Banana Bread with Currants and toasted Cashews and a Secret Ingredient (exposed)

I made a super ad-hoc loaf of banana bread this morning.
Here we go...


-4 super ripe bananas (small side)
-1/4 cup oil (I used olive)
-1/2 cup sugar
-2 Tbs maple syrup (molasses would be good too)
-3 Tbs Seedless Blackberry Jelly (its the secret ingredient)

-2 cups flour (I used whole wheat)
-3/4 tsp baking soda
-1 tsp cinnamon
-1/2 tsp salt
-1/4 tsp nutmeg

-currants about 1/2 cup
-cashews on top

Heat oven to 350 F and grease one loaf pan.

Smoosh the bananas real nice in a medium sized bowl. Then add the oil, sugar, syrup, and jelly and mix until well integrated.

Sift in the flour, baking soda, and spices and then mix until integrated. Add currants and mix 'em in.

Pour into pan and then sprinkle with nuts (I like cashews) and throw it in the oven for 60-75 minutes. Super fine!

Moroccan Lentils and Kale

This is so delicious!

Moroccan Lentils and Kale (Vegan and Gluten Free)

-2 tbs olive oil
-1 yellow onion (chopped)
-1 carrot (chopped)
-2 stalks celery (chopped)

-5 cloves garlic (minced)
-1 tsp each
paprika, turmeric, cumin, cinnamon

-1 cup red cooking wine
-1 can stewed tomatoes
-1 cup red lentils

-a bunch of chopped kale (however much you can fit in the pan)
-touch of salt

Add the olive oil to a sauce pan on medium heat, add onion, celery, and carrot. Let Onions caramelize, about 5-7 minutes. Add garlic and spices and let cook for about another minute.

Add 1/2 cup of the cooking wine, add the lentils, and add the full can of stewed tomatoes(smoosh the tomatoes up with your hands to distribute their juices). Stir and let simmer for about 5 minutes.

Add chopped kale and the rest of the cooking wine. Stir often. Add some water if necessary. Cook until lentils are ready(they will turn light orange and then become soft).
Add Salt and parsley for garnish if you like.

Eat yum!

beer is a wonderful thing!

I have had some wonderful craft brews lately and I just needed to share. I bet many dont know of my interest in Beer, but it is a part of me... ha maybe? I like it anyways. so here are some exceptional brews I have tasted as of late.






My favorite of these 3, and possibly my new favorite brew is the Hop Wallop Ale from Victory Brewery, so amazing! It is first an unexpected flavor, sweet and citrus and intriguing before the bitter hops begins to settle. It is a joyride of the taste buds. Really good!!!! I recommend it to all IPA/hop heads everywhere, this Prospector will show you the gold!

these others I am showing as images are also delicious! the nectar is a little sweet, but I only expected the sweetness from a company called nectar and the Harpoon Leviathan is really good! with a cool sea monster and everything, not syrupy and 10% ABV, dios mio!!!!!

Breakfast in Bed... I wish!!!

OOOOOhhhhhh VEGan crepes with NANNERS and Maple syrup! so good, I had them in bed with a cup of coffee on a TUESDAY!

right????


Here's the recipe!

Crepes:

• 1/2 cup soymilk
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup melted margerine
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 tablespoons Maple Syrup
• 1 cup flour (I used whole wheat)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• touch of nutmeg
• touch of cardamon
  

Mix all ingredients together, all at once!!! Then let it sit for hours!!! (like 2 or overnight then add some soymilk to make it a little thinner, but not as thin as non vegan crepes, you'd be surprised... I made a 1/2 batch that made four crepes, that's good enough for two, for sure!

So then heat a non-stick pan up with the least amount of grease/oil that you can manage, the littler the better. I have used a cast iron pan and I am not sure if I didn't let it sit long enough or if it just didn't work in that pan... but it was a disaster so definitely mind the sit time.

Put whatever you want in them , I just happened to have a bunch of ripening bananas so I used them.
Try: other yummy fruits prepared any way but maybe not citrus but it could work, nuts any way, dried fuits, preserves, ADD PEANUTBUTTER!!!!!!!!!!!! (other nut butter), sweet delicious things....

Vegan crepes are hard. This is the only way I have seen them done without egg substitutes or using other baking tricks. I like these the best, though they are sweet and not ideal for savory crepes, they are the best ones I have come up with!

Enjoy!!!

Cocao V: Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate, and some more chocolate

For easter, instead of going home and have a huge decadent brunch with the family, I had to stay in NYC and do lots of homework, yuck. The weather is so nice and all I wanted to do was go outside and indulge in a leisurely weekend. That couldn't happen, but I did have a very leisurely and decadent lunch with friends at Cocoa V a vegan chocolatier in Chelsea, right near Blossom. Though they are mostly dedicated to there absolutely beautiful chocolates, they also serve desserts like cake, cupcakes, and brownie sundaes which is what I had. They also have a lunch menu, I sampled some vegan quiche, what they call "the whimsical Quiche of the day" and a Chickpea Tuna melt. The lunch was ok, the quiche was pretty good, but I would stick to the chocolates myself.

So The brownie sundae was super delicious, with vanilla soy dream and chocolate and marshmallow sauces.

We also sampled chocolates, and it was a real treat! And had coffee, I believe the Roaster is Stumptown.

This is my vote for the Best:

1. That beautiful green chocolate contains an amazing fruit goo, a really interesting mix of Pistachios and Apple, The Pistapple
2. The one with pink swirls, though not as pretty as the Pistapple, had a very interesting gooey filling, sweet and rich, and full of burnt sugar grain! yum.
3. The Pretzel cluster, everyone likes crunchy, sweet, salt, its a scientific fact!