The Iowa Farmer's Wife: recipes

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Homemade Banana Nut Fruit Bars

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In an effort to start eating less processed foods {even "healthy", organic processed foods}, I went searching for a recipe for homemade Larabars. We LOVE Larabars. BUT. They are expensive and when you need at least 2 to feed the kids, it can add up quickly. I wanted a cost effective way that didn't use 800 ingredients. I came across a few recipes, but really wanted to use what I had on hand so after seeing that I could dry bananas and use those, in addition to dates, I set out to create this recipe.
You'll need to dry your bananas first. I'm not sure how store bought dried bananas would work because these need to be somewhat sticky and help hold the bar together. Set your oven to 170 degrees {that's as low as mine goes}. Cut your bananas into slices lengthwise and place on a drying rack.

Place drying rack on top of a cookie sheet to catch any bits that may fall off during the drying process. Place in the oven and allow to dry for 8-10 hours. I started my batch at 2pm and turned off the oven at 10:30pm and left the bananas in the oven overnight. They were the perfect consistency in the morning. Recipe: Homemade Banana Nut Fruit Bars What You'll Need: 3 bananas (dried first - see above for drying instructions) 1/4 c or approximately 8 small dates (this is the type we use from Costco) 1/2 c sunflower seeds 1/4 c other nuts (almonds, cashews, hickory nuts, peanuts, etc.)

Blend dried bananas and dates in food processor until they form a sticky dough. It should clump into a ball.

Blend in sunflower seeds and other nuts {we used peanuts this go round} until finely chopped. Turn out onto wax or parchment paper and form into a ball with your hands. Line a loaf pan with parchment paper and press the dough into the bottom of the pan. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Cut into desired size.

We used peanuts this time because it's what I had on hand. You could also form these into balls instead of bars. Based on the ingredients I used, these bars cost about $.31 a piece. When making 6 bars this saves me almost $1 per bar based on the price of Larabars at our Trader Joe's. Worth it!

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IMM: Gluten-Free Vegan Banana Muffins

It's taken awhile, but I finally did it. I finally made a Gluten-Free Banana Muffin we ALL like. It CAN be done! These are super simple, super quick and delicioso. But don't take my word for it - go make them!

The Recipe: Gluten-Free Vegan Banana Muffins
What you need: 2 ripe bananas 1 c almond flour 1 c oats 1/2 tsp baking powder 2 tbsp coconut oil 1 flax egg (1 tbsp ground flax seed + 3 tbsp water) 1 heaping tbsp almond butter 1 tbsp honey (optional - omit for vegan version) a few shakes of cinnamon
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Use muffin liners or grease muffin tin.
Mix flax with water and set aside. Mash bananas into mush. Stir in almond flour, oats and baking powder. Add coconut oil, almond butter, honey, cinnamon and flax egg. Stir until well-combined. Pour into muffin tins. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Yields roughly 24 mini muffins.
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IMM: Garlic Home Fries

These are a family favorite around here and tonight we paired them with baked sandwiches and oven baked broccoli. Let's just say it was a little hot in the kitchen tonight!

The Recipe: Garlic Home Fries

What you need: 4-6 medium sized Russet potatoes 1-2 tbsp olive oil 1/2 tsp oregano 1/2 tsp paprika 1 tsp rosemary 2 tsp Rustic Tuscan Seasoning (Costco) 1 tbsp minced garlic
Dump everything into a gallon sized baggie or air tight container. Shake until potatoes are well coated. Let it marinate for about an hour.
Preheat oven to 400F degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil and dump your potatoes onto the foil. Bake for 45-50 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. Serve.
These are great leftover in an omelette or in a burrito. They are super simple and taste AWESOME. Kinda wish we had some leftover!
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IMM: Gluten-Free Mongolian BBQ

Last week we were recovering from the week before so Insta Meals Monday was put on the wayside. After a week of a stomach bug for Sweet P and bronchitis for Sprout, Sweet P had a fever on Monday (also bronchitis) so no IMM last. Hopefully this meal makes up for it...especially since it's actually a meal. Although, I'm pretty sure I could just eat Homemade Almond Butter as a meal.

My sister (Auntie Rosita) told me about this amazing Mongolian BBQ she made and I knew I had to figure out how to make it for us. It's gluten-free, vegetarian (vegan if you want to get technical) and delicioso.

