HEALTHY BANANA BREAD

I made some banana bread yesterday that I really liked and thought I'd share the concocted recipe!

2 cups of whole wheat flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup honey/agave
1/4 cup applesauce
1.5 cups mashed ripe banana (3 medium)
1/2 cup egg whites (2 large)
1/3 cup greek yogurt
1 tsp vanilla extract
.5 cup chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips)

I used whole wheat flour instead of white, honey instead of sugar (I was out of Agave), applesauce instead of oil or butter and greek yogurt instead of sour cream. The overall result was a dense but moist bread that was really good and I didn't notice the flour change as much as thought I might. I think with the bananas, applesauce and yogurt it really helped add the moisture that whole wheat flour needs.

I hope you try it and tell me what you think!

PS. I drizzled a little caramel sauce over the top as we had some in the fridge we needed to use up!

CHOCOLATE AVOCADO PUDDING

I can't believe I've never made this before!

It was so quick and easy and you have all the ingredients in your kitchen already!

I used this recipe.

 

The recipe is basically avocado, cocoa powder, honey (I used agave), vanilla and salt.

I'm going to have to use avocado in more baking now that I have an endless supply!

You can substitute it for butter in most baking recipes!

I also got to use the Christmas present I got Jared - food processor/immersion blender combo. Here's what I got him: The top half of the hand blender comes off then attaches to the top of the food processor which powers the blades. I highly recommend something like this as it takes up little room and it's two different uses in one!

I'VE BEEN BUSY

It feels like it's been awhile since I've posted anything, yet I have been so busy lately!
I haven't gotten around to editing my photos of last weekends getaway - hopefully tomorrow!
Once I get onto one project, it's all I put my spare time into until it's done . . . well, the dollhouse is huge and needs a lot of work, so I've been preoccupied. I'm not trying to get the whole thing done at once, but my goal is the outside - and I'm almost done. I'm hoping Jared helps me attach the front porch roof this weekend so I can get it finished. I can't believe how completely different it looks with very little money spent (but A LOT of time spent). Aubrey loves playing in it - even though it freaks me out when she touches the breakable stuff. She's actually quite gentle.

Today was very warm so we needed a cool treat. Luckily I had made fudgicles last night! We made a chicken Thai dish and it never calls for a full can of coconut milk, so I was determined to use it all up. I found this recipe and made it right away. They are great and easy!

 Basically it's just coconut milk (or regular milk), cocoa powder, banana and vanilla. 

I want to try some other fruit popsicles as well, like raspberry and pineapple.

STUFFED ZUCCHINI

I found this recipe and I tried it last night and I will definitely make it again. My zucchini was too small to use as cups so I cut them in half lengthwise, removed some seeds and piled the meat mixture on top. I also put mozzarella on top and fresh basil.

cinnamon pull-apart bread

 

I finally tried this pull-apart bread I found on Pinterest here. 

It's still cooling so I haven't tried it, but I'm sure it's good!

I didn't use their recipe for the dough, I just used the basic white bread recipe for my breadmaker and made the dough in the machine so I didn't have to worry about paying attention to it.

Then I followed the rest of the recipe.

healthy goldfish crackers

 

I found this recipe here and thought it would be worth trying out. The instructions say to mix the dry ingredients until a sand texture - I couldn't get that fine with my hand mixer, so mine are a little lumpier.

 

 I couldn't find a fish cookie cutter, but I found a cute little mushroom cutter and turned it into a fish by reshaping the mushroom cap into a tail. I then poke a hole for the eye and used the bottom part of a heart cutter for the mouth.

 

Mine aren't as nice looking as the recipe photos, but they taste good and Aubrey likes them.

Now she is getting some whole grain, cheese (which she won't eat) and sweet potato!

Purée?

 

I made salmon and scallops tonight, just for myself. The fish was a little over cooked, but it was still good. My favourite part was the parsnip puree!

Have you ever pureed vegetables to use as a type of sauce for your meat? It's so good. Pea puree is also good. I just boiled the parsnip (don't use the core) with some salt and pepper. Then I put in a blender with some milk, a pinch of nutmeg and a tsp of brown sugar and pureed it. That's it!

 

You can see I actually licked my plate clean!

Craft + Fun

 Tiny Polaroid magnets I got from this tutorial.

Every night Aubrey requests a face for dinner. It's fun making up a different face every night and she usually eats the whole face, so it's worth making!

Summer treat

 

I may have posted this last summer, but it's just such a great idea. (from my sis-in-law, Ali).

This favorite frozen treat is simply yogurt and graham cracker crumbs. In this case I used lemon yogurt, but an flavor will do. They didn't have a large container of lemon at the store, so we bought 2 small cups and it filled these four popsicles just fine. Sometimes the best flavors only come in the individual serving sizes. I know that at Safeway here in the states, has Lucerne yogurt cups with flavor such as banana cream pie.

BBQ Pulled Pork

Jared made the best pulled pork I've ever had. It was of course from our Weber BBQ grilling book that has never let us down. But you don't need to BBQ the pork for it to turn out so well. We crock potted ours for convenience. If anyone wants the recipe, email me and I'll send it to you. I don't want to post it on here out of respect of copyright.

