Father's Day...

Happy Sunday, or if you're a pops happy Father's day, (pop's I know you'll eventually read this so happy Father's Day, love you very, very much and wish I could of been home to celebrate!)

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)

Directions:

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

Topping:

• 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

Directions:

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?

Put the lime in the coconut?

Everyone else enjoying their long weekend?

I hope so.  Today was an absolutely gorgeous day.  This morning when my mom and I left for Jean-Talon Marcher it looked like it was going to pour, and thankfully by the time we left the sky was gorgeous, the air was crisp, and the wind was warm.  I was so excited for the rest of the day.  We came home and I immediately hit the kitchen.

I started chopping radishes, grating carrots, cleaning the fridge, moving containers around, etc... I then decided I wanted to make kale chips as I was craving some crunch... but unfortunately that is not what I got... no, not even close.  Some of them were crunchy yes, but... I definitely did not rinse them off enough after I washed them and well it looked like a swamp on my baking sheet, yuck.  I didn't even think of trying out the crispy ones to see if the flavour was good I just threw them out... I'm kind of regretting that now as I really want to know how they tasted.  I decided to do an Asian flavoured chip... so I will have to try it again this week once I get another bunch of kale, which will probably be tomorrow as my mom and I want to return to the marcher.

After my kitchen-work I biked for twenty minutes, I really wasn't feeling it today.  On another note, I really wish I had a speedometer for my bike since I bike in my living room but I'm at a constant speed and I don't stop at all (i.e. downhill) for 20 minutes and don't have a clue as to how "far" I am actually going.  After I did my work out I went to go get ready for the day, then I started my day off in sort of a gluttony way.

Last night I made some of the most amazing muffins ever.  I've been craving muffins so much lately and unfortunately I didn't have my muffin pan in Montreal until last night (since yesterday the accountant from Toronto her husband came to visit so my mom's boyfriend dropped off more of my baking supplies at their house)!  Needless to say I was incredibly, incredibly happy.  I had been eying a coconut muffin recipe for about two months now and until last night I hadn't made it.

Well let me just say, these muffins are going to kill me.  I love them so much.  I had three this morning.  Seriously I felt like such a glutton, but it was so worth it, I love them, even my mom has snuck a few into her stomach ;)

Very Coco-Nutty Muffins

Recipe adapted from here

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cup spelt flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1 banana, mashed
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 cup grapeseed
• 1 cup light coconut milk
• 3/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes, lightly toasted + more for sprinkling on top
• 1 tsp vanilla (or coconut extract)

Directions:

In a large bowl, whisk together the spelt flour/whole wheat flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In another bowl, combine the banana, maple syrup, grapeseed oil, and coconut.

Add the flour mixture to the banana mixture and stir just to combine.  Fold in the coconut flakes. Spoon the mixture into a muffin pan lined with muffin cups and garnish with more coconut, if desired.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the centre of a muffin comes out clean. Allow muffins to cool for about 10 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack. Store muffins in an air-tight container at room temperature.


After chowing down on three delicious, moist, coco-amazing muffins I made an amaziiiiiing breakfast.  Oh my goodness, I seriously thought I was going to die.  I didn't think my breakfast was going to trump my muffins but oh boy... between the two I don't know which was better.

Banana Split Overnight Oats


Recipe inspired from here

 

Holy moly... this was sooooooo good.  My mom who usually doesn't comment on the looks of my food even said it looked delicious,  yes, it looked gorgeous and tasted a million times better.


I started with my overnight oats:


Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup oatmeal
• 3/4 cup coconut milk
• 1 tbsp coconut cream
• Dash of sea salt
• 1 tbsp chia seeds
• 1 tbsp vanilla
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Directions:


Mix all ingredients together, cover bowl with plastic wrap and let sit overnight in fridge or for at least two hours.


Next I chopped a banana in half.  Added my oats on top of the banana.  Added raspberry jam.  Then dumped a gigantic dollop of peanut butter, and added flaked coconut.


This was coco-nutty, jammy, and full of delicious peanut butter.  It seriously was one of the most perfect breakfasts' ever.  This is why I love weekends, they always seem to bring the most memorable breakfasts'.  This is just as easy to make during the week, but on the weekend I can actually sit to really savour and take in my meal and this was so freakin' good!


My mom and I then headed out to do some shopping!  Oh, I definitely spent money, but the clothes I bought were so beautiful I can't wait to wear them!  At 2:30 pm, we then headed to get facials.  My face feels like a babies bottom, I love it.  I had never gotten a facial done before and boy was it wonderful.  I love the way my skin feels... how it looks however, not so much.  I have red spots all over, but... the softness, ahhhh!


By the time we came home I was starving... I decided I wanted to put more flavours of the tropic into my diet... I already started off with so much why not add a little bit more?  Oh I did, and oh I loved it.  My mother was quite impressed.


Tropical Fruit Salsa

Recipe inspired from here

I've never been much of a fan of salsa... but when I recently came across for a salsa with fruits I couldn't pass it up, especially when it were fruits that I consume into my diet each and everyday.


I loved this salsa.  It was refreshing.  It was tropical.  It was filling (also because I made ginger terriyaki tofu), but it was wonderful.  This really was a good match to go with the salsa.  I loved this and will be making this again.  This would be wonderful with cinnamon sugar pita chips, oh... I may just have to do that sometime soon =D!


