Homemade Vegan Banana Nut Raisin Bread

    I was married 38 years ago and was given a wonderful Betty Crocker cookbook as a wedding present. I have used this book many times over the years. It has served me well.

    I loved the banana bread recipe it had but I can never leave anything without adding my personal touch to it, lol. So I added a bunch of spices to my recipe. The family loved it.

    Then 15 months ago, I became a plant based vegan. So my wonderful recipe got adapted again. It no longer resembles the original Betty Crocker  recipe, but is is still just as good as my adapted version. 

This just came out of my over and I added a smear of my vegan homemade butter while it was still hot.mmmm . Doesnt this make you want to lick the screen?

When creating vegan versions of recipes you eliminate eggs and have to find an appropriate substitute to bind everything and get a good rise. This is not always easy.  But as you can see this huge loaf has  a wonderful crown to it. For the egg substitution I used the very popular aquafaba. Aquafaba is simply the liquid form a can of beans or from your own cooked beans. I used chickpea liquid or navy beans. When I open a can I simply pour the liquid into an ice tray and freeze blocks and put them in a baggy for later use. This stuff works fantastic. No...you do not taste beans....not a hint! 

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Homemade Vegan Banana Bread

by May-1-2016

I adapted my Betty Crocker recipe many times in the past. Adding more spices etc. Today, since I have been vegan for about 15 months, I adapted my recipe to now make it vegan. It is a moist, almost fudgy bread loaded with raisins and nuts. So delicious when warm and lightly buttered.

Ingredients

• 3 c All Purpose flour or sub in 1 c.  oat flour
• 1/2 c granulated sugar
• 1/2 c packed brown sugar
• 3 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 TB apple sauce
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 TB apple cider vinegar
• 1/3 c nut milk of your choice
• 3 TB aquafaba (liquid from can of beans such as chickpeas or navy)
• 1 tsp orange zest
• 3 medium very ripe bananas
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp optional almond flavoring
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp allspice
• 1 c raisins
• 1 c chopped walnuts or pecans

Instructions

Blend all but raisins and nuts. when batter is well combined, fold in nuts and raisins. Bake at 350◦ for 55-65 min for large pan, or 55-60 min for small pan. Insert knife into center to check if done. If it comes out clean its done, if you see some wet batter on knife bake for few minutes more and check again.

Details

Prep time: 15 hour Cook time: 60 hour Total time: 75 hour Yield: Makes 1 lg loaf 9x5x3 or two small loaves 8.5x4.5x2.5

HomeMade Non-dairy Yogurt

    As you may remember, I have been eating a plant based vegan diet. I can't say I have been craving cheese. I haven't. I have been wanting to try my hand at cheese making tho. My husband enjoys his grilled cheese and cheese on pizza. I found recipe online that someone shared and reduced size to make 3/4 to 1 cup.
1/4 cup cashews soaked overnight and drained.
1/4 cup water
1 probiotic capsule opened
3/4 tsp tapioca starch
After draining nuts. Put in blender with 1/4 cup water and tapioca starch. Blend on high till very smooth. Then place in a small crock in oven with a plate to loosely cover. NO HEAT just the light on. Leave overnight. Then place in refrigerator tightly covered for about 8-10 hrs. Recipe said to then drain in fridge for 4-8 hrs. But mine was thick enough without so I didn't. You can then add sweeteners or fruit of your choice. I tried it plain and thought it was slightly less tangy than greek yogurt, but very good. I also added some maple syrup and thoroughly enjoyed it. The original recipe called for two probiotic caps with 2 cups nuts and two cups water and 2 Tb tapioca starch. But I wanted to see if I liked it first. SO I made a  mini batch. Now off to finish my non-dairy mozzarella.

Proven Benefits of a Plant Based Diet

    As you know, I posted back in January of this year that I decided to start eating a vegetarian diet and also started juicing. Juicing was a tremendous help for weight loss and health. It is also extremely hard to start. The first 4-5 days the cravings are awful. Those cravings also prove just how addicting those chemical laden foods are. I juiced off and on for a month and lost about 30 lbs. I would have lost more if I could have been consistent. I also lost about 3 more lbs after that. The first of February I became mostly vegan. The days I dont adhere to it 100% are the days we eat out. Sometimes its can be a little hard at restaurants so I try not to stress about the non meat animal products.
     Since my kitchen has been destroyed (remodeling), so has my diet suffered. Too much fast food, processed foods, sugar and salt also crept back into my diet. I started juicing again for about 3 days and started slipping again. Its just so inconvenient trying to find things, working with minimal counter space etc. Plus the  cravings were horrendous. Which again backs up the addicting effects of all these unhealthy foods.
    While I was eating mostly plant based (especially while juicing ), my knees quit hurting, heart burn stopped, and more energy. Over-all just feeling so much better. The heart burn issue I have had several times a day and night with increasing incidence of reflux since I started having babies. However, while watching my diet it stopped completely. For about 8 months!
    Last night I rolled over in bed, still half asleep and  gastric reflux hit and choked me when I inhaled some. Disgusting I know, but it has to be said.  I have also been having more episodes of heartburn, and a bloated feeling. My knees feel weak and painful. Its not wishful thinking, just a coincidence or anything else. I have proven to myself this works. No question about it. I am still eating vegetarian, but mostly vegan but not  plant based totally. You see, even a twinkie  or an oreo is vegetarian. Potato chips are vegan. NONE of these are Plant Based!
                                                          That's the difference!
                                     I WILL get back on track. I have to!

