Best gluten free banana cake EVER!

Hi Friends and Family!

A couple of weeks ago, I made the BEST BANANA CAKE  ever! ever! ever! that I have ever eaten!.......... and it was gluten free.... but you never would have known it. So if you need to eat gluten free, try this one (and even if you don't have to eat gluten free, try this one!). I got the recipe online from I know not where (more below on that).

I used a yellow cake mix from WOW Baking Company. I just discovered them a  year or so ago. Our local Bi-Mart (in Oregon) carries them  now. It is even non-GMO ingredients! And the price is so much cheaper than the "name brand" gluten free cake mixes.

Their website is WOW Baking Company  and their business is in Kent, Washington, not too far from where I live! Awesome! The package says they have recipes, but I went there to search and didn't find any. I'll have to give them a call or email, as I love recipes from the different gluten free companies.

Here's the lovely, soft, fluffy and very tasty (with just a hint of banana) cake.

Did I say it was the BEST ever???????

Of course I had to make my own home made butter cream frosting. 

Frosting:

2 cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup soft butter

Dash of salt

2 tsp vanilla

1/8 to 1/4 cup milk for desired thickness

  (I used just a splash of milk as didn't want the frosting runny)

And here is the recipe. I didn't look at the website I got it from and though the site name usually prints out on the recipe, it didn't this time, so I have no idea where it came from! I just searched for "cake mix banana cake recipe" and found several, and chose the easiest one with the least amount of ingredients (and I was in a hurry to find one, so didn't take time to write down the site). And of course, I tweaked it some.

The last 4 ingredients are their frosting, but I made mine instead. It sounds similar to mine. I added an extra cup of a gluten free baking flour mix (Pamela's), didn't add the baking soda or baking powder, as it was in the flour mix, and only added 1 large mashed banana, not 4. I think 4 would have made it too soggy. Gluten free things can't take alot of moisture.

I used an 8x8 glass pan rather than 9x13, and baked at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Gluten free usually takes a little longer.

If you use a regular cake mix like the recipe calls for, then I would probably add the baking powder and baking soda.

And voila!!!!!!!!!

 Happy Thursday all........

~Marilyn~

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This' N That.. and dumpcake......

Hi all... well guess I'll try this new Blogger interface. I've heard rumblings about it but just kind of ignored it. And now it's (automatically) here! So here goes......

Today is Sunday, August 9th. I can't believe it (I know... everyone says that!)..... but really, was July even here?  (My son and his fiance DID come for a visit in July, and we took a road trip up to the mountains and walked the trail along the Metolius River - that was the highlight of July!)

My son and I at the Richardson Rock Ranch, 12 miles north of Madras. They are just that - a "rock" ranch! They have some of the world's largest "thunder eggs" right on the property, besides many other exotic rocks in the raw, and gems and stones. My son and his fiance love visiting there, every time they come to Madras.

My hubby and I went to a town last week (Redmond), about 25 miles from us..... and we decided to stop at the produce stand, or even see if it was still there this year... and it was...... so we bought fresh peaches, blackberries, strawberries and (non-GMO) corn on the cob. I won't buy just regular corn at all, it HAS to be non-gmo.

Everything was delicious! We have a few peaches left. We've eaten them fresh, made a peach cobbler and I've had them for breakfast twice now. So sad they're almost gone. We don't have a produce stand in our town unfortunately. 

We had two boxes of blackberries left, so I decided to make a "dump cake" today. I also had a few strawberries left, so mixed those in too. It turned out just perfect and so delicious! We've already sampled it and it's not even dinner time yet. Oh well... it's a good afternoon "snack".

So easy! Recipe below..........

Hot out of the oven..........

This was so Heavenly! I tried a peach dump cake, but used gluten free Bisquick instead of a cake mix, and it was pretty "doughy" so we didn't love it so much, but we did manage to eat it all!

Can you tell which one is my hubby's????

It was good even without whipping cream or ice cream........... well.. maybe there will be one of those for our dinner dessert tonight.....

