Never breakin' my b-bread promise!!

I almost forgot about my promise for the best banana bread EVER!!! Here you go! ;)

Makes 1 9"x5" loaf

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 sugar
3/4 t. baking soda
3/4 t. cinnamon (I probably used a lot more and also dash of nutmeg)
1/2 cup plain soy milk or almond milk
1/2 T. apple cider vinegar
2 cups mashed banana, from about 4 large very ripe bananas
1/4 cup canola oil
2 T. maple syrup
1 t. vanilla extract
Walnuts, vegan chocolate chips, ect (optional)

How to make this yumtastisc bread:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Lightly oil a 9"x5" loaf pan and set aside.

2. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugars, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.

3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the soy milk and cider vinegar and let stand for 2 minutes. Add the mashed banana, canola oil, maple syrup, and vanilla extract, whisking until well combined. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, mixing until just combined (do not overmix, keep a little lumpy or your bread will be dense as hell). Fold in the walnuts/ chocolate chips ect if using and pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake for about 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted into the center emerges clean. Allow the bread to cool on a wire cooling rack for 20 minutes before serving. Serve warm or at room temperature.

I took out ingredients I thought were unnecessary like more sugar and added salt. Not sure where I got the original recipe but the way I made it was fantastic. The boys inhaled it and Nathaniel said it was the best. I am pretty proud since I used to make it all the time and I haven't since eating vegan.

The reason why I almost forgot about my b-bread promise is I was helping Nathaniel load up the '57 on to a trailer. I was a workin' woman helping with everything I could. My arms are probably going to kill me in the morning. The car was sitting about an hour away which makes it kind of hard to work on it. He swears we are leaving for California soon after Christmas. It's hard to believe but some how I have to keep my head up. All I want is a date so I can start planning/preparing. Happy banana bread eating! Peace out.

Rude awakenings

If you are looking for a yumtactic vegan recipe or mind blowing home-school ideas. You'll have to wait for another day. This is a straight up rant; bitchfest to the extreme, I just wanna put out there. Tomorrow I will make up for it by posting the best banana bread I ever made; and I've made a fair share of b-bread, and this was goo-oooo-d!

We have been living in high stress for weeks. We sold our place, and we are just about ready to leave for California; Nathaniel had to find a super awesome deal on a '57 Buick. Now he is taking the time to make it run, so we are not dragging around a dead ass car. Perfect timing huh? Its almost ready.....for real. But we should wait for the holiday to be over, so the kids can have a nice time.
First it was my moms with my loony toon of a sister. Now we are living in a house with too many people, which includes 3 kids. Stress. I am not even kidding I have washed dishes 2-3 times a day for days, I pick up toys all day, clean this and that for kids and pig pen adults all day!! I really don't mind all that much, 'cause I wanna help, but come on I am not the Fucking maid!!!! I have be trying my hardest to go with the flow. But what happened today just pushed me over my mountain of stress. First of all my husband's mom decides at 7pm that she want to rearrange practically the whole house for x-mas. I did NOT want to help, I did help but shit, its SEVEN o'clock! It was trashed, we moved everything in her living room, and tons of stuff out of the sewing room.....it was a mess. In the middle of the craziness Avery was looking at her holiday houses and little people and he must have picked one up and she fucking hit him on the arm!!!!! Yes someone hit my child. I don't even hit my kids! It is so wrong to hit/spank/swat whatever you want to call it, a kid. (a baby really, he is 2) I actually said something. I am not THAT brave I usually wont say anything, I do a good job bottling things up; but if you mess with my kid watch out!!! I don't give a damn who you are! First I asked as nice as I could to not hit him. She gives me crap of oh I kissed my kids I hugged them and they got spanked too. I remind her he is not her son and to not hit my son. Then she has the fucking nerve to tell me the I am in for a rude awakening when my kids are older. I probably never been more offended in my freakin' life. So are you trying to tell me that if I don't make my kids endure bodily harm they are going to grow up like......what? Disrespectful useless jerks? Thats a load of crap, you idiot! (I wanted to say that, it didn't happen) she then told me to keep my kid out of her stuff if she didn't want her to swat at him. Really? Freakin' rude. I have never hit my kids and I think they are pretty dang good little people. Ellis is going to be 6 soon and I am proud to say he is a respectful little boy. Avery is learning, and I can see a nice respectful boy behind his impulsive 2 year old antics. So lady YOU'RE in for a rude awakening when I freaking punch you if I ever see you hit one of my kids again. Do you think that will teach her to not hit? Stupid!
Nathaniel is really doing a nice job on the '57. It's just our luck the car has to come now. I can't wait to leave, I am looking at this move as a fresh start. If we ever get on the road I feel pretty optimistic about what is ahead of us. And thats big for this pessimistic girl.

