When life hands you overripe bananas, make banana bread!

All too often we will stock up on bananas for the week, blink our eyes and find ourselves with several overripe bananas. If you find yourself in a similar situation, follow our recipe for delicious gluten free banana bread.

You will need: 

3-5 ripe bananas (about 2 cups)
2 cups of gluten free flour (Jules Gluten Free)
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 stick (4 oz.) melted butter
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp pure vanilla extract (McCormick)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt 

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mash bananas in a large mixing bowl, add wet ingredients and mix well. Add the dry ingredients and mix in mixer or by hand until flour is throughly blended into mixture. Spray cooking-ware with non-stick spray or grease with additional butter. Bake for 40 minutes (depending on size of container) at 350 degrees.
I used a 9x13 Corningware container and covered it with aluminum foil.

This was my first time using Jules Gluten Free All Purpose Flour, and I highly recommend it. In the past I have used Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour with this recipe; while the banana bread was good, I found it had a slightly "off" taste, which definitely came from the flour. (I was the only one who noticed this, but I have a very sensitive palate.) This version, with Jules GF Flour, came out very moist and tasty!

I looked at a number of recipes before I came up with this one. Some call for more or less flour, sugar and/or eggs, but I derived most of my inspiration from Jo-Lynne Shane's "Best Ever Gluten Free Banana Bread."

*If you think your bananas may be too ripe, check them before you toss them.  Ours looked a bit (a lot) worse for wear, but were still good on the inside.

Let us know if you have tried this recipe or a similar one!

How much Woodchuck could a gluten free girl drink, if Woodchuck could chug(ck) too.

Mary may be driven to find the best Gluten-Free beer in the world, but I am only along for the ride. I don't like beer, its still tastes as gross as I thought it did when I first stole a sip of my dad's Bud when I was 9 years old. I like sweet flavored drinks, and on our Gluten-Free journey I have discovered that I really enjoy cider. One brand that is always there for me is Woodchuck.  Their drinks are naturally Gluten Free and readily available at most places that sell beer.

Amber- The Original

Classic cider taste, can't go wrong with this one.

Belgian White- Reserve

If you are on the fence about cider, this is something that may sway your vote.  Its has a great classic cider taste, but not as sweet (it contains less sugars!)  Belgian White is part of Woodchuck's Reserve series and is only available during select times of the year.  If you see it, stock up on it; we did, and we don't regret it.

Chocolate- Cellar Series

I CANNOT SAY ENOUGH GOOD THINGS ABOUT THIS! Go out and buy one NOW!

Okay, I will elaborate. You are probably wondering "Are there apples in this, or is it some weird chocolate concoction?" Yes, it is made with apples, incorporates cocao nibs, and it tastes delicious. You will definitely smell the chocolate right away, but it tastes like a regular cider with hints of caramel, and finishes with a nice chocolate flavor. Forget the roses this Valentines Day, treat yourself to this tasty delight and share it with someone special. The Chocolate cider is part of their Cellar Series and is available now through February of 2014 in single 22 oz bottles. Get it while supplies last!

Pear

You can't go wrong with a Woodchuck, but I still prefer Woodchuck's Amber to their Pear. The Pear is a bit sweet and probably one of those drinks you can only drink one of in a sitting.

802 (Yes, that's the name)

Darker and dryer than regular cider. Caramelized sugar gives 802 its bronze color, and makes the cider less sweet. Available year round.

Glutenberg.... Not Steve

Canada gave birth to some of my most favorite things; Hockey, Lost Girl, and now my go to Gluten Free beer, Glutenberg!  Glutenberg's popularity was instantaneous in Quebec, right from the beginning of Brasseurs Sans Gluten brewery's operations in July of 2011. The launch of the Glutenberg Red and the Glutenberg American Pale Ale in December of 2011 largely contributed to its fast-growing success. May 2012 marked a major milestone in the history of the young company, when BSG made it big at an event held in San Diego, United States. The brewery won the gold, silver and bronze awards in the “Gluten-free beer category” at the World Beer Cup. A first in the history of the brewing industry’s most important competition in the world.

Instead of traditional ingredients such as barley malt or wheat malt, Glutenberg beers use millet, a grass found in large quantities in Africa and Asia. It is a frequent ingredient in African beers, as is sorghum which most gluten-free beers use as the main malt.

The thing that sets Glutenberg beers apart from many gluten-free beer options is they don't try to hide the non-traditional flavors that millet has compared to traditional beer malts. Instead, the beers are brewed to maximize the flavor in the best way possible. Many other gluten-free beers use fruit and spices to try to disguise the off-flavors.

Red Ale

Their Red Ale (which really isn't red at all) won the gold award at the 2012 World Beer Cup. When poured into the glass has a rather dark appearance with a thick frothy head and complex aroma. It had flavors of caramel with just a hint of bitterness in the finish. This beer is brewed with roasted chestnuts which gives it a unique aromatic personality. Their Red Ale has a 5% APV and is made with buckwheat, millet, molasses, chestnuts, candy syrup, quinoa, hops, yeast. The nose smells of roasted nuts, coffee and caramel and tastes of coffee and hazelnuts. I wouldn't normally go for this type of beer since it has a heavier flavor. I much rather a pale ale but overall not bad.... not bad at all....