Banana Poppy Seed Muffins

Banana bread never goes out of style. It is a clsasic, everyday, everybody type of food. Have a slice for dessert, maybe drizzled with some chocolate, definitely.  How about for a grab and go breakfast, sure sure.. A chunk slathered in peanut butter for snack time or anytime, well  isn't that's why you make it?  And who doesn't always have a banana bowl in the kitchen? A banana bowl that is always full of bananas because the banana just always makes it's way home. They seem to pile up, even when I don't mean for them to. And I know I am not the only one. I see it all the time. A fruit bowl in the kitchen with a least a couple of really really ripe bananas, waiting for that moment when you know there is no freaking way anyone in their right mind would eat those banana because gross. That's when you have it, the perfect banana for some banana bread, or in this case, banana muffins.  

Here I went muffin style because I had already made a loaf of banana bread earlier in the week and because I wanted to send half of the muffins to the boys at the front desk at the gym. (They give me coffee, I give them muffins) And also, muffins cook a lot faster then bread so if you are a little low on time, muffins are the way to go. But if you would rather bread, you can make it bread. Bananas are there for you and are not fussy. 

The stuff. Ripe bananas, poppy seeds, brown sugar, oil, and apple cider vinegar. Also have flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and a little salt in the bowl. 

Mash the bananas in a bowl, like really mash them up until it turns to a sugar banana slop. Then add in the oil and the vinegar and mix together.

Dump in the dry and the poppy seeds and mix it all up until combined but then stop. Don't over mix the batter or else you will get tuff muffins. 

Scoop into well greased muffin pans and pop them into the preheated oven to bake. 

Done! And in only took like 20 minutes appose to an hour if I made banana bread. 

And here is when you grab a coffee, a muffin, and have yourself a moment.

Stay good.

-C

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Banana Poppy seed Muffins

makes 12-14 muffins

• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder 
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon 
• 1/4 cup poppy seeds
• 2/3 cups packed  brown sugar
• 1/2 cup neutral flavored oil
• 4 really ripe bananas (they need to be really ripe of the mixture will be to dry)
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar 

Preheat oven to 350

In a large bowl, mash the bananas with the sugar until the mixture turns wet and sloppy, but there are still a few little chunks of banana.  Mix in the oil and vinegar. In a separate bowl mix the  flour, cinnamon , baking powder and soda, salt, and poppy seeds together. Dump the dry into the wet and mix until all is combined but then stop. Don't over mix batter. 

Scoop mixture into well greased muffin tins and place into oven once it has preheated. Bake the muffins for about 20- 22 minutes or until nicely browned and a tester stuck into the middle of one comes out clean.

Remove from oven and let sit in tin for a few minutes until it cools down. Remove the muffins from the tin and let completely cool on a wire rack. 

Eat whenever and how many you want, store the rest in an air tight container for a couple of days or wrap a few and  freeze. 

sesame soy cabbage

Here's one for the cabbage lovers our there, maybe even the haters as well. (I don't understand those people, cabbage is king in my stomach). I really believe that a good bit of cabbage can really change a persons perspective on the humble cruciferous vegetable, maybe even the world. To far? Maybe but what I always say is, "When in doubt try it out!" Either way, this bit of cabbage is vey very good good.  

A quick little warm up in a skillet with some sesame soy flavor and crunch and you got yourself a A plus little salad. It hits all the right notes for when a) its winter and fresh greens are more sparse (which it currently is and they currently are) b) its cold out (again currently because it's winter) and c) when you only have a head of cabbage in the fridge (was the case but I have sense remedied that). 

Chop it, toss, it, eat it. Quick and easy good food. Get on it.

The stuff. Cabbage (I used savoy but you can use any cabbage you want) soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, olive oil, and a lemon. The lemon is optional, but a little acid is alway welcome in my mouth. 

Chop the cabbage. Unless  you are making this for more then 2 people, you probably only need half a head. However much you use, chop in up into 1-2 inch peices. You could  also shreds it if you want, but I like the bigger pieces. 

Toss the cabbage into a hot skillet that has been drizzled with a little olive oil and toss the soy sauce in with it too. 

Cook on medium high heat until the cabbage has slightly soften. 

While the skillet is still hot, drizzle in a touch of toasted sesame oil and a good amount of sesame seeds. Give it a toss. Taste and add more toasted sesame oil if you want.

Pile it Into a bowl and that's that. Serve with a wedge of lemon or lime if you like the addition of the acid. 

