Pinterest Fail, Good Book, and Healthy School Grocery List!

Soooo I haven’t really made anything new and exciting here lately (I really want to try some crazy cupcakes from my fav show, Cupcake Wars) but yesterday I attempted a cute little recipe from Pinterest. You know how Pinterest recipes go….one may work and one may FAIL COMPLETELY. 

I always try to eat healthy (even though my passion is essentially giving people diabetes) and so I was super excited to try this homemade granola recipe. To be honest, the whole time I was making it I was imagining healthy granola bars, but then I realized this was technically just making regular granola. Oops. I was also really excited because I had almost all of the ingredients in my pantry and all I needed to buy was oats, which I bought from Wal-Mart for $1.86. Not too shabby.

I got home and was thrilled because the recipe looked tasty and only took me about 15 minutes in all! That is a great feeling! But….when it came out of the oven I was not so thrilled. It tasted awful! I was so shocked because it had all the right ingredients…nuts, oats, dried cranberries, raisins, butter, vanilla, and honey! But, NO! It was not sweet at all and had a really weird aftertaste. 😦 My dad said he liked it but then said it tasted like woodchippings. So I’m still confused about whether he was just being a good daddy or if he’d inhaled so much wood shavings from wood working that he acquired a taste for leftover wood.

In all, I wouldn’t make it again, but I’m gonna post the photos of my process just in case anyone wants to work with the recipe.

Below, I’m also going to post a pic and review of a new book I’m reading that I am in love with! If you are a science fanatic like I am, this book is for you!!

Also, below is a great link to a website that has a grocery list for college ladies! I am a penny-pincher for sure, but also really like to eat healthy. So, when I found this website I was super excited!

 

Left: Various nuts that are the base for dry ingredients      Right: 4 cups of oats added to the nuts

 

 

Left: Raisins and Craisins added to the dry mix        Right: a little cinnamon added to the mix (I suggest adding some brown sugar)

 

 

Left: The wet mix: butter, honey, and vanilla          Right: Wet plus dry – still really dry 😉

 

 

Left: Granola smoothed over a baking sheet before oven           Right: Granola baked to a golden brown

 

Beautiful, nasty product! Maybe it’s just my taste buds 😉

 

Lab Rat Chronicles:

Part inspirational book, mostly science, a whole lot of insight! I love this book! Neuroscientist Kelly Lambert is down to earth and easily explains different experiments with rats that she has conducted that give us insight to our own lives! This book isn’t as science-dense as it comes across which makes it an easy read, while also providing you with a lot of information! I highly suggest this book to anyone who has an open mind and an interest in science! I would even make my future high school students read sections of this book! Best part yet, was that I found this book in a store called Book Warehouse at Myrtle Beach for $1!!! The store is sadly going out of business and hard backs were $2 and paperbacks were $1!! I bought probably around ten different books ranging from romance fiction, to science novels, to quirky cookbooks! I LOVE books!

Healthy Grocery List:

Check out this blog that gives great insight to shopping on a college budget while also staying fit and healthy! I suggest poking around the website because she has some great stuff!!! I’ll definitely be checking it out while I pack my stuff up for school!

http://fit-personality.com/post/93419706100/healthy-grocery-shopping-on-a-college-budget

I hope you can change this recipe to a tasty one (if you do please share!) and I hope you love this book!

With love and a busy schedule,

Emili

Peppa Pig!

Whoa. It’s been a really long time since I posted anything new…but, I’VE BEEN ON VACATION! I managed not to get completely sunburnt, while also managing not to spend most of my paycheck! This vacation was a success. Now, it’s back to the real world, but that’s ok because it means I get to bake some more!

Right before I left for vacation, I spent an entire night making a birthday cake for a special little boy! I heard that he was particularly fond of an educational little pig on nickelodeon, Peppa Pig. Of course I knew who Peppa Pig was because I work with toddlers, but I didn’t know that Peppa is the girl pig and her brother is George Pig. They also have incredible english accents, which naturally makes them sound like three year old geniuses. I watched a couple of youtube videos to get an idea of the character I was creating and then googled images for a design.

Below is what I was able to create for his 2nd birthday!

 

First, I dyed various sizes of fondant to match the design I chose for the cake. I used americolor gels and wrapped them in plastic wrap.

Left: I printed out the design that I wanted for the cake.     Right: I cut out a template of the design so that I can easily cut out the fondant.

I started cutting out various shapes for the design using the templates from above.

I decided that it would look nice to have the picture on a blue background to make sure it stood out.