Vegan For LIFE !

       The end of January I began my vegetarian life again with juicing. During the following month I lost about 23 lbs. Also during the following month I adjusted my diet to Vegan and plant based. After that first month of juicing, I have noticed several changes. Except my weight. It seems it kinda stalled for me right now, so I will probably increase my juicing again. I have been drinking a fresh squeezed juice every morning of two red grapefruit and a large orange. after drinking this, I can no longer drink store bought chemical crap. I have eliminated almost all processed foods, most refined sugar, almost all oils,all meat, and dairy.
       Another plus, my husband also began this journey with me. Although he is only vegan at home, but its a huge start.
      For many yrs, 35 yrs to be exact,I suffered with constant heartburn. It began with my first pregnancy. From then on I kept a bottle of Tums by my bed for the 2-3 episodes at night, Tums in my purse, and Tums in my kitchen. Over the past few yrs, it had gotten worse. I began to also have reflux so bad I would suddenly inhale at times which allowed the acid to get sucked into my lungs a couple of times. This is not pleasant! I suddenly choked up and couldn't breath.  As a nurse I know that all this can lead to erosion of the esophagus and possible cancer later on.
    I realized a couple weeks ago, that I have had NO HEARTBURN OR REFUX since changing my diet back in January. None.....NADA!
While juicing, my husband noticed I was no longer turning sideways, and holding onto the wall while easing myself down the two steps of my living room. I was taking this two steps like a normal person...head on... with almost no knee pain now. While strictly juicing, I had NO PAIN!
      I have also taken medicine for my blood pressure for years. At one point a few yrs ago I was even prescribed another one on top of the two tabs I was taking. My B\P was taking spells of shooting up, sometimes as high as 180\100. even while on the two pills. But for side effects reasons, I went off the third pill. After changing my diet, I eliminated one of the other pills. I was now down to one tab a day. My blood pressure was staying around 115/70. Fantastic! I then tried for about a week to get rid of the final one, but my B\P started easing up, so I will wait a little longer on it. I am almost there tho.
    I am also eating what I want. No longer starving to just keep from gaining weight. Even though I have hit this little plateau  for weight loss. These are some major changes for such a short period of time. I have had to adapt my way I cooking. I was a traditional country cook. Meat and potatoes kind of cook.  I still make homemade bread occasionally, but I now also make homemade non dairy butter.  I also make and freeze my own veggie burgers.  I make hoagies using marinated mushrooms in place of the steak, vegan chili, a fantastic chickpea salad, wonderful pizza loaded with veggies,homemade banana raisin granola for cereal and snacking, and so much more. I also developed a recipe for chocolate date balls that taste so much better than the lara bars.
      We were discussing the price of hamburger yesterday with family. I said it was about $6 for a 2.5 lb pack. Someone else quickly corrected me and said it was about $6 a lb now! I was in shock. I only quit buying it in January. It had gone up about double in just that 4 months.  We also discovered we Loovve Silk Brand chocolate cashew milk.  It is so thick and rich.
      These changes all began after watching Fat Sick and Nearly Dead on Netflix, Forks Over Knives, and  The China Study. Check them out for yourself. You will be amazed at the healing that is taking place, and what the FDA allows to be put in our foods, and the research that has been done but ignored.

Homemade Non Dairy Butter and Newly Vegetarian/ Plant Based Vegan Wannabe

      For the past month I have been vegetarian, but hoping to eventually be more plant based vegan. I was a vegetarian in middle school  for two years as well. I am doing this for several reasons. One of them is for health. I truly believe with everything I have been reading that Plant Based is the way to go.
     With this new way of eating, it also involves learning a new way of cooking and preparing meals. I have actually made seitan, and seitan based bacon. Today I made homemade non dairy butter. We usually used Country crock and loved it. Recently with our diet change I bought Earth Balance Non Dairy Butter. It actually surprised me how good it was. I could not tell any difference between it and country crock except it was much harder. This butter recipe I got from Becky at Glue and Glitter. The link is HERE. She changed the recipe from HERE to suit her needs and pantry. Becky didnt use lecithin, or the xanthan gum. I already had liquid sunflower lecithin that I had recently ordered anticipating trying to make butter, however I had not gotten the xanthan gum yet. I was very anxious to give it a try and when I read she left it out and had no adverse affect. I decided to go for it. I used the measurements from Mattie's recipe for spreadable olive oil butter on Vegan Baking site HERE. Except I used vegetable oil for olive oil, 1 tsp of apple cider vinegar, and no xanthan gum. I love the taste. it taste just like earth balance and country crock but was more easily spreadable than earth balance. So easy and probably only cost pennies to make. I spread it on a slice of homemade bread and also had Vegetarian vegetable soup with homemade croutons on top. Delicious!