-C

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Sesame Soy Cabbage

serves 1-2 people

• 1/2 of a head of cabbage (green savoy, or red work)
• 1 tablespoon soy or tamari 
• 1/2-1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon olive oil 
• sesame seeds
• lemon or lime (optional)

Preheat a large skillet to medium high with the olive oil. While its getting hot, chop the cabbage into 1- 2 inch pieces. When the skillet is hot, dump the cabbage in and toss around with the soy sauce. Let cook for 4-5 minutes, giving it a toss a few times, until the cabbage starts to soften. Depending on your preference you can stop cooking it now, or keep cooking until it reaches you preferred doneness. (I like it with a little crunch so I cook it for 5-6 minutes) Once it's done but the skillet is still hot, drizzle in the toasted sesame oil and toss in the sesame seeds. Taste for flavor and add more toasted sesame oil if needed. 

Serve right away although cold left overs are also fantastic. A wedge of lemon or lime is a well received addition. 

Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Seeds

It's the weekend before Halloween which is the perfect time for pumpkin carving. We got our pumpkins last week and I have been so excited but have been waiting to carve.  Carving time to a pumpkin is crustal. To early and the pumpkin starts to rot and the squirrels will probably eat it but wait too long and you don't get to enjoy it long enough. 3-5 days before halloween, that's the perfect time carve a pumpkin. (I am right, right?)

And what do you get when you carve a pumpkin? A free freaking snack my friends. Pumpkin seeds. 

Side story here. About ten years ago I set my mons brand new stove on fire roasting pumpkin seeds. Long story short, I wanted really crunchy seeds and though if I broiled them that they would be just perfect. Well not so much. I stuck them in, walked away for a few minutes and the whole kitchen filled up with smoke. Opened the oven to a big old fire going on. Luckily once the flaming pan of seeds was removed, the fire in the oven was no longer but the stove did not make it through unharmed. The knobs and a little bit of the front of the stove melted a bit (Oops) and worst part, I charred the shit out of the seeds.  So the leason here is do not stick oil covered seeds under the boiler and walk away and not expect them to catch fire.

Anyway. So we carved our pumpkins (well I started carving mine and ended up helping Judah an So carve theirs) and got a shit ton of pumpkin seeds. I pre scooped mine out and baked (not broiled) them up to a nice crunchy snack. These are coved in cinnamon sugar to entice the little who might or might not really like them, but all the adults that where here gobbled them right up. 

The stuff. First you need to get the seeds.  You could buy them, but this is way more fun. 

Seeds full of goo, just stick them in water. The seeds float so you can scoop them out into a strainer.

Once most of the goo is gone, rinse the seeds and place them on a clean dry towel and spread them out. Try to dry them off a bit.

The seeds are going to still be a little damp so dump them on a baking sheet and place them into the oven. Turn oven on to 350 

While the seeds are spending a little time drying off get the other stuff. Coconut oil, cinnamon, sugar,and salt.

Once the oven is preheated, remove the seeds. They should be dry by now. Dump warm seeds into a bowl with coconut oil and mix around until they are fully coated.  Now dump the salt cinnamon sugar mixture in and mix until coated.

Place back onto the bakings sheet and evenly spread them out.

Back into the oven to get crispy.

And a half hour-ish later, the house smells all nice and cinnamony good and you got yourself a sweet spicy little crunchy fun snack.

Look at that fancy. 

Now it's your turn. 

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Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Seeds

Makes about 2 cups which came fro one big jack-o-lantern pumpkin

• 2-ish cups of pumpkin seeds 
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 2 hearty tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Grab yourself a pumpkin, cup the top open ,and scoop out all the seeds. Save for jack-o-lantern.Place seeds in sink or large bowl and scoop the seeds off the top that float up. You might need to squeeze the guts to loosen the seeds. Place seeds into a strainer and once you got what you can get, give them a quick rinse. Dump the seeds onto a clean dry towel and pat them dry as well as you can. Place the seeds evenly  onto a dry baking sheet and stick them into the oven. Turn oven on to 350 and leave them in there until the oven is preheated.

once oven is preheated, remove seeds and place into a a bowl. Add the coconut oil and mix around until completely melted and the seed save all coated. in a small bowl mix together the cinnamon, sugar, and salt. Dump the mixture onto the oiled seeds and mix until coated. Dump seeds back onto baking sheet and back into the oven. Bake for about 25 minutes, remove and mix around, and back into the oven for another 5-10. Check for crunchiness by either tasting of snapping one or two in half. Once the seeds are crunchy, remove from oven and let cool on baking sheet. 

Dump seeds into a bowl ad snack away. Store left over seeds in an air tight jar.