Y-U-M-M-Y

Our foray into vegan-ism (and now vegetarianism) has brought a number of good things into our lives (not just the loss of pounds). One of my favorite discoveries is a vegan banana bread recipe I found on a blog called "The Baking Bird" (http://thebakingbird.blogspot.com). THIS STUFF ROCKS! I don't mean that "it's good for something that's vegan", I mean that it's just plain good. As wonderful as Mom's banana bread always was, I would chose this one hands-down every time. I have to admit that I cheat--my version is only mostly vegan because I add chocolate chips. *Gasp* You could always use actual vegan chocolate chips though, or stick to nuts & raisins & such. Whatever way you chose to do it, trust me--you want to make this!

Lower-Fat Banana Bread from Veganomicon

Makes one loaf

2 large or 3 small VERY ripe bananas

1/4 cup applesauce

1/4 cup canola oil

1/2 cup sucanat sugar

2 tablespoons molasses

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup white whole wheat flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt
Any mix-ins you want: raisins, nuts, chocolate chips, etc (to taste)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease your loaf pan.

In a large mixing bowl, mash the bananas really well. Add the sugar, applesauce, oil, and molasses, and mix (spoon or whisk).

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, spices, and salt. Sift into the wet mixture. Use a wooden spoon to mix until the wet and dry ingredients are just combined. If you're using chocolate chips or nuts, fold them in here.

Transfer the batter to the greased loaf pan and bake for 45 to 60 minutes (I know that's a large span but it really depends on the oven; mine takes ~55min). The top should be lightly browned and a knife inserted through the center should come out clean. Flip out of pan onto a cooling rack & allow to cool completely before cutting.

Green Thumb

Trey has talked me into A LOT of things since we've been married. One of the first things he talked me into after we moved in to our new house is a square-foot garden. Well, first we tried a regular garden, but the upkeep was so crazy on it (all the weeds grew like...well, like weeds) and we had such a problem with water not draining that most of the stuff ended up rotting. Hence, the search for an alternate method and the start of our own square-foot garden. For those of you not familiar with it, a square-foot garden is meant to maximize harvest with minimum space & complication. You create a raised-bed by making a rectangular box & filling it with top soil/compost, etc (we stick weedblock material on the bottom of ours). For instance, you could do a 4x4ft garden, or an 7x3ft garden, etc. You then create 1x1ft boxes using twine, and in each box you plant your vegetation of choice. Some things you plant one of per box, others you can plant multiples (it just depends on the eventual size of the plant, e.g. tomato plant vs onions).

By setting it up this way you can plant many different things in a concentrated space, you ensure good quality soil, you cut down on weeds and make it VERY easy to reach & pull any weeds that DO show up, it cuts down on how much water you need (because the healthy soil holds the water better and because everything is in a smaller space), and you can ensure that you're eating fresh, pesticide free produce. For instance, we're already enjoying lettuce--we just go out and pick it, wash it, and eat it!

What else is in our garden? Well, let's see what I can remember: Cucumber, squash, peppers, beans, tomatoes, beets, basil, mint, eggplant, okra....yeah, that's all I got. See pics below (be sure to check out the HUMONGOUS pepper)!!!





Oh, and I certainly can't forget about our coming blackberries!!!