Here's the recipe I got from a video on YouTube (of course I tweaked it a little bit):

BLACKBERRY DUMP CAKE

3 cups blackberries or a mix of berries (I used 2 c. blackberries and about 1/2 c. strawberries)

1/2 cup water or juice - I used 1/2 c. of a blackberry ginger ale soda

1 box of lemon or yellow cake mix - I used a gluten free yellow cake mix

2/3 cup sugar - I used 1/2 cup of coconut sugar

2 sticks of butter - I used 1-1/2 sticks (or 3/4 cup) melted

1 cup chopped nuts (I didn't use any nuts)

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly spray or grease 9x13 inch baking dish. Pour in the berries and juice, smash them up a little bit, then sprinkle the sugar over them. Pour the cake mix over the berries and spread evenly. Melt the butter and pour it over the cake mix evenly.  Sprinkle chopped nuts over the top if you use nuts. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes.  Mine took 55 minutes.

I LOVE that you don't even have to use a bowl to mix things up. 

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So far, this new interface is just fine. It's very similar to before, but the icons are just in different places (and some of the photos don't want to mind me and be centered! Now though, I don't know if when you look at my blog, if you will see the pictures and information that I had on my sidebar (to the right). Could someone let me know if they still see that? Don't know why Blogger had to change a good thing!!!

I've been doing a little crafting in between yard work.

Sweet little mini album using scraps of paper - from a video by Septeria18 on YouTube. She is so talented!

This is my "prototype" so you can see all my little notes! I'm definitely going to make more for my Etsy shop!

I made a pretty card using a "Friday Freebie" from Gi Kerr on YouTube. Every Friday, she puts up a free printable on her Facebook Group, and then she shows us how to make something. I love this pretty vintage card:

If  you would like the link to her Facebook Group or her YouTube video for this card, please let me know.

I tried my hand at some of Gi Kerr's origami dresses. She has had several videos on making origami clothes for ladies - such as the dresses, a sweet little handbag, a fan (seen on the vintage card above), a corset and a dress form. She also has an origami man's shirt! Cute!

Isn't this vintage paper just gorgeous??? I purchased it off of Etsy. If you want the name of the shop, please let me know. I made a cute folder from two #10 envelopes, that opens up and has a large pocket on each side.. to hold receipts, or cash or notes, money.... something to carry in my purse. Again, this idea came from a lady on YouTube named Posh Paper Lady. She used a smaller envelope and only had a pocket on one side. I wanted pockets on both sides.

Here's a darling little "tag notebook" I made using a digital printable from My Porch Prints on Etsy. She has so many darling printable projects to choose from, and usually a video tutorial to go along with it. Her digital set includes some ephemera and some little words also. If anyone would like the link to her shop, please let me know.

Well friends, I guess that's all for now. I really was just popping in to say "hi" and show my yummy dump cake!  See? I watch so much YouTube by ladies from England and Europe, that I'm starting to use phrases like "popping in" and "bits and bobs". 

Have a great week everyone!

~Marilyn~

Paleo apricot tea squares - yum!

Apricot Tea Squares

I've been experimenting with not eating grains... not even gluten free rice grains, etc.! It's hard! I have fibromyalgia and I'm trying to see if cutting out all grains and all most sugars will help me to feel better. That's what "everyone" says, right? I started doing this around January 3rd.

So far, I haven't noticed much of a difference, other than I'm CRAVING (my gluten free) bread! I'm not really eating strictly "paleo" as I'm not dairy free (and don't want to be as love my cheese), but I'm really trying very hard to eat NO grains whatsoever, and as little sugar as possible. I use raw local honey in my baking recipes. 

I've been experimenting with some almond flour and/or coconut flour recipes and even ordered a book from Amazon by Elana Amsterdam entitled The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook by Elana Amsterdam.  She has a Paleo cookbook also. 

I love her website and all of her almond flour and/or coconut flour recipes. I had previously baked her almond flour banana bread which I loved.

Here's the first recipe from her book that I tried:

Absolutely DELICIOUS!  I added nuts and raisins.

Moist, melt in your mouth goodness in every bite! I may have even added a few chocolate chips.... oops sugar! But there was no "added" sugar at all in this recipe.  I can eat these mostly guilt-free.

As I said... I REALLY miss bread..... a nice piece of toast with butter, or a sandwich, or something to soak up the gravy on my plate... so I decided to try to make some sort of paleo flatbread. Elana's cookbook does have a recipe for "sandwich bread" that I'm going to definitely try, and I'll let you know when I do.