I promise super awesome vegantastic banana bread is tomorrow ;-)

Oh p.s. Ellis just walked up to me and said "mama can I have a sister?" I asked "why do you want a sister" (to see what he would say. "'cause I just want a baby sister, I love you mama". And he ran to go watch his movie. Yup, I never hit that child once in his life.

Turnin' frowns upside down with cookies

It is hard when you’re so used to helping others and haven’t done that in a long time. I haven’t worked in over a month, and that is sad. I hold doors or whatever for people, what I mean is real help. My husband’s mom is deaf. Her hearing has degenerated over the last 10+ years. She finally was able to go to a specialist who said she should be able to get surgery, so she can hear again. But they can’t afford the CT scan the doctor wants to do before surgery can even happen. This past week I have been helping her fill out forms online for disability and Medicaid.  She should have done this years sooner, she hasn’t worked in 5 years because of her hearing and lack of hearing aids that actually work. It felt good to help her fill out the forms. It sucked, it was boring, and I knitted half of a scarf today waiting for my slow ass internet connection; but we got it done and that’s what matters!

I baked again. That could mean I had a shitty night. I really don’t know what is wrong with my head. I am such a pessimist. I think if ONE thing would just go half as planned a weight could be lifted. I have a feeling something good might happen soon. I have seen this pattern before, if you have a bunch of bad nights and can’t fall asleep till 2:30am just about every night, then a kid pees your bed while climbing over you, to get to the bathroom, something good has a small possibility of happening soon, maybe.

On to the baking, I found this recipe on the Vegetarian and Vegan Families board on Babycenter.com. It’s super easy so the kids can help! P.S. There is no added sugar or fats. Just The good stuff!  

 Yum Banana Oatmeal Sponge Cookies

1 cup smashed ripe Banana

2 cups oatmeal

½ teaspoon vanilla

¼ Cup applesauce

1/3 C. raisins

 (I used the dried cranberry infused with blueberry; any dried fruit would be good for this)

½ teaspoon cinnamon (I used more 'cause I am obsessed with cinnamon!)

Heat oven to 350

Mix all ingredients until moist

Mixture might be gooey and sticky; that is normal

Flatten to desired thickness and shape; cookies will NOT spread while baking.

Bake @ 350 for 15mins

Remove to wire rack.

Eat. Dunk in chocolate almond milk. Yum.

World's Greatest Pancakes

Had an itch to write last night. It seriously would have been a depressing mind fuck.......I thinks it's about time to pull out the St. John's Wort. Or plead with mother nature to send some sun.

Instead the topic of the day is way better! We are talkin' the best pancakes I have ever made, ever! Making food for my family makes me happy. It's a perfect counter attack to a depressing night. Nathaniel has been asking for homemade pancakes for way too long. To his luck today was the day, vegan of coarse. To all my meat eaters if made the way I made them; these pancakes are cholesterol-free! Everything vegan is, pretty sweet huh? ;)

Vegan Pancakes

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (I used whole wheat flour)
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/4 cups water (I used Almond milk and turned it in to buttermilk)
• 1 tablespoon oil
• How ever many shakes of cinnamon and nutmeg you wish  

Directions

1. Make the buttermilk- 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar OR lemon juice to every CUP of soy/almond milk let sit about 5 mins:
   
2.     Mix the flour, sugar, and baking powder and spice into a large bowl.  Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and pour in the wet. Stir just until blended; mixture will be lumpy.
3. Heat a lightly oiled griddle over medium-high heat. Drop batter by large spoonfuls onto the griddle, and cook until bubbles form and the edges are dry. Flip, and cook until browned on the other side. Repeat with remaining batter.  

I topped mine with  Almond butter and the blueberry preserves we got from our Michigan trip, Nathaniel went with 100% Real maple syrup. very hardy because of the whole wheat flour and so good!

