oats and bananas

I can't believe it's almost been a month since I updated this thing.  I don't think I've ever had so few posts in a month. I'm sorry, life has been busy and stressful, an annoying combination to say the least.  But things are getting back to normal, so I'll be good again, I promise.  

Now, on to the important things:

I had a serious craving for bananas not too long ago and wanted to put them in everything -- cookies, sandwiches, anything.  And so, I came up with this recipe for coconut-banana oatmeal, it's (obviously) delicious and it's really great for when you have bananas in different stages of ripeness, since it uses ripe and firm bananas. 

Ingredients:

1/4 cup pecans, chopped

1/4 cup shredded coconut

A 15 oz can of coconut milk
*I used the coconut cream from Trader Joe's, it seems to have more coconut flavor*
*You can also substitute with regular milk if you you aren't into the coconut*

1 1/2 Tablespoons brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Pinch of salt

Pinch of nutmeg

1 cup of oats - old fashioned or steel cut please!

2 bananas - 1 sliced, and 1 ripe one mashed

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Step 1: Combine the pecans and coconut and toast lightly, ~2 mins in my toaster oven.  Watch it so it doesn't burn! While you are at it, slice up one banana and set aside. 

Step 2: In a saucepan combine the milk, sugar, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg and bring to a boil. 

Step 3: Once at a boil, stir in the oats and let it return to a boil.  Then reduce the heat to medium.  Cook for 5 minutes for old fashioned oats, or until most of the liquid is absorbed. (You know, however soupy  you like your oatmeal). 

Step 4: Turn off the heat and stir in the vanilla and the mashed banana. 

Step 5: Put some into your bowl and top with some sliced banana, pecans, and coconut and enjoy!

This recipe makes 2-3 servings depending on how much you eat.

More to come soon.

xoxo

crunchy + creamy

Warning: 

this dish is not for anyone on any sort of diet. It is high in fat, sugar, cheese, carbs and pan-fried to optimal deliciousness.

It's probably best if you just look away now because i think i took a year off of my life by consuming this, but it was so frigging delicious, i'm probably going to make it again, next year.

So what is it? 

Cornflake-crusted, Ricotta-stuffed French Toast, with Caramelized Bananas.

Enough said right? 

So how did this ridiculous concoction come about? Well I happened to see two recipes for french toast within a few days of each other.  And one night, left to my own devices, I decided to combine the two.

The crunchy inspiration came from this recipe for crispy french toast from a beautiful mess (a blog i read daily).

The creamy inspiration came from this recipe for ricotta stuffed french toast with caramelized bananas from our eyes eat first. 

Clearly, it was a no brainer to combine the two and tweak accordingly.  

Here's what I did:

Sliced one banana and tossed in a teaspoon of sugar and 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon:

Combined 1/4 cup of ricotta cheese with 1 Tablespoon of sugar and 1/4 teaspoon of almond extract:

Prepared an assembly line of: one slice of bread, ricotta mixture, a dish with 1 egg, 2 Tablespoons of whipping cream, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, and a dish with crushed cornflakes:

Step 1: take the slice of bread (I had the sandwich variety at home) and top with a hearty dollop of the ricotta mixture:

Fold ever so gently and dip into the egg mixture.  Let it soak for about 30 seconds on each side:

Transfer to the cornflake dish and press in said cornflake pieces all around.  

Remember to be gentle! This a fragile endeavor people.

Finally, melt some butter in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and gently place this delicate piece of 'toast' into the pan, and then surround with banana slices. 

Cook for 2-3 minutes on each side until golden brown (and delicious) 

Then, a very important last step: take bananas and toast out of the pan and onto your plate.  Return to your skillet and add the remaining egg-cream mixture to it and scramble up.

My dad always did this after making french toast and it was always so good - the sweet and salty in the egg is a needed contrast to the sugary toast. 

But don't worry, that will take less than a minute, and then you can add it to your plate and feast on something that looks like this:

and this when you crack into it:

o.

m.

g.

really people. it was as good as it sounds.

i apologize in advance for the pounds this might add.

xoxo

if ever in baltimore...

stop by water for chocolate.

raisin bread french toast and bacon:

veggie omelet with cornbread and potatoes: 

delicious delicious i tell you.

xoxo

and my birthday

The day after thanksgiving was my birthday. I love being a thanksgiving baby, it feeds my pumpkin persona. 

This year was a big one too, 25. Well, bigish, it is my quarter-century mark.

Since Ashley was going to be in Texas, she made me a pre-birthday brunch before she left. Of course it was awesome in every way.

Knowing that it would be such, I did a fancy braid: one over the top and the rest pulled to the side and braided down.

Chloe was excited to be a part of this ladies brunch, can't you tell?

