in the "unforgettable" sense of the word.

We were having people over for dinner, which is kind of stressful when you can't eat wheat, dairy, beef, pork, nightshades, etc. And I'm not one to follow recipes. So, I was totally winging this one. It's a variation on my other vegan lasagna recipe. And it also borrows from an old favorite veggie lasagna recipe. But no cheese and no tomato sauce. I tried another white lasagna a couple months ago, but it featured a white bean bechamel and I really wasn't that impressed. So, I was feeling rather tentative about how this was going to turn out. I offered up a plethora of disclaimers before we dug in. Fortunately, it turned out really wonderful! Unfortunately, I only have crappy photos of the leftovers because I was more worried about eating it than taking pictures of it. But without further adieu:

the four of us cleared out most of it, so I guess it was alright!

White Lasagna

vegan & gluten free
serves 4-8

1 box gluten free lasagna noodles (I used Tinkyada Joy Pasta Organic Brown Rice noodles)
1 batch of Vegan Alfredo Sauce
1 batch of vegan ricotta filling
1 lb fresh or frozen spinach
1/2 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic

for vegan "ricotta" filling:
1 cup raw cashew pieces, soaked overnight, drained and rinsed
2 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
juice of one lemon
salt and pepper
water
1/4 c ground golden flaxseed
1 lb frozen broccoli florets, thawed and finely chopped

Note: You can make the Alfredo sauce and ricotta ahead of time, even the day before. They will keep fine in the fridge. 

So, first let's talk about this vegan ricotta. Cashews are an amazing thing. You will find them in many different vegan recipes as a dairy replacement. You can make cashew milk, "cream" sauces, and add texture like in this ricotta substitute.

Put your soaked cashews, garlic, and herbs in the bowl of a food processor and process until it looks grainy. It will sort of look like ricotta already, just drier. Add your lemon juice and a couple tablespoons of water. Pulse a few times to combine. You don't want it to get totally smooth like you would to make cashew butter. Now dump that out into a big bowl. Process your broccoli, if you haven't already chopped it. Combine the two and add some water, or even a little (1/2 cup) non-dairy milk if you'd like, and the flaxseed. Stir well to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste. Now it should really look like a ricotta filling.

Cook your noodles according to the package, undercooking by just a few minutes. Put them in an ice bath as you prep your other ingredients. 

Saute your onion in olive oil until golden. Add garlic and stir until aromatic. Add your spinach and saute until wilted and/or thawed, depending on whether you used fresh or frozen. Salt to taste.

To assemble the lasagna, coat the bottom of the dish with Alfredo sauce, then layer: 

noodles

ricotta filling

Alfredo sauce

noodles

spinach

Alfredo sauce

noodles

ricotta filling

Alfredo sauce

noodles 

Alfredo sauce (spreading to cover the top of the noodles)

I topped mine with some vegan parmesan, which is simply roasted cashews finely processed with some salt, garlic powder, onion powder, & dried basil and oregano. It made the top look prettier ;)

Bake at 350 degrees for about 30-40 minutes. The sauce should look bubbly and it should be warm throughout. If you used refrigerated ingredients, you may need to bake longer. 

Mac & Cheese - Vegan, Gluten Free Style!

I've been eating what a friend referred to as "gourmet rabbit food." Lots of nuts, beans, and veggies. And sometimes I just want something creamy and decadent! I had good success with the vegan cream sauce, so I thought I'd give a vegan cheese sauce a try. I looked at a bunch of different recipes, many of which called for fake cheese. But we don't eat meat and cheese substitutes. Most are soy, and all are full of odd fillers. Yuck. This gluten free vegan mac & cheese has no crazy ingredients and is actually a nice sneaky way to feed your family vegetables if they aren't otherwise so keen on them.

Vegan Mac & "Cheese" 

3 medium carrots, sliced
1 onion, diced
2 large cloves garlic, minced
dash paprika
1 tsp dried yellow mustard powder
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup raw cashew pieces, soaked overnight, drained and rinsed
salt

Cook your carrots in salted water (covered by about an inch) until tender. In a skillet over medium-low heat, saute onion in olive oil until soft. Add garlic, paprika, and mustard, cooking for about 30 seconds longer. Set aside. When carrots are tender, combine carrots and their cooking water, onion/garlic mixture, and cashews in a high powered blender until super smooth. You could probably do it in a food processor, but it won't be as smooth.

I served my sauce tossed with rice pasta spirals and roasted broccoli. Season with salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste.

Lentil Almond Salad

I made this Lentil Almond Salad this week for a quick lunch. I had a couple mason jars of lentils that I'd cooked up for a previous meal. So I heated those up and added a vinaigrette, some capers, and chopped almonds. 

