This week has been quite hectic. We've been shooting for two weeks now, so it's been a little hectic on our end, which isn't a bad thing since it makes time go by much quicker, but it's been a little hard to update. My insomnia has been a little crazy too so I've been trying to avoid being on the computer right before bed. My dad also picked up some melatonin for me, which I've used twice, the first time it worked amazingly, only waking up once during the night, the second time, it didn't seem to do anything as I was up all night. Since Friday I've been feeling really run down too, I haven't wanted to do anything, not even biking which is one of the things I look most forward to in my day. Yesterday, I spent 90% of the day lying on the couch sleeping, I guess I had to make up for the week's worth of sleep I had lost. I feel a lot better today which I'm oh so thankful for, because I'm going to La Ronde (Montreal's equivalent to Wonderland or Six Flags) and I know I will be tired from being outside all day. I'm very much looking forward to going though, I haven't been to an amusement park since I went to Six Flag's when I went to New York, and that was... six years ago I believe (when my brother was in grade 8... I just can't do the math right now... too early). I'm a little worried though, I've heard from some people when it's been so long since they've been to an amusement park and they're older they're now afraid of the rides even though when they were younger they were not (I really hope this isn't the case with me, eeeek, we shall see!)
This past week my meals were much better than the last few. I've started to get motivated when it comes to my food again, and I even did a little bit of baking. This all started Sunday night, because I couldn't sleep and so instead of tossing and turning all night (it'd already been a good four hours, I decided to hop out of bed and make some muffins). Yes, my mom was not happy with that decision, as it was 2:30 am and I was baking. No matter how quiet you think you're being... 2:30 am you can hear every little sound. However, I continued to work because baking usually helps me get to sleep. After they had finished baking, I let them sit out for the rest of the night (I'd have to wake up in three hours anyway) and went to sleep. Within twenty minutes I was asleep, it worked!
Last year, I had two favourite loaf recipes, the one being a Strawberry Loaf (if you've never made strawberry bread before you HAVE to try it, it is absolutely to die for, oh my goodness!), the next favourite of mine was a Ginger Peach Bread. However, since I made both of those loaves my eating habits have changed, and so I wanted to try another recipe using the flavour powers to see if I could recreate the flavours. In the ginger peach bread from last year, I cooked the peaches (truthfully I liked it better this way because the bread kept for longer since the whole peaches like in the muffins I made Sunday night tend to make the bread a little mushy). Even though I liked the way I made it last year, the flavour was still very much in these muffins. I love peaches, and I love ginger, together they are match made in heaven, add in some candied peels and you have yourself an incredibly satisfyingly delicious breakfast/snack/dessert muffin!
I will surely be making these again. They were perfect to bring to work and had the perfect amount of substance for my afternoon snack, youppi!
Ginger Peach Muffins
Recipe thoroughly adapted from here
Ingredients:
- 2 cups spelt flour
- 1/2 cup cane sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1 cup soy milk
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp grapeseed oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp freshly grated ginger
- 3 peaches, fresh - chopped
- 1 orange/lemon worth of candied peels (some dipped in chocolate)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Line your muffin tin with muffin cups or vegetable spray. Mix the dry ingredients together.
Whisk the wet ingredients together until incorporated and thickened. Add wet to dry and gently fold the until the flour is moistened and there are no dry spots. Add the chopped peaches, and candied peels and fold in gently.
Fill muffin cups 3/4 of the way. Sprinkle with extra candied peels and or peaches on top if desired. Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until lightly browned and a toothpick comes out clean. The centers should also bounce back when pressed lightly.
The next item on my list that I'd been dreaming of making for a while was banana bread. I haven't made banana bread in ages, and seeing that I had four bananas that were very brown in my fruit bowl it was the perfect opportunity (even though I have over 20 bananas frozen in my freezer... yes I go a little crazy with bananas). This was probably, no no, scratch that, this was the best banana bread I've ever eaten, even better than the World's Most Amazing Banana Bread EVER I posted when I first started blogging (that one is still drug-tastic) but this... has reduced sugar, fat (if you make only the bread... if you make the frosting that's another story), is super moist, vegan, has coconut, and is simply perfect. I made this to bring to La Ronde with me, but I definitely ate my fare share before packing it away. This is surely my go-to banana bread recipe from now on. Love, love, looooove it!
I adapted the recipe quite a bit from the original recipe I found since... I believe her measurements were a bit off. With my changes the bread definitely came out amazing... I just think she had too much liquid for the amount of dry ingredients she had in there. Usually I don't make frosting for my baked goods, but I was feeling extra-indulgent yesterday and added it... DO NOT leave it out, it made the bread amaziiiiing, to amaziiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnggggggggg!!!!!!!!!!
Banana Bread with a Peanut Butter Frosting
Recipe thoroughly adapted from here
Ingredients:
Bread:
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1/3 cup water
- 1/3 cup canola oil
- 3 very ripe bananas, mashed
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup AP flour
- 1/2 cup coconut meat
- 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp Blueberry Peanut Butter
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
- 1/4 cup rice milk
- 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
Preheat oven to 350.
In a large bowl, combine your flour, baking soda and powder. In a separate bowl, whisk together your wet ingredients (agave, vanilla, canola oil, water and mashed bananas). Then fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Lumps are okay, don't over mix! Next, fill a loaf pan until 2/3 full. Bake for 45 minutes, until they are cooked throughout. Let them cool.
As for the topping, combine all ingredients in a bowl and either whisk or blend to combine. Top the loaf with your frosting.
Now go on and eat like a King!
How did you spend your Father's Day?
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