protein packed banana bread

What makes this bread so great is all the things it doesn't have: no addded sweeteners, no gluten, no butter, no cream, no milk, no flour, no guilt. Not that you should ever feel guilty about eating; it's how you fuel your body, and I'd prefer you over fuel you body than under fuel it. Remember that when this bread is so good that you eat the entire loaf in one sitting. 

It's basically a protein shake, which makes it an awesome post-gym snack. Or mini-breakfast. Or late-night snack. Or anytime food because it's delicious. 

I took this picture the night I made the bread. It was during a crazy storm, so the lighting sucked. I planned on just taking more pictures the next day when it was sunny... 

the bread didn't quite make it to the next morning.

Yeah, that's a super close up shot of all that was left after all-night uncontrollable snacking. 

I have no self control. 

Here's the recipe, yay!

P R O T E I N    B A N A N A    B R E A D

• 4 bananas

• 4 eggs

• 1/2 cup almond butter

• 4 tablespoons coconut oil

• 1/2 cup chocolate protein

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

optional

• 1 banana

• chocolate chips

01. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F

02. Add 4 bananas to large mixing bowl and mash. Next, add the eggs to the bowl and mix in using an electric mixer.

03. Add almond butter and coconut oil to a microwave safe bowl and heat until the coconut oil melts. Mix the almond butter and oil and then add it to the bananas and eggs. Mix it all together with the electric mixer.

04. Mix the dry ingredients (chocolate protein, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder) in a desperate (um, I mean separate) bowl. I use Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard 100% Whey Extreme Milk Chocolate. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients with the electric mixer.

05. Pour the batter into a greased pan. 

OPTIONAL: Bake for 5 minutes, then add sliced banana to the top of the bread and/or sprinkle chocolate chips on top.

06. Bake for 30-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. If the top starts to brown, but the center isn't cooked, cover the bread with tin foil and continue baking. 

 07. Eat and Enjoy! 

Don't forget to pin the recipe for later!

ten step breakfast bread

For this recipe, I actually made a recipe with measurements and everything.

Reason: I can't eyeball flour. Unless I carefully measure flour, it will get everywhere, and I mean everywhere. Seriously, my mom has seen her kitchen destroyed many times by my reckless use of flour. And have you ever tried to wash flour out of your hair? That's a trick question, because you can't. It turns to paste. You have to brush it all/most of it out before you can even begin the process of washing your hair. It's a nightmare. 

But this bread isn't a nightmare. I love beer bread and adding sausage and cheese only ever makes things better. I typically make a breakfast casserole for Christmas morning, but I thought this year I would switch it up. I usually assemble the casserole on Christmas Eve, and bake it in the morning. BUT! With this bread, I can make it Christmas Eve or EVEN EARLIER and still have an indulgent breakfast treat! Sure, you can eat this anytime of the year, it's not obnoxiously Christmas, you know red and green or looks like santa. But until December 26th, everything revolves around Christmas! 

Side note: I would eat Luke Dane's santa burgers year round. Oh, and was Rory always this terrible or is it just the revival?

Rory's homewrecking ways are not in the spirit of Christmas. But this bread is. So crank up the Christmas music (I recommend the Michael Buble Christmas station on Amazon Music) and get baking! 

 what you need:

• 3 cups flour

• 3 tablespoons sugar

• 2 tablespoons baking soda

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 bottle beer (natty boy or another light-flavored beer will work very well)

• 1 pound raw breakfast sausage

• 1.5 cups mild cheddar cheese (shredded)

• Oil (olive, walnut, grapeseed, coconut, whatever)

• Salt

• Pepper

the 10 steps: 

01. Preheat oven to 350 F.

02. Heat oil over medium high heat. Remove the sausage casing and cook the meat using a wooden spoon to break up the pieces. 

03. Once the meat is browned, set aside on a paper towel to soak up the excess grease. 

04. Let your pup, who is probably begging by now, have a teeny bite of sausage. If you don't have a dog, taste it yourself or look up adoptable dogs. 

05. In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking soda, salt). 

06.If the sausage is in large clumps, use a food processor to break it up into fine pieces. You can also use a knife if you don't have a food processor or if you just don't feel like having to clean yours. If you do get out your food processor, go ahead and run the cheese through as well.

