Banana Bread
Can be vegan.
Banana bread is one of my favorite foods. I get random cravings for it, and this is the recipe that I always use to make it. It’s so good warm out of the oven. I mean, I never really eat it any other time, considering my brother and I devour the loaf as soon as it’s baked. It seems that the “one-more-small-slice” method always finishes with an empty loaf pan. Oops!
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup walnuts
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 3/4 cup quick oats
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips (vegan version: carob chips)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 cup mashed bananas (~2 bananas)
- 1/4 cup canola oil
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 3/4 cup milk (vegan version: use almond milk or soy milk)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
Method:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Combine the dry ingredients in a small bowl.
- Combine the wet ingredients in a larger bowl.
- Wisk the wet and dry ingredients together in the large bowl, making sure not to overwork the batter.
- Pour the batter into a greased or lined loaf pan (8 x 4 x 2.5”).
- Bake for about 35-40 minutes, then rotate the pan. Bake for another 40 to 45 minutes until edges begin to pull away and the center is cooked through.
- Let cool at least 15 minutes, slice, and enjoy!
vegan pumpkin spice latte
at most coffee chains (starbucks, dunkin) the seasonal drinks contain milk, so heres how to make a yummy pumpkin spice latte at home:
ingredients:
- hot coffee (approx. 6 ounces)
- 1/3-1/2 cup soy milk (or other milk substitute)
- 3 table spoons canned pumpkin
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- a packet of sweetener (or tbsp of sugar or agrave)
- dash of cinnamon
mix the canned pumpkin into the hot coffee and stir throughly, then add the soy milk (heat it before hand), and then mix in all the other ingredients and sprinkle cinnamon and nutmeg on top if you like. you can also mix a tsp of cocoa powder in to make it a mocha pumpkin latte :)
Kellie's Peanut/Lime/Chilli Tofu Salad
Ingredients:
- 100g organic firm tofu- cut into strips
- 1 tsp lime juice
- 1 tsp honey
- 2 tsp salt-reduced soy sauce
- 1 tsp vinegar
- 1 tsp crushed garlic
- 1 tsp minced ginger
- 2 Tbsp sweet chilli sauce
- 1 tsp peanut oil
- Small handful (about 1/4 cup) dry-roasted peanuts
- Handful baby spinach, chopped
- About 3/4 cup ready-chopped coleslaw vegetable mix (I buy this from the supermarket, it’s a mix of carrot, cabbage and onions)
- Green capsicum
- 100g chickpeas
- Any extra vegetables you wish to add- I’ve added tomato and avocado, any vegetables are delicious with the dressing :)
Method:
1. Prepare dressing/sauce by combining lime, honey, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, ginger, and sweet chilli sauce in a small bowl. If you like you’re dishes extra hot, you may wish to add a bit of extra crushed chilli.
2. Prepare tofu using the ‘dry-fry’ method. This involved frying the tofu in a non-stick pan (without oil) which removes moisture, allowing the tofu to absorb more of the marinate. Place tofu in a non-stick pan over LOW HEAT, and cook until moisture begins to sizzle out of the tofu (You’re not looking brown/cook the tofu, just heating it to remove moisture). See this article for more information on preparing tofu using the dry-fry and marinate method.
3. Remove tofu from heat and add to marinate. Stir to coat tofu completely. Set side for a minimum of 1-2 hours.
4. Meanwhile, chop and prepare all vegetables. Toss in a large bowl, and top with peanuts. Remove tofu from marinate, reserving left-over sauce to use as a salad dressing. Drizzle dressing over salad and toss to coat.
5. Heat oil in a small non-stick pan. Add tofu and cook over low-medium heat until tofu is crispy and golden. Remove from heat. Top salad with tofu pieces and serve.
Sweet Potato Poblano Soup
A few days ago, my mom came home in a frenzy carrying a single grocery bag filled with seemingly random items. She then whipped a magazine out of her purse. It was Natural Health magazine, and she’d stolen it from the doctors office. Turns out a specific soup recipe had caught her eye, and she decided that we had to try it. She bought all of the ingredients on the way home, and we finally made it tonight!
Anyway, we ended up changing the recipe a bit, but the original recipe is from Whole Living and can be found HERE.
First we, chopped and broiled the veggies. We added a few and removed a few from the recipe and ended up using: 2 sweet potatoes, 1 parsnip, 2 onions, 4 carrots, 5 cloves of garlic, and 3 poblano peppers. All roasted in copious amounts of olive oil, or course.
Then, the vegetables are put in a large pot. Instead of adding water and white wine, we added vegetable broth. The spices are also mixed in, as well as the salt and pepper. We added some roasted corn (pre-roasted and frozen from Trader Joes), too!
This is covered and allowed to simmer for 45 minutes or so. The recipe calls for whisking in light coconut milk, but we served it first and added it individually serving by serving.
The soup was garnished with fresh scallions and cilantro! I ate it for dinner along with some quesadillas made from corn tortillas and a cheddar/ asiago cheese mix, and then a salad of avocado, orange sections, and red onion dressed with olive oil and red wine vinegar.
I love cooking with my family and I’ll try to do more posts like this!
Ooo yum! Can you publish the salsa stuff recipe :)
1 tsp olive oil, 1/4 brown onion (finely diced), 1/2 green chilli (deseeded and sliced), 1 tsp crushed garlic, 1 Tbsp tomato paste, 100g ‘no-added-salt’ kidney beans, 1 large tomato (finely diced), 1/4 green capsicum (diced), 1/2 zucchini (diced), mixed herbs, 1/4 cup water,
Directions: Heat oil in a large fry-pan on high heat, and onion, garlic, and chilli, cooking until onion is browned. Add tomato paste, kidney beans, capsicum and zucchini. Cook for 5 minutes or until vegetables has begun to soften. Add tomato and reduce heat. Cook for a further 10 minutes or until all vegetables are cooked through and mixture is’ ‘sauce-like’ (use water if salsa begins to burn on the bottom of the pan, or mixture looks as though it needs more liquid.)
I just kind of made it up on the spot using the ingredients I had on hand- you could also add some avocado, cheese or sour cream to the top before serving :) Serve over organic sea salt corn chips.
