Bread | Luv What You Do

Pumpkin Pear Bread December 20, 2012

Filed under: Bread,Travel,Vegetarian — Luv What You Do @ 9:05 pm
Tags: Baking, family, Florida, pear, Pumpkin, Recipes

Another full day here in Florida!

I woke up around 9am, no alarm necessary, and eased myself awake with some day time television and breakfast. By 10, I was ready for my morning running.

I swear, Florida has the strangest grass I have ever seen!

My Dad was already up and getting his morning workout done in the pool.

My aunt lives in a golf community, so I made my way through the little neighborhoods and around the lush golf courses. I started off feeling good. It felt strange to be out running in just a tshirt and shorts (no gloves, no hat, no wool socks), and the breeze felt fantastic. About 10 minutes in, I was completely covered in sweat and I has that familiar feeling of running in Florida.

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I made my way back to the satellite clubhouse for some cold water and was greeted by my 100 year old Grandpa getting a cup of coffee. He drove himself down to see us, spend some time at the pool, and have lunch. It was such a fun post-run site, and he seemed impressed with my 40 minute run. Just an FYI, my grandpa exercises almost every day at his house and at the gym.

After lunch, my Dad, Aunt, and I hit the pool for some swimming, reading, hot tubbing, and napping.

We had a little downtime before dinner to relax and watch TV. My aunt happened to have Scandal on Demand, so I was more than happy to watch the season finale. We had some friends over for a delicious dinner, and my Aunt served her apple crisp and this banana bread recipe she found on my blog. The bread reminded me that I still haven’t shared this recipe for Pumpkin Bear Bread that I made last week. I loved it sooo much, it might be a new obsession.

I had been seeing multiple recipes for soups and desserts combing pumpkin and pear.

I had this feeling that they should come together and make a bread, but I wasn’t sure how.

Right around this time, I saw the perfect recipe in Vegetarian Times Magazine. I was so excited to try it, that I doubled the recipe and baked up two moist loaves.

I could barely wait to try this bread and cut myself a heaping slice while it was still warm. I don’t know if it is the pastry flour or what, but this bread is incredibly soft and melts right in your mouth. I ate it plain, no spreads required, but I’m sure it would be wonderful doused in a winter jam or fried up for French toast. I share these ideas with you now as I know the Midwest is being blanketed with snow. Even if there is cold outside your door, this bread will warm up your home! I promise! And if not, I can send some sunshine : )

Have you tried any new quick breads?

What are you baking this week?

I am planning on getting my hands on some of my grandma’s old recipes (my aunt has them all),

so I will have lots of new old things to try when I get home!

Pumpkin-Pear Bread

From Vegetarian Times October 2012

Ingredients
1-1/4 cups sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 large egg
1/2 cup low-fat milk
3/4 cup unsweetened pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
15-ounce can pears, drained and diced

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9″x5″ loaf pan with cooking spray.

Whisk together sugar, flours, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda and salt in bowl. Set aside.

Whisk together oil and egg in bowl until smooth. Whisk in milk, then pumpkin and vanilla.

Stir flour mixture into oil-egg mixture until just combined. Fold in pears.

Spread batter in the prepared loaf pan. Bake 45 to 55 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Comments (14)

Day Off November 25, 2012

Filed under: Bread,Breakfast,Life — Luv What You Do @ 4:23 pm
Tags: Baking, Banana, eggs, Recipes, restaurant

Sunday, Sunday!

Oh, how I love waking up with no alarm to a full day ahead of me. Truth is, I purposely made NO plans for today. I knew that Wednesday through Saturday were going to be pretty busy, and I wasn’t sure how sore I would be after yesterday’s half marathon. I wanted to a day to chill out, get a few things done around the house, and hang with the BOY before I lose him to finals prep. I’m adding in a few shopping stops, but mostly, I just wanted a lazy day off! Can you blame me?

Yes, this was last night’s big event laying around in my PJ’s and compression socks, eating my favorite snack (popcorn with olive oil), and drinking a little bubbly out of my congratulations glass. Only fitting after yesterday’s race!