A quick dinner

I'm always looking for a quick meal idea when I have to make dinner for just myself. Aubrey is somewhat picky. Although she eats almost every kind of vegetable, she doesn't eat a lot of meat. She does, however, like popcorn shrimp so we keep some in the freezer to add to her meals once and awhile. When Jared is working evenings I sometimes just throw leftover salad into a wrap (or whatever else is leftover in the fridge), so since Aubrey wanted some shrimp I threw that in too - kinda like a fish taco. It was simple and really good. I threw in what was in my fridge: lettuce, peppers, peas, radishes,  carrots and cheese along with a little ranch dressing.

Jared's Birthday

Jared's birthday was on Wednesday, he had to work that night so I made him a cake and we took it to him at work. I found the recipe at Our Best Bites - if you haven't checked this site out, you should. None of the recipes have failed me yet! Although I did simply the recipe: I didn't use their mousse recipe, instead I just made some Chantilly cream (whipping cream, icing sugar and vanilla) and added cocoa powder to it. And instead of their ganache recipe I just bought a bottle pre-made which was cheaper and easier. I also used skor bits instead of heath bits. But it was really good and pretty easy.

 

On another note, I just bought a martha stewart punch pack that was on sale and I LOVE it! I made Jared's card with it. I've redone my website again and wanted to incorporate the punched edge it makes so that's really why I bought it. With it I can make my own custom cut business cards or package materials.

Crepes

I don't know why it's taken me so long to try and make crepes from scratch - they were so easy. I guess I was falsely intimated by them. I followed the recipe on ourbestbites.com and it was so easy and quick.
I put all the ingredients in a blender and then poured right onto the pan. I used the recipe from here.

Banana cream

 

Well, I finally tried making ice cream with just bananas and I think it was pretty good. The consistency was realistic and kind of like a really thick soft serve. I added nutella and peanut butter to mine. I also think it would be good with strawberries or do a piña coloda with some pineapple and coconut milk. Id also like to try making some Popsicles out of it. All in all a pretty easy and healthy desert without dairy.

I so want to try this . . .

 

One ingredient all natural, healthy ice cream??

Click HERE to go to the blog I found this on. It's just frozen chunks of banana ground in a food processor. You can also add other flavours to it, but the texture is suppose to be creamy and ice-cream like. I must try it out!

I've been pretty busy helping other people with projects so I haven't gotten around to my 365 photo for yesterday yet, but Aubrey woke up at 7am and when I came out into the living room I could see Mt. Rainier crystal clear (it's not usually clear very often here) as the sun was rising, so I made Jared get up so I could go drive up the hill to get some photos of downtown and the mountain!

365 | Day 20 - Yummy Pumpkin Muffins

Aubrey helped me make these muffins today and they are really yummy. Here's the link to the RECIPE.

Salad #2

I just made the chop salad minus the chicken. I can't be bothered to cook up chicken just for a salad for one person, and if I had of planned better I would have made it when I had some leftover chicken to use up. It wasn't quite like the hotel version. I used a blue cheese vinaigrette instead of a cream dressing which gave it a different flavor. I also found the apricots to be a little too sweet. They might have been sweetened. If you aren't a blue cheese fan but don't mind trying this, just ask at the grocery store for their mildest blu cheese. The flavor really mellows out in this salad.
Here are the ingredients again:
Lettuce
Blue cheese crumbles
Grapes
Dried apricot chopped
Walnuts chopped
Dried cranberries
Chicken cubes or shredded
Blue cheese or balsamic dressing

My Favourite Salads

There are 2 salads that we get at the hotel quite often that are the best salads I've ever had. I'm not sure of quantity of the following ingredients, but I don't think you could go wrong.

Chicken Chop Salad

Iceberg lettuce
Diced chicken (great use for leftovers)
Grapes (cut in half)
Blue cheese crumbles (could use feta if you don't like blue cheese)
Candied walnuts
Chopped dried apricot (if you didn't know - apricot and blue cheese are GREAT together!)
Dried cranberries
Blue cheese dressing (or balsamic is great).

Indian-Spiced Prawn Salad

Apples and/or pears cubed
Mango cubed
Avocado sliced or diced
Cooked prawns
Cilantro
Indian spice (not sure what they use, it's not curry, maybe tandoori spice??)
If you wanted to add a lettuce I think butter crunch would be really nice.

Try making these and tell me how it went! I can't wait to try when I have a kitchen!

(Salads taken from the Fairmont Olympic Hotel)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Julianne gave me this sugar cookie recipe that I just loved (after helping myself to her cookies) so I tried it out last night when I made these Valentine's Day cookies. I thought I'd share the recipe - it's very light and fluffy!

Farm House Sugar Cookies:

Cream Together:

2 cups sugar
1 cup butter
2 eggs
1/2 tsp baking soda
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup sour cream
4.5 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt.

Roll out 1/4 inch thick on floured surface. Use open cookie cutter. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes. Shouldn't brown around edges. Ice while warm.

I opted out for icing and used sugar instead. An easy way to add colour to your cookies without icing is to add some sugar to a ziplock bag, add a few drops of colour of your choice and then use the bag to work the colouring into the sugar.