 

I continued to add pieces to the puzzle!

 

Here is the completed picture….this completely crumbled around 10:30 pm and I had to do the ENITRE thing over…so I went to bed at midnight. It crumbled because I had never made decorations out of fondant and let it dry too long, so when I went to apply it to the cake, it broke. Next time I will add Tylos powder to the fondant which will make it mush easier to work with! You live and you learn! The picture of Levi enjoying his cake made it ALL worth it!

 

 

For this cake, I made two 9×13 chocolate cakes and crumb coated them with vanilla buttercream.

 

I finished coating it in buttercream after letting it chill for about 30 minutes.

I cut out letters to spell “Happy 2nd Birthday Levi” (I used cutters from Hobby Lobby)

 

 

 

Here is the finished product!!!! Obviously, I added polka dots to the cake to make it more fun!

In the box, ready to go!

I realized later George Pig was missing a tail, but in all, I am thrilled with how it turned out and I am so glad it was enjoyed! I can’t wait to make many more cakes for many more people!!!!

With love and birthday cheer,

Emili

 

Easy Steak Stromboli!

Wanna feel like a super legit cook? This steak stromboli tastes great and looks like you put a lot of time into it, but it’s actually pretty simple! My sister actually made this recipe first based off of something on Pinterest. She sent me a picture after she was done and I knew I had to make it for dinner one night!

So, now that I’m feeling much better, I thought I’d give it a try! The recipe we made uses fresh veggies and steak, but you could get creative and add more veggies or change the protein.

Ingredients:

• 2 packs Ready-Made Steak Strips
• 8 0z mozzarella cheese (shredded or not)
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• half a pack of mushrooms, chopped
• onion (I omitted this)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 roll pizza dough (I used Pillsbury)
• beaten egg
• Marinara sauce
• ranch

Directions:

• pre-heat oven to 400 F
• chop the veggies and sauté them with about a tablespoon of olive oil
• once they are nice and almost soft add the ready made steak strips – because these are already cooked, you really just need to warm them with the veggies (remember this will be baked, so you don’t want to cook them too much)
• you can add some pepper or seasoning at this point, but I HIGHLY suggest skipping salt because they pre-cooked steak is already salted enough
• unroll the pizza dough onto a cookie sheet into a rectangle (around 9×13)
• place the steak and veggie filling along the middle of the dough and cover in cheese!
• cover the filling with the crust to look like a stromboli – get creative!
• brush egg over the crust (you won’t use all of the egg)
• bake for 17-19 minutes
• dip in marinara or ranch, whichever you prefer!
  • Fun tip: if you love the runny, restaurant style ranch then walk right on over to the mayo aisle and look for the Hidden Valley Ranch Dip and Dressing packet (located above the ranch bottles) Follow the directions on the back of the packet for tasty ranch!

 

Chopped veggies!

Grilled and Ready Steak Strips

 

Saute the veggies with the steak

 

Left: place filling along the middle     Right:Fold over dough and brush egg over dough

BAKE IT!

Voila! So yummy!!!

Also, I thought I’d mention a BIG PINTEREST FAIL I tried tonight!

I saw something called Magic Muffin Mix that is a base for healthy muffins. I thought it would be super awesome for a healthy breakfast. BUT…..they were nasty. I think the sugar I used gave it a strange taste. Here are the ingredients I used: 

I might have used too much of the sugar/stevia blend, but who knows. If anyone has any pointers or a great recipe for healthy muffins, please let me know!! 🙂

I hope you enjoy the stromboli recipe!!

With love and a big appetite,

Emili

Evolution of a Wedding Cake: Take 2!

I feel like it has been forever since I’ve actually made anything new. 😦 But yet again, I’m sick! This time it’s not just allergies, though….it’s strep throat… boooooo. So, I’ve been sitting on the couch for the past few days and haven’t been in the kitchen. I figured since I don’t have anything new to show y’all, I’d show you the step by step process of how I made my most recent wedding cake!

I don’t have as many photos as my first wedding cake simply because I was able to do this cake in a much shorter time and didn’t take the time to document the progress. (I really wish I would have now, but oh well)

Anywho, I absolutely love this cake because of the contrasting colors and the classic black and white look. The red against the black and white just pops and I love it!

 

This is the original design created by a classmate of mine, Dara, and I just loved it so much I had to recreate it!

 

Step 1: I covered each tier in fondant (this cake is also a dummy cake). I then quilted the middle tier. You have to quilt the tier while the fondant is soft, otherwise it will be too hard to imprint later. I then colored a good amount of gum paste black. I made strips of black to get the pinstripe look on the top tier and started my ruffles on the bottom.

