Banana Split… In A Glass… For Breakfast

It wasn't until taking the last few sips of my breakfast smoothie the other day that I realized just how much it reminded me of a banana split. Up until that point I just kept thinking, "This tastes gooooood! Maybe too good for something that's supposed to be breakfast?… Nah!"

Just like a real banana split it's got dairy, bananas, strawberries, vanilla, and chocolate (yum!). The only things missing are the whipped cream, sprinkles, and a cherry on top. Oh yeah... and the "I-can't-believe-I-ate-all-that" guilt. There's not a lick of that.

Unlike a bona fide banana split, this is packed with pro-biotics, leafy greens, and wheat germ. But you'd sure never know it from the taste....

Love Is A Many Blendered Thing

I've been wanting to try making a green smoothie for a while, but never seem to have any extra greens sitting around. What I do have are a lot of herbs in my garden… they're green, do they count? I even have beet greens... although the variety we planted are ruby red, I think they'll do.

Wandering through my front and back yards, I clipped a bit of this, snipped off a bit of that until I had a big handful of "greens"...
 

Also intriguing me has been the idea of the whole-citrus vinaigrette. I just love the idea of pulverizing and consuming the whole fruit. Maybe I'm just excited about not having to slice, squeeze, zest, or otherwise fuss with it. It is simplicity and laziness together at their beautiful best. Why not try it in a smoothie?

I picked a small ripe lemon from our dwarf Meyer tree on the back patio and headed into the kitchen...

The smoothie I created is entirely experimental and admittedly, a little bizarre. I basically shopped from my garden and my freezer with a "let's see what happens" attitude. What happened was a surprising combination of flavors and a smoothie like no other. It's very lemon-forward due to the whole lemon of course, but also to all the lemon-scented herbs I used. Each one lemony, but in slightly different ways.

I've included the recipe here, not because I think anyone else would want to recreate it, so much as to show just how completely crazy you can get when making smoothies, and still end up with something really tasty....

Delish Dish: Baked Oatmeal

The truth... I made this fantastic baked oatmeal and photographed it a couple of months ago.  We're talking July people. It was summer and though we had an unseasonably cool one, the rest of the country was sizzling hot. So, I thought I'd put off posting about it until the seasons changed and things started to cool off.

The whole truth... right now, I don't feel like writing or cooking or photographing. At all. I could point to a dozen different factors that aligned to produce this current state of apathy but really, it just is what it is, and I've got to work my way through it. It's a good thing I had this oatmeal in my back pocket... so to speak.

Nothing but the truth... if I had the ingredients on hand, I would make this Baked Oatmeal for breakfast tomorrow. Or Sunday. Even feeling the way I do right now, I would rally just long enough to get this into the oven. It really is that good. Honest.

My Freezer Is Trying To Tell Me Something

Is it... Banana bread? Maybe muffins? Or a smoothie? Decisions, decisions...
(Uh-oh... smoothies aren't baked... will I get in trouble for not following directions if I make one?)

Primal Ice Cream Therapy

This is a "fake" I've been wanting to try for a long time (if a year or two is a long time). With the sun now making the occasional appearance, and warmer days around the corner, is it any wonder that my thoughts would turn to ice cream? Is it any wonder that those very same thoughts would be fairly depressing to a girl without an allowance for store-bought frozen treats? Now, however, I can once again scream for ice cream... and smile too, because this "ice cream" is creamy and all natural, full of vitamins, potassium, and fiber, as well as being dairy free, and well virtually... free!

Something From (almost) Nothing

So if you're tired of banana bread or it's too hot to turn on the oven, or maybe you just want some ice cream without the dollop of guilt on top... or maybe you forgot to freeze the ice cream maker insert and the kids are screamin'... This is about the fastest and easiest way to get from almost nothing to really something...

Low-Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread

Because sometimes breakfast needs to be as easy as cutting off a slice or two of the banana bread in the fridge...

Because this time of year, it's nice to eat something occasionally that isn't so sweet it makes your teeth ache....

Because sometimes you just need to do something with the black banana collection in the freezer...

Because sometimes the butter needs be used for baking more important things... like cookies.

Seriously... there's no butter in this. That thrills me to no end, and not because of any caloric reasons either... it's just difficult to bake things when you're out of butter (or when your favorite cookie recipes have called dibs on all of it). It's simply a good recipe to have in your bag of tricks, in your arsenal, up your sleeve, or even, oh... in your recipe box (because you're much more organized than I am)...

They Go Together Like... [fill in the blank]

Peanut butter, banana, chocolate & coffee. Four regular residents in my kitchen. Sometimes they like to be on their own, but they always love getting together when they can and seem to truly enjoy each other's company. They're good friends. They bring out the best in each other by being supportive, encouraging, and complimentary. With so many different and delicious ways to combine them, where does one start?

