Picky Banana Eaters : Banana Muffins

We can never seem to eat all of our bananas - it's the same in a lot of households I imagine.  There is a brief window between too green and too ripe, if you don't scoff them over the day or 2 that they are perfect you suddenly have a half bunch that only the fruit flies seem remotely interested in.

With a sad few in our fruit bowl this morning and lunch box fillers being non-existent I whipped up a batch of these.  They turned out moist and sweet with not much added sugar.  I use paper cases for easy clean up too.

For a healthier version leave out the sugar, add a tablespoon of honey and substitute half the flour for wholemeal or oats.

Banana Muffin Recipe
12 Muffins

3 Bananas
1/3 C Sugar
1 Egg
1/3 C Oil (I use olive)
1½ C Plain Flour
1t Baking Powder
1t Baking Soda
Pinch Salt
1t Cinnamon

Pre-heat oven to 190C bake.  Mash bananas in large bowl.  Add sugar, egg and oil and mix.  Add in dry ingredients, mix to combine.  Divide between 12 muffin tins/paper cases.  Bake 20 minutes.

Healthy Bites : Muesli Slice

After a simple and tasty breakfast I got to spend most of today alone with my Mr 4.  We took a relaxed stroll to the library after he helped me put sourdough loaves in their tins to rise, we chose a small toy at the shops and brought a cookie at the bakery - he was so excited.  After lunch he got to spend 2 hours immersed in lego - 4 year old bliss!

Breakfast: Crushed tomatoes, garlic and basil on homemade wholemeal toast

We also tried out a different way of making muesli bars for afternoon tea (and Pappa Bears lunch boxes).  A lot of recipes I've tried involve toasted oats, nuts and seeds held together with an almost caramel mixture of honey, sugar and golden syrup - not very healthy.  With a good helping of sultanas no sugar is needed in our newest version, no butter or oil either - and the kids demolish them.

Muesli Bar Recipe
Makes 9-12 bars

1½ C Oats
1 C Nuts and Seeds (I used half cup cashews, and topped it up with flax and sunflower seeds)
½ C Sultanas (or other dried fruit)
1 t Cinnamon
½ C Flour
½ t Baking Powder
1 Egg
320ml Milk
1 t Vanilla Extract

Preheat oven to 190C.  Line or grease 22cm square tin.
Combine dry ingredients in one bowl and beat wet in another.  Mix wet into dry ingredients and pour into prepared tray and bake for 35-40 minutes.  Cut while still warm.



And our sour dough turned out really nicely too =)

Chocolate Brownie : The Vegan Bean Version

An easy way to avoid buttery baking is to just never have butter in the house - that's what I find anyway.  Having a huge sweet tooth butter soon ends up turned into cookies, cakes or slice - which always disappear faster than I'd like to admit.  Being butter free am I experimenting more and more with dairy, egg and gluten free treats. 

 

 

You may wonder how on earth I thought of using beans in a brownie.  I was making refried beans for dinner last week when I noticed how thick the bean mix became after just a little bit of mashing and simmering, and it got me thinking.

 

These brownies are amazing, fudgy and moist just like a brownie should be.  Full of fibre so one small slice is very filling, they're super simple to make and much easier on the pocket (and waist line) without the butter and chocolate that most conventional brownies require.

 

If using canned beans use the left overs in a salad, soup or chuck them in the freezer for later. If you can't find pinto beans (I buy mine dried, cook heaps at a time and freeze them) then try haricot or black beans.

 

If you haven't tried it yet then give my Tofu Chocolate Brownie recipe a go too.

 

Vegan Chocolate Brownie Recipe

Makes 16-20 Serves

 

Vegan Egg Mixture

3T Ground Flax or Linseeds

7½T Water (110ml)

 

3 Cups Pinto Beans (about 1.5 cans), drained and rinsed

½ Cup Sugar

½ Cup Coconut or Olive Oil

1 Cup Cocoa Power (or ¾ C Cocoa and 1t Instant Coffee Powder)

½t Salt

2t Vanilla Extract

2t Baking Powder

Optional Extras - Chopped Nuts, Chocolate Chips or Coconut

 

Combine vegan egg mixture and let sit for 10 minutes, till gooey and 'eggy'.

 

Preheat oven to 190°C Fanbake and line a 20cm square tin with baking paper.

In a food processing blend beans until smooth, about 2 or 3 minutes.  Add in remaining ingredients, including vegan egg mix, and blend until fully combined.  The mixture should spread easily - but not be runny (think thick butter frosting consistency).  If the mixture seems stiff pulse in a couple of tablespoons of water.  If using optional extra pulse these in too (or sprinkle on top before baking).

Spread into lined tray and bake for 20-25 minutes.  Cool for 30 minutes in the tin before serving.

 



Herb and Spice Garden Pasta

This summer I am having much better luck with my tomatoes.  Last year I was plagued with blossom end rot and tasteless tomatoes.  At the weekend I had half dozen large ripe tomatoes so with half a bag of pasta and a bunch of spinach I invented something for lunch.

I wasn't sure about putting basil with the Mexican type spice base but it worked well.