I woke up starving and although I really wanted something rich and sweet like pancakes, I had the perfect leftovers to make a flavorful Breakfast Stirfry.

It was exactly what I needed to get my day started. Although the first half of my day involved sitting on the couch, looking for recipes, and watching Law&Order (I swear if there was an L&O Anonymous, I would be a founding member). Around my 3rd episode, I was actually starting to feel hungry. Usually this happens to me the day after an intense workout, all I want to do is eat all day. I was snacking on an apple with almond butter when the BOY mentioned heading out for lunch. I convinced him to take me to Which Wich? since I was totally craving a veggie sandwich with pesto and hummus!

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This is seriously the BEST sandwich place EVER! If you have one in your neighborhood, I highly recommend checking it out. Afterwards, I made a ~~quick~~ longer than expected stop at Michael’s. I still haven’t framed my Marathon poster, and for the past year, I have been wanting to hang it in the office. Who knows…there may be more to follow!

With the BOY at the library, I finally had a few quiet hours at home. I threw some banana bread in the oven and FINALLY sat down to watch last week’s Grey’s Anatomy. What can I say…I’m still hooked on this show!

(Source)

The house started to smell incredible, which the banana bread gets credit for. I had some over ripe bananas and wanted to try something new and fall-tastic.

This isn’t easy considering all of the banana bread recipes I’ve made, but after a few minutes searching online, I came across this recipe for Maple Banana Bead on Baker By Nature. She used oat flour, so I just subbed in white flour. And because the only Greek yogurt I have is pumpkin flavor, I used that too. It goes with the fall-tastic theme!

I debated whether or not to add in some nuts for crunch, but in the end placed a few pecans along the top of the bread.

Taste Test? Of course!

The batter was tasty, but not as maple flavored as I expected BUT my house is overflowing with sweet maple aroma.

I can’t wait try it. Because let’s be honest…along with some wine in a Congrats glass, banana bread is perfect for recovering from a race on your Day Off.

Now I just have to wait for the BOY to come home from the library to watch the DVRed Bear’s game!

What do you like to do the day after a race?

Because this week was so crazy, I loved laying low today.

But…tomorrow I have a 90 minute full body massage. Hooray!

Maple Banana Bread

From Baker By Nature

Ingredients

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking Soda

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup maple syrup

2 eggs, room temperature

1 stick unsalted butter, melted

4 very ripe bananas, mashed

2 tablespoons Greek yogurt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F). Spray the bottom and sides the loaf pan with non-stick spray.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt, set aside. In a separate large bowl, beat maple syrup and eggs with a whisk until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add melted butter. Add mashed bananas, Greek yogurt, and vanilla. Gently mix in dry ingredients. Pour batter into the lined loaf pan and bake for about 1 hour.

Cool before cutting.

Comments (17)

Delight October 22, 2012

Filed under: Bread,Breakfast — Luv What You Do @ 9:34 am
Tags: Baking, Recipes

As I mentioned last week, I have another bread recipe to share and this one is pure DELIGHT!

I found the recipe YEARS ago and have made it countless times since.

It is a household favorite…mostly because it is so easy to whip up with simple ingredients.

The BOY is a huge fan of the cinnamon sugar layer, and guests seem impressed when I serve this for breakfast after a slumber party.

I think this is the part where I tempt you with mouth watering pictures of this delicious bread!

Can you imagine if I could create a scratch and sniff computer screen?!

You’d be drooling…trust me!

Luckily, this recipe makes 2 loaves, so you can share one delightful loaf and keep one for yourself!

As I mentioned yesterday, I am only back home for ~24 hours because I am off to the Bear’s game tonight, then sleeping over at my brothers, then back for one last night with the dogs. It’s going to be a busy week at work too, so the posts might be a bit slim this week! Luckily, I’m leaving you with something delicious to keep you busy in the kitchen.