My flatbread recipe came from a Bob's Red Mill package of Paleo Baking Flour. I was so surprised to see it sitting on the store shelf! I had been wishing someone would make a grain free "paleo" flour mix and leave it to Bob's Red Mill! They rock! They are actually located here in Oregon.

I was going to use a recipe from Elana's cookbook, but this package had a recipe right on the back for pizza and/or flatbread... so I thought I'd try it!

I did exactly as it said, and it turned out REALLY good. It's not "bread" by any means, but came out flat and soft(ish) so I could spread it with butter and jam (don't think I can toast it though). 

It came out the size of a 12" pizza, so I cut the slices in pie shapes and kept them in a plastic bag in the refrigerator.... used it for several days and even had sandwiches with it! I'm pretty happy with it.

Cup of tea with my flatbread spread with cream cheese? Sounds good to me!

One trouble is........ buying the almond and coconut flours can be VERY expensive. The Bob's Red Mill Paleo Baking flour was $12.99 for the bag. Ouch. So... I won't be eating a whole lot of anything made with almond flour..... it's nice to have it now and then though, when those cravings kick up.  Straight almond flour is spendy too.

See that chocolate cake on the front of the cookbook above? Well... that's probably going to be my next "experiment" with almond flour! Only 7 ingredients in it which I love. She uses agave nectar for sweetener, but I prefer using local raw organic honey. I think it's healthier.

I know cutting out ALL sugar would be awesome and so healthy.. but I'm working at that in a more gradual manner. How can I resist making those wonderful desserts and sweets that all of my fellow bloggers make???

Does anyone else eat grain free? Has it helped your fibro?

~Marilyn~

Beets and cats..........

What do beets and cats have in common????  Well............. nothing! Except maybe that I love them both and they are both good for you!

Here's my new favorite snack........ yup... salted beet chips....... good for you right? And they are SO GOOD.

Especially with Mediterranean Cream Cheese Spread (2 for 99 cents at the Dollar Tree). What a deal! I need to go back for more.... I'm a sucker for crackers and cream cheese.

Non-GMO and not too many carbs or sodium... and anyway...... they're beets right? They must be good for you.

That's what I'm doing today....... snacking and blogging... and hopefully doing some crafting pretty soon.... if I don't get too distracted with snacking and reading others' blogs. I get distracted way too easily.

Oh........... and I'm growing new "flowers".... cat flowers!  My rescue kitty, Rudy's, new favorite place is the flower box. And the other two calicos (one is ours, Maddie, and one is the mom who is really not "ours" but she thinks she is)...... love the two redwood chairs, so we're leaving the old cushions on them through the winter..... gives them a place to sleep in the sun. If the chairs weren't there, I know they'd be sleeping in the other big green flower tubs! They love that warm dirt.

Rudy.... what are you going to grow?

Scruffy on the left - she's the mom of Maddie (on the right). They don't really get along, as Scruffy abandoned Maddie as a tiny kitten, and Maddie must still remember... but they seem to be OK with sleeping side by side a few feet apart.

Scruffy on the fence.

We named the mom "Scruffy" because she was always such a matted mess.... that is before we trapped her for the spay and neuter clinic and they took her and "fixed" her, brought her back to us since she was too old to adopt out.. and now she is one of the FIVE "community cats" that we feed!  She is still wild as I can't even touch her, but I can almost touch her head when she's busy eating. Now that she is spade, she is a much happier kitty and takes better care of herself, and has gained alot of weight. She was the "baby making machine" of our entire neighborhood.

Maddie..... our rescue kitty, now 3 years old! She's lovin' sleeping on top of our blanket hutch.

The community cats are not really ours, as they live under sheds in other peoples' yards, and a shelter we set up, but Scruffy and one other little boy (Smokey) think they are ours, and like hanging out in our back yard and in our garage! At least we know they are somewhat warm and not going hungry. Smokey would LOVE to be ours and an indoor kitty.

Smokey.

Kitty flowers.

Have a nice weekend all!

~Marilyn~

December doings.....

I'm experimenting.....trying a post from my tablet. It's kind of hard to do as  I can't see what I type!  We'll see how this works!  I happened to have some pictures on my tablet I wanted to post.

