GF Banana Nut Muffins

I finally got ambitious yesterday and did some baking. It's been too long. I adapted a regular muffin recipe to fit our dietary needs and this is what we ended up with:
• 3 ripe bananas, mashed
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon xantham gum
• Pinch of salt (more if you don't put butter on your muffin)
• 1 cup rice flour
• 1/2 cup corn starch
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350°. Mix butter and bananas. Add sugar, egg and vanilla and mix well. Sprinkle in baking soda and xantham gum. Add flour and corn starch and blend well. Stir in walnuts. Pour into lined or greased muffin tin (makes 12). Optional: Sprinkle tops with brown sugar. Bake 25-30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Enjoy! We did!

I don't think you would know these are gluten free unless someone told you. We were all very happy with them. Even mama's little helper!

Monday Thursday

I sat down with a friend awhile back and got a quick embroidery lesson to get me started on some adorable towels. This languished so long that the transfer wore off and I was winging it a little. This is a fun and addictive craft and I've already started on Tuesday. I think it's fairly obvious that I started with the word Monday, and I considered ripping it out and starting over, but decided it wasn't worth it. It'll just be part of the journey. What new craft pursuits are you enjoying?

Fresh Picked

My cosmos have finally started to bloom and the columbine got a second wind. Hooray! It was all too lovely to just leave there, so I gathered up a few flowers from the garden and then filled in with some wildflowers and milkweed leaves I found in the yard. Not exactly traditional, but it makes me smile anyway. I'm waiting (not very patiently) for my hollyhocks to finally bloom. What are you growing?

Just like takeout

I'm on a new recipe kick. Does anyone else do that? I'll have a new recipe for every night of the week once in awhile. Some make the cut, some don't. This recipe will be added to the regular (maybe weekly) rotation. I wish I had been brave enough to try and photograph it. The only sub I made was rice flour for white flour. It made the chicken stick to the pan a bit, but I didn't mind too much. Totally worth the extra effort. Yum and yum! Are you enjoying any new recipes? I think I'll give this a go today.

Quest for crust

My husband discovered he had a wheat sensitivity a couple years ago and we've made the necessary adjustments. It was hard at first, but once you get in the swing it's not so bad. The thing I miss most, though, is pizza. Most gluten free mixes just aren't the same (and really aren't that good). I did a quick search for a new recipe to try and found this. We took it for a test drive last night and it was out of this world. I think pizza may make it back into the rotation (on a weekly basis)! The crust was actually chewy and not just a crumbly mess.
I just made a couple minor adjustments/substitutions: white rice flour for the brown, corn starch for the tapioca and white vinegar for cider. I also left out the herbs because we did a buffalo chicken pizza. I topped the crust with a little oil and about a 1/4 cup of hot sauce, then chicken, mozzarella, ranch dressing and parsley. Yum!

Plasticware dress up

The last couple of parties I've hosted I decided to create my own little silverware holders. I had seen these from Martha and figured I could do the same with glass jars. I already had some artwork from some invitations, so I adjusted the colors this go 'round to match my tablecloth. These are great for summer. They're patriotic colors and perfect for BBQs and picnics. Just trim them to the size you need for your particular jar then use a glue stick to attach it. I left the bottom of the second sheet blank in case you need labels or have another use for the patterned paper. Click here to download. Have fun!

Phew! What a weekend!

Well, we had a houseful for my in-laws 40th wedding anniversary this weekend. Five of the thirty-some were overnight guests. Eliza had a blast with her cousins who showered her with attention.


Eliza got to spend a little time with her great grandpa too.


I think her favorite part of the weekend was her new buddy, Po (or Doddy, as she refers to him).


My s-i-l was a lifesaver. She made all kinds of salads and lent me a bit of her calm and cool. So we had more food than we could possibly eat and a lovely cake made by a dear friend (I think we put a good dent in that).



I've got a few projects to share, but first things first. I've got a disaster in the fridge and then I think Netflix is calling my name. Hope your weekend was great!