Banana Bread French Toast for one

French Toast is awesome. Especially with bananas!

 For me, French Toast is all about the bread. No store-bought white wonderbread will do. It's gotta be goooood bread. Typically, I go for a bread kind of like a french bread -soft with a firm but not crunchy crust, big irregular holes, cut into ridiculously thick slices. Today however, the banana bread on my counter was perfect. Already studded with walnuts and made with 4 bananas in just one loaf, this was an awesome breakfast!

Paired with a small orange-carrot-yogurt smoothie, my hunger was completely satisfied until well-after I typically eat lunch. Filling meals that still allow me to feel light are my favorite.

Soaing the banana bread in the egg mixture.

Non-stick pans are super nice 'cus I barely need any fat/oil/butter to cook in them.

Mmmm, maple syrup-soaked french toast banana bread, perfect after a morning jog.

Banana Bread French Toast for One

2 thin slices of banana bread (about as thin as an iPhone... yes, I am a member of Generation Y)
1 egg, beaten
3 tablespoons milk
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Real maple syrup for serving

Carefully whisk together egg, milk, and cinnamon in a medium/shallow bowl (Big enough and shallow enough to fit in the pieces of bread lying down flat so that they can soak up the egg. I use a square Tupperware).
Place pieces of bread in the egg mixture and let rest 30-60 seconds, then flip so the other side can soak 30-60 seconds.
Drop soaked pieces of bread into a lightly buttered or greased fry pan over medium heat and cook for about 1-2 minutes on each side (or until your desired level of golden brown appears).
Serve on a plate and be sure to drizzle with real maple syrup to make up for the fact that both the banana bread (if you used the recipe I posted last week) and the egg mixture have almost no sugar in them.

Suggestion: smear peanut butter on the top of one slice and place the 2nd slice on top like a peanut butter french toast sandwich.

Lemon Pie

Why is citrus season in the winter? I mean, when I think of a season that goes with citrus, it's usually summer. Lemonade, orange creamsicles, citrus tarts... all of those things come out during the summer. The only reason I can think of for God making citrus fruits ripen in December and January is that he wanted to give us a reminder that summer will return. That has to be it, right? Because there is nothing that can make me smile like the sun just came out like a slice of lemon pie.

Also, the lemons looked so pretty at the grocery store and this recipe is soooo fast and easy! I knew I had to make this. At any rate, it was a good way to avoid studying for statistics exam that I might*possibly*probably will fail... I guess I should have gotten a tutor earlier than one week before the final. Maybe eating lemon pie will lessen the blow of failing.

Simple Lemon Pie
1 unbaked pie crust
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
Juice of 2 lemons

Grease a 9-inch pie tin and place unbaked pie crust in the tin. Preheat oven to 350F.
In a medium bowl, stir sugar into butter until fully incorporated. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in lemon juice. Pour into unbaked pie crust. Bake pie in 350F oven for 10 minutes, then turn oven down to 325F and bake for 35 more minutes. Let cool and place in fridge for at least 2 hours. Serve cold.

Raw, vegan, chocolate power bars!

As school really kicks into high gear, I find myself having less and less time to plan meals and eating more and more power/protein/snack bars. Combine my love for protein bars (ask my first college roommate, I had an entire dresser drawer devoted to them) with my food processor that I just found on craigslist, and you get lots of experiments with all sorts of [sometimes-whacko] grab-n-go bars. This particular recipe is from Enlightened Cooking and definitely wins my approval: easy and yummy.




Chocolate Power Bars
2 cups raw almonds (skins on)
1 pound pitted soft dates (two 8oz bags is usually how I find them)
2 tablespoons cocoa powder (not Dutch process) OR raw cacao powder (for strictly raw eaters)
1/4 cup raw wheat germ (toasted is fine if you are not strictly raw)
2 tablespoons ground flaxseeds (flaxseed meal)

Place almonds in a medium bowl. Fill bowl with cold water (preferably filtered, but tap is fine) to cover the almonds. Let the almonds soak for 3 to 4 hours. Drain the almonds and pat dry with a clean dish cloth.

Pulse almonds in food processor until finely ground. Add the dates and pulse until finely chopped and the mixture begins to resemble a thick "dough." Add the cocoa powder, wheat germ, and flaxseed meal. Process until blended.

Line an 8×8-inch baking dish with foil (seriously do this, it makes it so much easier to remove the bars). With clean, wet hands, press the bar mixture into the pan. Place in the freezer for at least an hour. Cut into 12 bars. Wrap each in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator (though they need no refrigeration when packed in a lunch or gym bag).

Note: roughly 260 calories per bar, if you are curious.

Dark Chocolate Cherry Smoothie

So good, so easy. And pretty dang good for you. Definitely try this for breakfast, a snack, or even dessert.

1/2 cup dark chocolate almond milk
1/2 cup of plain greek yogurt
3/4 cup of fresh cherries, pitted and stemmed

Place all ingredients in a blender for 30 seconds. Enjoy!

*Feel free to adjust the amounts of milk and yogurt, or even add ice, depending on what texture you prefer.

Blackened Salmon

Ok, I splurged. My grocery bill is a ridiculously large portion of my budget as it is, but this week it has definitely gone overboard. The salmon at Whole Foods was just so beautiful, I couldn't resist it. I wanted to do something simple with it so that I could really appreciate the taste of wild caught salmon. To let it shine, I chose cheesey polenta with swiss chard (from my pastor's garden) as the side.

1 tablespoon of blackened seasoning

2 6oz fillets of salmon

Sprinkle blackened seasoning evenly over fillets.

Cook salmon in 1 tablespoon hot oil in same nonstick skillet over medium heat 4 to 6 minutes on each side or just until fish begins to flake with a fork. Remove from pan onto serving plates.

Key Lime Frozen Yogurt

I'm on a bit of a citrus kick, just a fair warning to you all.

If you see an over abundance or lime, orange, and lemon themed foods on here, dont be surprised.

Summer just makes me want that tartness of citrus that is just perfect on a hot day. Also, I recently received Kitchen Aid ice cream maker attachment (I got it free in a rebate), so Key Lime Frozen Yogurt sounded fantastic, especially since it is a no-cook recipe and it was only yesterday that I got the oven/stove back to working order.

Key Lime Frozen Yogurt

from Southern Living

32oz contain whole milk French vanilla yogurt

14oz can fat-free sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup key lime juice

Ginger snaps for serving

Whisk together all ingredients in a bowl and pour into a 1 1/2 quart container of an ice cream maker, freeze according to manufacturer's directions.