Ingredients:

• 1/2 pineapple, peeled, cored and cut into small pieces
• 1 banana, peeled and cut into small pieces
• 1 mango
• Flaked coconut - to taste
• 1/4 cup red onion, diced
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced
• 1/2 lime, juice
• 1 handful cilantro, chopped

Directions:

Mix everything, serve and gobble away.

 

How was your Saturday?  Did you check out your local Farmer's Market?

Carrot cake muffins + British Columbia

Happy weekend everyone!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend, I know I sure did.  I'm going to update you a bit with what has gone on since I've arrived in British Columbia.  Oh, oh first I need to update you.  After I posted my last post I was still sitting in the terminal, waiting... it was now 15 minutes after I was supposed to board the plane.  My friend kept asking me, "shouldn't you be on the plane by now?", "well they haven't called us".  I look down at my plane ticket I'm sitting at terminal 141, supposed to be at 151!!  I shut down my laptop in panic mode, run all the way across the airport to where I'm supposed to be.  I get there, no one is there... panic strikes even harder.  I'm breathing like a maniac, and sweating like a sprinter, it's a good thing I work out or I'd be dead... I jump over this one guy who is sleeping on the floor, speak to someone who works there, "miss please calm down!"... uh no, clearly he does not know me.  He finally get's in, that they have been transferred to 145... seriously?  I have to run ALL the way back to where I initially was.  I finally get there, wait in line, look like a demon on crack and wait... I board the plane, success!

From there everything went well.  I wrote in my journal, did a little bit of reading, listened to Mumford and Sons over and over again, and finally I slept quite a bit!  I get to baggage claim, after a few minutes am greeted by my aunt and my cousin (who I haven't met before), we go to the car and my uncle is there too.  It was really nice that they were all there (they are a bit older, and it was 1 in the morning, so I was very grateful).  When I got there, I simply went to sleep it was now 4 o'clock my time, very, very tired. 

I wake up the next morning... and am overstuffed with food, in every direction.  Unfortunately Italians really love to feed you (it's not a bad thing, but... they just don't stop and it can get a little bit frustrating).  After a while I remind them that I don't eat animal products, "so you can eat fish then?!"... "well no, that was alive at one point so I don't eat fish... I don't even eat butter, eggs or milk", then the whole protein conversation ensues and I just begin to get a little frustrated... I'm still trying to be nice, but my aunt just isn't understanding.  Eventually I pull out my blog (thank heavens I blog!) and show her that NO, I don't under eat actually get a ton of protein in my diet, and don't starve myself to death... le sigh.  Finally she began to understand.

Later I went to my little cousins hockey game, they lost... I really don't understand hockey, but it was nice to go.

I also went with my older cousin to downtown Vancouver.  It was nice, he even brought me to a vegan restaurant!  It was amazing!  I'd never been to a vegan restaurant before, and it was really nice of him to think of it.  We took it for take out since his daughter needed to nap (17 months).  We went to his place and ate.  I got organic brown rice, the most amazing chick peas with spices, and curried vegetables with a papadum, it was fantastic!

 

For dinner we made a really delicious chickpea salad that I will be replicating when I go home, so I am not going to post it here yet!  Got back to my aunts, went to sleep and now I'm lounging in bed, even though I've been in my room for over 14 hours... I feel really tired and don't want to hear about food unfortunately. 

Tropical Carrot Cake Muffins

Recipe thoroughly adapted from here

 

Before I left, I had made some snacks to bring onto the plane, I hadn't posted them because I wanted something to post this week.  I made tropical carrot cake muffins, after making the Tropical Carrot Cake Smoothie I've been craving some mad carrot cake, so I decided I would make muffins.  These were the most sinful, delicious, yet healthy muffins ever, hooked, hooked I tell ya!  I will be making these again and again.  I'm not a big fan of store-bought carrot cake because they always throw in nuts, nasty dried fruits (I love dried fruit but when mixed with ingredients properly) and tons of cream cheese icing, yuck!  I made this to meet my taste buds and I can honestly say this may be one of my favourites, and will certainly be made again.  One thing I look forward to when I go home is defrosting some of these bad boys and munching on them while I tell my mom about my vacation!

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups finely grated carrot, unpacked
• 1 cup flaked coconut
• 1 tbsp ground flax seed
• 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
• 3/4 cup coconut milk
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 2 tsp freshly grated lemon zest
• 1 1/2 cups whole grain spelt flour
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp cloves
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt 
• 1/2 cup candied pineapple

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F and line a muffin tin or a small loaf pan (20cm x11cm x 6cm) with parchment. Lightly grease the parchment and sides of pan with oil and set aside. 

In a medium bowl, mix together the grated carrot, ground flax, pure maple syrup, soy milk, oil, vanilla, vinegar, and lemon zest. Set aside for at least two minutes while you gather the dry ingredients.  In another large sized bowl, whisk together the spelt flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and stir until just combined (a few dry spots may remain). Fold in the dried pineapple. Be careful not to overmix as spelt is a very delicate flour.

Pour into prepared pan and bake at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan, and then transfer the loaf to a wire rack to cool completely. 

May be frozen.

 

Have you ever had issues trying to explain to family members about dietary restrictions?