Lentil Almond Salad

serves 4

6 cups lentils, cooked and drained

2 tbsp capers

1/2 cup roasted salted almonds, coarsely chopped

Vinaigrette: 

1 tbsp dijon mustard

2-3 cloves garlic, minced 

1/4 c red wine vinegar 

1/2 cup olive oil

salt and pepper

To make the vinaigrette, mince your garlic with some salt to make a paste. Combine garlic with mustard and vinegar in a small jar. Shake well to combine. Add olive oil and shake vigorously until it emulsifies. Add pepper and more salt if needed. 

In a large bowl, combine lentils, capers, almonds, and vinaigrette. Stir well to combine. Serve warm. This would be awesome with some crusty homemade bread, if you are fortunate enough to be able to eat such things. 

This week's produce, because I like pictures of food

Gluten free, vegan, menu planning

Gluten free, vegan menu planning is about as fun as it sounds, ha! Actually, it's not that different from other creative processes. When I start a new painting, I feel excited Yay! I love to paint! then depressed OMG this is awful, why did I ever think I could paint?, then excited again OK, this is looking good now! and finally a sense of accomplishment when I'm done. I go through the same process while meal planning: Oooh! What are we going to eat this week!? becomes This is so hard when I can't have 27 common ingredients! I want tomatoes and lemons and cheese! I'm so depressed! and then Oh, that sounds interesting! This looks pretty good! and behold I've managed to come up with seven appetizing dinners.

I keep a menu board in my kitchen. It is not written in stone. I switch days around based on how busy I am (or, for example, if someone misses his nap and needs to go to bed early, I'll make whatever is quickest). But as I plan, I try to incorporate a nice variety of grains, legumes, nuts, and vegetables. Let's all agree to not eat rice everyday, okay? And every week I try a couple new recipes. Very rarely I try a recipe that doesn't work (oh, the perils of Pinterest--I'm talking to you sweet potato quinoa patties). And those times, I'm grateful for a meal stashed in the freezer since takeout isn't an option anymore.

A couple weeks ago, I posted a picture of my menu to Facebook. Lots of people liked it, and some even suggested that I sell my weekly meal plans. Well, I'm totally fine with sharing! If it helps someone figure out a way to eat more healthfully or to deal with dietary restrictions, then I've made a positive contribution to the world. If you want to give me money, go buy some of my art ;)

Without further ado, here is this week's menu:

Black Bean Tacos: For my tacos, I used a legume-based crepe. The boys had theirs on wheat tortillas. Corn would work, too, if you can have it. We filled them with refried black beans, roasted carrot sticks, raw cabbage salad, red onions, and mango salsa. That sounds like a lot, and the minimalist in me hesitated, but this was really a case where more = more! I served them with roasted green beans.

Chickpea and Cabbage Soup with Chickpea Flatbread: These are new recipes! The soup is from Post Punk Kitchen, which has reliably good recipes. I have one of her vegan cookbooks. I bought cabbage to make sauerkraut, then realized it would take a month to ferment. Who knew? So, I'm cooking it up instead. The bread is a traditional Italian flatbread, which I've seen on several sites, but I'm going to try this recipe. Seems simple. My batter is resting right now! 

Vegan Mac & Cheese: This one I'm going to wing. I looked at several recipes, some with sweet potatoes, some with carrots. (It's gotta be orange, right?!) I had that great success with cauliflower/cashew cream sauce last week, so I'm going to try a carrot/cashew version. It might be a total bust. We shall see. Serving with asparagus, yum!

Burrito Bowls: This is one of my go-to quick meals. As long as you cook the rice ahead of time, it's pretty quick to throw together. I might soak some extra cashews to make a 'chipotle crema'. But it's a pretty simple formula: spanish style or cilantro lime rice (or quinoa), beans of choice (black or pinto are my preferred choice), lettuce, veggies, salsa. Fajita style veggies--peppers and onions--are excellent! 

Split Pea Soup: I usually only make soup once a week, but I'm alone with the kids all this week, so I figure by Friday the chances of dinner happening are going to be greatly diminished, haha! I'm making it easy on myself! 

Quinoa Stuffed Acorn Squash: I thought I'd posted this recipe already, but I guess not. I will! It's just a basic quinoa pilaf heaped over roasted acorn squash. 

Mung Bean Dal, Curried Zucchini, and Basmati Rice: Like this, but with zucchini and no tomatoes because I can't eat those now (always with the tomatoes! mamma mia!)

Spinach Walnut Pesto

This Spinach Walnut Pesto is the perfect pasta sauce for the middle of winter when you'd love a basil pesto, but can't justify paying whatever the going rate is for several cups of basil in January. The walnuts give it a creamy texture. It tastes so indulgent, but it's so good for you!