The Recipe: Mongolian BBQ
What you need: Gluten-free brown rice spaghetti noodles (I use Trader Joe's) 1 medium onion chopped 2 tsp minced garlic or 2 cloves of garlic 1 tbsp olive oil 3 large carrots grated and chopped 2 cup fresh or frozen broccoli 4-5 mushrooms chopped 1/2 tsp ginger 1/2 tsp garlic powder 1 tbsp sesame oil 2 tbsp sesame seeds 1/3 c Bragg's Liquid Aminos
Prepare spaghetti as directed, drain and set aside. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute garlic and onions in olive oil until onions are translucent. Add broccoli, carrots and mushrooms. Saute until veggies are soft, but not mushy. Add spaghetti to skillet. Stir in spices, sesame oil and aminos. Add 1/3 c of water if spaghetti is sticky (brown rice pasta tends to do that). Top with sesame seeds and serve.
Simple. Fast. Delish.
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Insta Meals Monday: Peanut Butter Banana Bites

Ok, so I really had no idea what to call these bad boys because let's just say there is no name to describe their awesomeness. The recipe for Primal Fudge is what sparked the creation of these tiny bits of deliciousness. I took her recipe, modified and created Peanut Butter Banana Bites. They are gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian and paleo. So. Good.

The Recipe: Peanut Butter Banana Bites

What you need:

1/2 c coconut oil

3 tbsp cocoa powder

1/2 c chunky peanut butter (or almond butter - can also be creamy, but chunky's better)

2 tbsp honey

1 banana (chopped)

Heat coconut oil in a pan on the stove until melted. Stir in cocoa powder, peanut butter and honey. Grease a mini muffin tin (you could also use mini muffin liners, but if you're asking me that's wasteful) and pour equal amounts of cocoa mixture into each muffin section. Place a slice of banana in each muffin section and gently press until the cocoa mixture covers the banana (you may see the outline of the banana beneath the surface). Chill for 30 minutes.

Use a spoon to pop the bites out of the muffin tin. Devour. You will. I promise. And if you don't - you must not like coconut. Or chocolate. Or banana. Or peanut butter. What's wrong with you!?

The banana takes on an ice cream like consistency that I can't explain and well, The Farmer and I can't stop eating them and he doesn't even like chocolate AND I'm perfectly fine with giving Sweet P one of these for breakfast. Yep. Chocolate for breakfast.

Stay tuned for another version coming soon.

NOTE: If you don't want the banana, simply omit. The result is still amazing and very similar to fudge.

For more gluten-free recipes follow my family's collaborative Pinterest board (my mama and sissies post to it as well): Gluten-Free

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Insta Meals Monday: Broccoli Slaw Salad

I got this recipe from a meeting I went to about a month ago and adapted it for our family. I left out the Ramen noodles, the seasoning that comes with it and Bacon Bits, and revamped the sauce to include Bragg's Liquid Aminos. The sauce also called for a 1/2 c of sugar which I omitted.

It still turned out AMAZING. This is seriously my new favorite side dish...and who I am kidding? I'd totally eat it as a main course. We've paired it with portobello mushroom burgers and gluten-free pizza.

The Recipe: Broccoli Slaw Salad

What you need:

1 pkg broccoli slaw (I found organic at Trader Joe's for $1.99)

1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese (or cheese of choice)

1/4 c shelled sunflower seeds

1/2 c slivered or shaved almonds

1/4 c rice vinegar

1/4 c olive oil

1/4 c Bragg's Liquid Aminos

Mix broccoli slaw, cheese, sunflowers seeds and almonds in a large bowl. Pour sauce ingredients into a small bowl and combine. Pour sauce over slaw, stir to combine and serve!

We eat it immediately, but it's also delish leftover or chilled for a few hours.

To be honest, I didn't even know they MADE broccoli slaw until I tried this salad at the meeting. Now I'm hooked! You'll never know you're eating broccoli!

**If you're unfamiliar with Liquid Aminos, it's a great gluten-free alternative to soy sauce.

Portobello burger: grilled on a skillet and served with roasted red peppers, avocado, spinach and cheese with pesto as the sauce on an Udi's gluten-free bun. Yum.

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Insta Meals Monday: Quinoa Greek Salad

A little late today, but that's what happens when you're being spoiled my your mama! This is one of my absolute favorite meals for lunch or dinner. It's great leftover and SO delish. It's also super simple. (Somehow I deleted my original Instagram photo so this is a raw version).