Herb and Spice Garden Pasta Recipe
Serves 4

1T Olive Oil
1 Large Onion, Diced
2 Cloves Garlic, Minced
2t Paprika
2t Smoked Paprika
2t Oregano
¼t Cayenne Pepper
6 Large Tomatoes, Chopped
250g Wholemeal Pasta (Penne)
Salt and Pepper
2C Spinach, Chopped
Handful Basil Leaves, Torn

Grate Cheese to Serve

In a large pan heat olive oil over medium-high heat.  Cook onions until soft.  Add in garlic and spices and cook for a minute or 2 (add a little splash of water if the spices start to stick to the pan).  Add tomatoes and cook until softened.  Add in pasta and 2 cups of warm water, season with salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil then reduce to a gentle simmer and cover for 15 minutes (check after 10 minutes and add a little more water if needed).  Remove lid, stir through spinach and cook for 5 minutes longer until pasta is tender and sauce is reduced.  Stir through basil and serve with a sprinkle of grated cheese.

Shoo Fly

With a list of chores complete and the kids happily playing I sat down with the local paper, only to be covered in what felt like a swarm of flies.  It was more like 2 or 3 but the constant bothering was unbearable.

With a quick Google and browse through Pinterest for homemade fly repellent I found long list of essential oils that do the job. Lucky I have quite a few so I grabbed what I had from the list and got mixing.

It's works really well - the pesky flies are avoiding the kids and I and I've even sprayed the dogs bedding in the hopes to deter flea (if not she'll  smell good).

Shoo Fly Repellent

300ml Spray Bottle (I got mine from www.arthurholmes.co.nz)
75ml Witch Hazel
75ml Vodka
150 Cooled Boiled Water
Lavender, Eucalyptus, Lemon, Tea Tree, Citronella, Cypress Essential Oils

Put witch hazel, vodka and water into spray bottle.  Add 5 drops of each oil.  Shake well and spray on skin, clothes etc.  Shake well before each use.

Busy Mumma

The last few months have flown and the poor old blog has been on the back burner.

With my boys growing, more active and curious and with 5 times as much vegetable garden to tend to, time to sit and write is pretty much non existent.

There were a lot of distractions this spring so the only thing I needed to give my seedlings - water - was forgotten quite often, so they were a little thin this year.  What I did manage to rescue has grown well - mostly flowers, cosmos, sweet william and sunflowers.  Early summer included a last minute flurry seed planting to make up for the spring failure.  I managed to get some corn, gherkins and apple cucumbers to sprout, which were planted before the holidays.

Corn next to the cucumber and gherkin frame (broken umbrella frame)

I brought some  heritage zhuccini seeds and planted them early summer too, I just chucked half a bucket of compost in a mound and dropped in seed or 2.  Now look at them - behemoths spreading out over my silverbeets and path.  We don't mind though, they make perfect veggie steaks.  We slice them thickly length wise, toss through a dash of olive oil, salt and pepper and grill on the BBQ - so simple, so tasty.

Behemoth zhuccini!!

I 'cheated' with most of my tomato plants this year, buying seedlings - shameful for Mrs-grow-from-seed-it's-cheaper.  The first sweet, sun-warmed cherry tomato I picked yesterday made it all worth it - there I a mountain to come too.

Everyday I'm bringing in loads of food - pretty soon there will be too much to eat so pickle recipes will be tried, and with luck, blogged.

Healthy Bites : Zesty Lemon and Oat Slice

The more we cut processed ingredients out of our diet the better (and slimmer) we are feeling.

We've always eaten pretty well really, nearly everything is homemade so additives and other nasties are very low, and we eat loads of fruit and vegies fresh from the garden.  Now we are trying to eat more whole foods (un-refined) and organic where we can afford it.  Slowing swapping things white flour for wholemeal, fruit juice, dates and honey for refined sugar and eating vegetarian most nights of the week.  Our waist lines, energy levels and health are starting to be a lot better off for it.

This recipe was inspired by my love of citrus slice.  I tried a slice from a café a few months ago.  I enjoyed it enough but felt really gross afterwards, too much sugar and fat.  This version is clean and pretty healthy.  Refined sugar is replaced with naturally sweet dates, honey and fruit juice.  Flour is replaced with oats and ground almonds.  This is still a treat food - our first option for snacks is fruit and vege (mostly...) but when we feel like a treat these will really hit the spot.

Zesty Lemon and Oat Slice Recipe

Base
1C Dates
¾C Coconut
Juice of an Orange
½C Water
1½C Organic Rolled Oats
½C Raw Almonds

Put dates, coconut, juice and water in a small pot.  Heat gently for about 10 minutes until the dates mash easily with a fork.  Set a aside to cool.  Meanwhile, whizz oats and almonds to a crumble (not super fine).  When dates are cooled add to oat mix and whizz on medium until combined well (1 to 2 minutes), adding a little more water if needed to help it bind.  Line a brownie tin with baking paper.  Press oat mixture firmly into tin.  Spread over then press down topping and leave to set in the fridge

Topping
1/3C Coconut Oil (I have organic, cold pressed, unrefined)
¼C Firm Honey (use agave or maple syrup for vegan)
Zest of 1 Lemon
Juice of 2 Lemons

Gently warm coconut oil and honey till just soft - like room temperature butter.  Beat all ingredients together till well combined.