Spinach Walnut Pesto

serves 8

1 cup raw walnuts

3 cloves garlic

1 tsp salt

4 big handfuls of baby spinach

Olive oil

In the bowl of a food processor, combine garlic, salt, and walnuts. Process until finely chopped, like crumbs. Fill the bowl with spinach. (I used about 4 big handfuls, which is not very precise, sorry!) Process, stopping to scrape if needed, until well blended. With machine running, pour in olive oil until you get a good consistency. I like mine thinner than soft butter, thicker than salad dressing. (I hope you are not here for exact measurements and such. Cooking is an art, not a science!)

For the pasta, I chose rice spaghetti for the first meal. I sauteed some garlic, lemon zest, and crushed red pepper and tossed that with the noodles before adding the pesto. But that is completely unnecessary as the sauce tastes great on its own. 

I froze the remaining pesto, then thawed it and put it on rice penne (with green beans added in) for lunch. Try it "Genovese" style with cubed potatoes and green beans. 

Dairy Free and/or Vegan Alfredo Sauce

Tonight I made this amazing dairy free Alfredo sauce. It was so rich and creamy! It tasted like real, actual dairy Alfredo. And this culinary magic was the result of cauliflower and cashews! I made mine with chicken broth because I have yet to find a vegetable broth without nightshades or other allergens. But you could easily make this vegan by substituting vegetable broth or even water. I served mine with rice spaghetti, roasted balsamic carrots, and sauteed red chard. The balsamic carrots were probably a little overpowering for this creamy pasta. Steamed broccoli would be a better choice for a side dish. 

Dairy Free/Vegan Alfredo Sauce

serves 4-6

1 head of cauliflower, chopped/broken into florets 

2 cups broth (veggie or chicken)

1 small onion

5-6 cloves of garlic (about 2 Tbsp)

1/2 cup raw cashews, soaked in water overnight

Salt to taste

(You'll have to plan ahead for this one and soak your cashews overnight.)

In a medium sauce pan, combine broth and cauliflower florets. Cook until very tender. Meanwhile, Saute onion until golden. You really want a good onion base for that umami flavor that you would normally get from the Parmesan cheese. Add in garlic and continue to cook for another minute. Drain your cashews and rinse well. Combine onion, garlic, cashews, cauliflower, and broth in a blender (preferably a high powered type, like Vitamix, to get it really smooth). Blend on high until very smooth and creamy. You can thin with more broth if you'd like. I had enough to do a pound of spaghetti with enough left to coat maybe a half pound of penne (which has less surface area). The flavor is pretty intense on its own, but just perfect on the pasta! Serve with fresh cracked pepper.

The leftovers (lunch this week! yay!): 

More Gluten Free Vegan Muffins!

I made another version of my Gluten Free Vegan Muffins. I have a few different muffin recipes on here now. I really love the texture of the last one I posted. However, the little one is sensitive to nightshade vegetables, including potatoes, so I've been trying to come up with a version that works without the potato starch. My middle son is sensitive to corn, so no corn starch. I tried tapioca starch and they were HORRIBLE. Ew. But then I tried some of the coconut flour that has been chilling in the fridge awaiting my inspiration. I haven't used much of it because it seems like every coconut flour recipe also calls for a half dozen (or more) eggs. I mean really, I don't mind the occasional egg in my baked goods, but do we actually need half an egg per muffin? But I was feeling brave, so I tried subbing the coconut flour for the starch, as I'd read it has good binding properties. You just have to add extra liquid. It really gave them a great moistness and totally erased any grittiness from the rice flour. It's a winner!

Orange Cranberry Muffins - Gluten Free and Vegan

makes 12

Dry:
1 cup white rice flour
3/4 cup almond meal
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Wet:
1/4 cup coconut flour + 3/4 cup coconut milk beverage or water
1/4 cup flax meal + 1/2 cup hot water
1/4 cup applesauce
1/4 cup sunflower oil
1/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice (one medium orange)
zest from one orange

1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 to 1 cup walnuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 375F or 350F if you have convection bake. (I dropped the temp on these because I increased the almond meal, which burns more easily.) Line 12 cup muffin tin with paper cupcake liners or parchment. Alternately, you can grease the pan. I've stopped doing that because at altitude everything seems to stick. I've had the best luck greasing with coconut oil (or butter, if you aren't vegan), but the fruit in the muffins always seems to stick to the pan.

In a large measuring cup or small bowl, add 1/2 cup hot (near boiling) water to 1/4 cup flax meal (ground flaxseed). Set aside. In a small bowl, combine coconut flour and coconut milk and mix really well, smashing any lumps. Set aside. Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl and whisk well to combine. Combine all remaining wet ingredients in a medium bowl, then add flax slurry and coconut mixture. Stir well, making sure you don't have any lumps of coconut flour.  Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and fold to combine. When nearly combined, fold in cranberries and walnuts.

Spoon into muffin tin, evenly distributing among the 12 cups. Optionally, you can sprinkle the tops with sugar and/or cinnamon.