The Recipe: Quinoa Greek Salad

What you need:

3 c of cooked quinoa

1 c cooked garbanzo beans (can also use canned)

1/4 c feta

1/2 - 1 c grape tomatoes (chopped)

1/4 c kalamata olives

2 shakes garlic powder

5 big shakes (or to taste) Rustic Tuscan Seasoning (from Costco)

2 tbsp olive oil

1 cap full lemon juice

Prepare quinoa according to directions (we use a rice cooker). Allow to cool and place 3 cups of quinoa in a large bowl. Add garbanzo beans, feta, tomatoes and olives. Shake in Rustic Tuscan Seasoning and garlic powder, then pour in olive oil and lemon juice. Stir until combined. Add more lemon juice or olive oil to your liking.

Chill for 20 minutes or serve immediately. Can also be served over a bed of lettuce or spinach. We love it both ways.

Try not to eat it all at once, but if you do, just know you aren't alone!

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Insta Meals Monday: Introduction & Raspberry Sorbet

Today, I'm delighted to bring you the first post in my series: Insta Meals Monday. Let me share a bit of the background that led me to this series. First off. A confession. I, The Iowa Farmer's Wife, am addicted to Instagram. There. I said it. And I have definitely fallen into the Instagram trap of photographing my food. And after several encouraging nudges (and a few phone calls from Auntie Rosita) I decided to designate Mondays as Insta Meals Monday.

Now, before you get too involved, there are a few things you should know.

1.) All meals will be vegetarian.

2.) All posts may not be complete meals (i.e., side dish or dessert - although you just might consider dessert a meal).

3.) All meals will be gluten-free. Substitutions for gluten-free options may be suggested depending on the recipe.

4.) Meals are not based on the paleo plan, however, many meals will follow paleo guidelines.

5.) All recipes are my own unless otherwise noted.

6.) And finally, the term Insta doesn't mean that the meal will be Instant, it's simply because I post the pictures to Instagram.

Posts will include 1 picture (pulled from Instagram) and the recipe. I don't plan to take pictures of the process or ingredients. I'll do my best to share the ingredients and where I find/purchase them.

My goal is to make these meals/recipes and user/mom-friendly as possible without ingredients you can't find in a regular grocery store. While you may not have these items in your pantry, they won't be hard to find or locate.

And lastly, I hope that these posts will inspire you to try to meals for you or your family, try new foods, eat less meat and eat less gluten.

Without further ado:

The Recipe: Raspberry Sorbet

What you need:

1/2 cup Vanilla Almond Milk (I use Trader Joe's brand with no added sugar))

1.5 bananas

1 cup frozen raspberries OR blueberries

Note: I use an immersion blender for all blended recipes.

Place ingredients into a blender (or cup if using an immersion blender). Blend until smooth. If mixture is too thick, add almond milk. If mixture is too thin, add frozen raspberries until desired thickness. Serve immediately. Makes 2 small bowls of sorbet.

Can be frozen for 10-30 minutes before eating.

My kids eat this for breakfast, but we also like it for dessert. We call it ice cream because it really does taste just like raspberry sorbet, and I'm super excited to make it in the summer to eat outside!

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Candy Cane Crunch

When I saw this recipe from Sally's Baking Addiction on Pinterest, I knew I had to try it. I bought everything we needed (and had a few things on hand), but we actually ended up changing it a bit based on the taste. We used a lot less sugar and let the powdered candy cane sweeten it up!

It's fairly simple and doesn't require baking (gotta love that!). You don't HAVE to refrigerate it after you're finished, but I highly recommend it straight out of the freezer!

What you need:
7 c of Corn Chex (or the store brand)
12 oz. white Almond Bark
10 candy canes (or 3/4 c crushed)
1/4 c powdered sugar

Give your preschooler the job of opening and breaking up your candy canes (seriously. it takes forever and she LOVED it).

To crush them, you can either give your preschooler a hammer and have her crush the candy canes (in a baggy) or you can put them in a mini food processor.

We tried it both ways because hammering put holes in our baggy! Crush them until you have both powder and chunks of candy cane. Place in a pourable measuring cup.

Pour 7 cups of cereal into a large bowl. Microwave Almond Bark until it's of pourable consistency (I've found that heating it for 90 seconds in 30 second intervals works well). Pour bark on to cereal and stir until coated.

Transfer to a large plastic baggy. Dump candy canes and 1/4 c powdered sugar into the bag. Hand it off to your preschooler and shake, shake, shake it!

