The Nut-house

When it comes to cooking, I owe a lot to my mother, who guided me through those early med school days when I realized that 4 years at an expensive undergrad institution failed to equip me with the skills necessary for survival in a world without meal cards. After about a week of cereal, tuna, and tacos, I made one of the best moves in my life- called home and asked, "how do I cook rice?" And as they say... the rest is history.

One of my mom's (and dad's) favorite foods is nuts; if you open our pantry, you'll be sure to find at least 1 costco-sized bag of walnuts, almonds, pistachios, or cashews on the shelf. Since I'm home this weekend, I decided to pay tribute to the chef who taught me how to cook and join my parents on the nuttier side of life, haha.

Banana Nut Bread
adapted from Cooking Light

-2 cups all purpose flour
-3/4 tsp baking soda
-1/2 tsp salt
-2/3 to 3/4 cup of sugar (add less if your bananas are super, super ripe)
-3 TBS olive oil (**Note: original recipe uses 1/4 cup butter- use if preferred)
-1/3 cup vanilla low-fat yogurt
-2 large eggs
-1.5 cups mashed bananas, ripe best (usually about 3)
-1/4 cup pecans, chopped
-1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
-1/4 cup raisins

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Mix dry ingredients together with whisk- flour, baking soda, salt.
3. In separate bowl, mix oil and sugar together until well blended. (**Note: if using butter, mix melted butter and sugar together, beat with mixer at medium speed).
4. Add eggs, one at a time, to wet mix. Beat well.
5. Add bananas and yogurt. Beat until well blended.
6. Add dry flour mixture to wet mixture. Mix in completely. Try not to over-beat.
7. Gently fold in nuts and raisins.
8. Put batter in buttered 8.5 x 4.5-inch loaf pain. Bake at 350 deg F for 45-50 min. Cool on wire rack.
(**Note: for a crowd-pleasing variation, try with chocolate chips!)

chock full of protein and potassium :)

April Showers

Waking up to the soft pit-a-patter of rain on a lazy Saturday morning is one of the best feelings in the world. No, I take that back. Pulling up the covers, snuggling a little deeper, and snoozing for another hour or two definitely tops it. Days like these are special- when you can just kick back, relax, and enjoy life without a care in the world. And what better way to treasure the moment than with a stack of warm banana pancakes and a cup of joe? As JJ so aptly puts it, "can't you see that it's just rainin'/ there ain't no need to go outside."

Banana Pancakes
adapted from All Recipes- makes about 6 large pancakes

-1 cup all purpose flour

-1 TBS sugar

-2 tsp baking powder
-1/4 tsp salt

-1 egg (if you want to get extra fancy, separate egg white and yolk)

-1 cup milk

-2 TBS butter, melted (**Note: can omit this to cut the fat if planning on serving immediately. if saving some for later, i'd add this so they don't get slightly tough)

-2 ripe bananas, mashed

-1/4 tsp vanilla

-cinnamon

1. Combine flour, sugar, baking power, and salt in 1 bowl. Add dash of cinnamon. In separate bowl, mix together egg, milk, butter, vanilla, and bananas. (**Note: if you want extra fluffy pancakes, only add egg yolk here and follow option after step 2).

2. Stir dry ingredients into wet until mixed in. Batter will be lumpy. Be careful to not over-mix. (**Option for extra fluffy pancakes: Beat egg white separately. Gently fold in to already combined wet and dry mixture).

3. Set lightly greased pan on low to med-low heat. When pan warm, pour batter onto griddle, about 1/3 cup for each pancake. Cook until pancakes golden brown on both sides. (**Note: be careful with the heat!! If it's too hot, your pancakes will burn on the outside and not be cooked in the inside).

4. Serve hot. Top as desired.

can't wait till october!