Start here... How To Make Homemade Peanut Butter (Joy The Baker) and make your own peanut butter from honey roasted peanuts... that's right, honey roasted peanut butter. Pure genius. How could I not try it? The honey roasted peanuts were cheaper than the plain ones after all, and I'm all about saving money. It is, incidentally, by the way, and in fact, fantastically tasty. Is making peanut butter from scratch cost effective? Not sure. Math was not one of my strongest subjects, especially when trying to compare weights and volumes, but if you can find peanuts that are at a really good price... go for it. At least you'll know what is and (maybe more importantly) what isn't in your peanut butter. O.k.? Now, go work through the following two lists of recipes...

Waffling

"To waffle" is a verb. It refers to indecision. I wouldn't know anything about that. Yes, I would. Well, no... o.k. maybe a little. Let's just say... It's something I'm working on. 

"To waffle" could also refer to the act of making waffles. We wouldn't call the person making the waffles, a "waffle maker" (that's what we make the waffles with). So if you waffled, you would be a waffler, right? And just so we're straight on this... being a waffler is not the same as being THE Waffler; as in the wannabe super-hero in the movie Mystery Men. If I were a super-hero, a waffle maker would not be my first choice in weaponry. Of course, wielded unconventionally, a waffle maker (especially an old all-metal one) could put some serious hurt on a bad guy. But super-hero or not, if you needed something solid and heavy with which to defend yourself or your home, chances are your waffle maker is in the back of that awkward corner cupboard in the kitchen, or above the fridge behind three florist vases, seven logo glasses, and a Salad Shooter. Better to be the kind of domestic super-hero who can whip up a steamin' batch of fragrant waffles on any given Saturday morning. Waffles make people happy, and making people happy is the most super of all super-powers.

Someone who has truly mastered the waffle maker, would of course be known as a Master Waffler. Achieving this skill-level is no small feat. I should know. I am a novice-waffler. Recently bequeathed/burdened with a gift of not one, but two pre-owned waffle makers, I know that the road ahead is crispy and filled with little square divots designed to trip me up as I discover the secrets of enwafflement*.

Sipping On Sunshine

Monday morning was drizzly gray and I was a moody blue. I needed instant sunshine. I needed an influx of happiness. But how can you generate that from within a foggy funk? Fresh fruit (and a little alliteration) always perks me up. Maybe it was time to do something with the mangoes I got at the market the other day (2 for $1.00!). It's as good a starting point as any, and frankly, a lot better than some.

Banana Bread (Island Style)

This is what happens to banana bread when it dreams of lolling about on a tropic isle. The slightly less-than-exotic reality is that it's June and today it is raining. Looks like I'll just have to toast up a thick slice of this fantastic banana bread, make a steaming mug of coconut chai to go with it... and day-dream of palm trees swaying in balmy breezes and warm sand between my toes. Sigh.*

Coconut Pineapple Vegan Banana Bread from Joy The Baker

My Notes: Argh! I was going to put walnuts in this and forgot. I'm twice as bummed because I doubled the recipe and now I have 2 loaves of walnut-less banana bread. Come to think of it, Macadamia nuts would be even better than walnuts in this (if only I had some!). Even without the nuts, this is a stellar recipe - extremely tasty. If you don't like coconut (we'll talk later), throw in some chopped up dried fruit instead and you'll be all set. I used TJ's baking spray (still trying to use it up), "freezer bananas", and metal loaf pans. Baked for about 55 minutes before the knife-test came out clean.

*Looks like I'd better put on a Mermen CD while I'm at it 'cuz nobody does psychedelic-moody-surf-trance like they do. And trust me on this: if you're in the mood to listen to that, you'll know it. Somehow... you just know.

Banana Bread (Basic)

There were more frozen bananas in our freezer than you could shake a stick at.* Probably enough for four loaves of banana bread. At least. That's kind of a lot. So I thawed 6 of them, got out my favorite recipe and then realized that I don't have any whole wheat flour. I don't even have any white whole wheat flour.

Back to the books in search of a basic, but potentially yummy banana bread recipe. I found one that looked promising; the most exotic ingredient was sour cream. This also turned out to be the perfect opportunity to try out the "Beater Blade Plus" that I got as a birthday gift.**  After a couple little adjustments, it was running smooth. Yee Haw! I could just kiss the person who invented this thing!

Seriously, but I digress... It's like banana bread central around here sometimes. The funny thing is, I never really made it before this last year. For the life of me, I don't know why... it's cheap, tasty, filling, sort of healthy, freezes well and tastes great even without butter (not many foods can boast that).
 