Ashley made pumpkin cinnamon rolls!!! I mean really people. 

On my actual birthday Jonathan and I spent a lovely day relaxing.  We took Chloe for a long walk, played ticket to ride (a birthday addition), and ate at poole's diner, which was delicious.  The drinks were fancy, the food was tasty, and the dessert was flipping amazing. 

Also, the boy got me a lovely california apron, absolutely perfect.

It was a lovely ringing-in to my next year.

xoxo

breakfast casserole

I was craving it. so i made it. off the top of my head, veggie style. Two layers: cheesy potatoes on bottom, and eggy biscuits on top

Ingredients:

Bottom layer: 1/2 package of shredded potatoes, 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese,  1 t olive oil, 1/4 t salt, 1/2 t pepper, 1/2 t garlic powder, 1/2 t onion powder, 1/8 t cayenne pepper, 1 T tabasco

Top layer: four eggs, 1/2 cup milk, 1/4 t salt, 1/4 t pepper, 1/4 t red pepper flakes, 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese, 2 veggie bacon slices, 2 veggie sausage patties, 1 t chives, 1/2 t onion powder, 1 can of 8 biscuits

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

For the bottom layer, combine the ingredients,

and pat down into an 11 x 7 ~ ish pan to form a crust

Then cut up some fake meat, or real if that's your thing,

In a bowl combine the top layer ingredients

quarter the biscuits,

toss them into the bowl and then pour on top of the potatoes

Bake for 32 minutes until biscuits are cooked through

It's good, really filling, and exactly what i was craving. 

xoxo

food lately

life post core exam - pre field exam is a little strange as i try to find balance between work and study and life. so the food is also strange. especially with all the funky weather. the south has a problem where it can never decide what weather to have, let alone, stick to the same type two days in a row.

so:

really good trail mix from some coffee shop -- dried apples, oats, chocolate covered coffee beans, peanuts, and some other unidentifiables. 

oh, cheesecake topped brownies. yeah i did that. sorry arteries. 

fried pickles and peppers. again sorry arteries.

milk and pb apple toast, just like the good-old-elementary school days.

green bean pasta bake, because the csa was a little crazy with the green beans.

french toast at ashley's.

tea party at ashley's, because we are old ladies, and proud of it.

and the biggest cinnamon bun from bread and butter, because it was a tuesday.

xoxo

nashvegas for the win

So, we finished the core exam and needed to hit the road, so Ashley, Shira and I set out for the lovely, Nashville.  

It's actually a good eight hour drive for us and unfortunately we couldn't take that much time off, so we had a short adventure.  After getting in we set out for the main point of our adventure: 

hot chicken at Prince's. 

Hot chicken you ask? oh yeah.  basically really spicy fried chicken. No really spicy. And so delicious. 

After being overwhelmed with joy we had a fancy drink at patterson house. It was pretty awesome after a we got passed the snooty host.  The service was awesome and the drinks were delicious and fancy.  A recommended location for an intimate cocktail experience.

And who doesn't love a spherical ice cube??

We rested up and then took Nashville by storm on Sunday, starting with brunch at Mad Donna's, which was filled with delicious food and the best bloody mary bar ever.  ever, people.

Post brunch, we headed back to the center of town and to the country music hall of fame and museum.  It's not a cheap way to spend an afternoon, but a pretty excellent one. If you enjoy some bluegrass and/or country music, it's a must-see.

Some of the awesome posters from Hatch Show Print:  

And some love for Dolly, of course:

As well as a little bit of everything else:

Really, it's awesome.  You should check it out. 

After a few hours of soaking it all in, we explored the rest of Nashville, including the Historic East End with records, vintage shops, and ice cream.

Yeah, some old bike pedals, if you need them:

And of course, a butter lamb mold!!! I can't handle it.  This is our thing apparently...

Unfortunately, it was only half of a mold, so we passed it up.  I'm pretty sure we will run across another one soon enough.

Some of the fun flare of Nashvegas:

And awesome ice cream of course:

After the afternoon fun, we stumbled into a good old townie bar and happend onto some good live bluegrass.

We then headed to a fabulous bar, no. 308. 

We loved it here.  Way too much.  Five hours with great new bartender friends, two-for-one drinks, shots (i know), and some food, because that seemed like a good idea...

Oh yeah, just look at this place:

I could kind of live here.

Oh and then we decided we had to leave while we still could and headed to find some more music at the station inn.  A good old local bar where people just play some great music, in a straight-forward bar:

Monday we grabbed some coffee and hung out at Hatch Show Print before driving home. I want a job here, fyi.

Yes, it was a lovely brief getaway and introduced us to the lovely city of nashville.  

xoxo

ps. see you soon nashville, very soon please.