Cinnamon Bread Delight

From AllRecipes.com

Makes 2 loaves of bread

Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar

1 (5.1 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 1/2 cups milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup applesauce

2 eggs, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons cinnamon sugar mix (I use WAY more)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease two 5×9 inch loaf pans.

2. In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, pudding mix, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. In a separate bowl, mix the milk, oil, applesauce, eggs, and vanilla. Stir the milk mixture into the flour mixture until smooth. Do not over stir. Spread half the batter across the bottom of both pans. Then sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Then spread the rest of the batter over the cinnamon sugar and swirl with a knife. (You can add more cinnamon sugar over the top of the bread if desired!)

3. Bake 1 hour in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a loaf comes out clean.

Note: Freezes well

Comments (8)

A Squash Tale-Chapter II October 18, 2012

Filed under: Bread — Luv What You Do @ 8:18 pm
Tags: Baking, cranberries, Recipes, Squash

Have you ever heard such a crazy squash story???

After all of that work, I needed to find something fantastic to do with my share of the squash!

I actually came up with an idea while I was flipping through my new cookbook. I came across a recipe for Squash Muffins and new this sweet squash would be awesome for the recipe!

When I ended up in charge of the last day of class (tomorrow’s) breakfast, I had an actual reason to bake. After 1 year of class, we will finally be certified. It has been a busy year (to say the least), and I remember starting the course exactly 1 year ago. After all of the extra work, weekend’s in class, and sleepovers with my parents, it is exciting to have a few more letters behind my name. Since I am away house/dog sitting this week, I did my baking last weekend and froze everything for tomorrow.

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I decided to turn the muffins into a bread because I think bread freezes better. Although if you have some muffin freezing suggestions, please send them my way.

And I added in some fresh cranberries.

I was nervous because the dough looked way too liquidy.

But the batter tasted better than I expected! I had nothing to lose, so I put it into the oven, set the timer, and got busy with my housesitting packing. A week is a long time to be away (even if you are just a few suburbs away).

About an hour later, our house was smelling sweet, and I had fresh bread cooling on the counter.

A successful one at that!

Even though the bread was for my upcoming course, I had to slice off a taste.

I just couldn’t wait the week : )

The tart cranberries were the perfect compliment to this moist, rich quick bread and my mystery squash added a strong dose of fall flavor!

I truly am a Bread Baking Fool!

I hope you are not sick of breads just yet because I have a household favorite to share with you (I’m actually not quite sure how it hasn’t ended up on the blog yet). But because these clowns have been keeping me busy, it might just have to wait until next week!

Cranberry Squash Bread

Recipe inspired from The Little Book of Country Baking Squash Muffins

Ingredients

1 cup cooked and pureed squash

2 eggs

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup milk

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon (or MORE!)

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 cup cranberries, rinsed, drained, and dried

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Sift together all dry ingredients except sugar. Stir in cranberries. Add the squash, eggs, sugar, milk, and oil and mix well. Fill well-greased loaf pan and bake for 55-60 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes before removing from pan.

Comments (4)

Bread Baking Fool October 14, 2012

Filed under: Bread — Luv What You Do @ 8:53 am
Tags: Baking, Pumpkin, Recipes

I’d like to thank Brittany for inspiring this title with her comment on the Spiced Pear Bread post. I am totally a Quick Bread Baking Fool, and I love it!

This recipe came to me directly in my Inbox…always so dangerous!

I happened to have all of the ingredients available in the house, so before sitting down to enjoy the rest of my rainy Saturday on the couch with the BOY, I decided to throw a loaf of this rich bread into the oven!

The addition of maple syrup and spices make this pumpkin bread extra special!

The only sad part of the entire day is that this bread is for a future date (going into the freezer), so I won’t be trying it straight from the oven.

But, I will definitely be trying it soon!

Any other bread baking fools out there??? What is your favorite quick bread recipe?