The Best Banana Bread

Page 106, The Martha Stewart Cookbook: Collected Recipes For Everyday, 1995

Notes: Doubled the recipe. Didn't measure the bananas. Recipe called for 1 cup mashed (doubled would be 2 cups). Most recipes say 3 bananas, so I doubled it and used six (and crossed my fingers once I realized what I'd done). Greased pans with butter wrappers. Tester was not clean at 1 hour. Rotated pans and baked for 10 more minutes... still not clean. Another ten minutes did the trick. One hour and 20 minutes total. Rested on sides on rack for 10 minutes then attempted to turn out. The first loaf released perfectly, the second... we'll just say less than perfect. Should have let it rest a bit longer probably and not insisted when it resisted. But broken or not, it tastes great!

*I'd love to know the origin of that phrase. Tried to look it up online but its etymology is apparently unknown. Lots of definitions, lots of guesses, no definite origins. Regardless of where the term came from, I have six less bananas in my freezer and can now shake a stick at the remainder as much as I want. Still don't know just why I'd want to though.

**I'm not a woman who has issues with receiving cooking implements from my husband on gift-giving occasions. Other household accoutrements are a whole different story. We would have to have a "discussion" if I found a pretty bow tied to a dust-buster or some such item. Cool tools for the kitchen though? Bring it on. Just maybe not on Valentine's Day.

Blueberry Banana Pancakes

What do you do when you have an excess of fresh blueberries, strawberries and bananas that won't keep forever? You make blueberry banana pancakes with strawberries on top! The mashed banana in the batter lends a nice subtle note of flavor to each bite. I also like this recipe because it doesn't call for buttermilk. I know it's great in pancakes, but how often do I have buttermilk on hand? Never. And I'm just not the sort to plan my breakfast the day before. For guests or a holiday, yes. Otherwise, I make a variation of these...

Banana Bread (Whole Wheat)

We're in the middle of a heatwave and I've been loath to do any baking whatsoever. Sometimes you have no choice in the matter though. Hot summer days make for overripe bananas; I already have 6 of them in the freezer and another bunch are well on their way to becoming "ingredients". Time to bake some bread!

I wanted to try a different recipe since I'm still rather new at banana bread and don't have a favorite yet. Rather than go to the internet for a recipe, I thought I should utilize my little arsenal of cookbooks instead. I picked up the first book on the shelf and looked in the index... bingo! There's no photo (eek!) and no heartwarming story or imagery-rich description, just the recipe. It met all the requirements though: sounded tasty, looked easy, and we have all the ingredients on hand. What really caught my eye was that it called for whole-wheat flour (whole-wheat flour makes things healthy and takes away any residual guilt you might have after eating more than one serving). I went for it.

One word of warning if you own this book: 
The recipe is on a page-turn. Ingredients are listed on the bottom of 305, flip the page, the instructions are at the top of 306. I recommend that when making this recipe in future, employ the process known as mise-en-place. I kept flipping the page back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And that is nothing short of a recipe for disaster in my book. It is not unheard of for "someone" to start on one recipe and finish on quite another. A page turn mid-recipe only facilitates that scenario. Yes, I can be that absent-minded sometimes. Thankfully this wasn't one of those times.

• Banana Bread (Whole Wheat) Pages 305 - 306 of The Silver Palate Cookbook, Anniversary Edition, 2007
• If you don't have the book, try here: Silver Palate Banana Bread at Epicurious 

My Notes: I thawed 3 of my frozen bananas on the counter and when the time came, picked the gooey things up in order to assess the best way to proceed. Though kind of gross and on the very brink of sliminess, I pulled one strip of the black peel halfway back and squeezed gently from the opposite end; the banana guts slipped right out. I guess it wasn't really that gross (it is just fruit after all). The dough was quite thick until the mashed bananas were added, and then it reached a typical batter consistency. Even without the mise-en-place, the batter went together easily and fast. It needed the full 60 minutes to bake. Released from the pan like a champ. Now, the smell of it is driving me crazy. It's that time between lunch and dinner when I typically feel "snacky". Probably not a good time to bake treats. Or maybe the perfect time. This is a dark, rich and delicious loaf of banana bread with a fine, dense (but not heavy) crumb. Familiar where it should be, yet subtly different everywhere else. It could use more walnuts (of course), but the banana goop didn't sink to the bottom, so who's complaining? If "needs more walnuts" is the only critique, then I'd say this recipe is an instant winner!

Mise en place: A French cooking term meaning to put everything in place. In the kitchen, it means that all ingredients for a recipe have been pre-measured; the recipe can be made without stopping. Seen on every t.v. cooking show for a reason: it's fast and efficient. A good habit to get into and a good excuse to buy all those cute little bowls! Pronounced meez on ploss.