Grand Bend Weekend Bliss

 

Friday night Mike and I drove up to Grand Bend to stay for the weekend and what a beautiful, peaceful and enjoyable weekend it was.

After our Saturday morning beach walk we spent the rest of our morning and day at London's Covent Garden Market - my favourite thing to do on a Saturday morning - and visiting friends.

We enjoyed some good treats at the market but also brought some home to make dinner that night. 

First time taste of a Spinach Burek (Börek) pastry - we just had to try one after watching the guy make them, very interesting method that involved a lot of tossing around this flaky dough and using an entire table to spread it out.

For dinner I tried to make something from my 500 Vegan Recipes cook book but ended up improvising most of the recipe since I was missing a few ingredients.  Sadly, at this point, my digital camera's battery also died, which meant I was relying on a disposal camera that I bought and clearly forgot how to use (oh the age of digital cameras have broken us) and none of my food photos came out.

Either way this was on the menu ...

Roasted peppers stuffed with brown rice, broccoli, green apple, tomato, natural peanut butter, a bit of olive oil, and spices including curry, basil, salt and cayenne pepper accompanied by some green salad and Farmer's Market bread - delish!

 

The camera wasn't total loss, we enjoyed a wonderful evening on the beach ...

 

Playing with Scarlet on the beach - the sand and twigs she loved, the water, not so much!

Sweetness - that is, until Scarlet trampled all over it lol!

The next morning we made brunch for the Londoners ...

Banana Fritters, from 500 Vegan Recipes, although I don't think my turned quite as good as they were suppose but everyone was very sweet and said they liked them; vegan "buttermilk" pancakes, sweet fruit platter that included strawberries, grapes and oranges, a cheese and crackers platter and of course, some bacon and eggs - for the boys.

It was a perfect weekend in a gorgeous home, near the beach with great weather,  good food with good friends, and a lovely time spent with best boyfriend ever! ♥

BIG Zucchini Many Ways

A couple of weeks ago a dragon boat teammate of mine, who grows and sells his own produce to fundraise for his many causes, sold me a massive and beautiful 15-inch zucchini! Yes, 15-inches ladies, I measured it.

It lasted me the two weeks and it tasted amazing in every meal.  Here are a few things I made ...

Zucchini Slaw
Original recipe from Taste of Home

2 medium zucchini, coarsely shredded and squeezed dry (in my case I cut about a 1/4 off the massive zucchini I had)
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
1 cup coarsely shredded carrots
3 Tbsp reduced-fat or vegan mayonnaise
1 Tbsp cider vinegar
1/4 tsp salt
Dash cayenne pepper (to add some spicy)

In a bowl, combine all ingredients; mix well. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.
Yield: 4 servings.


Chocolate Zucchini Banana loaf
Original recipe from Taste of Home

2 eggs
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup canola oil
1 medium ripe banana, mashed (about 1/2 cup)
1 cup gluten-free flour mix
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
3/4- 1/2 cup shredded unpeeled zucchini

In a bowl, beat eggs. Blend in sugar and oil. Add banana and mix well. Combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; stir into egg mixture. Stir in zucchini just until combined.

Pour into a greased 9-in. x 5-in. loaf pan. Bake at 350° for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes. Remove from pan to wire rack to cool completely.

Yield: 1 loaf


Other meals I managed to squeeze out of the 15-inch zucchini ...

Vegan Lunch: Zucchini Pizzas (ingredients include: zucchini, salsa, mushrooms, cheddar rice cheese and spices)

Zucchini Mushroom stir fry (ingredients include: zucchini, mushrooms, red onion, whole wheat pasta, BBQ sauce and cayenne pepper)

Good Morning Granola

 I really love breakfast! It is probably my favourite meal of the day and it's the best meal to truly carb-load, guilt free.  Last night I made granola from The Kind Diet book to try this morning for breakfast.


 I had a bowl of organic rice puffs topped off with one sliced banana and a 1/3 cup of the granola and rice milk.