(I didn't run the cheese through the food processor here, but I should have.)

07. Fold the sausage and cheese into the dry ingredients. Make sure it is well mixed so there is sausage and cheese in every bite!

08. Use the "pasta method" to incorporate the beer into the dry mix. To do this, push the dry batter to the sides of the bowl so there is  a well on the middle. Pour the beer into to well. Then slowly star mixing the dry mix into the beer. 

09. Transfer the dough into a greased bread pan. Don't forget to spray the sides of the pan and be sure to spread the dough evenly.  

10. Bake for 30 minutes. If it is not done after 30 minutes (a toothpick does not come out cleanly), continue baking and check on it every 5 minutes until cooked through. Remove from oven once cooked and pour the melted butter over top. 

Happy Holidays! 

a coconut-crazed breakfast

This breakfast is one part mushrooms, one part matcha latte, and one part everything but the kitchen sink.

I got hooked on matcha lattes when I would delay going to work by stopping by Starbucks. That's right, gold card member over here. The only problem is I dislike Starbucks coffee wayyyy more than I disliked my job, and I wasn't going to pay whatever ridiculous price they charge for hot water and a 25¢ tea bag. One day I saw a "green tea latte" on the menu, and I decided to give it a try. It was sweet and creamy and tasted like green tea candy and I was in love. I later threw up, probably because there were 6-8 pumps of simple syrup in my medium drink, but I decided to blame my ongoing GI issues and not the latte. But I did start ordering the green tea lattes unsweetened and with soy milk. UPDATE: a Starbucks recently informed me that the new GTL recipe calls for no sweetener!

In Lexington, there wasn't a Starbucks or a coffee shop I trusted to make anything but coffee. So I had to learn to make my own, which is where this recipe originated. In Durham, I live walking distance from Coco Cinnamon, which makes this beauty... 

...but I'll still make my own when I don't feel like walking or when I have extra coconut milk from my favorite creamy roasted mushrooms. And since I make these mushrooms at least once a week, I end up making a lotta matcha. 

Now let me tell you about these mushrooms.

Glorious, delicious mushrooms.

I am obsessed with these shrooms, and I definitely thought about posting them before. The problem (besides my being distracted by moving and the apartment flooding) is I don't use measuring cups or anything when I'm cooking so I never really know how much of each ingredient ends up in the dish. I didn't know how to share my non-recipes in a way that people would find decipherable. 

But then I read the letter from the editor in the October 2016 issue of Bon Appétit. Adam Rapaport said that when you follow a recipe to the T, you don't actually learn how to cook, because when you completely trust a recipe, you stop trusting yourself. 

So by not providing exact measurements, I'm really giving you the gift of trust, of believing in yourself. You're welcome.

But if the mushrooms sauce starts to look like this, it means you forgot you were cooking something and let it simmer too long.  Or at least that's what it meant for me. But they were still delicious and I ate every last one. So don't give up on you meal if you mess up once or twice.

But seriously, instead of worrying about exact measurements, focus on the look, smell, and taste of your meal. Unless you end up eating it all before you finish cooking, there's no such thing as over-tasting your food. Oh, and try not to start any fires. But if you do, don't worry... been there, done that as recently as Thanksgiving thank you very much. Just make sure you have a fire extinguisher (I did not). 

Ingredients 

for the mushrooms 

• Whole mushrooms, whatever kind you like, wiped clean (I like to slice mine in half)

• Spoonful coconut oil

• 1 can of full fat coconut milk (place coconut milk in the fridge at least 24 hours before staring this dish)

• minced garlic

• fresh or dried thyme (use less if cooking with dried thyme)

• salt

• pepper

• & everything but the kitchen sink (i.e. optional ingredients):

  • kale

  • parmesan

  • eggs

  • sweet potato

  • truffle salt (or truffle oil, but I like truffle salt here because the salt helps make the coconut oil a bit more savory)

  • whatever else you think will make this even more delicious

for the latte 

• rest of the full fat coconut milk (you'll only use a little bit for the mushrooms

• matcha powder

• honey (optional)

Remove coconut milk from the fridge (if you forgot to put it in the fridge in the first place, don't worry about it).  

