Banana-Blueberry Bread

Wowza, a year....really?  I finally started getting back into blogging, pretty much on the regular. This poor blog was still left all alone, but I noticed that I was still getting pretty regular views from Pinterest.  Hey there pinners!  I figured I would start it back up and see what happens.

This past weekend I went to a craft show, got rained out, and left with a TON of free produce that the vendors didn't want to pack up.

What do you do with 6 bunches of organic bananas?  You make Banana Bread of course!  My boys inhaled a loaf of blueberry bread that I brought home from there as well, so I decided to throw some blueberries in there as well.

I made this recipe up and am rather proud of it.  It came out SO moist and, I think, beautiful.

 I don't think I could ask for a prettier loaf of bread.

 I love how you can see the bananas as well as the blueberries on the top.

 GORGEOUS!

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 ripe bananas, smashed (smash, but leave some lumps)
• 1/3 cup melted butter (I usually use unsalted, Eric bought salted.  I used that)
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• pinch of salt, about 1/4 teaspoon or so
• 1/2 cup blueberries, fresh and rinsed (If you use frozen berries, thawed it would work as well.  You just run the risk of purple-ish bread)
• 1 1/2 cups bread flour (I grabbed this instead of all-purpose out of the pantry, you could use all purpose if that is what you have)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat oven to 350F
2. Mix together mashed bananas and the melted butter.
3. Stir in the brown sugar, egg, and the vanilla.
4. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the banana mixture and mix in.
5. Stir in the rinsed blueberries.
6. CAREFULLY stir in the flour.  

(You don't want to over stir this.  If you do, you risk popping the blueberries as well as getting a hard loaf of bread.  You want to mix it JUST enough to include everything, but not so much to lose the chunks of blueberries and bananas.)
    
    7.  Butter and sugar a loaf pan.  Mine was 4x8.  It was a nonstick pan, but I didn't want 
         to risk anything. 
    8.  Pour batter into the pan.  The batter is THICK.  I had to use a rubber spatula to get
         it all in there.
    9.  Put the pan in the oven and set the timer for an hour.  Start checking around 50 
         minutes.  You want to cook it until you put a toothpick in the center and it comes
         out clean.
   10.  Once cooked, place the entire thing on a wire rack and let cook for 15 minutes.
   11.  After 15 minutes, remove from pan and try not to eat it all right then.

Enjoy!

Blueberry Coconut Breakfast Bar

So these bars are my adaptation from the Quantum Wellness Cleanse.  The original called for dried cherries...which I did not have.  I actually had some.  I bought some EXCLUSIVELY for this recipe.  AND I bought dried blueberries to add as well.  RIGHT as I was getting ready to add them, as in I already measured them and put them in a bowl, I noticed they were sweetened.  DANG IT.  Oh well.

It was too yummy looking and smelling.  I had to snag a piece.

 Ingredents:

• 1/2 cup vegan butter
• 1/2 cup agave nectar
• 2 1/4 cups steel-cut oats (uncooked)
• 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3 tablespoons sesame seeds
• 1/2 cup pitted prunes, chopped
• 1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped
• 1/2 cup blueberries, fresh
• 1 banana, smashed well against the side of a bowl
• Egg replacer equivalent to 2 eggs (Try Ener-G brand), prepare according to the directions on the box

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F
2. Put the butter and agave in a small pan over medium heat and stir until melted
3. Mix oats, coconut, baking powder, and sesame seeds in a large bowl.
4. To the oat mixture, add the prunes, apricots, and blueberries.  Mix well.
5. GENTLY fold in the egg replacer.
6. Add the agave/butter mixture and banana to the oat mixture. Mix well.
7. Pour into a square baking pan.  Mine was 8x8
8. Bake for about 25 minutes.  Let cool and cut into 9 bars.

The "bars" were very soft.  The recipe said to remove them from the pan and then cut into bars.  This was not possible for me.  I cut them, but kept them in the pan and keep the pan in the fridge.  Messy to eat, but yummy.  I am thinking the fresh blueberries added more moisture and that is why they are soft.  Oh well.  Still yummy!