Quick tip: Dark colored gum paste or fondant will fade! I like to go back after everything has dried and paint it with a mixture of peppermint extract (because it has a high alcohol content) and petal dust or gel colors. Doing this will achieve the dark color that you want. You could also just put a dark box over your cake so the sunlight can’t fade it.

Step 2: I started working on my red flowers. These are the same flowers that I made for my first cake. I also added a string of big pearls to the top tier. You can also see my next layer of ruffle on the bottom tier. To make the ruffles, I simply made a large circle, then cut out the middle to look like a doughnut. I then made a straight cut on one of the sides (like if you wanted to cut a doughnut in half, but only cut one side). Then you simply straighten in out. Doing this will create ruffles. Ta-Da!

Step 3: Here is the completed look! I finished the ruffle layer, added the rest of the pearl borders, and added the black pearls to the quilted tier. I glued the flowers onto the cake with royal icing like I did for the last cake. I also painted the black sections so they look really black.

Quick tip: If you accidentally get color on your white fondant, use gin to get it off!

SO, there you have it! A classic black and white cake with a pop of red! 🙂

With love and a little gin,

Emili

Cupcake Wars!!

So, I’m mildly obsessed with a show on Food Network called Cupcake Wars! One episode comes on everyday at 11:00 am, so I normally watch it and take notes/do actual homework for my early childhood education class. Anyways, it’s a pretty awesome show that inspires me to work on my “cupcake repertoire”. Since, I’ve taken a few days vacation from the kitchen for work and relaxation, I don’t have anything new to share. 😦

However, I will share with you a recipe that I’m absolutely in love with! It is a great batter that you can turn into cupcakes, mini cupcakes, or regular cake. I made a batch of mini cupcakes with this recipe for Christmas for various holiday parties because they are just so easy to pick up and pop in your mouth!! Below is the tastiest chocolate batter you will ever taste in your life! There is a secret ingredient that will enhance the chocolate flavor and make the cake really moist! Drum roll please…it’s one cup of HOT COFFEE!!! Don’t omit this from the recipe because it is just amazing! I promise, your cupcakes won’t taste like coffee.

Simple Chocolate Cake:

A whole recipe will make around 100 mini cupcakes, so if you don’t need that many, cut the recipe in half!! 

Ingredients:

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder (I use special dark)
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 cup hot coffee

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 F, coat pans with spray (or cupcake liners with spray)
• Combine sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda and powder, and salt
• Add eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla
• Stir in the hot coffee (the batter will be very thin, but that’s ok)
• Pour into pans (or cupcake liners)
• bake mini cupcakes at 15 minutes each (if you just want to make cake, then pour into 3, 8 inch pans and bake 30 – 35 minutes)

 

Here are my mini chocolate cupcakes that are great for any party!!! I used a simple vanilla buttercream which gives you the freedom to make them unique to your party. Add some sprinkles, fruit, cute liners, whatever suits your fancy! Be creative!

Next on the to-do list is inspired by the preschoolers at work! Don’t worry, it’s not dirt or sand. Well, kinda, but not really!

Last week we learned about North Carolina, which I loved because it is very true to my heart! They learned about the Dogwood, Box Turtles, and of course CAROLINA BLUE!  To incorporate the lesson into snack time, we made sand cups! (for the beaches of NC)

Let me tell you, it is a kid friendly snack that parents (and teachers) will love too!

They consist of french vanilla jello pudding, cool whip, vanilla wafers, and just a couple of chocolate oreos!

Make the pudding by the directions on the box and then stir in some cool whip. You can add in as much as you want, but we added just enough to make the pudding a little fluffier and creamier. You could still really taste the vanilla. Next, grind up the vanilla wafers to a fine dust that looks like sand. Do the same for just a few oreos. Mix the crumbs together!  You will want to use a lot more vanilla wafers than oreos to get the tan sand look. The oreos will give you the black little specs that is common on NC beaches.

Ta-da! That’s it! It looks exactly like sand and tastes great! Perfect for the summertime! Enjoy!

With love and cupcakes,

Emili

Evolution of a Wedding Cake

I love, love, love decorating cakes! It is so much fun and it makes me feel like a kid doing crafts! Now, I actually do get to make crafts at work with the toddlers, but cake decorating is my grown-up version. Over the summers I like to take as many cake decorating classes as I can and this summer I finished my very first wedding cake class. It was an amazing learning process for me and I can’t wait to apply my new techniques to future cakes.