Preheat oven to 425. Put a spoonful of coconut oil in a baking dish and put in the oven until the oil has melted. Toss cleaned mushrooms and chopped thyme in the coconut oil, and spread in an even layer in the baking dish. Roast until mushroom are golden brown.

Heat a pan over medium-high heat and add the mushrooms, oil, thyme mix to the pan. If you want to be really crazy, add a handful of kale (ripped into manageable sized pieces) to the pan too. Open the can of coconut milk, there should be a layer of cream at the top. If you remembered to put the can in the fridge, the cream should have solidified. Add a scoop or two of the solidified cream (more if still liquid) to the pan.

Once it's all melty and has coated the mushrooms, taste the cream and add salt, truffle salt, pepper, and more thyme. Use a light hand as the flavor will deepen as the cream thickens. You can always add more seasoning later. 

Once the sauce has a good consistency and you are satisfied with the taste, transfer the mushrooms to a plate.

the entire meal is Dixie approved.

TIP: I like to leave a little bit of oil/cream in the pan, remove the pan from heat to let it cool, and then  scramble in some eggs with the residual oil/cream and whisk it all over medium-low heat until just cooked. I read something once in a cooking magazing about the perfect omelet, and I distinctly remember that one chef said the eggs should have the consistency of dog slobber. I thought that was absolutely disgusting, until I tried slow scrambling eggs. (Oh and I actually found an article discussing that quote, it was coincidentally in an article by Adam Rapaport). Throw it all on some sweet potato toast (take 1/4 inch slices of sweet potato & put in the toaster at the highest setting 2-3 times per side) and you have a breakfast in paleo heaven. 

AS FOR THE LATTE... 

Heat the remaining coconut milk and cream in a sauce pan. Once warm, add honey to sweeten. Make matcha per the package instructions. Fill mug halfway with matcha and pour the sweetened coconut milk to the top. Mix and enjoy.  

happy eating! 

Christmas Morning Casserole

When I was younger I would be up at 5 am digging through my stocking and then waiting at the top of the stairs with my brothers at 7 am, barely able to contain my excitement about running down and seeing what Santa left under the tree. Now things are a little different. We still have our Christmas Eve party, but now that everyone is older, the party usually doesn't end until 1 am. Then my brothers and I  are left to clean up after the party and set out the presents and get everything ready for Christmas Day. We usually don't get to sleep until 3 am, later if one of my brothers starts opening his presents instead of helping.

Thanks to years of 8 am classes, I can't sleep past 9 am... so Christmas Morning I sit in my room watching The Year Without a Santa Clause (the best claymation in existence), and waiting for my family to wake up. Patience is not my virtue and I get bored waiting for everyone in my house to wake up. In my experience, nothing wakes people up like the smell of a great breakfast. This year when I woke up at 9 am to the sound of my dad snoring two rooms away, I got my dogs and my DVD and went downstairs and brewed a pot of The Fresh Market's Christmas Blend coffee and baked a sausage and egg breakfast casserole. The smell of this breakfast woke up the house and started a wonderful Christmas!

This casserole is the perfect start to any morning, just pop it in the oven--the wonderful smell will wake even the deepest sleeper up and the savory taste will make sure they stay awake!

INGREDIENTS

• 0.5-1 lb sausage (I honestly cannot say how much sausage I used. I bought 1 lb, but then my dogs and I had a little snack as we waited for the oven to preheat)

• 6-8 slices of bread

• 6 eggs, beaten

• 2 cups milk

• 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

• 1/8 teaspoon onion powder

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

• pepper to taste

Remove sausage from casing and cook in a skillet over high heat. While the sausage is cooking, grease a 9"x 13" baking pan and line the bottom of the pan with slices of bread. In a large bowl, beat the eggs. Add the milk, dry mustard, onion powder, and salt. Pour the egg mixture over the bread. Add the cooked sausage to the baking pan as evenly as you can. Liberally add the cheese to the top of the casserole.

((Can be refrigerated for 24 hours))

Bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour.

Holiday kisses,

Megan