Enjoy!

Fruit Oatmeal Bars

I just had to put the most important thing first.  The picture.  These are phenomenal.  

I had frozen strawberries and blueberries from earlier this year so I threw those in.  I am planning on making more this week.  I think this time around blackberries are in order.  I'll let you know how those turn out!  I am SO glad I found this recipe.  

I made these in two separate pans.  I had an 8x11 and a 9x5.  I had enough base, but not enough filling.  So I increased the filling. But honestly...can you ever have too much berry goodness?

Ingredients:

• 1 cup rolled oats, divided*
• 3/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour (or run regular whole wheat flour through a sifter a couple of times)
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 4 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 large egg
• 2 tbsp. canola oil
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/4 tsp. almond extract

*3/4 cups oats for the base of the bars and 1/4 cup oats for the topping

Fruit Filling Ingredients:

• 6 1/2 cups  blueberries, raspberries, cherries, blackberries, strawberries, fresh or frozen, divided*
• 3/4 cup orange juice
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup and  2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 cup orange segments
• 1 1/2 tsp. grated orange zest
• 1 tsp. vanilla

 *VERY versatile recipe.  Just choose what you want to use.  I did mine half blueberry and half strawberry

 Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees (F).
2. Put the oats in a blender or food processor and run until finely ground. Transfer to a bowl and stir in both flours, sugar and salt.
3. Add chunks of butter and use a pastry blender or you fingers to incorporate it into the flour mixture until crumbly.
4. Whisk egg, oil, vanilla and almond extract in a small bowl. Pour into flour mixture and stir until it everything is combined. It will be crumbly.
5. Transfer 1/2 cup of the mixture to a small bowl and stir in the remaining 1/4 cup rolled oats (or nuts or a combination of the two). Set aside for the topping.
6. Line a 9×13″ or two 9×5″ pans with foil or parchment paper. Spray the lined pan with cooking spray. Spread the dough evenly in the pan and press firmly into the bottom to form a crust. Set aside.
7. Combine 4 1/2 cups berries, orange juice, sugar and cornstarch in a large saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring constantly until the mixture is very thick, 4 to 5 minutes. This could take up to 10 minutes if you started with frozen fruit.
   
8. Stir in the remaining 2 cups of berries, oranges, orange zest and vanilla.
9. Spread the fruit filling over the crust. Sprinkle the reserved topping over the filling.
10. Bake the bars for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake until the crust and topping are lightly brown, 25 to 30 minutes.
11. Let cool completely before cutting into bars, at least 1 1/2 hours.

12.  After cooling I removed the bars by lifting them out of the pan by the tinfoil.

       Then I placed them on a cutting board and cut these with a spatula. 

13.  Once cut I wrapped these individually in plastic wrap and stored in the refrigerator.

Enjoy!

Back to the Cutting Board

Strawberry, Banana, SPINACH Breakfast smoothie

I guess you could have this at other times of the day.  I just drank mine, hence the name.  My good friend from High School, Erin Quarenski, posted a smoothie on Facebook the other day.  It looked so pretty. Nice and green and yummy looking.  So I decided to try to remake it. 

Did it turn out as pretty and green?

NOPE.  (I think I added too many blueberries and maybe it was the addition if the Whey Protein that did it.  But it still was yummy!)

FYI-You can not taste the spinach.  I can feel the fibrous nature in the smoothie, but it tastes like strawberry banana.

Ingredients:

BIG handful of spinach (I added more while blending too)

4 Strawberries

1 Banana

1/2 cup blueberries

1/2 cup pineapple tidbits (big sale at the store.  I would have done fresh if I didn't have this)

1 scoop Whey Protein

Put it all in your blender/bullet/ what ever you have.

White powder is the whey protein.

Give it a good whirl.

Pour into a glass and

Smile.  You just consumed a good portion of you fruits and vegetables for the day!

Told you it wasn't that pretty.  But it tastes GREAT!