Toss it in the freezer for 15 minutes, then NOM! NOM! NOM! Store in plastic baggy in the freezer or divide it up to give away. We used cellophane pouches and mason jars. Tie a cutesy bow around and voila! insta-gift.

This treat makes a great gift for friends, neighbors, AWANA teachers and babysitters!

Vegetarian Gluten-Free Avocado Enchiladas

As you probably know, we are vegetarians. We have also recently embarked on a gluten-free adventure. Ya'll eating gluten-free when you're already a vegetarian is a CHALLENGE! But we're making it work. And I may or may not have eaten some pizza last night (I've yet to find a homemade gluten-free crust that I like), but we are really trying to rid our diet of gluten.

My creative cooking skills have been in overdrive trying to figure out things to make for dinner that don't involve gluten (our previous week included pasta and pizza at LEAST once a week). And yesterday as I browsed instagram, I saw a photo of avocado enchiladas and I set to work coming up with a recipe.

It did not disappoint and I even got "These are restaurant quality." from the Farmer (that's kind of an inside joke at our house), which means they were pretty dang good.

I haven't posted a recipe in a long time so I really want to share these, especially for Auntie Rosita since she's the one who inspired the Farmer family to go gluten-free.

The Recipe: Avocado Enchiladas (Serves 2 - can easily be doubled)

What you need:

8 corn tortillas

1 1/2 avocados (chopped)

1 c shredded cheese*

1 jar Trader Joe's Organic Tomatillo & Roasted Yellow Chili Salsa

1/4 c organic Greek yogurt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Combine entire jar of salsa and 1/4 c Greek yogurt in a small bowl. Set aside. Chop avocado. Grate cheese into a small bowl. Place a spoonful of avocado and a hand pinch (use all fingers to pick up a pinch of cheese) of cheese into a corn tortilla. Roll and place horizontally in a 2-qt (or 7x11) baking dish. Continue with all tortillas. Pour salsa mixture over the top of the tortillas and top with remaining cheese (or grate more if you need to). Bake for 25 minutes.

*certain cheeses may contain gluten

Total preparation time: 15 mins
Cook time: 25 mins

We paired the enchiladas with Mexican rice I made in the rice cooker with brown rice, 1/4 c salsa and 1 tsp cumin.

Sweet P would have loved them, but she got sick one night while my mom was making tacos and can't stand the smell of corn tortillas. Plus, I think the salsa was a tad too spicy for her.

Next time I'll use salsa verde for a green sauce instead of red and make a larger batch! These were delish! If you don't have a Trader Joe's near you, just find another type of tomatillo based salsa. The Farmer and I both thought the tanginess of the tomatillos and Greek yogurt worked really well with the avocado.

Did you try this recipe? Please leave a comment to let me know how it turned out or what you did differently!

Patriotic Candy Bark

Let me just be real for a second when I say I do NOT know how to work with meltable chocolate of any kind. Almond bark, candy wafers, chocolate chips (unless they are in cookies), you name it -- I don't know how to use it. So it came as no surprise that I didn't know how to work with the white almond bark I picked up to use in my Patriotic Candy Bark.

Luckily, with the help of some coconut oil, I got it figured out and my 12 year-old cousin and I successfully made a batch of the yummy deliciousness that is candy bark.

Inspired by this recipe, I set out to recreate my own.

We were out of Joe Joe's (Trader Joe's version of Oreo's) and I have to admit I wasn't sure how I liked the idea of them in the bark, so we left those out and added peanuts. I also left out sprinkles because I'm not a fan (and to be honest we don't own any!). The result was AH-mazing.

The Recipe: Patriotic Candy Bark

What you need:
1 pkg of white almond bark (or white chocolate wafers)
1.5 cups Red, White and Blue M&M's
3 cups pretzel sticks
1/2 c peanuts (halved)

Crunch pretzel sticks by hand and sprinkle on a cookie sheet along with the peanuts and 1 cup of M&M's.

Heat chocolate according to directions.

*If for some reason you happen to heat the chocolate bark longer than necessary, you'll get chocolate that is unpourable and think "Hmm, what did I do wrong?" Then you'll try to figure out how to thin it because it'd end up clumpy otherwise. You'll have an aha! moment when you realize coconut oil will do the trick and run to find it. Add 1 tbsp. and stir, stir, stir. Success!

I did this with the first 1/2 of the bark, but we had a better outcome with the 2nd half by heating it for less time.

Pour chocolate evenly on top of peanuts, pretzels and M&M's. Sprinkle remaining M&M's on top.

