banana Archives - Page 4 of 14 - Lovin' From the Oven

Hatchery Box Cottage Cheese Parfait

April 8, 2014 by kim Leave a Comment

This is my second Hatchery Box that I’ve received and I am still impressed with the contents. They wrap every sample individually with bubbled kraft paper and personalized tape. It’s like opening six individual presents!

I saw an opportunity to use two ingredients from this month’s box to make a cottage cheese parfait. I’m actually quite new to eating cottage cheese; I just tried it for the first time earlier this week! Since it’s more on the savory side, I wanted to incorporate some sweetness into the snack. The strawberry chipotle jam was perfect for this dish because it’s sweet with a kick at the end. The cottage cheese flavor mellows out the spice of the chipotle.

See what I mean about opening six little presents? A subscription to Hatchery Box is only $20 a month, including shipping. You get 5-6 hand selected artisan ingredients, exclusive member promos and discounts, a culinary concierge support team, and recipe tips. You can sign up here (they also make great gifts!).

Here are the items that came in my box:

Ohia Lehua Honey from Big Island Bees // Fuego Salsa from La Fundidora// Strawberry Chipotle Jam from Potlicker Kitchen

Sweet & Smoky from Causey’s BBQ // Original Blend Spice Rub from Ole Man’s // Jalapeño Garlic Olive Oil from Calivirgin

The jam had a nice smooth flavor with a spicy kick and the honey was purely sweet with a slightly grainy texture. Put them together with some cottage cheese and you have a good balance of sweet and salty.

How do you eat your cottage cheese?

Hatchery Box Cottage Cheese Parfait

Ingredients

1/2 cup light cottage cheese
1/5 oz strawberry chipotle jam
1 banana, sliced
2 tbsp granola
1 tsp organic ohia lehua honey

Directions

In a small bowl, mix together the cottage cheese and jam.
In a serving cup, layer some of the sliced bananas on the bottom. Pour the cottage cheese on top.
Add the remaining sliced bananas and granola on top. Drizzle with honey.

https://lovintheoven.com/hatchery-box-cottage-cheese-parfait/

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread with a Walnut Streusel

February 8, 2014 by kim 10 Comments

Have you guys gotten your flu shot yet this year? My DF read an article about how someone our age passed away in the bay area from it within a week of getting sick and immediately demanded that we both go down to the nearest pharmacy and get our flu shots. After arguing back and forth trying to convince him that I didn’t need it, we ended up in his car on our way to CVS.

I know my line of work is pretty much the worst thing ever when it comes to getting sick. Being stuck inside of a long metal tube with recycled air for x amount of hours isn’t exactly the best environment for staying healthy. I mean, who knows what you can catch from all of those passengers!?

Apparently, there have already been 95 reported deaths from the flu this year as opposed to 5 last year. That’s insane.

Side note: I’ve never gotten a flu shot before. Like… ever.

Back to the story. We’re at CVS and there’s one older lady in front of us waiting to get her flu shot as well. I’m looking around wondering if there’s another room that they take people to give shots to, but I see no such thing. Who gives you the shot, anyways? I’ve never been one to be scared of shots or needles. I used to donate my blood every couple of months at UCLA.

As I’m sitting in what I thought to be a waiting chair, a man in a white lab coat comes out and asks if I mind and that he’s going to be giving the older lady a shot first. “Of course I don’t mind,” I tell him. He’s lingering over me longer than normal, until I finally put the pieces together. The chair that I’m sitting in is not a “waiting chair.” That’s where they give the shots! Right out in the open, just like that.

I get up and let the guy do his thing. He’s trying to explain to her that they’re out of the normal flu shot and the one that he’ll be injecting is the intradermal one. I’m standing to the side, eavesdropping on their conversation since I’ll be next. Instead of just injecting a part of the dead virus, they’ll be giving us the entire virus. If you’ve never had the flu shot before or are older, you’ll be more prone to getting the symptoms right after the shot.

The older lady freaks out a bit and ultimately decides that she doesn’t want the shot. She tells the guy that she needs to discuss this with her doctor before taking further action. She basically bolts out of the door without getting the flu shot. The guy then looks at us and goes, “Okay, who’s next?”

My DF is now hesitant in getting the shot after seeing the first lady decline it. My DF keeps looking back at me asking me, “Do YOU want it? What do YOU think? I don’t know anymore… I don’t want to get symptoms…”

In the end, I’m the one that sits in the chair first to get it over with. My DF finally follows suit and gets his shot as well. Days after, neither of us have any symptoms. The only downside is that neither of us can feel our left arms. The lightest touch sends us falling to the floor, crying out in pain.