What I’ve been baking…

Spiced Pear Bread

Cinnamon Swirl Pumpkin Banana Bread

Banana Almond Butter Bread

Dark Chocolate Covered Raisin Banana Bread

Strawberry Banana Bread

Blueberry Muffin Bread

Maple Pumpkin Spice Bread

From Vegetarian Times November 2009

Makes 1 loaf (12 slices)

Pure maple syrup adds bold, robust flavor to a late-fall quick bread.

Ingredients

1 cup whole-wheat flour

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 Tbs. ground cinnamon

2 tsp. ground ginger

1 ½ tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. ground nutmeg

½ tsp. ground allspice (I subbed in Pumpkin Pie Spice)

1 cup pure maple syrup

½ cup grape seed or canola oil

2 large eggs

1 cup pumpkin purée

1 tsp. vanilla extract

½ cup chopped hazelnuts (I omitted the nuts)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat 9- x 5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray. Whisk together flours, cinnamon, ginger, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, and allspice in large bowl.

2. Whisk together maple syrup and oil in separate bowl. Whisk in eggs, then pumpkin and vanilla. Stir flour mixture into pumpkin mixture with spatula;add hazelnuts. Pour into prepared loaf pan. Bake 40 to 50 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center of loaf comes out clean. Cool on rack 5 minutes, then unmold, and cool on wire rack; or transfer to serving platter, and serve warm.

Comments (4)

How to Sell Your House… October 12, 2012

Filed under: Bread,Fruit — Luv What You Do @ 9:37 pm
Tags: Baking, pear, Recipes

So I meant to post this yesterday…but I had some car trouble and never made it home last night.

Thanks Mom and Dad!!! So, here is the other bread recipe I told you about. Enjoy!

Or at least make it smell REALLY, REALLY, REALLY good…

Bake Bread!

More specifically…make Spiced Pear Bread.

If you happen to have an abundance of ripe pears at your house, feel free to use fresh pears. However, since I didn’t make it to Costco this week, I chose to go with the economical canned pears.

I made a huge mess of my kitchen pulling together this bread, but it was totally worth it!

With one recipe, I filled 4 mini loaf pans and 2 fun leaf pans.

I paid close attention not to over-stir my batter and it paid off. The bread popped up beautifully. This bread combines cinnamon with cloves that will have your house smelling festive immediately.

And I super greased my leaf pans with spray, so they easily came out AND actually look like leaves. How very fall!

This bread is different, easy, and a total fall favorite. I love the way it smells, and it tastes even better!

I can’t promise that it will help you sell your house. But, I can promise that you will make new friends when your neighbors smell the spicy aroma coming from your home or you show up at their doors with a mini loaf of homemade bread.

Spiced Bear Bread

From Taste of Home

Ingredients

3-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup sugar

3 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 eggs

3 cans (15-1/4 ounces each) sliced pears, drained and mashed

1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/4 cup canola oil

Directions

In a large bowl, combine the first seven ingredients. In a small bowl, whisk the eggs, pears, applesauce and oil. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened.

Pour into four 5-3/4-in. x 3-in. x 2-in. loaf pans coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

Yield: 4 mini loaves (6 slices each).

Comments (6)

Pumpkin Banana Bread October 10, 2012

Filed under: Bread — Luv What You Do @ 9:17 pm
Tags: Baking, Banana, fall, Pumpkin, Recipes

So it’s just that time of year again…PUMPKIN time!

I stocked up on the canned stuff during my last trip to Trader Joe’s, but one of these days, I will take the time to bake my own pumpkin. But until then…

I’ll be baking with the canned stuff. Which worked perfectly for this fall-tastic bread that I discovered on The Messy Baker Blog.

So I know you don’t typically picture banana and pumpkin working together, but I promise you…now you will!!!

Especially since there is thick layer of cinnamon sugar swirled across the middle of the bread. Yummy!

Yes, I licked the spoon!

Yes, the dough was delicious! And…No I’m not embarrassed to be a batter taster! Yes, I probably should be : )

I stirred in some walnuts and topped my bread with a few extras for some added flare (if the word flare makes you think of the movie Office Space then you, like me, are probably smiling right now).

After a few minutes in the oven, my house smelled warm and inviting.