This organic cereal is fantastic, its not sweet at all but it fills me up and is light and healthy, much better for you then traditional cereals.  Just add fruit or a spoonful of agave for sweetness.  I also find if I use less of this cereal then I normally would with traditional out-of-the-box cereals and just add other things like fruit and granola and I still feel satisfied and the cereal last longer (buying organic can be costly!)






Mom’s Granola
Recipe from The Kind Diet, p. 201


Makes 2 Quarts

6 cups quick-cooking oats
½ cup maple sugar (I used Demerara Sugar, it's what I had on hand)
¾ cup wheat germ
½ cup shredded coconut
½ cup sesame or sunflower seeds
1 cup chopped nuts or raisins
½ cup salflower oil
1/3 cup maple syrup
1.5 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350F

Spread the oats on a rimmed baking pan and bake for about 10 minutes. Transfer the oats to a large mixing bowl, and add the sugar, wheat germ, coconut, seeds, and nuts or raisins. Stir to mix well, then add the oil, syrup, and vanilla extract. Mix until everything is moistened.

Spread half of the mixture on each of 2 rimmed baking sheets (or bake in 2 batches), and bake for 10 minutes. Stir after 5 minutes to brown evenly.

Let the baked granola cool on the pans, then transfer to a bowl and still until crumbly. Store in an airtight container.

Post Fight Indulgence: I ♥ Banana Bread

This week I was itching to bake for myself especially since my training/diet regime when I wasn't able to as much, so I decided to make banana bread - one of my all-time favourite foods ever and one of my most favourite flavours ever.

So I was thrilled to find this gluten-free banana bread recipe on one of my favourite websites: Taste of Home.

The recipe on the website makes two loaves but I only made one since I can't eat a loave that fast ... well, actually I probably could eat it in one day but I know I really, really, REALLY shouldn't!

Gluten-free Chocolate Banana Bread

Ingredients - Makes 12 servings
I made a few substitutions from the original recipe

1 cups gluten-free flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
Pinch teaspoon salt
1 egg + 2 egg whites
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (2 large)
1/2 cup agave nectar
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (or walnuts)

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt. In a small bowl, whisk the egg whites, banana, agave, applesauce, oil and vanilla. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened.  Fold in chocolate chips.  Optional: Sprinkle with walnuts (I omitted this because I used chocolate).

Transfer to two 8-in. x 4-in. loaf pans coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with walnuts. Bake at 350° for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.
 
Yield: 1 loave

Enjoy!

Too Many Ripe Bananas? Here's a Solution ...

More then anything, I LOVE banana bread! Adding blueberries to this recipe just makes this banana bread that much more amazing.  This fantastic recipe is not only gluten and dairy free but also fat-free and high in anti-oxidants and potassium (mmm fruity goodness).

It's also a good excuse to use up those riping bananas sitting on your counter, you know the ones, they possibly have a fruit fly colony gathering right about now? Happy Baking!

 

Blueberry Banana Bread

(Recipe found and adapted from Fat-Free Vegan)

Ingredients

- 3 large over-ripe bananas

- 2 Tbsp. fresh squeezed lemon juice

- 1/3 cup fat-free soymilk

- 1/2 cup agave nectar

- 1 cup gluten-free flour

- 1 cup spelt flour (not considered 100% gluten-free for most)

- 3/4 tsp baking powder

- 3/4 tsp baking soda

- 1/2 tsp salt

- 1 cup fresh blueberries

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Coat a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with coconut oil.

2. Mix the soymilk with 1 tablespoon of the lemon juice and let stand until it curdles.

3. In a large bowl, mash the bananas and add the remaining lemon juice, soymilk and agave nectar. Stir well to combine.

4. In a separate bowl, combine the flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

5. Add the dry ingredients to the banana mixture and stir just until the mixture is well-combined.

6. Fold in the blueberries.

7. Spread the mixture evenly in the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center come out clean, about 50-60 minutes. Allow to cool before cutting and serving.