I started my cardmaking early (in November) and here it is December 13th and they are in the same state they were in before Thanksgiving! (unfinished). What's a girl to do?   I maybe wasn't going to make cards this year, but it felt too weird not to.  I'm attempting simpler cards this year and trying to keep Christmas more simple.

Even trying to keep things simple, doesn't seem to be working for me! Life just keeps tumbling along doesn't it?

Everyone posted such beautiful photos of their Fall and Thanksgiving decorations and I just didn't do too much this year.  My hubby and I had a very simple dinner of ham and (storebought) scalloped spuds.  My mom used to make such delicious scalloped cheesy potatoes for Thanksgiving, but they are a lot of work! So I opted for simple this year. The Reeser's brand of cheesy baked scalloped potatoes is pretty darned close to my mom's! (and I don't usually even like the Reeser's brand).  I didn't even make a pie, which I ALWAYS do, but ended up making some (awesome and gluten free) sugar cookies instead. I just couldn't not have dessert! 

Hubby and I both agreed that these were the BEST sugar cookies we've ever had! And they came from a box! Yup.... good old Betty Crocker has a boxed mix for GLUTEN FREE sugar cookies! Wow.... I must send her a thank you note!  (and of course, my homemade vanilla cream frosting DID help!).

I just wanted to touch bases with my followers.... you have all shared such wonderful Christmas posts of your decorations, trees, houses, etc. and I have enjoyed them all, and try to comment when I can. Sometimes I'm using my tablet, so my comments are short. I feel so remiss regarding my Christmas decorating, but......... my (faux) tree is up and lit. I have yet to decorate it though. 

These last 2 or 3 years, I just haven't gotten the mojo for Christmas decorating.. but I'm trying this year as my sister and her husband are coming for Christmas day. 

My ceramic nativity scene is not even out yet, but I did get the box down from the closet shelf! When Christmas decorations are stored hither and yon, it seems like we are apt not to lug them out, am I right?

We did manage a (late) trip for Thanksgiving to my son's place in Astoria, Oregon, which happened a week later than planned, as I was sick, and then hubby got the bug, so we had to delay the trip. I shot some photos of Multnomah Falls, which was on our way, one of the tallest waterfalls in the U.S. (I think?). See the quote below. They are east of Portland, OR and I used to drive by them all the time when I lived in Portland, but haven't been there for at least 15 years. What a sight..... I had forgotten how majestic they are, and my camera just did not capture their splendor.

This is the "upper" falls.

Here's a quote from Wikipedia: The falls drops in two major steps, split into an upper falls of 542 feet (165 m) and a lower falls of 69 feet (21 m), with a gradual 9 foot (3 m) drop in elevation between the two, so the total height of the waterfall is conventionally given as 620 feet (189 m). The two drops are due to a zone of more easily eroded basalt at the base of the upper falls.^[5]

See the (teeny tiny) footbridge in the lower middle of this photo? That is where people can walk to to view the upper falls!

Here's that footbridge close up, and the "lower" falls. This area was closed for the winter so I couldn't get as close as I wanted to.

Here's another quote from Wikipedia: Multnomah Falls is the tallest waterfall in the state of Oregon. It is credited by a sign at the site of the falls, and by the United States Forest Service, as the second tallest year-round waterfall in the United States.^[6] However, there is some skepticism surrounding this distinction,

And here's the photo that is on the Wikipedia website... so much better!

And here's the "historic" Multnomah Falls Lodge. It's still in operation today as a restaurant and gift shop. It was completed in 1925. 

We had a great time in Astoria..... were there 3 nights and tried to squeeze so much into a short trip. My son's fiance and I cut holly and fir boughs from their property and both made a grapevine wreath. This was my first attempt at a wreath!

My son's fiance has the most beautiful dark brown hair with purple streaks in it! I love it.. and jokingly told her I should do mine that way...... and then I thought, why not? I'm 70... I can do whatever I want right? I did decide though, on pink rather than purple!  She put the color on and I think it came out just right (below).  The new me!

When we got home, I got busy on making a few new items for my Etsy shop FOUND HERE , and I'll do a share in my next post.

Bye for now.... have to get busy finishing up those cards!

~Marilyn~