Place in the freezer until hardened. Break into pieces and store in a freezer safe container in the freezer until ready to eat. (Or eat it right away!)

The perfect snack or dessert for a Patriotic Party!

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Easy White Beans & Greens Recipe

Looking for an easy recipe for dinner tonight? Here it is! Quick, simple and healthy for the whole family.

NOTE: We don't use canned beans so dry beans do take preparation that will make cook time longer.

The Recipe: Easy White Beans & Greens

What you need:
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp minced garlic

1/2 marinated or fresh red bell pepper, chopped
2-3 c fresh spinach, chopped
3 1/2 c of cooked white beans OR 2 15 oz. cans of white beans
1/2 vegetable bouillon cube
1 c of boiling water
1/2 c water
1/4 c Trader Joe's shaved Parmesan, Romano and Asiago cheese (or shredded parm)

Dissolve bouillon cube in 1 cup boiling water and set aside. Heat oil on medium heat in a large skillet. Add minced garlic, cook for 2 minutes, then add red bell pepper. Saute for 2 minutes. Pour in beans, spinach, vegetable bouillon and 1/2 c water. Bring water to a boil and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated.

Serve in bowls and to with shaved Parmesan, Romano and Asiago cheese.

These beans are also great leftover in a burrito!

Spicy Noodles

Auntie Rosita gave me a few recipes torn out of her Redbook magazine while she was here and I was super excited to try them. I think we've successfully tried the 3 she gave us and they did not disappoint! I made a few changes to them to make them work for us.

Here is the one I made tonight:

The Recipe: Spicy Noodles

What you need:

3/4 c smooth or chunky natural peanut butter
1 pkg spaghetti
1/4 c soy sauce
2 tsp Sriracha sauce (or Asian chili sauce)
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 to 1 1/2 c pasta water
2 medium carrots or 1 c shredded carrots
1 small cucumber

Prepare spaghetti according to package directions. Reserve 1 to 1 1/2 cups of pasta water and drain the pasta. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together peanut butter, soy sauce, Sriracha sauce, rice vinegar and 1 cup of pasta water.

Grate skin off carrots, then grate into small pieces. Cut cucumber into small strips or julienne strips.

Add pasta, carrots and cucumber to large mixing bowl and combine. Add another 1/2 c of water if necessary. Top with peanuts and serve!

For the Kids: I simply omitted the chili sauce and soy sauce to prepare a peanut sauce for Sweet P.

Happy Trails Trail Mix

I just might be my own hero this week. I attempted, completed and survived a 12 hour car trip. With both kiddos. Alone. Not to toot my own horn, but "toot, toot!" I'm pretty darn proud of myself.

And I only lost my mind once. Just kidding.

I was hoping we'd only have to stop 3 times, but it ended up being 6. An extra one for Baby Blue to eat again and twice for Miss Sweet P who, of course, had to go poop 20 minutes after the previous stop.

But we made it! And the kids did great. Look for an upcoming post about the activities, games and tips I used to survive the trip.

All that to say that we made some delish trail mix before we went and Sweet P started asking for it, oh, 2 minutes into the trip. She helped me make the healthy treat and it did not disappoint! Here's what we put in it!

The Recipe: Happy Trails Trail Mix

What you need:

2 tbsp dried cranberries
2 tbsp raisins
2 tbsp dried pineapple (with no added sugar)
1 tbsp pumpkin seeds
1 tbsp dried shaved coconut
2 tbsp almonds
1 tbsp peanuts
1/2 c puffed wheat (sold in a bag in the cereal aisle)

Add all ingredients to a large bowl or plastic baggy. Stir or shake until well-combined. Store in air-tight container or baggy for your trip. Or just make some to have any time!

So good and full of fiber and protein. I made a bag for myself, but omitted the puffed wheat and coconut and added chocolate chips. YUM!

Shamrock Smoothie

Sweet P and I are all about smoothies. They are quick, easy and full of all sorts of yummy goodness. They also travel great in a cup with a lid on days when Sweet P wakes up late (I'm not complaining) and we're scootin' out the door. Most of the time our smoothies end up purple because we put blueberries in just about every kind, but not these!

Want your kid to eat some veggies? Hide them in a smoothie! Trust me, you can't even taste the spinach!

Sweet P loves helping in the kitchen so she helped pour in all the ingredients and I blended them up with our immersion blender. She drank all she wanted and we poured the rest into popsicle molds!

The Recipe: Shamrock Smoothie

What you need: