Banana Muffins with Almond Butter and Coconut Oil

Lets talk for a moment about brown sugar...http://grist.org/industrial-agriculture/feds-to-farmers-grow-gmo-beets-or-face-a-sugar-shortage/

It's delicious. If you buy generic brown sugar its pretty much guaranteed to be GMO beet sugar. Pesticides, Highly processed and refined.

We use only 100% organic pure cane sugar for everything that needs sugar here at House Of J. Organic pure cane brown sugar is... EXPENSIVE 1 lb of brown sugar is $5.00 compared to regular super market sugar @ $1.75 per pound!! 

Another reason why it's so hard for many of us to keep a 100% GMO free and organic diet. It costs so much..

Well here is an amazing alternative to A. eating junk sugar or B. going broke

Make your own!

Buy your fabulous organic pure cane sugar and a jar of organic unsulpured molasses  The result is a more fluffy version of regular old brown sugar, and no worrying about it drying out or hardening. 

I will show you a great recipe where brown sugar is needed but instead I use this method!

Banana Muffins!

You need:

3 very ripe bananas (so ripe even that your hubby says, oh wow what are you going to make with those bananas, hint hint hint)

1 cup organic pure cane sugar

1 tablespoon organic molasses

1 egg

1.5 cup flour (make sure GM free/Organic)

1/2 cup almond butter (make sure it's not cut with canola or soy in any way) PURE almond butter

1/4 cup coconut oil

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

pinch of salt

preheat oven to 350

Combine bananas and sugar in the bowl of your mixer and beat until it forms a gooey paste. Add in the molasses and beat until completely incorporated then add in your egg.

Combine flour baking powder/soda and salt in a bowl and set aside. 

Using a large microwave safe measuring cup heat up your coconut oil for 20-30 seconds. Add in the almond butter (to the measuring cup) and stir until smooth. 

Take turns adding in dry ingredients and your oil/almond butter mixture until smooth.

Pour into a greased muffin pan or liners and bake for 18-20 minutes. I use the eco recycled liners, 75 liners for $1.75!

They are so moist and airy. Sweet enough for desert and perfect for breakfast :) 

Blueberry vanilla 100% natural & organic smash cake!

My little momma's boy turned 1!! I just cannot believe that SO MUCH time as passed since our doctor stuck his tiny little preemie baby body on my chest and I snuggled him so tight.

He will always be a little munchkin to us, but he is growing so fast.

Our double brother/sister birthday bash is coming up but we still needed to celebrate the big ONE with a yummy cake and balloons and presents from big sister :)

I am sure you've seen the news, and read the articles about yellow #5 and all the other terrible colorants that we put into our children's birthday cakes to make them look pretty...(they are linked to ADHD and behavioral issues in trouble a long with a list of other complications)

Well I was determined to create a cake for my little munchkin with no chemical additives and only organic and GM (genetically modified)free ingredients.

I know for most of you the jury is still out on GM foods and their safety, but for my family... We've decide to completely cut them out of our home cooking, baking and day to day living..For special occasion dinners etc at restaurants this will be hard to determine but if we can cut our chemical intake by 90-95% I'd say we are pretty successful.

The kids have always ate mostly organic from day #1 but the hubby and I are probably ridden with chemicals.

On to the recipe!

11 tablespoons of butter, soft (organic)
1.5 cups organic pure cane sugar
3 Eggs (organic)
2 1/4 cups flour (organic or GMO-free)
2 tablespoons+1 teaspoon organic Tapioca starch
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 tablespoon organic vanilla bean paste
1 cup milk
India tree all natural chemical free colorants.

preheat oven to 375

In the bowl of your electric mixer add in butter and sugar and mix until light and fluffy. Add in your eggs and vanila and whisk for about 2-3 minutes

sift your flour, baking powder and tapioca in a bowl and set it off to the side.

slowly pour in 1/4 cup of milk and then your dry ingredients and continue to alternate until all combined.

Separate your batter into 3 bowls, leave one white... add a small amount of all natural blue food coloring to another bowl and a larger amount into the next bowl.

Using 2 butter coated spring form 4in round pans, put your white batter in one and your blue batters in another, making large layers going about 3/4 the way up the pan.

cook for 25 minutes, release and cool for about another 25 minutes

For the Icing I used a basic cream cheese recipe but with some adjustments....

I recommend using 1 8oz package organic cream cheese, 4 tablespoons butter (both softened.
4 cups pure cane sugar ( you can buy this as icing sugar or grind it in a food processor very easily)
1/2 cup blueberry juice
1/2 cup fresh blackberries

mix butter, cream cheese and sugar until pasty and add black berries and blueberry juice until desired consistency.

crumb coat your cakes and refrigerate  You can wait a few hours or over night then frost again and add sprinkles :)

And yes.. Organic chemical free sprinkles

Enjoy :)

House Of J got PEGGED!

My little munchkins double birthday is around the corner. I AM SO EXCITED!

To commemorate Earth Day, being green, sustainable and all around carbon foot print reduction, we've been doing our best to accumulate party supplies that are better for Mother Earth.

We'll be doing wooden utensils and paper straws and the adorable toppers for our cake will not be made of plastic.

They will be these amazing little wooden dolls that my little ones will get to play with for many years to come.

My new friend Marie over at Pegged By Grace created this sweet little trio for our cake! Woody, Jesse and Buzz.. My Daughter has NO IDEA!

I've been keeping them hidden for awhile now and luckily it's been easier because I was also sent a little Batman peg(yes my daughter loves batman) to keep her little paws off the ones for her cake!

She's been walking around with her little Batman for a few weeks and just loves to hold him and make him talk to her little brother. The detail is just amazing. I cannot rave enough about how special the hand painting is on every doll. Her little Batman has been bitten on,dropped, stepped on, and just all around beat up... She is going to be 3 after all. and Toddlers are hard on their toys. There is not a chip on a scratch on him! Super hero of SUPER high quality.

Wooden toys are so popular right now. From instruments to pull along toys. They are everywhere. What I love so much about these little peg dolls is that they will be on their birthday cake to honor their first ever combination party and then be reused over and over again as play things.

They are hand painted so detailed that even Jesse's braid is spot on!

PEGGED by Grace also does completely custom orders. When I asked what she loved most about her work she said that she loves when a family orders a custom peg family to look like your favorite family photo! How special would that be, a peg doll collection of your loved ones.

Please show another fellow momma owned and operated small business some love and support by liking her face book page, checking out her shop and spreading the word!

Check her out here :)
Peggedbygrace.blogspot.com

Etsy.com/shop/peggedbygrace

Facebook.com/peggedbygrace

And the secret word for the  Birthday surprise giveaway is PEG!

Keep checking the blog and our facebook page to see when the giveaway begins.

xoxo-J

Organic Country Gravy

I used to LOVE using bouillon to season gravies, soups and anything else I could think of...until I realized that there was a plethora of disturbing chemicals inside. I've actually discontinued using it until I stumbled upon Gobio Organics.

I was so excited when Gobio Organics sent me a generous little sample of some of their cubes. Everything about them is different, the color is more natural there is no artificial ingredients or color.

The flavor was way more intense as well. Check out their ingredient list!

Ingredients: Sea Salt, Corn Starch*, Yeast Extract, Non-Hydrogenated Palm Oil*, Chicken Fat*, Dehydrated Chicken Powder*, Celery*, Onions*, Lovage*, Parsley*, Garlic*, Turmeric*, Pepper*, Natural Rosemary Flavourig.
*certified organic

Gluten-Free

 √ Organic Free-Range Chicken

The flavor was so intense that I barely had to season my gravy. Just a bit of lemon pepper seasoning was a perfect addition.

I always use a mix of beef both and chicken in my gravies for a well rounded flavor.
For my country gravy you need:

1 Chicken Bouillon Cube (GoBIOfood.com)
1/2 cup water
1 Cup Beef Broth
2 Tablespoons Butter
1 Tablespoon lemon pepper seasoning
2 Tablespoons GMO free flour

In a small sauce pan, melt your butter and add in flour. mix until it forms a paste and turns light yellow in color. Add in your beef broth and simmer until it starts to boil.

Break up a bullion cube in 1/2 cup warm water and slowly incorporate it to your gravy.
Season with lemon pepper!

SEE! it's so simple and easy, no chemicals from those gravy packets!