Bottom Line? Getting your flu shot isn’t that bad. Just be mindful that you’ll have a dead arm for the next couple of days.

As long as I have my blog, you can bet your bottom dollar on endless banana bread recipes. Every recipe is slightly different from the next and seems so promising. Plus, there are always brown spotted bananas to get rid of. This recipe has to be one of my favorite banana bread recipes (top 5) and the chocolate chips add a nice touch.

I received some nuts from SunRidge Farms and thought that the walnuts would be perfect for the streusel. These nuts from SunRidge farms are organic, natural, and non-GMO. I find the resealable bags extremely convenient since I hardly ever use an entire bag of nuts at once. I don’t need to use any clips or ziploc bags to keep the nuts fresh.

Not only that, but their packaging is BPA-free! Their snacks are produced in a solar-powered manufacturing facility, so they’re also environmentally friendly. Delicious tasting snacks that are good for the environment and your body– now that’s a win-win situation.

This recipe comes from Annie’s City Kitchen.

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread with a Walnut Struesel

Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 ripe bananas, peeled and mashed
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Streusel:

3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup flour
1 tablespoon water
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup crushed walnuts

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9"x5" loaf pans.
Mix together the flour, baking soda, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl to combine.
Add in the bananas, sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla until just incorporated. Fold in chocolate chips.
For the streusel, combine all ingredients in a small bowl until crumbly and well incorporated.
Divide the batter evenly between loaf pans. Sprinkle the streusel on top.
Bake 35-45 mins or until a toothpick comes out clean.

https://lovintheoven.com/chocolate-chip-banana-bread-with-a-walnut-streusel/

Bakery Style Banana Muffins

January 19, 2014 by kim 8 Comments

A little advice for you fashionistas: Do not wear wide-legged, flowy pants that are a tad too long for you while walking uphill. It’ll result in a face plant right into the dirty, cracked concrete. I admit that I sacrifice comfort for sake of fashion more often that I should (not saying that I’m fashionable, I’m definitely not). It’s so not worth it.

Yes, this happened to me yesterday. I tripped on my pants once, but caught myself right before I ate it. As I was making a comment to my DF how I was totally gonna go crash-landing, it happened again mid sentence. This time, I wasn’t able to catch myself.

I was holding a cup of Philz coffee, which I miraculously managed to hold upright while my knees bashed the ground and my chin bounced up and down. My DF was quite impressed with how I managed to only spill a couple of drips of iced coffee out of the top of the cup.

I, on the other hand, had various elementary school days flash before my eyes. Scraping your knees was a weekly thing for me back in the day, but I haven’t done that in twenty years. Let me tell you, it hurts!

I got up as fast as I could manage without falling over again, crossing my fingers that my DF was the only witness to my clumsiness. Lucky for me, the meter ticket officer saw the whole event from my across the street and shouted, “Are you OK?!”

As I scrambled to reply, “Yes,” I realized that I couldn’t even finish the uphill walk to the car without the aid of my DF. I grasped his arm in hopes of hiding my face from the lady and cars passing by. No suck luck.

As I got to the car, I couldn’t help but laugh at myself. I’m the idiot that trips over her own pants and completely eats it, spending more effort saving my drink than my face. Looking at my heavily bruised and scraped knees, it’s a wonder how the rest of my body escaped from scarring. As I put antibacterial gel on my hands and my knees, it all came to me.

The only reason that I fell so gracefully was because I did a volleyball dive from my high school days. I wasn’t quick enough to remember to always “lift your chin” when diving, therefore it did bounce off of the sidewalk once. Thank goodness it wasn’t anything major. I could barely sit down or get up for the next 24 hours. My body was just doing its job of reminding me how old I am.

Moral of the story: Always wear comfortable clothes… especially if you’re going to be walking a lot in unexpected territory.

As for these banana muffins, they’re “bakery style” because of how nice and fluffy their tops are. Mine didn’t come out quite as big as Girl Meets Kitchen‘s, but they’re still good!

Bakery Style Banana Muffins

Serving Size: 18 muffins

Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups plain low-fat yogurt
3 bananas, chopped fine
1/2 cup peanut butter chips
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 cup turbinado sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Directions

Preheat oven to 425. Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners.
Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg in a medium bowl.
In another bowl, beat sugar and butter on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs and yogurt, beat.
Reduce speed to low and add dry ingredients until just moistened.
Carefully fold in chopped bananas and peanut butter chips. Don't over mix!
Pour into prepared muffins tins, filling them up to the top.
Sprinkle cinnamon and turbinado sugar on top.
Bake for 5 minutes at 425, and then lower oven temperature to 375. Bake another 15 to 18 minutes, or until muffins are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

https://lovintheoven.com/bakery-style-banana-muffins/

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