Keep it fresh, keep it local

I haven't posted in quite some time... and my goal with this blog was to post at least once a week! It's been a busy couple of days!!

Lately,  there has been a lot going on in regard to ground meat and contamination. First, ground turkey from a major food company, including the brand I buy, issued a major recall due to people dying of Salmonella found in their products. And now this week, it's the same thing, different company, but now ground beef. Who knows, maybe next week it'll be bacon.

This really drives home the point that you can't always trust what you read/buy at the grocery store. I bought a package of the ground turkey that was recalled (thankfully I hadn't eaten it already), but what irked me was that it was labelled "All Natural". I know this term is used loosely in the food market, so it's partially my fault believing that it would not be subject to large meat houses and the like.

It's instances like these that make me wish our food system wasn't so flawed. Don't get me wrong, I understand how it used to be and how we have improved immensely in the past century or so. But, consumers now are looking for convenience, they want to get in and get out and not spend 2 hours at the store reading every ingredient in every product they buy. Unfortunately, if you want to make sure you're eating healthy, real food, you have to. Labels are misleading. A company can technically put "no trans fat!" on their product even if it has up to 0.49 grams. Canned pineapples can have a certain percentage of mold in them and still be sold legally. Read the "10 Scariest Food Facts" here. Pretty crazy stuff.

It feels like every day is a battle to eat well. The foods that are cheapest are the foods that are the worst for you, and vise versa. Why? People wonder why America is as obese as it is... take a walk through Hannaford, Shaws, even Walmart. With the economy the way it is, people have less money in their pockets and are forced to buy cheaper alternatives to food. It's a vicious cycle. If I had my way, local organic food would be cheap and a box of oreos would cost about $50. Try and tell me America would still be obese if that change were to happen. And we'd be a lot healthier too. Anyways *steps off soap box*

I can't change the world, but I can change myself and my eating habits. First step - Farmer's Markets. Luckily up here in New England, we have lots of local farms and orchards providing the freshest foods for pretty cheap. I bought a bunch of fruit and veggies all for about $11! Granted the bananas, oranges, and grapefruit aren't local, but they were really cheap!

Next thing on my agenda to change: meat purchasing. A friend suggested going to local farms, which I've never thought of. You can talk with the farmers, see what diet the animals were fed (grass fed is best), and how they were raised (free range!!). I'm planning on taking a trip soon and posting the results on here!

Oh, that green stuff? That's kale! I'll be posting a recipe for kale smoothies next!

Banana Oat Bars

In going with what I was talking about in my last post, I seriously love bananas. I had 4 bananas patiently waiting for me to use them, but I held off for a while. I wanted to find something that was different than bread or muffins, even though those are my favorite to make! I found this recipe, and it was delicious!

It's not a granola bar, it is an oat bar. What's the difference? I find granola bars to be harder and drier while these oat bars are moist and fluffy... yum!

Ingredients
1 1/3 cups quick cooking oats (or old fashioned oats)
1/2 cup honey
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup raisins (I used craisins)
1 cup mashed bananas (I may or may not used 4 bananas!!)
1/4 cup skim milk
2 egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Make it
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Mix dry ingredients together.
- In a separate bowl, mix wet ingredients
- Mix both wet and dry ingredients together.
- Spray 9x13 (or whatever size pan you have) with non-stick spray. Put mixture into pan and bake for about 35 minutes.

I made these the night before and refrigerated them until the next day, and they were still just as fluffy as ever. Give them a try!

Swirlies

I found the chocolate peanut butter banana recipe (found on Piece of Cake's blog)! And, as promised, I will post it forth with!

You'll begin to notice that I love making banana bread, banana muffins... really anything with bananas. As much as my boyfriend and I enjoy eating bananas, we always have left overs... hence all the banana recipes.

I do like to switch things up from time to time so it's not just the same old plain jane banana bread. This version takes the cake! I mean, what's not to love? It's essentially a Reese's with banana filling!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Swirl Bread

Ingredients
For the chocolate syrup
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup dark unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 hot water
1/4 cup agave nectar (or honey)
1/8 teaspoon salt

For the batter
2 cups AP flour (or wheat)
3/4 teaspoon baking soda 
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup all natural creamy peanut butter
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs (or substitute 1/2 cup of applesauce)
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (2-3 bananas)
1/4 cup plain yogurt (I used Chobani)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

How it's done
-Preheat oven to 350 
-To make the chocolate syrup for the swirls: wisk together the sugar, cocoa powder, hot water, agave nectar, and salt in a pot. Cook mixture over high heat and then back down to simmer, stirring until the mixture is smooth. Remove from heat and set aside.

- In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, and salt.
- In another bowl, mix together the peanut butter and oil until creamy. I used a wisk, but if you have an electric mixer, feel free to use that too!
- Add honey to peanut butter and oil mix, beat until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time.
- In another bowl, mix the bananas, yogurt, and vanilla. Then add into peanut butter mixture.
- Mix dry and wet mixes until everything is incorporated.
- Take 1/3 of the batter and mix it in with the chocolate syrup
- In the bread pan, fill first with half of the banana batter and then top with 1/2 of the chocolate batter. Swirl the mixtures together (I found putting a spoon in the bottom and pulling the bottom batter to the top worked well). Repeat with the rest of the batter.
- Bake for about an hour and 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

I won't lie, it was one of my more messier recipes I found. But believe you me, it's worth the extra cleaning!

Double Trouble

So I have been saving an assortment of pictures to post for my banana peanut butter chocolate bread recipe when I realize... I can't find or remember the recipe I used! Rest assured, once I find it/remember it, I will definitely be posting it ASAP!

I really wanted to share this picture that I took while baking that delicious bread. I cracked open an egg to find not one, but TWO yolks! How cool is that!? And it's extra strange because I only buy eggs from grass fed, free range chickens, so no chemicals (that I know of) tempered with this extraordinary event. Check it out!