Banana Bread / Muffins

I've tried this a few times and finally have come up with one I like.

YIELD: 16 - 24 mini muffins


INGREDIENTS:

4 soupy bananas - Super Ripe*
1/3 cup canola oil
1/3 cup agave nectar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp ground flax seed
1 tsp nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1 cup white flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2cup cornmeal
i tsp baking powder
1tsp baking soda
handful of raisins**



DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350. Grease the muffin tin / loaf pan.

Mash the bananas in a small bowl. Add the oil, agave, lemon juice,flax seed and nutmeg and stir till well mixed

In a medium bowl mix the flours, cornmeal, baking soda, baking powder, salt and raisins together.

Add the banana mixture to the flour mixture and mix till just combined. Using a table spoon fill muffin tin till full. Bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Bake for 40 minutes is making a loaf.


*I just peel and bag over ripe bananas and chuck them in the freezer. When they defrost the become a bit soupy.

** Totally optional.

Rapid Cornmeal Bread

I use this in my circa 1990 black and decker bread machine. It has a rapid bread cycle that takes 1 hour and 58 minutes. If your machine has this type of cycle I think it should work perfectly for you. MY Mum and friends have used it and it works well for them.

YIELD: 1 pound and a half loaf


INGREDIENTS:

1 tbsp ground flax seed
1 1/4 cup warm water
2 tbsp powdered soy milk
2 tbsp agave nectar
1 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1 1/2 cup white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/3cup cornmeal
1 3/4tsp yeast


DIRECTIONS:

Add ingredients to you breadmaker pan in the order you see them listed. Put into the machine in the rapid bread cycle. Either a dark or light crust will work.

Happy breadmaking.

Eggplant Chana Masala - ish

This isn't a knock your socks off dish but Mira had 2 helpings last night and asked to take some with her for lunch today. For me that = SUCCESS! Serve with rice.

YIELD: serves 6

INGREDIENTS:

1 large onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves minced
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp curry powder *
2 tsp cumin *
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1 med/lg eggplant, chopped into bite size pieces
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 can diced tomatoes
1 cup chopped green tomatoes **

DIRECTIONS:

Add oil to large sauce pan / dutch oven and saute onions. Add garlic after the onions has begun to become translucent. Mix in the curry powder, cumin and salt. Add green tomatoes and cook till onions are translucent and browning and green tomatoes are getting soft.

Add eggplant and stir in to coat with seasonings. Cook for about 5 minutes, eggplants are like sponges so if they have used all the oil and are sticking too much just add a bit more oil. Add tomatoes and their juice and the chickpeas. cover and simmer for 40 minutes.

Make rice while the Chana simmers.



* my curry and cumin might not be as fresh as I'd hoped, add these seasonings to taste.

** I have lots of green tomatoes from my garden so I'm chucking them in lots of stuff. These are totally optional.

Places to go

I thought since I am constantly looking for safe things to eat (or at the very least vegan things to eat) that I would include what I discover on my recipe blog.

TIM HORTONS:

Yes they do!

Oatcakes
All low fat muffins
Sandwich buns

Zucchini Bread

Kids are begging for more of this one.

YIELD: 1 loaf or 12 muffins


INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp egg replacer powder*
1/2 cup sugar**
1/3 cup oil
1 tsp vinegar
1 1/2 cups grated zucchini
1/2 cup raisins (opt)
1/2 cup chopped nuts (opt)
1/2 cup water*


DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350˚. Grease loaf pan / muffin tin.

Sift together the dry ingredients (dump in the bran from the flour, as the sifting is for loft). Add all the other ingredients and mix till just blended. Pour into loaf pan / muffin tin. Bake 45 minutes for a loaf and 25 minutes for muffins. Remove and cool on a rack.

* if you want to use liquid sweetener (honey, maple syrup or agave nectar) reduce the water to 1/4 cup (add more only if the dough is too stiff)

**I haven't don this yet, but I believe a tbsp of ground flax would work just as well as egg replacer.