Gardening Cheats Update!

My chive kit from the dollar store is just about ready to be transplanted in my garden. I also saved the extra seeds from the kit and plan on planting them as well. Next summer I'm hoping to snag a few more indoor herb starter kits.

Banana Bread

I've adapted my recipe from one I've been using for awhile that I found on Simply Recipes

Ingredients:

• 4 bananas smashed (smash it real good!)
•  1/3 cup of coconut oil *I used Nutiva Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil
• 3/4 cup of sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• salt (sprinkle about a pinch or less)
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease/Flour pan (or whatever methods you use for baking) Mash up the bananas like there is no tomorrow! Add in coconut oil and mix. Add beaten egg, sugar, and vanilla extract and mix til well combined.

Yum-ness in the making!

Sprinkle a bit of salt and baking soda on top of mixture. Mix well to fully combine. Last but not least the flour! Can add both types at once and mix or mix whole wheat and then all purpose flour. Add mixture to bread pan and pop in the oven for 45-50 minutes.

Phone Camera did not fully capture the golden brownness on top :)

You may substitute coconut oil for whatever else you may have on hand. I've been trying to find natural alternatives to using butter in baking and coconut oil is pretty awesome so far. I enjoy mixing up whole wheat flour with all purpose flour as a way to make it stretch and last longer (especially since my bag is almost empty.)

Welch's Whelp

 

I don't know how to read, apparently.

I was tempted to get a pineapple in the store the other day but opted to get some juice instead, really just wanted something sweet and refreshing to cool off with. After reading through ingredients on several labels I decided to go with Welch's, mainly just wanted something without HFCS lurking in the bottle.
Naturally after cracking open the bottle and taking a sip I notice that the ingredients used are from China, Chile, and Argentina. What a nice international blend! I have no quarrel with imported items but I try to avoid them, because of the carbon foot print created. 

Buying fruits and veggies grown in America helps keep jobs in America, same goes for other grocery items. Unless its clearly labeled Fair Trade I will put items down if they were imported, that is if I am paying attention to what I'm flinging in the cart.

Versatile Blogger? Eh?

Let's Take the Metro has awarded me the awesome Versatile Blogger Award! I have no idea what that means but from blogger peer pressure I'm supposed to reveal seven shocking facts about myself!

• I have a face! And it really likes artichokes, seriously I'd rather have jars of marinated artichoke hearts then ice cream. 
• I'm an educated derelict! Aka I have not one but two university degrees collecting dust. I'm hoping to snag a real job by the end of the summer, maybe. 
• I cut myself on an ice cube once. It takes talent to pull off such a feat of awesomeness
• I watch more Korean television than American. I have no clue about contestants on "reality" shows, Grey's Anatomy, and countless CSI series but ask me about Suh Ji Suk's latest series and I can rattle them off in under ten minutes :)
• I played a mean Tuba back in the day for High School band, never was a member of the Marching Band but actually got to take part in the Jazz Band my junior year (senior year couldn't because I was a punk in too many clubs)
• Though I have an English degree I have yet to finish a novel in 2011, working on changing that with After Dark (Vintage International) by Haruki Murakami. Its been sitting on my bookshelf for two years now so I decided to finally crack it open
• I have horrid math skills, I was in advanced math from Elementary to sophomore year of High School; after Geometry everything math related was/is an epic fail :)

Artichoke Haiku

Green meat
leaves leafs
of pointy goodness

Prickly edge

no match for will

of adventurous steamer

Heart softens

bathing in vinegar

marinating my soul

Jars of Delight

Since I've only been working again full time these past few weeks my budget for May has been really tight, from being behind with bills for April, so I thought I would get some jarred fruit instead of fresh. You know because its significantly less than paying by pound or pieces for fresh fruit. I just wanted a strawberry so badly this past week that when I found some in a glass jar, as opposed to canned which I refuse to buy anything anymore, my face was full of glee and delight.

Though it had some "light" syrup in the jar it wasn't listed as HFCS so I thought I would go buck wild and try it out.

Not only did my jarred fruit come in syrup it also had the added bonus of being tangled with black hairs....

For some odd reason I didn't finish off that particular jar of strawberries but instead rinsed out and then recycled the glass container it was held captive in. I was iffy about picking the item up and putting it in my cart that day but I wanted a fruit to snack on and got much more. I'm just hoping that the strawberry plant I bought last year produces some fruit this summer ;)

Burn Baby Burn!

I'm still somewhat in denial that it is the month of May let alone that I should really be putting on sunscreen before venturing outdoors. My new job commute home from work can take an hour with heavy traffic, sitting that long is bad enough but I didn't think twice about what it means for my skin. Naturally I got burnt to a crisp my first day driving home that it wasn't cloudy and/or raining in NEPA.
Since my skin is uber sensitive the only thing I use for when the sun taunts and burns my skin is my trusted aloe vera gel. All natural and made in the USA Fruit of the Earth has been my favorite since I can remember. I know that there are organic brands out recently but not all of them are made solely in the USA. I want to spend what little I have for expenses as carefully as possible; for the sake of my crying wallet and the environment. If buying something that has a low carbon footprint can reduce pollution even just a smidgen so be it. Not only do I think its important to know what is in the product I pick up to fling in shopping carts but where it is coming from.

Poor Man's Bento: Part Deux

I have about $3 til I get paid again, hopefully this Friday from part time gig I did for a few weeks, so I'm stretching what I have in my cupboards for lunches for work.
Tonight I knew I wanted to make rice but no idea what to go with it, since I'm all out of fresh veggies, but lo and behold I found half of an onion in my fridge. Thus was born Pieorgie Fried Rice!

And one cup of sheer desperation I mean cooked rice to a pan of sauteed onions and cook til your heart's content. I used coconut oil for the onions but any oil would do. The smell and taste of the onions mixed in the rice makes me think of pieorgies and thus it has been christened with that name.

May is going to be a tough month but that doesn't mean I will give in and get cheap processed frozen crap lunches to bring to work! Even if it isn't the most healthy thing I could make I rather use real ingredients, or at least what ones I have left ;)

Kale Updates

Current status: Red Alert!
No kale in my household, I repeat no kale in my household!! Ottoke????

April was jam packed but I still wanted to make fresh lunches to bring for work, circling around my beloved; Kale. I made a small batch of soup with veggie stock, barley, random pasta shaped O's I found while cleaning my cupboards, and Kale! I loved it since kale keeps it shape no matter how my hands may torture it in dishes I test out in my kitchen.
I made a poor man's bento of a huge portion of rice and steamed kale on the side, then another day with kale and leftover artichoke marinate *deliciousness to the max*

Though I kick start May without my beloved it is still near in a way. I have two different types of kale seeds sitting on my kitchen counter that will soon to be planted in my garden. I'm excited to try some new vegetables in my garden but to also save some money by trying to grow my own kale during the spring/summer months.