A grand trip to Grand Rapids, Michigan

I love when an opportunity to take a road trip comes up, I jump on the like chocolate cake! Nathaniel needed some part for our 57' Buick. Instead of waiting and hoping the part comes in the mail we decided to drive the 4 hours to Grand Rapids Michigan to pick it up ourselves. We packed the kids and we were off. My blissful thoughts of listening to music, singing crazy songs to the kids, basically having fun on our trip; went right out the window when Avery (the spirited one) decided, about 15 minuets in, that he did not want to be in the car. I tried everything to make him happy, coloring books, books, his huge dog, ignoring him, blanky, food, drink, music, no music. Nothing worked and we heard whining and crying for almost 4 hours!! It was probably thoughts of 4 more hours of crying that did us in, but we decided to just stay the night in Grand Rapids. I called my trusty hotels.com and the nice lady helped me find  Quality Inn Terrance Club, a good cheap ass hotel. For $65 not including tax we got; two beds in a huge room, a swimming pool, free wifi, nicely decorated building (well in the early 90's anyway) and free continental hot/cold breakfast. I didn't really eat anything at breakfast, but the boys did, and its the thought that counts. If something was a sweet deal, it is this place!

You would never know that Grand Rapids is a vegan friendly place. (I am obsessed with yelp.com, just so you know) While in town I whipped out my trusty yelp app and found tons of vegan lovin' places! Surprised? I know me too!
We went to Brick Road Pizza, Jonny B'z: Dogs & More, Rowseter New American Coffee, JP's coffee, and a super tiny but awesome health food store. I found this amazing Lavender Blueberry Perserve and Super Cookies at the store. Everything was fantastic, and the people were friendly as shit! I think they need to teach the folks west of the lake how to act!
The best part of the trip was our stop at the beach. You would not think the beach would be the best of anything in December in the Midwest, but it was.....trust me.We parked and ran to the water all bundled up. Ellis got to throw a rock in the water and I got to take a picture. It was exciting to run out there in the frigid weather on a beautiful beach. I laughed almost the whole time. I wish I found this place sooner, I would definitely have gone here many times in the summer. It much nicer and prettier than the Chicago side of the lake.
Time slowed during our over night trip.
We had fun, and forgot about the troubles our life has hit us with.
We needed this trip more than we thought.
It's wonderful what one night can do.

Pictures to come....my internet connection sucks right now!!!

Go to hell in a hand basket?

What the fuck does go to "hell in a hand basket" mean anyway? Where does the hand basket come from? And who says that?
These life's quandaries will be solved today and today only! Hurray! Aren't you glad you stopped by?

I have been told many things in my life, I have been called many names and I can understand all of them. Yes, ALL of them, but one. Why tell some one to go to hell in a hand basket? When I think of hand baskets; a picnic comes to mind, fresh baked diner rolls, or a kid carrying picked apples from an orchard. Is the hell in a hand basket thing supposed to be an insult? Because, this is starting to sound pretty tasty. A quick Google search and I come to find that going to hell in a hand basket has quite a history. Ready to learn something?

The saying go to "hell in a hand cart" is actually an old saying that can be dated back to the mid 1800's. People used to also say "go to hell in a wheelbarrow".  The change from hand cart to hand basket happened around the 1900's. This probably happened because of how easy it is to say, and it was cool to be different.  Just say it "Go to hell in a Hand basket" vs. "go to hell in a hand cart" eck that is sooooooo 1800's!!

Why the hand cart, you say? One theory I read was hand carts were used to catch the heads after getting executed by guillotine. Thus, 'go to hell in a hand cart' ....your head is ready and on its way. Sweet!  I am starting to like this saying more and more! 

For real though, would not say this to any one. If I was going to tell some one to "go to hell" I would just get to the point and say it...."Go to hell" Its straight forward; you know what I am trying to get across, and Google doesn't have to be involved. So who would say this? In my wonderful opinion, people who don't know what to say, would say this saying. They are in a argument and want to sound smart. They use a thousand words and only know the meaning to 1/4 of them. Then think "I win".....ummmm nope you just sound stupid. These people can't shut up and have to keep the argument going.
"Go to hell" the end .....I win!

Wanna confuse some and be a big nerd? Telling people, 'Go to heaven in a wheelbarrow' was a euphemistic way of saying 'going to hell'.
Ha, they won't know what they were just hit with!  

Let us all thank the wonderful people at phrases.org.