How come when everyone has ripe bananas left over they think “banana bread”?
How come when you hear the word “Oreo” you automatically think of the chocolate cookie variety?
It’s the 21st century people. Let’s think outside the box. Let’s think of a better phrase than “thinking outside of the box.” I hereby declare Oreo Banana Pudding an “over the moat” idea for leftover bananas and Oreos. Continue reading
I like swirls. I’m an indecisive person, so swirls mean I don’t have to pick between flavors. Plus, swirls are pretty.
Sometimes though, I wait until too late in the day to take pictures, so I don’t have natural light and my pictures don’t look so pretty. Continue reading
What do you mean Nashville is over? Season finale? Excuse me, what? Nashville is the banana of TV land – it has no season. It needs to be consumed year-round… sometimes with cream cheese in the middle.
I think the reason bananas are not assigned a season is because they take so long to go bad. I guess that might depend on what level of ripeness you like your bananas at, but I’ve gotta be honest, when I buy bananas it’s with the full intention of letting them go brown and baking with them. If a couple get eaten before that, it’s a happy accident. You will always find heavily speckled bananas in my kitchen. Continue reading
I’ve been a bad blogger. Bad, bad blogger. Bad! You guys got hosed on March, I mean seriously; stuffed shells and that was it. Not even any Fired Up Fridays. WTF Red?
What’s the excuse? You knew there was going to be an excuse. Well, here’s the thing: I sort of left my perfectly good job to start my own business and I packed up and moved to the other side of town. How scandalous! You’d think some awful man had ruined my life and terrible boss had crushed my dreams, and I was Anne Hathaway, Emma Stone, Rachel McAdams or Reese Witherspoon out to show everyone that I could make it on my own! It was disappointingly far less dramatic. Though there was an awesome soundtrack (Tegan & Sara) and a quirky sidekick (that’d be you Henn).
I think I surprised a lot of people by going off on my own, myself included. The closest thing I have to a business education is the Econ 101 class I was required to take in college. But honestly, it’s been on my mind for quite a while now. I struggle with finding a work/life balance. When I enjoy something, I pour all my energy into it; when I don’t, I put it off until the last minute and then stress about it until my head explodes. For a long time there’s been less enjoyment and more stressing. One of my favorite sayings is “if you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.” Well guess what? I effing changed it. All of it. Continue reading
Remember that free jar of Biscoff spread I got at the Hot Chocolate 15K Expo? Yep, that’s still coming in handy. Since I loved this peanut butter chocolate chip bread I made in the fall, I wondered… could I replace the peanut butter with Biscoff spread and take out the chocolate chips with the same delicious results? Psssst… rhetorical question.
The flavor in this bread sneaks up on you. The first bite says ‘this is ok, but I think I like my other banana bread recipe better,” then a couple bites later, your mouth says ‘I think I can taste the Biscoff now’ and then your nose is thinking ‘oh yeah, that’s the Biscoff!’ and the next thing you know, you’ve finished the slice and sort of want to finish the loaf. Continue reading
Oh Pinterest, you vixen. Enticing me with indulgent food, outfits I could never put together by myself, cute sleepy puppies, inspirational quotes that I forget 10 minutes later, six-pack abs, and deceptive craft projects that require seven trips to Michael’s. Can I believe you when you tell me that two eggs plus a banana equals pancakes?
I’d been eyeing this pin for two ingredient Paleo pancakes for awhile. Seriously? But how do they get fluffy? Well… they don’t. They’re very thin, like a crepe. Which is fine in my book. I love crepes (you heard me Ricky Bobby).
Do you know what Paleo is? It’s short for the Paleolithic diet, which is based on the foods humans ate during the Paleolithic Era (think cavemen). It focuses on naturally raised proteins, vegetables, fruits and nuts (think hunter-gatherer) and eliminates grains, starches, processed sugars and oils (think all of your favorite foods). The Paleo diet and CrossFit tend to go hand-in-hand, so I’ve become more Paleo curious as of late. Just as I see merits in veganism, I see merits in the Paleo diet as well. Continue reading
Did all those flavors just hit you like a ton of bricks? Let’s bring back some redhead math:
Peanut butter = delicious
Banana = yummy
Chocolate chips = yummy deliciousness
Therefore, peanut butter banana chocolate chip bread = delicious yummy yummy deliciousness
Did you see what I did there? I’m like Russell Crowe in A Beautiful Mind or Matt Damon in Good Will Hunting. No wait, wrong gender…. Ok, I’m like Julia Roberts in Erin Brockovich. Wow, still not quite right… Can we get back to the bread? Continue reading
I am not a fan of New Year’s resolutions. They just seem fake to me – doomed for failure. If it wasn’t important enough to change when you first noticed the problem, why is it important enough to change starting January 1? Exercise for example. Winter has to be one of the worst times to resolve to exercise more (unless you live in California, Florida, Arizona, etc.). I’d give up by March too if my only concept of “working out” was the elliptical. Same for “eat better.” Hello? How many Christmas cookies are still laying around on the counter, leftovers from parties and football food galore since we’re in the middle of bowl season and on the verge of playoffs.
Ok, so I’ve bashed resolutions enough. I don’t want to stop anyone from trying to make meaningful changes in their life. But, if someone with no experience in making resolutions could offer some advice, it would be this: keep it realistic. Try something small and manageable.
I just finished reading an excellent book called The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. In the book, the author examines what defines, contributes and detracts from happiness. She starts a year-long happiness project, focusing on a different aspect of her life she would like to improve each month. A key message I took away from the book is that small changes, continued over a long period of time, make a big impact. Continue reading
This bread is bananas: B-A-N-A-N-A-S! Banana bread is like the toast of the baking world – everyone should know how to make banana bread. It’s what you do with over ripe bananas. You can’t screw up banana bread. Actually you can, you can use under ripe bananas, or watery bananas, or you can over mix the batter, or use bandanas instead of bananas. But, I am here to prevent your banana bread blunders. I am the toothpaste to your cavity. I am the apple to your doctor. I am the condom to your —WHOA —I am not going there.
This Allrecipes.com banana bread recipe has been my go-to for awhile. The sour cream makes it super moist and I think the tang of it only enhances the banana flavor. Speaking of enhancing flavor, to crank my banana bread to 11, I always roast two of the bananas to mix in with the batter and slice a third banana to add at the end. Ain’t nobody going to ask you what kind of bread they’re eating with all that flavor packed into each bite. But if they do, I suggest you invoke Gwen Stefani per above. This bread is bananas : B-A-N-A-N-A-S . Continue reading
Adventures of a Hungry Redhead 