That's Bananas -- by Maddy

Anyone who knows me knows I am obsessed with banana bread.  It makes the perfect breakfast, lunch, linner, dinner, midnight snack ... you get the idea.  It's the perfect food.  But it's got lots of sugar, and sometimes I don't have an hour to bake a loaf of banana bread and cram it full of chocolate chips, or blueberries (thanks Aida for that fabulous idea).  What to do?  Make Pancakes instead.  If you know me you know I love my chocolate chip buttermilk pancakes in the morning, but my mama isn't here to make them -- so why not combine the two and be in heaven for the day?

Here's the recipe -- it is Manda friendly, and for full disclosure, I scoured the internet and found this beauty.  And if you want someone to get out of bed, start making these and they'll come runnin'.  I would definitely make these puppies again -- and they totally rock with chocolate chips in them.

Banana Bread Pancakes

Serves 1

Ingredients:
1 large ripe banana
1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon agave nectar (I only had honey, worked fine!)
2 Tablespoons whisked egg
1 Tablespoon melted butter
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup minus 1 Tablespoon self-rising flour (I use Wondra but you can totally make your own)

Directions:
Mash banana in a medium sized bowl then whisk in agave nectar, egg, butter, cinnamon and vanilla.

Fold in flour, then cook on a non-stick sprayed flat top skillet until done.

Note: Don't have ripe bananas?  Don't worry, you don't have to wait five days to make this. In order to ripen bananas quickly, freeze them for an hour.  You can then nuke them for about 30 seconds, and voila!  Ripe bananas.

Now that's a breakfast of champions.

Ooooh, la la, Rice is Nice -- by Manda

So this afternoon, I made almond milk rice pudding. A double feature, no lactose for Maddy and, as it turns out, no sugar for me!  

It made a very small amount....which is okay by me...and it took a lot less time than it actually said it would! 

I used my dark chocolate almond milk (I already had it in the house and so far chocolate hasn't made the "no" list and it doesn't seem to bother me) and I didn't put in the sweetener (honey, maple syrup, or brown sugar).  Trust me, it was really nice and sweet enough without any sweetener of any kind.

I would have liked to have made it with plain almond milk just because I like plain rice pudding better, but this was a nice switch up! I put some almonds on the top and added a little granola to give it some crunch...supremeeee.  Now, wouldn't this be nice for your dessert?  Add your favorite things -- maybe mini chocolate chips, or hazelnuts.  I will definitely make this again and next time go for plain, because I'm a purist.  Sorry, Ina -- this one is pretty good and takes a lot less time.  PS, Each serving has 184 calories, so if you're watching those, this will not be a diet breaker.

Next on my list -- I found an awesome recipe for Banana Brown Rice Pudding, looks like a breakfast winner to me -- no sugar required.

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups Silk Pure Dark Chocolate (for plain use Almond Original or Vanilla)
1/3 cup short grain white rice or Arborio rice
pinch of salt
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (you could put this in the chocolate one, I did and it makes it more Mexican Chocolaty)
1-2 tablespoons maple syrup, brown sugar or honey, if using Original (omit if you are using Vanilla or Chocolate -- it will be too sweet!  I would use Truvia or honey, love honey!)
1/2 cup raisins (I don't like raisins, sorry daddy, but you could put them in if you like them)

Preparation

In a medium saucepan, bring Almond milk, rice and salt to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, until rice is cooked through, about 25-30 minutes.

In a small bowl beat egg until well combined. Whisk a ladle of hot rice mixture into beaten egg. Add egg mixture back into saucepan and stir over low heat until thickened, about 10-12 minutes (mine did not take this long, so watch it!  This is not the time to use Facebook or text your friends). Remove from heat and stir in vanilla, cinnamon, sweetener (if using). Serve warm or cold.

I need Brownies! - by Manda

Removing sugar from baked goods presents a unique challenge, one that involves chemistry.  We're good at chemistry thanks to our awesome chemistry teacher, Tina.  My nutritionist removed sugar from my diet  Wait?  What?  Seriously?  Yep, she did.  So, I have been without sugar all week.  Oldest sister, Maille, suggested I try Truvia as a substitute.  I went to their website, found the product, found a recipe and here is the recipe and what I thought of it.  Recipe courtesy of those nice people at Truvia.

Not so Sugary Brownies

Ingredients

3 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate
¼ cup unsalted butter
¼ cup canola oil
2 eggs, large
3 1/2 Tbsp Truvia^® natural sweetener spoonable*
¼ cup sugar, white granulated
½ tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp skim milk
¾ cup all purpose flour
½ tsp baking powder

Instructions

1. Assemble all ingredients.
2. Preheat oven to 325°F.
3. Place baking chocolate, butter and canola oil in a large microwaveable bowl. Heat for 30 seconds, stir. Repeat and stir to melt the chocolate.
4. Whisk together the eggs, Truvia^® natural sweetener, sugar, salt, vanilla and milk in a separate small bowl.
5. Add the egg mixture to the chocolate mixture and stir until well combined.
6. Sift together the flour and baking powder.
7. Fold flour mixture into the chocolate mixture using a rubber scraper, until just combined. Do not over mix.

8. Pour batter into an 8x8 square pan.
9. Bake for 22-25 minutes. Do not over bake.
10. Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack for at least 20 minutes.
11. Cut into sixteen squares.

Manda's take on the recipe:  There were only three oz. of chocolate in the recipe, and they definitely cried out for more chocolate -- next time I will probably put in four oz.  I liked them, in fact, they'll do all right.  I didn't have all purpose flour, so I used bread flour -- probably a mistake because of the different gluten content -- so they came out really dense.  Next time I will use AP -- and I will make them again.

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Who "Wee" Are

Many moons ago, our Irish grandfather affectionately called us his "Wee Girls".  The name stayed with us and when we got together to start this blog, it seemed to fit.  We are always in the kitchen -- not by obligation, but by choice.  Papa Jack loved to cook, so does our father, so does our mother.  But this isn't a blog simply about recipes, two of us have significant health challenges.  So, while there are recipes we love, we can no longer eat them.  This is our journey through food -- adapting the recipes we love so that we can still enjoy food but still be comfortable in our sometimes, annoying bodies.

"Wee" are Maille, Morgan, Maddy, and Manda.  This blog began because Manda has been diagnosed with Crohn's.  Maddy is lactose intolerant, and Maille has food challenges as well.  Morgan -- she just likes to cook and eat -- so far, so good! 

We all love to cook, and if we do say so ourselves, we're pretty darn good cooks and bakers.

So join us on our food journey as we play around with recipes to make them more palatable, and sometimes even healthier.  We promise, they'll be delicious to us, or we won't post the recipe!  We may, however, post pics of failures.  Trust us, sugar isn't all that easy to replace in a shortbread recipe.