So, have you ever wanted to know what the process looks like? Well, I documented my cake at the end of every class to see my progress. It also let me see what mistakes I made and what I would want to change later. This class was eight weeks long and two hours each, so in all it took 16 hours, but now I would be able to complete this same cake in a much, much shorter time. Also, this cake was made on a “dummy cake”. This means the “cake” underneath is styrofoam, so you obviously can’t eat it, which is why I can continue to decorate this cake for eight weeks. This is what the display cakes in storefronts are made out of.

Anyways, here you go! You may not find this near as fascinating as I do, but I just thought it’d be nice to share!

 

Night 1: I added fondant to the bottom and middle tier. I also quilted the bottom tier, which is why I didn’t have time to put fondant on the top tier. The quilting was done with a fancy, little cutter. (which I bought with my birthday money) Here you can see what the styrofoam looks like underneath (the top tier).

 

 

Night 2: I added the last bit of fondant and quilted the last tier. I added the pink border to each layer (which you can see fades in the next night). I also had enough time to add graduated pearls to the bottom tier.

 

 

Night 3: I added the graduate pearls to the borders of the middle and top tier, as well as the pearls in each quilted section.

 

Night 4: I added a lace border to the middle tier. This was all I really did this night because I started working on my gumpaste flowers. I forgot to mention that I covered the cake with fondant, but made all of the decorations with gum paste.

 

Night 4 : This is the flower I made the same night I added the lace border. You can see I have a gap in the lace border. I simply covered this up with flowers. There is ALWAYS a way to cover up a mistake! The pinks also didn’t match (which drove me crazy).

 

Left: A closeup of the flowers (colored with petal dust)  Right: I wasn’t happy with the pink border and the pink flower clashing, so my brilliant cake instructor suggested making an ombre combination, which completely covers up the clashing pinks.

The last night! Front and back!

The finished product! I glued the flowers on with royal icing because it dries so hard, it acts like a glue! The flowers were actually quite simple to make and only required two cutters! (That’s pretty good, lol) I originally made an inital “E” topper, but it was too big and too heavy for it, so I just took it off.

 

Sneak peak! This cake was made by a classmate of mine and I just loved her design so much I had to recreate it! I’m almost done with it and I’ll post a pic as soon as I finish!

With love and fake cake,

Emili

 

Healthy Desserts??

Is that a real thing? YES!

After lunch with an old friend and dragging him around Wal-Mart for an hour, I had all of my ingredients to get started!

I found a glorious brownie recipe, healthy snack bars (like Luna bars), and an awesome chocolate banana shake recipe! Let me tell you, I was skeptical, but they were surprisingly good!

Both the brownies and snack bars came from one of my sorority sisters blog (which is totally awesome by the way) which makes vegan and gluten free recipes! I saw them and immediately knew I needed to try them and I was not disappointed! Go check out her blog for awesome recipes : http://happyfoodhappypeople.wordpress.com

The banana chocolate shake came from Dr. Oz’s website, but I changed it a little. Below are the recipes and pictures to go along with them!!! I also added a couple of my favorite workout routines to get you motivated for a healthy life! I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!!!! Let me know what you think and I’ll update you guys on my parent’s opinion later! (My dad may be hard to please with these healthy recipes!)

 

 

For the brownies I used gluten-free flour, honey, and dried whole pitted dates (there were other ingredients also)

 

Left: Flour, cocoa, some dates, vanilla, honey, soy milk, and salt  Middle: pureed sweet potatoes Right: everything mixed together

Left: Pre-baked brownies with dark chocolate chips on top        Right: baked brownies

Ta-Da!! I added a little sugar on top!

Find the recipe here: http://pureella.com/guilt-free-chocolate-sweet-potato-brownies-gluten-free-grain-free-and-vegan/

I suggest using regular dates, because the dried dates became very sticky and almost killed my ninja. I also substituted the weird flour they call for, for one cup of gluten-free flour.

