Monday, December 3, 2007

Nana, nana, bobana, banana, fana, fofana...

I'm alive! I just haven't posted. *hangs head in shame* It's been busy with holiday shopping and preparation, wedding planning and family gatherings (Thanksgiving, a Baptism, etc). Haven't been eating anything too exciting lately, and have been eating out far more than I'd like.

I did manage to bake some vegan banana bread this past weekend, because, every time I opened the door to my freezer, it seemed I had to take cover from the ever-growing number of frozen bananas that are stuffed in there, shooting out at me every chance they get, as if begging to be used in a delicious bakery item.

I read somewhere that overly ripe bananas could be throw in the freezer and used for baking. It was an 'Aha' moment for me, because often I buy too many bananas and have always felt guilty about that one lonely banana I never got around to eating. Poor soul, left there on the counter till it turned a deep shade of brown. I rejoiced in my new-found knowledge and happily tossed these guys in the freezer, comforted by the fact that I would use them in the future. What I didn't plan on is how easy it is to just toss a banana in the freezer... and amass a nice little army of bananas that would revolt every chance they got.

"Bombs away!" I could hear them shout as Col. Banana took a sliding leap and jumped out of my freezer (without a parachute, I might add!) landing at my feet. Frustrated, I'd pick up Mr. Banana and shove him back in the freezer. Gotta use these SOON, I'd mutter to myself.

And so I finally did this past weekend. I used this recipe from vegweb.com, making modifications and cooking two different batches. For the first, I took the advice of one of the comments and used 1 c. whole wheat flour and 1/2 c. wheat germ. I also used the flax as the egg substitute. Turned out delicious. For the second batch, I tried subbing some of the butter substitute with applesauce (1/4 c. butter sub and 1/4 c. applesauce). I also used 1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour and no wheat germ, just to see what would happen. I haven't tasted the second batch yet, but it looks like the first. I may shave off an edge to taste, but I'd like to save this loaf and freeze it so my fiance can give it a try when he returns from being out of town. I snacked on and off all weekend on the other loaf, and well, there isn't much left. :-/

Baking aside, I feel so behind on blogging... not only in writing, but also reading all your great blogs and stories. My bloglines reader has been a lovely shade of bold lately, indicating all the blogs I haven't had time to browse. :( I do plan to catch up soon and look forward to reading about everyone's latest adventures!!!

5 comments:

Rural Vegan said...

Heh, I just threw away a gallon freezer bag full of mashed bananas. It had been in the freezer for over a year and I finally realized that I was NOT going to use it like I intended. I'm glad your bananas fared better!

ChocolateCoveredVegan said...

Haha I love your banana story-- I, too, am guilty of throwing things in the freezer and then forgetting about them until I've amassed an overly-large pile of frozen foods!

I should make banana bread soon with all my frozen bananas; thanks for the idea!

Ashasarala said...

I love how easy bananas are to freeze and use at a more convenient time. I can't relate to having buckets-full, but I do have this one that's been sitting there for a few months now...

Vegan_Noodle said...

Same story for me! Been busy and just havne't eaten that much interesting food lately. I had that same aha moment when I heard about frozen bananas. Sometimes simple things like that can really change your life!!
I'm trying to make my way through 200 and some-odd blog posts on my reader!! Yikes! But it's so much fun :-)

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