Carrot

Easter breakfast idea

Happy Easter everyone!

Hope you all are planning a very special day with your family and closest of loved ones! As I mentioned the other day my mom just moved to Montreal, and unfortunately I found out my dinner is on Monday and my dad has a squash tournament that day so, I'm back to square one of having no Easter dinner. However... I'm not going to let that deter me from having a nice Easter day. The majority of it is going to spent cleaning and packing for Vancouver/Montreal, but I'm still going to throw in some delicious food, and a work out.

This morning I wasn't quite sure what I was going to make for breakfast. I had a couple of ideas. A tropical smoothie, banana cream pancakes, fruit + Greek yoghurt. Then I thought, it's Easter ... therefore carrot cake! I then thought back to a recent blog post from ChocolateCoveredKatie and immediately looked it up. I pretty much changed the whole recipe, just kept the measurements as my base.

Tropical Carrot Cake Muffin for One

Recipe thoroughly adapted from here

To start I made an individual carrot cake muffin. Jeebus, this was good in the drink, but since I had leftover I had to finish it, and holy moly was it ever delicious!

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp AP flour
• 2 tbsp ground pecan
• 1 tbsp + 1 tsp canola oil
• Dash of sea salt
  
• 2 mini carrots shredded
• 1 tbsp shredded coconut
• 1 tbsp diced pineapple
  
• 1 tbsp vanilla soy milk
• 1/4 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

Combine all of the ingredients, then mix in liquid (including applesauce, if using). Transfer to a muffin tin, ramekin, or even a mini loaf pan. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 350 degrees F, for 12-15 minutes.

Whipped "Cream" Coconut Milk

While this was baking I put a can of full fat coconut milk in the freezer. Once the muffin was done, and was starting to cool I took out the can of coconut milk. I wanted this to be a special smoothie, since my weekend treats are usually pancakes, and since I was making a smoothie instead I figured I might as well go all out. I recently read (I cannot recall where) that if you whip a can of full fat coconut milk - chilled, it turns to the same consistency as whipped cream. I decided to do so, I didn't add any sweeteners, i.e. it would be nice and sweet if you added vanilla and maple syrup/agave, but I opted for just coconut since coconut is usually prevalent in carrot cake. This definitely was like whipped cream! I was so excited because it's been quite some time since I've chowed down on some whipped cream, yum! All I did was turned my mixer on and whipped the milk for a couple of minutes as you would egg whites for example. After a few minutes peaks began to form and I knew it was ready to eat.

Tropical Carrot Cake Smoothie

Recipe adapted from here

Next is the star of the show. Oh baby. I have not been this in love with a smoothie since my Shamrock Smoothie. Yes ladies and gentleman I'm still even making the Shamrock Smoothies, I'm not over them yet, and don't plan on it for quite some time. However, now I have an equally close rival in the taste and look department. This was certainly love at first sip. It was full of flavour, from the muffin, to the whipped cream, to the smoothie itself, it was gorgeous to look at but even greater to chug down. I will definitely be making this over and over again. This was a perfect way to start my non-eventful Easter day, and I'm glad it started with this because it was a perfect pick me up.

This is one smoothie you must try, it just screams Spring and it screams delicious, even though it remains very healthy!

Ingredients:

• 1 large, frozen banana
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup soy milk
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 4 baby carrots
• 3 pineapple chunks ~ 3 tbsp
• Dash of sea salt

Directions:

Steam your carrots first, then blend all of the ingredients together in your blender, food processor, or even a Magic Bullet. Top with your coconut whipped cream and then sprinkle some of your carrot cake muffin on top!

How are you starting your Easter day off?

Oh me oh my.

I love bran. Out of all the grains, bran is my favourite, even more than rice and I can shovel bowls, and bowls, and bowls of rice down... ask anyone, especially on days in the office where they order sushi, Chinese or Indian, I go up time after time just for rice, it's bad.

Last weekend when I was at Jordan's his mom had made a pile of bran muffins, and boy were they delicious. This made me begin to crave bran, and then I remembered my insanely, devilishly, sinful Vegan Coconut, Banana, Pear, and Raspberry Jam Bran Muffins (wow that's a mouthful!) Well, I actually had a some bit of canned pumpkin left from the Oatmeal Pumpkin Cookies, and I figured why not make some pumpkin bran muffins, well of course that is what I did. I loved these muffins, again just like the cookies, moist, pillowy bunches of goodness. The only thing missing unfortunately was some candied ginger, bah, they would of been the ultimate gift of perfection had there of been candied ginger. Regardless, definitely still so good that I've been eating three a day, le sigh.

If you're going to make these, I highly recommend making them when you have people to share them with. No one in my house has been eating them, so I've been happily doing the honours, however, I don't think my waistline is appreciating them so much. Honestly, I do my work out and I feel like a gigantic fatty and I think it's because of all the badness I've been eating the past few weeks. Not that these muffins are bad, I've just been consuming in larger quantities than necessary. However, if you continue scrolling down, I will show you what I've started doing with these delicious noms and now I've gotten majorly, majorly full off of these bad boys.


Pumpkin Bran Muffins

Recipe adapted from here

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups bran
• 1 1/2 cups soft whole wheat (pastry) flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/8 tsp of nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and line a 12 muffin cups.