For the Healthy Snack Bars: 

Left: Almonds and a few dates       Right: Almonds, Dates, Dried Cranberries, and Dark Chocolate Chips mixed

Left: Healthy Bars before refrigerator           Right: Ingredients I used

Left: Healthy Bars after refrigerator         Right: Packaged Healthy Bars (I made 9)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup salted almonds
• 1 cup of dried dates (again, it might be better not to use dried dates)
• 1 cup of dried cranberries
• a handful of dark chocolate
• a little bit of honey (this helps it stick together, also adds a little sweetness)

Directions:

• just grind up the almonds, then grind up the dates (in portions)
• add in the cranberries and chocolate
• add in the honey
• smooth in a pan over wax paper and put in fridge for about 30 min
• cut and package with plastic wrap for pre-made slices

For the chocolate banana shake:

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 bananas
• 1 cup ice
• 1 cup water (or soy milk)
• 1 scoop protein powder (I used Slimfast chocolate powder)
• 1 tsp cocoa powder

Directions:

• just blend all of the ingredients together until smooth!!! It is sooooo yummy!

For my favorite exercises: I absolutely love these yoga moves!! Great for the morning time!

Now, if you like a faster paced workout or are trying to go for a cardio routine, I HIGHLY suggest this zumba video! It is so much fun and is pretty simple (for the non-dancers, such as myself)! Also, the song is just so awesome!

Zumba video : http://www.youtube.com/watch/?v=Ehu2YLQFq9E

I hope you guys enjoy the workout routines and especially the recipes!!!! To all of my fellow Pi Phi yogis, I hope you like these recipes and they would be awesome for a pre-yoga snack or for after a great workout!

With love and yoga vibes,

Emili

 

Cake 101 – Buttercream!

After all of my cake fails and wins, I’ve learned that a good frosting can make or break your project! If you want to frost a cake (and have it actually stay together) or if you want to put a nice swirl on your cupcakes, then you need a frosting that is up to the challenge! I’ve tried out quite a few, but my old reliable is a basic buttercream. Buttercream is great, because you can make it stiff, you can make it soft, and you can add pretty much any flavor to it!

A little about buttercream: Buttercream obviously has a base of butter (duh!) and other things are added to it…I say this because there are a few types you need to know about.

Swiss Buttercream : Uses egg whites whipped with granulated sugar and butter.

Italian Meringue Buttercream : Uses egg whites whipped into a meringue that is beat with butter and sugar.

What I call a Southern Buttercream (this is what I use) : Blends butter and shortening with powdered sugar.

I like to use the southern buttercream because I find it a lot easier since there are no egg whites that need to be whipped. I also really like this recipe because I can easily replace the butter with more shortening to make a wedding white cake. (This is also really great for the good, ole southern heat that melts butter)

Anyways, I also love this recipe because it isn’t too sweet, but is stiff enough to pipe or frost. It also makes a great base for a fondant covered cake.

Here is my favorite buttercream recipe!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups butter (4 sticks)
• 2 cups shortening
• 12 cups powdered sugar
• 4 tbsp heavy cream
• 2 tsp vanilla

Directions:

• Cream the butter and shortening together until a fluffy creaminess forms (about 3 – 4 minutes)
• Add the first three cups of sugar
• Add the heavy cream and vanilla ( I never actually use all of it)
• Add the rest of the sugar in three cup increments
• Add more sugar if it is too soft and more milk if it is too stiff
• This will make a lot of frosting so halve it if you don’t want to make like 9 cups of frosting! 

 

Creaming butter and shortening together

 

Finished buttercream – after adding sugar and milk

 

Crumb coat with buttercream (6 in sugar and spice cake aka holiday spice cake)

 

 

Crumb Coat with buttercream (6 in chocolate cake)

Both cakes with buttercream covered with Vanilla/Almond/Butter Fondant

(This fondant is actually very yummy!!)

Hope y’all enjoy this buttercream! Comment below if you have any great recipes!

With love and butter,

Emili

 

Broke out my Ninja Blender

So, I officially entered my twenties last month and one of the few things I had asked for was a Ninja blender/food processor. Now, if you don’t know what this is, you’re missing out! This is a magical little instrument that can make awesome smoothies or cream anything you put in it! I used it for the first time when my parents bought the mini (2 cup) version…now I’m hooked!

I originally wanted the Ninja just for smoothies, but I love to use it for making cheesecake graham cracker crusts as well. Today, I got my brand spankin’ new blender out to give it a spin!

WARNING: The blades are extremely sharp and can be a little tricky. 

 

NO stitches, yay!!!

Anyways, I started out making homemade Peanut Butter and a green smoothie! The PB was simply made by grinding/ pulsing 16 oz of dry roasted, salted peanuts until the butter formed. It will start out by being crumbly, then turn to dough, then break down into cream. I HIGHLY suggest adding honey or some sort of sweetener to make the taste better. (If you are trying to be cost efficient, the store brand PB is cheaper than making your own) Try this website for some recipes : http://www.averiecooks.com/2012/07/homemade-peanut-butter.html

For my smoothie I combined fresh spinach, strawberries, bananas, and soy milk! I used a handful of spinach, about a handful of strawberries, one banana, and a cup of soy milk. I suggest adding some ice too! Don’t worry, it tastes like strawberry banana, not spinach (it just may look gross).