Just like fall!!! This bread recipe is a great find!

There are always a few extra bananas on the counter and canned pumpkin in the pantry. Now that I know they work so well together, I see them hooking up again soon.

What fall favorites have you baked? What are you excited to bake next?

I’d like to get more involved in Muffin Mondays!

I see these Pumpkin Molasses Muffins and Spiced Parsnip and Apple Muffins in my NEAR future!

And…I have another quick bread recipe guaranteed to make you smile coming tomorrow!

Cinnamon Swirl Pumpkin Banana Bread

From The Messy Baker Blog

Dry:

2 cups white whole wheat flour (or 1 cup all-purpose and 1 cup whole wheat)
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

Wet:

3/4 cup pumpkin puree
2 ripe bananas
3/4 cup brown sugar
4 tbs. unsalted butter, melted
1/3 cup plain or vanilla greek yogurt
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup pecans, toasted and chopped (walnuts work great too!)

Cinnamon Swirl:

1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan.

In a small bowl, combine the dry ingredients and whisk to combine.

In a large bowl, add pumpkin puree and bananas, mash together with a fork or, my favorite, a potato masher. Add brown sugar, melted butter, and yogurt, whisk to combine. Add eggs and vanilla and whisk.

Fold dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined. Fold in chopped pecans.

For cinnamon swirl: Stir together sugar and cinnamon

Add half of the batter to the bread pan and top with cinnamon swirl mixture. Top with the remaining batter and place in the oven. Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Comments (20)

What’s a Girl To Do? September 28, 2012

Filed under: Bread — Luv What You Do @ 10:51 pm
Tags: Baking, Banana, flax, Paleo, Recipes

Leave three perfectly overripe bananas at home with the non-banana eating BOY while I head out of town for the weekend???

OR turn them into a delicious travel friendly banana flavored snack???

I’m sure you can guess which option I chose! Truth be told, I wasn’t planning on blogging or sharing this bread. I had a few minutes in between packing, laundry, and catching up on the Big Bang Theory to throw something in the oven. I needed an easy recipe and I had no eggs in the house.

I followed this recipe, substituting bananas for zucchini and using the flax egg and applesauce to make up for the lack of eggs, mostly because this recipe comes together REALLY quick and also because I love a reason to use almond meal.

Like the recipe, I’m keeping this post quick.

I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Because I am all packed up and ready for my weekend away with my mom.

We are off to Door County for a long weekend of hiking, biking, drinking, and shopping. And now, we have the perfect breakfast to take with us. See you in a few days!

Banana Almond Butter Bread

Adapted from Paleo Zucchini Almond Butter Muffins

Makes 2 mini loaves

Ingredients

1 cup almond flour/meal

3/4 cup almond butter

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking powder

2 overripe bananas, mashed

3 tbsp flax with 6 tbsp warm water (mix together and then let sit for 5 minutes)

1/4 cup applesauce

1 tsp vanilla extract

1-2 tbsp agave

Directions

Preheat oven to 350*F.

Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and blend well.

Coat mini loaf pans with non-stick cooking spray and divide batter among 2 pans.

Bake for 40 minutes or until bread is cooked all the way through.

Allow to cool before serving.

Comments (15)

Almond Butter + Zucchini = Bread September 5, 2012

Filed under: Bread,Breakfast,Clean Eating,Travel — Luv What You Do @ 9:27 pm
Tags: almond butter, Baking, flax, Michigan, Paleo, Recipes, Zucchini

A few friends and I have been talking about a camping trip all summer. A few weeks ago, we determined that Labor Day Weekend was the only weekend we were all free to get away. My brother lent me his hiking pack, a sleeping bag, a head lamp, and some other outdoorsy type stuff. My most experienced camping friend suggested that we do a backpacking trip in Michigan and we were all for it!

We decided to split up the food responsibilities. The goal was to pack non-perishable, light weight foods since we had to carry everything with us on our backs. Along with some granola and trail mix, I am in charge of breakfast. That’s perfect because it is my favorite meal, and I had some blog inspired ideas already brewing.