Mix the Wet Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons molasses
• 2 flax eggs (2 tbsp flax seed + 6 tbsp water, mixed well and left to sit for a few minutes_
  
• 1 cup puréed cooked pumpkin

In a somewhat larger mixing bowl, beat the molasses and one of the eggs into the sugar. Beat in the second egg, then the pumpkin purée.

Finish the Muffins:

• 3/4 cup chocolate soy milk
• 1/4 cup walnuts
• 1/4 cup dried cherries

I don't know why I never thought of doing this concoction for breakfast before the other day, but I'm glad I finally did think of it. Come to think of it, I probably never threw this together because I've never been a fan of milk and cereal, yuck. I find with time I'm more open to trying things that I completely disliked when I was a child like Peanut Butter and Jelly, ohmygoodness!

This concoction was deeeeelish, surprisingly even after being in milk for fifteen or so minutes the muffin didn't become a complete soggy mess, no it was great. This was so insanely filling, it wasn't as big of a breakfast as it looks (the bowls at work are teeny) but it was filling. Honestly, I didn't eat for almost five hours after eating this bowl of nutrition... so what did I do?

Muffin "Cereal" Bowl

Recipe by me

Step one:
Slathered 1 of the above muffins with peanut butter and a second with jam.
Step two:
Mushed the muffins together and cut them into tiny pieces and threw them into a bowl.
Step three:
Added a chopped banana, 3 dried prunes cut into chunks, and approximately six or so almonds.
Step four:
Top with soy milk.
Step five:
Took bite after bite, enjoying the crunch, fruit, milk, flavours of peanut butter and jam and everything else in the bowl, oh it was perfect and oh so versatile! Will definitely be doing this with my muffins from now on!

Welcome to Warner Brothers.

As I had mentioned last week, as of February 14th, today, I began my new job working for a pilot of something of Edgar Allan Poe's for Warner Brothers. Well, I've taken the initiative to begin this job on a good foot and by making my lunches so that I don't fall into old habits, and eating unhealthy catered food. Since I won't have much time at night to make my meals, I think I'm going to start showing you guys snipits of what I will be putting in my lunch. This, as I can safely assume is going to consist of a lot of simple meals, so we shall see how this goes, as for my first day of work this is what was packed into my lunch!

Gingerbread Pumpkin Vegan Overnight Oats

Recipe slightly adapted from here

The day started off fantastic. With a huuuge bowl of overnight Gingerbread Pumpkin Vegan Overnight Oats. I could not wait to wake up (even if it was at five in the morning) to dig into this bowl. While I was putting everything together I couldn't help but take a couple bites here and there. I had to be careful not to eat it all, because I used the last of my pure pumpkin and I wanted to wake up on my first day with something very special! Special indeed. It was the perfect thing to wake up to. Honestly, I felt so good. I had done my work out, tried very hard to make myself look as decent as possible (my mother warned me that the runner was incredibly cute AND bakes, so of course I wanted to look as good as possible haha. Once I walked upstairs and opened the fridge to that beautiful orange bowl of goodness I knew I was in for a treat. It was spectacular. Honestly, this was the best bowl of overnight oats I've had up to date. I will hands down be making this again as soon as I buy some more pure pumpkin. Honestly having this for breakfast was like having non-sinful pumpkin pie. I changed it just a bit, but oh goodness, I can imagine Angela's version with the banana soft serve would be so fantastic... when I buy the pumpkin I will definitely be trying it with the soft serve! This is definitely one of the best breakfasts I've had and that's hard to say considering most of my breakfasts are usually a 4 1/2 star anyways, yes I'm just that good ;) Kidding... but still.

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup regular rolled oats
• 1 tbsp chia seeds
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• 1/16th tsp sea salt (aka: a tiny pinch)
• 1 cup almond milk
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
  
• 1 tbsp blackstrap molasses
• 1/4 cup pumpkin
• 1/2 tbsp pure maple syrup, to taste
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
  

Directions:

In a medium sized bowl mix the oats, chia seeds, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Stir. Now add coconut milk and whisk. Next add molasses, pumpkin, maple syrup, and vanilla and whisk until fully mixed. Place in fridge for 1.5 hours or overnight.

The other day when I had made my Coriander and Kale Mixed Nut Pesto, I had mentioned that I was going to show you guys what I was using my pesto for. Well, what I ended up using it for was to roll it in a loaf of bread. This bread was utterly delicious. The bread itself was super moist with a little bit of crunch from the pine nuts, and the crust of the bread was definitely crunch-worthy and wholesome. Added with the pesto on the inside, ugh, it made for such a perfect snack, especially dipped in some olive oil. I loved this bread, and what I used half of my loaf of it on were these super simple, delicious and vegan burgers. I had found a recipe for bean burgers last week, and even though I am not a huge fan of beans (excluding green beans) I put it to the test.

