Vegan Banana Apple Spice Cake

I love when I have extra ripened bananas in the house it always gives me an excuse to bake. This time though I didn't want to make my usual go to which is either banana bread or some sort of muffin. So I went looking through my pantry and got some inspiration from a jar of apple butter which led to this new recipe. I hope you give it a try. 

Banana apple spice cake

Ingredients:

2 organic ripened bananas 

1 cup organic apple butter 

1/3 cup melted organic vegan butter (I used Earth Balance)

1 cup packed organic brown sugar

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 flax egg (1tbs flax meal mixed with 3tbs water. Mix well. Let set for 5 minutes.)

2 cups unbleached all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder 

1 tsp baking soda 

1/2 tsp kosher salt 

1 tbs ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground ginger 

Quick Frosting 

2 cups organic powdered sugar 

2-4 tbs almond milk

1 tsp vanilla 

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350*F 

Grease and flour a 9x5 inch pan. Set aside. 

In a small bowl make the flax egg by mixing together 1 tbs ground flax meal with 3 tbs water. Set aside 

In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and ginger. Set aside 

Next in a large bowl mash your bananas. (I like to use a potato mashed for this part) mix in the apple butter, melted butter, vanilla and brown sugar. Fold in your flax egg. 

Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and stir until all of the dry ingredients are mixed in. Careful not to over mix. 

Spread evenly into the greased pan and bake for 35-40 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Allow to cool 15 minutes before frosting. Serve at room temperature. 

Vegan Minestrone Soup

When it's raining, cold or I'm felling under the weather this is my all time favorite go to recipe. My husband absolutely loves it as well. Today I'm making a huge batch of this soup in hopes to fight off this head/sinus cold. Please don't fail me now soup!! 

You will need:

1 28oz container of diced tomatoes 

2 32oz boxes vegetable stock

2 large russet potatoes peeled and diced 

into bite size pieces

2 medium zucchini peeled and diced

2 15oz cans kidney beans, cannellini beans or both drained and rinsed 

1 cup diced carrots

4 cups kale or spinach 

1/2 pound of cooked ditalini pasta 

Olive oil

Kosher salt

Ground black pepper 

Garlic powder 

Basil

Nutritional Yeast (optional)

Italian bread for dipping (optional)

Directions:

In a large soup pot heat a few splashes of olive oil on medium low heat. Sauté carrots and potatoes for 10 minutes or until they start to soften. Add in the zucchini. Cook for 5 minutes.

Once they are almost fork tender add in the diced tomatoes and vegetable stock. Boil for 15 minutes. 

Meanwhile cook your pasta according to the package directions. Set aside. 

Add the beans to the soup. If using kale you can add your kale now. If using spinach stir into the soup the last few minutes. 

Season with salt, pepper, garlic powder and nutritional yeast. I just eyeball it because I've made it so many times. Season to your taste and remember you can always add more seasoning, but you can't take it out. 

Simmer on low for another 15 minutes.

Ladle a spoonful of pasta in each soup bowl. I prefer to do it this way so my pasta doesn't get soggy. Serve with Italian bread if desired. 

Vegan Double Chocolate Banana Muffins

So last night I noticed we had a lot of ripe bananas and I wanted to use up some of our bananas by making muffins. I also was having a sweet tooth moment which is not uncommon. Basically what happened was this recipe. I hope you give it a try! 

3 Ripened organic bananas 

1/2 cup organic pure cane sugar

1 tsp pure vanilla extract 

2 flax eggs (2 tbs ground flax meal mixed with 6 tbs water)

1/3 cup melted non dairy butter (I used earth balance)

1/2 cup cocoa or cacao powder 

1 1/2 unbleached all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder 

1 tsp baking soda 

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1 cup dairy free chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease or line a muffin pan. (This recipe makes 12 muffins) make your flax eggs by mixing in a small bowl two tablespoons ground flax meal with six tablespoons water.. Allow mixture to sit for at least 5 minutes. 

In a medium bowl combine the cocoa powder, flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and chocolate chips. Set aside. 

In a large bowl mash the bananas. Mix in the sugar, melted butter, vanilla and your flax eggs. Once well combined stir in the flour mixture. Mix until all the dry ingredients are wet, careful not to over mix. 

Next fill up your muffin tin. I like to use an ice cream scoop so they come out the same size. 

Bake for 18-20 minutes. Allow to cool before removing from the pan. 

I hope you enjoy!!

My Favorite Things:In My Bag

Well I finally sat down and wrote a blog post. I know, I know I've been M.I.A for a while since my last post. I've been consumed in starting my business. There are a lot of details that go into starting a business. I am enjoying the whole process though. My best friend who is an artist just finished my logo which is very exciting. I am literally watching my dreams come to life and it's a great feeling! I don't want to go to far off the topic of this blog post though so let's get to it. What does an entrepreneur in the making keep as her go to purse essentials?!

I was cleaning out my pocket book the other night and it got me thinking about the things I always have to have on hand. So this weeks favorite things are my favorite items in my pocket book. I know I'm not the only one who can't leave home without certain things. So here are my 3 must haves when heading out the door. 

First and foremost has to be lip balm. It is a serious addiction and I can't live without it. I mean of course I could live, but life without lip balm is awful, dry, rough and chapped. No thank you! So if I'm leaving the house I always have at least one on hand. Right now my favorite lip balm is from Crazy Rumors in there Amaretto flavor. All of their 40 Flavors of lip balm are Vegan and Cruelty Free. So glad I came across this company on Instagram. I really love the way social media can bring people with the same interests together. I've discovered so many wonderful Vegan companies through Instagram. Be sure to check out Crazy Rumors, they really are the balm!! 

http://crazyrumors.com/

Next on my list of must have items are Clif Energy Bars and Larabars. When I'm hungry in between meals, there aren't any Vegan options on hand or I need something fast I'm always thankful I have a Clif Bar or Larabar on hand. Some of my favorite flavors of the Clif Bars are: Crunchy Peanut Butter, Oatmeal Raisin Walnut and Blueberry Crisp. (See my blog post "Top 10 Fast Faves" for my favorite Larabars)

Last, but most import are sunglasses, sunnies, shades whatever you want to call them!! My eyes are sensitive to light so it's super important to have a pair on me at all times. They are also one of my favorite accessories!! 

So there you have it! All I need is a good lip balm, energy bar and pair of sunglasses to take on the world. ;-)