 

NOW TO THE MAIN ATTRACTION!

I made a Cookies and Cream Cake! AKA Oreo Cake! I even got to use my Ninja for this!!!!!! (I crushed my oreos and creamed the oreo filling together with it)

This recipe starts out with an AMAZING white cake (I could have eaten all of the batter)! It is followed by a super creamy buttercream, which pleasantly turned out awesome! Lastly, it was filled with the best oreo filling I’ve ever tasted in my life!! This stuff is literally made from a cup of buttercream, crushed oreos, butter, and heavy cream! Oh my gosh! I made the 3 layers, cut one in half, and filled it with oreo filling and buttercream, alternating.

Also, just a side note, this recipe makes A LOT of buttercream….it even calls for 12 cups of powdered sugar! You will have some left over! If you want, you can halve it or maybe make 2/3. The white cake also calls for 9 egg whites. Don’t crack 9 eggs – use egg whites from a carton! They work just as great!

I used the recipe from this link: http://www.createdby-diane.com/2013/10/oreo-cake.html

The website has amazing pics of the process along with the recipe! I will post my pics below to show you other options! I added a little border decorations to make the cake look special!

Oreo filling to the left and a TON of buttercream on the right

 

Crumb coat : stick in the fridge for 30 min so it can firm up before the final coat

I added black food gel to a separate batch of buttercream to make the borders, then I added oreo halves to the top!  Here is the cake cut! You can see the two levels of oreo filling and one layer of buttercream in the middle.

With love and a whole pack of oreos,

Emili

Rainy Summer Days Means Coffee, Books, and Banana Bread

I don’t know about you guys, but I love summer thunderstorms (safe thunderstorms)! I can cuddle up with a good book, rich cup of joe, and my favorite BANANA BREAD!!! Now, I know some of you will say “ewww, banana nut bread”, but don’t fear! This easy recipe has all sorts of variations! It is originally called Raspberry Dark Chocolate Banana Bread and calls for dark chocolate chips and fresh raspberry pieces…I’m telling you, this is so yummy!

For my family though, I always like to make a batch of mini loaves instead of one loaf so I can make different variations for each of us. I normally make three with raspberries and dark chocolate chips(for this fruit-loving blogger), three with just chocolate chips (for my chocaholic sister), and three with just nuts (for my mom who prefers the traditional banana nut bread). My dad eats anything.

On a rainy day like this, banana bread is just lovely when it’s paired with a good cup of coffee (I prefer Folger’s or Life is Good)! Not to mention, it’s an easy recipe and a great way to get rid of those bananas that are slowly going bad on your kitchen counter. 😉

 On a rainy day, I recommend these two semi-romance novels that you won’t want to put down!

“Meet Me at the Cupcake Cafe” is a cute little story about a woman who follows her dream, leaves a crappy relationship, and opens a cupcake cafe that leads to love! Plus, there are recipes inside! (I haven’t made any yet, but I certainly will)

“When in Doubt, Add Butter” is another story where a woman is stuck in a love rut, but with a couple of twists finds love!

Now, I saved the best for last! Below is a wonderful recipe for the best Banana bread! 

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup granulated white sugar
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 bananas)
• 1/3 cup plain low fat yogurt
 (not 100% necessary, but really adds to the recipe!)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup dark chocolate chunks or chips
• 1 cup halved raspberries, tossed in 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9×5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt.
• In a small bowl, mush up the bananas really well. (I use a potato masher)
• In a separate large bowl, beat the sugar and butter with an electric mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 1 minute). Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
• Add the banana, yogurt, and vanilla; beat until blended. Stir in the flour mixture; just until moist. Don’t over-mix.
• Stir in the chocolate chunks and then gently stir in the raspberries. It is important to dust the raspberries (or any juicy fruit) in flour to ensure that they don’t sink to the bottom or add too much moisture to the batter.
• Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 15 minutes in the pan on a wire rack. Remove from pan and cool completely on the wire rack.

Mini Loaves Left: Raspberry Chocolate, Middle: Chocolate Chip, Last: Banana nut

Regular sized Banana Chocolate Chip Bread

With Love, coffee, and a good book,

Emili