Well, these burgers definitely aced the test. I served these to a friend who... certainly isn't a vegan and he really enjoyed it. I enjoyed them so much that on Monday it was my forth day in a row of eating them. I love these burgers. They are so filling and everything that's in these burgers you can feel good about. No preservatives, no animals, healthy fats, deliciousness, crunch, greens, ugh it was so so good. The funny thing is, when the beans are mashed, and with the added greens and everything else you would almost think it's a meat patty with some hidden vegetables, however, you would be quite wrong. This is definitely something I will be making again, as they are perfect to freeze and unthaw on another day, so especially with this job it makes for a simple meal to pack in my lunch

Rainbow Chard Veggie Burger

Recipe slightly adapted from here

Ingredients:

• 1 15oz can of black beans, rinsed
• 2 tsp canola oil
• 1 bunch chard
• 1 onion, diced finely
• 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup walnut pieces
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• Freshly ground pepper, to taste
• 1/4 to 1/2 tsp salt, to taste
• 1/2 Panko bread crumbs
• Canola oil spray

Directions:

In a large bowl, mash the black beans. Some larger chunks are okay.

Wash the chard, remove the stalks from the leaves. Finely dice the stalks and chop the leaves, keeping separate. Over medium heat, saute 1/2 cup of the diced stalks in 1 tsp of oil for 4 to 5 minutes. Add the chopped leaves and saute an additional 10 minutes, until the leaves wilted. Add to the beans.

Add the second tsp of oil and saute the onion for 5 minutes, or until softened. Add the minced garlic and cook an additional 1-2 minutes. Add to bean and chard mixture.

Grind the walnuts in a food processor. Some larger chunks are okay, as they will add texture. Add to the bean mixture.

Mix the soy sauce, lemon juice, oregano, and thyme into the bean mixture. Add the salt and pepper to taste. Add 1/2 cup of bread crumbs. You want the mixture to clump, not be too wet, and have the burgers to form into firm patties. If needed add the additional bread crumbs.

Take 1/3 cup of the mixture and press into a patty between your hands. Spray a pre-heated skillet, and cook the patties over medium heat for 8-10 minutes, flipping half way through. Patties should brown nicely, do not let them burn.


Spiral Pesto Bread

Recipe taken from here

Ingredients:

• 1 cup warm water
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 2 1/4 tsp (1 package) instant yeast
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2-3 cups flour (I used 2 cups whole wheat + 1/2 cup AP flour)
• 1/4 cup pine nuts, extra for garnish
• 1/2-3/4 cup pesto

Directions:

Proof the yeast: Dissolve the sugar and yeast in the warm water, and let stand for 5-10 minutes until mixture is frothy.

Add in salt, olive oil, 1/4 cup of pine nuts (or extra if you want more texture in your bread) and 2 cups of flour.

Mix the dough by hand. Once the dough is sticking together and slightly tacky turn out onto floured surface and begin kneading it, adding the remaining 1 cup of flour, 1/4 cup at a time, until the dough is smooth and not sticky. (I used about 2 1/2 cups of flour in total.) Knead for 5-10 minutes until dough is elastic.

Place the dough in a large lightly greased bowl, cover and let rise in a warm spot for 1-1.5 hours until doubled. Check to see if dough is done rising: push into it with two fingers, 1″ deep. If the dough springs back it isn’t done rising, if it essentially stays indented then it is done.

Shape the dough: roll the dough out into approximately a 9″ x 13″ rectangle. Spread the pesto in a thin layer over the dough. You can sprinkle some more pine nuts here if you would like to have more texture. Roll the dough along the short-edge to get a roll that is about 9″ long.

Preheat the oven to 350 ºF, bake for 30-40 minutes until the crust is a golden brown.

Pumpkin Apple Soup

Recipe taken from here

For dinner, I had this beautiful aromatic and flavourful soup. I have long been a fan of pumpkin. I can remember back in the day, at Hallowe'en the nanny we had and I would cut some pumpkin and eat it just like that, uncooked. Years and years later I heard you're not supposed to actually eat raw pumpkin, whether that's true or not I'm not sure. Since I had a can of pumpkin open, I figured why not make something that I am going to really enjoy? I decided to do just that, and make this beautiful soup. For starters, the colour, it just feels so healthy to be eating something of that colour. Then you take your first bite and your senses are just so happy. From the cumin, to the pumpkin, to the cinnamon, just everything. This soup was perfect, it was flavourful, had spice, and literally took less than ten minutes to whip together start to finish, I mean really, could it be much simpler? What I loved about this soup is that it didn't feel like winter, no, it reminded me of fall when the weather is first beginning to cool down. Nonetheless, simply divine.

Ingredients:

• 2 tsp cumin
• 1 large yellow onion, chopped
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
• 4-5 cups low-sodium vegetable stock
• 2 cans (15 ounces) real pumpkin
• 1/2 cup apple sauce, unsweetened
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 3 tbsp lime juice, optional
• Thyme sprigs for garnish

Directions:

Heat oil in a large pot and cook onions until translucent - about five minutes. Add cinnamon, paprika, and cumin. Stir for 30 seconds or until fragrant (do not burn!). Add all remainng ingredients.

Using a hand blender, carefully puree soup. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes.

Garnish dishes with thyme sprigs.

