s-t-w: March 2013

Hello hello! The interesting in my life is on hiatus, so let's have a pic spam of dreamy, faraway places, yes? I think Versailles is a good place to start - the home of the infamous Marie Antoinette and her unfortunate husband, Louis XVI. I think in one of the pics you can see a tiny, hidden doorway in her bedchamber through which she fled when the revolutionaries came. There's also pics of the dazzling hall of mirrors where the Versailles Treaty was signed, and where soldiers were hospitalized during the Franco-Prussian War (that must have been a strange sight). It sounds cheesy, but walking through historic sights like these (even if they are filled with tourists) has always stirred some awe and nostalgia in me, and it's that fascination that keeps me up at 3 a.m. reading the wikipedia on the Black Death or the Battle of Waterloo.

I can't believe how much cooking I'm doing these days. I only wanted to test out our new oven, but that quickly spiraled out of control.... Even worse that PBS was hosting a marathon of Downton Abbey season 3 so for several hours I was mashing bananas in the kitchen and screaming at the TV as another show killed off my favorite characters. What's good was that by the end of the marathon I had made an arsenal of healthy comfort food that I inhaled upon seeing the season's finale ( why, Downton whyyy??) but enough about that let's get to the food!

Cranberry Banana Walnut Bread

Recipe adapted from FatFreeVegan Cherry-Walnut Banana Bread

The original recipe calls for apple sauce, but I substituted Greek Yogurt and Coconut oil in its stead to make it more moist.

Ingredients

3 over-ripe bananas
2 tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 cup of Greek Yogurt
1/4 cup of Coconut Oil (melted)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2.In a large bowl, mash the bananas and add the lemon juice, coconut oil, Greek yogurt, vanilla, and sugar. Stir well to combine. In a separate bowl, combine the remaining ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the banana mixture, and stir just until the mixture is well-combined.

3. Spray or wipe a loaf pan with coconut oil. Powder the sides and bottom with flour, then tap out the excess. Spread the mixture evenly in the pan and bake until a toothpick or knife inserted in the center comes out clean, about 60 minutes. Allow to cool before serving.

Berry Chia-seed Overnight Oats
This is a recipe I've been making for a long time, and I've made many, many tweaks by pulling from different sources, so I'm just going to share my usual routine.

Ingredients

1 ripe banana
2/3 cup of rolled oats
1 cup of milk
1 tbsp chia seeds
pinch of cinnamon
pinch of salt
2/3 cup of Greek Yogurt
1 tsp. of pure vanilla extract
2/3 cup of frozen mixed berries

1. Combine all ingredients except the frozen berries in a bowl. Mash the bananas with a spoon and stir the ingredients. Mix in the berries.

2. Cover and refrigerate over night.
3. Top with toasted Granola (recipe coming up next) and drizzle in maple syrup. SO YUMMY!

Lightened Up Summer Granola
Recipe found here: Oh She Glows: Lightened Up Summer Granola

I've always wanted to try out granola, but the store-bought ones have wayyyy too much sugar and extras. I really like this recipe; the granola turned out crispy and smelled really really good. Plus now I have a tupper-ware full of them that I can sprinkle on everything.

Butternut Squash Butter
Recipe from here: EatLiveRun: Quick and Easy Butternut Butter

Our subscription to Farm Fresh to You always leaves us with an excess amount of Butternut Squash that we do absolutely nothing with and leave around the house as decor, so instead of making pumpkin butter as originally planned, I made good use of those poor, neglected butternut squashes.