Bake for about 20 minutes. Start checking at around 15 minutes. They should be lightly browned on top, and a toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean. Another way to test is to push the tops gently with your finger. When they are done they will spring back, not sink in. You want to err on the side of under-baking these as that almond meal will burn if you aren't careful.

Well, Hello

I have a bunch of new recipes coming up for y'all! I'm finally feeling excited about food again. I had a sad few months. My breast-fed baby has been suffering from allergies related to the food I eat. So, I've been on this very restrictive diet. It's pretty much come down to what CAN I eat, rather than what CAN'T I eat. Basically, I'm on a vegan paleo diet. Strange, but true.

Some of the things I've had to cut are foods that were bothering me as well, but that I'd never had the motivation to eliminate. (The things we do for our children!!!) The big two are dairy and wheat. Every since I was a kid, milk hasn't really agreed with me and outside of our weekly pizza night, I wasn't that big on cheese. Then we moved to Italy and I went on a dairy bender for about three years. When in Rome! Ha! I also ate a lot more wheat over there. Lots of delicious rustic Italian breads, delicate pastries, perfect pizzas. Yum. But consider that Italy also has the highest per capita rates of Celiac disease in the world. I started to suspect that wheat was not my friend. Like dairy, if I ate too much, I wouldn't feel so hot. Well, after cutting out both, I feel SO MUCH BETTER. It's really amazing. My stomach lost an inch or two as soon as I cut wheat, not from fat loss, just less bloating. I've also stopped having heartburn (which was partly from pregnancy, but I was still having it after the baby was born). I've also dropped a ton of weight. It's interesting how your body finds a new comfort zone when you eliminate the things it doesn't like or thrive on. So, as much as I'd love a cappuccino and some of the chocolate birthday cake I have stashed in the freezer, I honestly feel way better without it.

And then came the hard part. Beef. Pork. Turkey. Nightshade vegetables (tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, and POTATOES, y'all!). Citrus. Oats. CHOCOLATE. Seriously?! Seriously. It's awful. Cooking without tomatoes and lemon juice is difficult, frustrating, uninspiring. I'm hoping some of these "third tier" triggers can be reincorporated in small amounts. Especially chocolate. What did I do to deserve that?! But anyway, I've spent a lot of time feeling sorry for myself and not wanting to cook because it's not fun with so many restrictions. Lately, though, I've made some really nice meals, gotten some good food "flow" going. And I've been instagraming it. Having other people share in the excitement of a gluten free vegan meal success really does help. I don't feel so alone and deprived. I'm feeling more optimistic about my ability to enjoy cooking with such limited ingredients. Tonight I made the most amazing kick-ass dairy free alfredo sauce. It was like a culinary pat on the back...everything is going to be okay. I'm up for the challenge!

Gluten Free and Vegan Orange Cranberry Muffins

The last muffin recipe I posted was really good, but I've been working on a more neutral flavored base. I don't exactly love bananas. I mean sometimes, yes, a banana bread or muffin sounds good, but I don't always want a banana flavor. That was definitely the case for these Orange Cranberry Muffins. Since the banana acts as a binder and helps the texture of the muffin it's not as simple as just omitting the banana. It took a couple of tries, but I was really pleased with this version.

Orange Cranberry Muffins - Gluten Free and Vegan

makes 12

Dry:
1 cup white rice flour
1/2 cup almond flour
1/2 cup potato starch
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Wet:
1/4 cup coconut milk beverage (or other non dairy milk or water)
1/4 cup flax meal + 1/2 cup hot water
1/4 cup applesauce
1/4 cup sunflower oil
1/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice (one medium orange)
zest from one orange

1 cup fresh cranberries
1 cup walnuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 400F or 375F if you have convection bake. Line 12 cup muffin tin with paper cupcake liners or parchment. Alternately, you can grease the pan. I've stopped doing that because at altitude everything seems to stick. I've had the best luck greasing with coconut oil (or butter, if you aren't vegan), but the fruit in the muffins always seems to stick to the pan.

Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl and whisk well to combine. In a large measuring cup or small bowl, add 1/2 cup hot (near boiling) water to 1/4 cup flax meal (ground flaxseed). Set aside. Combine all other wet ingredients in a medium bowl, then add flax slurry, and mix well. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and fold to combine. When nearly combined, fold in cranberries and walnuts.

Spoon into muffin tin, evenly distributing among the 12 cups. Optionally, you can sprinkle the tops with sugar and/or cinnamon.

Bake for about 25-30 minutes. Start checking at around 20 minutes. They should be lightly browned on top, and a toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean. Another way to test is to push the tops gently with your finger. When they are done they will spring back, not sink in.

These freeze well. I make a batch every week or so and keep them in a ziplock back in the freezer, for longer storage, wrap each individually with plastic wrap and then place in freezer bag.