The first was Tina’s Zucchini Almond Butter Muffins. I’ve had my eye on these for awhile and was just waiting for a few minutes to shred up some zucchini. The time came on last Monday and I decided that I would make the muffins into loaves for my Labor Day camping trip. My only hang up…I didn’t want to use one of my farm fresh eggs which I absolutely LOVE for baking. I know…sounds crazy, but I only have a few Wisconsin eggs left. So…I did a little online research and decided to substitute in a flax egg for binding and applesauce for flavor.

It created a thick dough that fit perfectly into 2 small bread pans.

The bread baked up nicely, which I was excited to see after my egg experimentation.

I was eager to try this bread, after drooling over Tina’s muffins for weeks, so I sliced off a warm slice.

Believe it or not, almond butter and zucchini taste GREAT together!

I ate one mini loaf of bread during the week and froze one for our camping trip. It froze, thawed, and traveled really well. We ate it morning one of our trip smothered with almond butter and fig spread and still had a few slices left for the trail.

I have many more backpacking photos of the stunning Manistee River and a few more camping recipes to come.

Paleo Zucchini Almond Butter Muffins (or Bread)

Recipe from Carrots N Cake

Ingredients

1 cup almond flour/meal

3/4 cup almond butter

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking powder

1 cup grated zucchini, pressed and drained

3 eggs (or 3 Tbsp flax with 6 Tbsp warm water and 1/4 cup applesauce)

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp honey

Directions

Preheat oven to 350*F.

Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and blend well.

Coat muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray (or use paper liners) and divide batter among nine cups.

Bake for 18-20 minutes or until muffins are cooked all the way through.

Allow to cool before serving.

Makes 9 muffins

Note: To make into bread, follow instructions as written. Pour into 2 mini loaf pans and bake for ~30 minutes.

Comments (21)

Ahhhhh August 27, 2012

Filed under: Biking,Bread,Life,Lunch — Luv What You Do @ 9:12 pm
Tags: Banana, dark chocolate, magazine, Recipes, Tea, Trader Joe's

Thank you everyone for the sweet birthday wishes and comments this weekend! It is always fun to share the celebration (and of course the recipes) with ya’ll!

I have been waiting all summer for this 4 day weekend as I transition from Fridays off back to Mondays off, and it worked out so well to have it be the weekend of my birthday. It gives me an entire day to relax, recoup, and recharge after a crazy busy summer and an exciting weekend. Although the BOY and I mostly laid low yesterday, it was nice to catch up on some sleep last night!

I woke up this morning with (insert sigh of relief here)…

Ahhhhh, an entire day to myself! First up, Chai tea in my new tea press!

It turned out incredible! I’m so excited to have this fancy new toy (I bought it on sale at Sur La Table yesterday) for hot and premade iced tea. It complimented my breakfast which consisted of a spinach egg with toast and Door County jam.

First up on today’s list…

Laundry

And…

Dishes

Then, I was off for my morning bike ride. One can never have too many pairs of socks with colorful bikes on them!

Since my toe is feeling so much better, I tried to get into my spin shoes, but it was just too painful, so I was back on my hybrid again today. In a few weeks, my mom and I are doing a (modified) Century Ride. The game plan is ride ~60 miles, and I have not been getting in any long (more than 25 mile) rides. So today, I headed out for a long ride!

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I wasn’t exactly sure how far I would ride, but I hit the trail first…then headed up north. I hit some serious construction early on, and had to fend for myself along the busy roads. But I made my way to the quiet streets lined with barns, farm animals, and huge homes. It was beautiful! I even saw this funny sign that says Farm Machinery Crossing. Have you ever seen such a thing?

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Despite the construction, I found my way back home. I was feeling great until I hit mile 30 and got a wicked side cramp, which never happens to me while I’m biking. I finished the last 5 miles, but had to slow down a bit. When I got home, my legs were sore, but it felt great to get in a long and scenic ride this morning.