Enjoy with grilled pork chops, chicken, chicken fried steak, and especially my lightened up wheat biscuits..found here

Lightened Up Wholesome Home style Biscuits

I don't like vegetables enough to eat 100% raw...BUT my family and I are working hard to eat mostly organic, all natural and less produced foods. I don't think I'll ever be able to tell the hubby to never eat another slice of deli meat or a Hebrew National Hotdog, but I can at least minimize those chemicals by serving home made staples with pure ingredients...

We found a great local honey company at our local Costco...And although it doesn't sound very pure & organic, Costco out here is very good about having local items and organic ones as well.

A great biscuit can really make a meal that much more special. But those frozen ones are just PACKED with chemical additives like...

Hydrogenated soybean oil
Sodium aluminum phosphate
Xanthan gum
and of course the ever popular
"natural & artificial flavors"

It was so easy to make these, and although esthetically they aren't as delicious looking as the ones in those little cardboard tins...

They are raw healthier and if you buy the right ingredients, are GMO free!

You need:
Organic/GMO free certified
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup white flour
1 tsp + 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tblsp honey
1/2 cup milk
1 tblsp vinegar

add in vinegar to the 1/2 cup of milk and let sit for 3 minutes. (you can buy buttermilk, but why bother)

In the bowl of your electric mixer put in all the dry ingredients and mix on the lowest setting to incorporate.

add in your honey to the milk and vinegar mixture and then slowly pour into the dry ingredients

take 5 tablespoons butter cut into small cubes (I cut each tablespoon into 4's)

gently fold the butter into your mixture with a spatula.

take some parchment paper and flour heavily. add your dough and then flour some more. I use white flour for this part because wheat can be a touch sticky but you can use either.

roll your dough about 1/2 inch thick and then fold over, roll out again and fold one more time in the opposite direction.

use a small round fondant cutter or biscuit cutter...even the rim of a glass.

place on a nonstick baking sheet or line with parchment and bake for 10 minutes at 400 degrees

This recipe made 15 miniature biscuits but should make 7 or 8 regular sized ones.

enjoy:)

Planning for Birthday Bash 2013

What started out as a little recipe blog became an everything under the sun kind of blog.

I promise to update our recipe index soon, but there is SO MUCH going on over here at the House Of J that time is just whizzing by.

I cannot believe how fast this year has gone by. My little girl is going to be 3 and my baby boy is approaching his 1st birthday. We've moved across country, started a business and have watched our little ones grow and change every day...

In only 2 short months House Of J will have a HUGE Double Party Feature~!!!

Can you guess the theme?

TOY STORY!

So far we've got a bunch of great vendors signed up and I will be featuring them this week! AND of course in celebration of this amazing extravaganza, Your's truly will be giving away 1 dozen Toy Story themed treats--- But you have to check out all our featured vendors this week to collect the "secret word"

This past week the fun filled boxes of joy started coming in! And Julia couldn't been more excited!

I met a wonderful lady named Christine, Her Etsy store CSCUTECRAFTS(secret word) is packed with fun party decor in lots of themes. Can you picture the excitement when these showed up in the mail?

They are made so well, well enough to withstand an almost 3 year old and a 10 month old playing with them until nap time (so I could hide them haha). The features are on point and I couldn't be more excited to display them at the kids upcoming event. Wait until you see what neat ideas I have in store for these little guys!

Our Big Birthday Bash Feature will be in Early June, but until then, Check out Christine's shop & tell her House of J sent you!

xo

House of J Feature & Giveaway!

I'm not Irish...

But I love a good brew and a fun parade (who doesn't) So how about a St Patty's day giveaway!

One Of my new besties is also a blogging momma! Her site is chock full of giveaways on a weekly basis and has graciously featured the  House of J Etsy store and local chapter!

In celebration of her adorable little munchkins 1st Birthday, House of  J is supplying cute little cupcake toppers to go along with their "Luck of the Irish" themed Birthday Bash!!!

Check Out Dani Sue's Review of my local "Lactation Cookie tasting party" from last week HERE.

And Don't forget to enter the giveaway extravaganza going on at her page this week for a chance to win a basket full of goodies from yours truly! (Details below!)