Vegan Coconut, Banana, Pear, Raspberry Jam Bran Muffins

Recipe adapted from here

Yesterday I had made some WONDERFUL Bran Muffins. These are by far the most amazing muffins I have ever tasted. I love, love, love bran so already I knew these were going to be good. I adapted the recipe slightly... okay a little more than slightly, and they were fab, they totally hit the spot... more than one, more than twice, more than three times, more than four times. I made them late in the afternoon... made a half batch, who was I kidding that was certainly not enough. By the end of the night there was one, single, lonely muffin. I might have eaten some of my feelings away since I knew what the next day i.e. today held in store. I think my friend did the same thing. Started with nine muffins, and only one left. Needless to say, I quickly saran wrapped it and hit in my lunch box. I didn't want to risk eating it before work =\. Yup these were vegan, had very little sugar in them, excluding the raspberry jam and the natural sugars from the fruit, loaded with fiber, and were simply out of this world. I ended up using the rest of my wheat bran, so I will have to go buy some more because I am already craving them, this was definitely a perfect pick me up snack though during the day! Ugh... they were so good, it was such a beautiful combination of fruit, and with the ooey-gooey warmed jam in the center oh, it had me singing for more!

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp ground flaxseed
• 6 tbsp water
• 2 cups wheat bran
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
  
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/4 cup coconut milk
• 1/3 cup canola oil
  
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 chopped pear
• 1 mashed banana
  
• 1/2 cup raspberry preserves
• Coconut flakes for garnish
  

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.

Whip the flaxseed and water to make your "flax egg".

In a large bowl combine all the dry ingredients : flour, wheat bran, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt.

In a small bowl combine the wet: milk, vanilla, banana, oil, flax "egg" mixture. Stir the pears into the wet mixture, then combine wet with dry, stirring until just combined.

Take out your muffin tins and either grease or apply muffin cups. Fill cups halfway with muffin batter. Using a 1/2 tsp, scoop out a dollop of jam (about 1 tsp). Nestle the jam in the batter, then cover the jam with another spoonful of batter.

Bake 15-20 minutes. I took mine out around 18 minutes.

Well it was definitely a successful day. But I sure am glad to be home. What are some work meals that you take to work?

Crispy Tofu Cubes with Mango and Avocado In Asian Sweet Chili Sauce + Avocado Lime Bran Muffins

Crispy Tofu Cubes with Mango and Avocado in Asian Sweet Chili Sauce

Recipe taken from here


This recipe to me is awesome. It not only has crispy, savoury tofu, it has sweet and juicy mango mixed in with smoothe and creamy avocado. This dish was divine. Honestly all the flavours mixed in so well with one another. When I first made this recipe I had an appropriate serving's full. I then went upstairs to do some stuff on the Internet and couldn't stop thinking about it. I then went and spooned a little bit more into a ramekin and finished it before I even hit the last stair, I sound like a pig but it was so good. By the time I got upstairs I just wanted more. I then headed back downstairs, I filled up my ramekin again but then started digging out the little treasures from the container I had put aside. Needless to say, I finished all of my leftovers... that's a lot of food. That's a whole avocado, mango, and whole tofu block to myself (minus a little bit that I had given my friend). I was very satisfied after I had eaten it, but still craved more. Honestly, I can't say one bad thing about this meal, it was so easy to make, barely took any time, and it really was a delicious meal. I can definitely see this meal re-appearing in the near future!

*Note: computer still isn't letting me copy and paste, so I will add all of the ingredients/directions I get my Mac back.

Avocado Lime Bran Muffins

Recipe inspired by here



I had bought some avocado's the other day in hopes of making some muffins with them. When I started looking for muffin recipes with avocado it came to me as kind of a surprise that there weren't many recipes with these ingredients out there. I didn't really feel like coming up with my own recipe just because I wasn't feeling very inspired on that particular day. I had stumbled across the link above and thought that it would do. I didn't change it drastically but I adapted it a little bit, I was happy with the end result. At first I was a little skeptical of it... I say this because I ate the muffin cold and it just tasted sort of blan, but there was a little hint of something I could taste (lime juice). The next one I had though, I microwaved it, oh this was a greeeeat idea. It made the lime juice flavour much more noticeable and you could then get the smoothe taste of the avocado. A couple minutes after that I decided to have myself another muffin, this time heating it and putting a little bit of wild-flower honey on top, good good good! I didn't even feel INCREDIBLY guilty afterwords, because there's nothing in here to really feel bad about, the only fattening ingredient is the avocado, but it's good fat, and the sugar is limited since you replace some with the agave nectar, and well, whole wheat flour and wheat bran both good for you, so it was a good afternoon!

Ingredients:

• 3 tbsp sugar
• 3/5 tbsp agave nectar
• Juice of 2 limes
• Zest of one lime
• 1 avocado
• 1/2 cup wheat bran
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup EVOO
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp sea salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. In a small bowl, mix avocado, lime juice, lime zest, EVOO, and agave nectar. Mix until smoothe, and all the chunks of avocado are gone. Mix wet ingredients with your dry, and add additional liquids if your batter isn't sticky enough.

Fill muffin tins 3/4 full for 15-20 minutes.

Enjoy :)

Smoked Salmon Mini Quiches

Recipe by yours truly, moi

As mentioned in my latest post I will be starting a job in two weeks. I will be starting an apprenticeship with my mom in the accounting field. Yes, I know, it's much much different than baking, but times are hard, you have to take what you can get, right? This will at least get me in the door and allow me to save up some money to go to school. With that being said, I had leftover smoked salmon and figured I might as well put it to use in some mini quiches that I can pack in my lunch or eat as breakfast's on those early 5:00 am commutes to work. These smell absolutely divine, I can't wait to bite into these bad boys!