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After a super quick shower, I was ready for a late lunch. We have tons of Fiesta leftovers that I was able to turn into a fresh colorful salad, with a veggie burger for some added protein.

I think this might be my new favorite plate!!!

And this might be the best salad that I’ve ever made! It was so tasty that it didn’t need any dressing!

The only thing that could top it…an amazing dessert involving THESE (but we’ll get to that!).

First, I should show you a few of my accomplishments besides laundry, dishes, and getting a new phone from AT&T.

Before

After

Ok, now on to the yummy part of the post…

While I was nibbling on these dark chocolate covered raisins from Trader Joe’s last week, I came to the conclusion that they would taste unbelievable in banana bread. I HAD to test my theory. I even picked up some overripe bananas at the store for just this reason.

If you’ve been reading LWYD for a while, then you have probably seen a fair share of banana bread recipes. I have a bunch of them in my recipe binder and have found even more online. For today’s bread, I went with Mom’s Banana Bread from Cooking Light. Can you believe that I’ve had this recipe in my binder since 1996?!

I followed the banana bread recipe exactly.

But only stirred the flour mixture briefly…

Before dumping in the majority of the dark chocolate covered raisins.

I folded in the raisins until everything was just combined and then poured the dough into 4 prepared mini loaf pans.

I was worried that the raisins would sink to the bottom, but when I pulled the bread out of the oven 40 minutes later, it looked PERFECT!

I let the bread cool slightly and then immediately sliced off a piece to try…

The banana flavor in the bread was incredible, and the bread was full of warm, gooey dark chocolaty covered sweet raisins, that made my mouth very happy!

As strange as it may sound, banana bread and dark chocolate covered raisins make the perfect couple!

You should give it a try!!! I recommend making the mini loafs to share with your friends!

Then sit back and say…Ahhhhh!

Here is my long list of favorite Banana Bread Recipes:

Classic Banana Bread

Clean Banana Bread

Flour’s Famous Banana Bread

One Bowl Banana Bread Walnut Bread

Peanut Butter Banana Bread

Rum Coconut Banana Bread

Strawberry Banana Bread

On another note, I spent some time this weekend updating my Being Me (had to change my age and all), Eating Well, and Staying Active pages. Next on my list is the Recipe Page.

And because Monday can never have enough randomness, I have to share the exciting news…

Mariano’s in Schaumburg (less than 2 miles from my house) opens tomorrow! The BOY and I are already planning a trip there tomorrow night!

I hope you had a great Monday! What did you do???

Dark Chocolate Covered Raisin Banana Bread

From Mom’s Banana Bread in Cooking Light

November 1996

Ingredients

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup light butter, softened

1 2/3 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 bananas)

1/4 cup skim milk

1/4 cup low-fat sour cream

2 large egg whites

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 container of Trader Joe’s dark chocolate covered raisins

Cooking spray

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°.

Combine sugar and butter in a bowl; beat at medium speed of a mixer until well-blended. Add banana, milk, sour cream, and egg whites; beat well, and set aside.

Combine flour, baking soda, and salt; stir well. Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture, beating until just blended. Fold in chocolate covered raisins

Spoon batter into 4 (5 x 2 1/2-inch) miniature loaf pans coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 40 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool in pans 10 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pans. Let cool completely on wire racks.

Note: To make one 9-inch loaf, spoon batter into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray; bake at 350º for 1 hour and 10 minutes. Yield: 1 loaf, 20 servings (serving size: 1 slice).

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Luv What You Do

Balancing a Busy Life with a Healthy Lifestyle

Pumpkin Pear Bread December 20, 2012

Day Off November 25, 2012

Delight October 22, 2012

A Squash Tale-Chapter II October 18, 2012

Bread Baking Fool October 14, 2012

How to Sell Your House… October 12, 2012

Pumpkin Banana Bread October 10, 2012

What’s a Girl To Do? September 28, 2012

Almond Butter + Zucchini = Bread September 5, 2012

Ahhhhh August 27, 2012

Being Me

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