Ingredients:

• 4 eggs
• 3/4 cup low-fat sour cream
• 1/2 cup rice milk
• 1/2 cup flour
• 5 broccoli florets, chopped
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• 4 green onion stalks
• 4 tbsp chopped fresh dill
• 3/4 cup smoked salmon
• Dash sea salt
• 1 tsp freshly grinded pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

Chop all of your vegetables, and set aside.

Mix egg, flour, sour cream, milk until well combined. Add your vegetables and spices. Stir until a nice mixture is formed.

Spray or line 12 muffin tins. Fill muffin tins until about 3/4 of the way full.

Bake for 20 mins. Let cool in muffin tray for 5 minutes.

Serve warm and enjoy!

Whole Wheat Banana, Blueberry, Raspberry Bread + Coconut Banana Bread

Whole Wheat Banana, Blueberry, Raspberry Bread

Recipe created by yours truly, moi

This is a great recipe for bread. It uses healthy whole wheat flour and it is sweetened with honey. There is no butter, since it is replaced with healthy extra virgin olive oil. Did you know olive oil can help aid with heart disease and colon cancer, and also is a great source of monounsaturated fatty acids and high contents of antioxidative substances? This bread is so simple to make, its delicious, moist, sweet, and it's perfect for breakfast, snacks and even dessert. What's even nicer about it is that every bite is a surprise. You either get a hit of banana, a little flicker of raspberry or you bite into a big plump summer blueberry, ugh, it's just so perfect!

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup EVOO
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1 banana
• 1 cup frozen raspberry puree
• 1 cup frozen blueberries
• 1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg, allspice, cloves
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 cup water

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F

In a large bowl beat oil and honey together. Add eggs, and mix together well. Stir in the banana, raspberry puree, frozen blueberries, and the vanilla. Then add the flour, salt and spices.

Add baking soda to hot water, stir to disolve, then add to batter.

Spread batter into loaf pan, I chose 2 mini loaves, and six muffins.

Bake for 55-60 minutes - test the loaf by interting a toothpick and adjust baking time. Cool your loaves on a wire rack for 30 minutes before slicing.

Spread a little butter over a slice and enjoy your summer-ful loaf!

Coconut Banana Bread Squares

Recipe adapted from here

When I first started blogging this recipe was one of the first one's I saved. I'm not sure why it has taken me so long to make this recipe because it incorporates some of my favourite flavours but this morning I decided to make it. I figured I had a lot of bananas lying around, and I start work in two weeks so I figured if I make some loaves now and freeze them, I'll have some nice snacks to pack in my lunch! This bread made the house smell like heaven. I have to admit I open the oven two or three times while it was baking to stick my nose in, this also allowed for the whole house to get some coconut-banana aroma in the air. It still smells like its in the oven, and it's been a couple of hours now that it has been taken out. I'm so happy I finally decided to make this beautiful bread! Definitely recommend it if you're a huge coconut banana fan like I am!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tbsp butter, softened
• 2 large eggs
• 4 large bananas
• 1/4 cup low-fat sour cream
• 6 tbsp milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp imitation run extract
• 1/2 cup unsweetened flaked coconut + 2 tbsp to sprinkle on top

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Whisk flour, baking soda and salt together and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar until well blended. Add eggs and beat to combine. Add banana, sour cream, milk, vanilla and rum extracts. Beat until blended. Add flour mixture and beat at a low speed until just combined. Stir in the coconut. Pour batter into an 8.5'x4.5' pan that has been lined. Sprinkle additional coconut on top.

Bake in the oven for about 50-60 minutes or until a knife/skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. When done, let cool on a cooling rack for about 10 minutes then carefully remove from the pan. Cool for another 15 minutes before slicing.

Now take in that insanely gorgeous aroma, and have yourself a piece with a cup of milk, you deserve it!

Enjoy :)

Banana Bonanza

I love bananas. I also love the fact that there are about a bazillion recipes to do with bananas, and the fact that every house hold always seems to have about a bazillion more bananas in their freezer to accompany these recipes.

Interesting fact about bananas: "Bananas are naturally slightly radioactive, more so than most other fruits, because of their high potassium content, and the small amounts of the isotope potassium-40 found in naturally occurring potassium. Proponents of nuclear power sometimes refer to the banana equivalent dose of radiation to support their arguments. Banana shipments often set off the radiation monitors installed at US ports to detect illegal shipments of radiologic materials." Wikipedia.

I always have a stash of “very ripe” i.e. brown, mushy, highly fragrant bananas in the freezer. They are either whole, or peeled and broken into chunks stored in Ziploc bags. Whenever I'm in the mood for a potassium boost, or my freezer is getting a little jam packed with bananas I make some sort of banana bread.

Have bananas that sound like this? You know what you have to do!

Strawberry Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

Recipe adapted from here

Need a new banana recipe? Try this cookie recipe out! This was the first recipe I ever tried from Annie's Eats, from this recipe I knew that her blog was definitely trustworthy. These cookies are soft and cakey, in return allowing you this time to not make banana bread, but still allowing you to have banana bread with your cookies. They have the right amount of spices, as you know, I love my "peppery" spices so the fact that they are mixed with such a flavourful fruit makes these that much more amazing! This recipe is simple and quite easy to make too. *Note, the last time I made these cookies I had strawberries that were coming to the end of their shelf life so I decided to throw these them into the cookies as well, UGH YEAH, AMAZIIIING.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg, at room temperature
• 1 cup of mashed bananas (about 2 1/2 large bananas)
• 1 cup of mashed strawberries
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 cups flour
• Pinch of sea salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and the sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the egg and continue to beat until well incorporated.

In a bowl, mix the mashed bananas and baking soda. Let sit for 2 minutes. The baking soda will react with the acid in the bananas which will in turn give the cookies their lift and rise.

Mix the banana mixture into the butter mixture. Mix together the flour, salt and spices and sift into the butter and banana mixture until just combined.

Fold chocolate chips into the batter. Drop into dollops on baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 11-13 minutes or until nicely golden brown. Let cool on wire racks.

Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

This was a recipe I had before I started blogging and had no need for where the recipe was taken from and I can't recall where I got it from sorry.

Want another recipe similar to banana bread? Here you go. This is one mouth-watering muffin. As mentioned a few posts back I really am not a fan of muffins, however, this, this is just an exception. I don't even know if I would really classify this as a muffin. Really, it has more the consistency of a cupcake, which may be why I like this so much. I was making these for my cousins and they wanted some butterscotch chipits in there as well, the butterscotch definitely made them a lot sweeter, but it was a nice mix. These are a hit with everyone, young and old. They have the right amount of sweet, salty, creamy, awesome... mmmm. I wish my kitchen wasn't under renovation so I could whip up a batch of these puppies!

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
  
• 1/2 tsp salt
  
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (not "natural")
  
• 2/3 cup sugar
  
• 3 large ripe bananas, mashed
  
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten
  
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
  
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 deg. F. Spray the wells of a muffin tin with cooking spray.

In a small bowl mix together the flour, baking soda, and salt.

In a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium-low speed, beat together the peanut butter and sugar together until well blended, about 2 minutes. Add the mashed bananas and eggs and mix well. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.

Stir in the flour mixture with a spoon, mixing just until combined. Stir in the chopped nuts and the chocolate chips.

Divide the batter between the muffin tin wells, filling the wells 2/3 full. Depending on the size of your tins, you will get between 12 and 17 muffins.

Bake for 17 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a muffin comes out clean.

Let the muffins cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then remove them to a cooling rack to finish cooling. Once cooled, the muffins can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3 days. You can also tightly wrap the individual muffins in plastic wrap and store in the freezer for up to 1 month

Banana Bars

Recipe taken from here

This is a really nice banana recipe, it isn't too sweet but still has a really nice flavour. I made a frosting with mascarpone cheese, lime zest, lime juice, vanilla, and chopped walnuts that added such a beautiful flavour to the banana bars that made it into a dessert more-so than a breakfast. I made half with the frosting and half without, they were still just as delicious without the frosting.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup mashed bananas

Directions:

Cream the butter and the sugar. Add the eggs, sour cream and vanilla. Combine the flour and baking soda and gradually add them to the creamed mixture. Stir in the mashed bananas. Spread the batter into a greased 15 x 10 x1 pan (or a 9 x13 and a 8 x8 pan). Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. The cake should spring back to the touch. Once cooled, cut the bars into the size of your choice.

Frosting

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Mascarpone cheese
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• Zest of 1 lime
• Juice from 1/2 lime
• 2 tsp vanilla

Directions:

Mix the ingredients to form a creamy frosting. Spread over the banana bars.

Store the frosted banana bars in the refrigerator or freezer.

Inebriated Poor Knights of Windsor Gone Bananas

Recipe taken from here

Last but not least is a recipe that I myself did not try since there was bread (that wasn't made from me) so I made this for my friend. If going on account of watching her eat this and having to answer whether or not this was good, ugh, I'd say it passed the test. The smells were very aromatic, I'm sure the wine had something to do with that =D, and banana + alcohol is insanely divine so I'm sure if you're a fan of those two items plus bread, I mean who isn't a fan of bread, then you will probably be a fan of this dish!

Ingredients:

• 4 slices of stale bread, crust removed and sliced into triangular halves
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 tablespoon of refined sugar
• 70 ml of white wine (Red wine should be fine too.)
• 1 banana, cut into 1/2 inch slices.
• 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of a neutral vegetable oil (e.g., canola oil or grapeseed oil)

Directions:

Pour the wine into one shallow dish.

Beat the egg yolks together with the sugar and pour the mixture into another shallow dish.

Dip a triangular slice of bread into the wine and then into the egg mixture. Repeat for all the bread slices.

Heat up the 2 frying pans, one on low heat and one on medium heat.

Place the sliced bananas into the frying pan on low heat and let the natural sugars in the bananas do their work in peace for about a few minutes before flipping the bananas to the other side. There is no need to add sugar or butter to aid the caramelisation unless you feel very decadent or just had an amazing workout and need extra calories.

Add the butter and vegetable oil to the frying pan on medium heat, let the mixture heat up, then start frying your inebriated poor knights. Just a couple of minutes on each side. It's ok to peek at the underside to check that Mr. Golden Brown has arrived. Really.

Serve with the caramelised bananas.

Don't just make banana bread next time you have overripe banana's, try one of these excellent recipes for a change!