banana – OwlCat Designs

August 24, 2012December 16, 2017

Grilled bananas with chocolate

And for an easy camping desert, bananas with chocolate:

Cut in to the top of the banana, making sure not to cut through.
Use 1 row of fine quality semi dark or milk chocolate (Lindt is excellent) and push the single pieces into the top of the banana
Wrap in a rectangle of aluminium foil: Place banana in the center, flip the foil up on both sides and fold down twice, then fold in ends
Place on a hot grill until bananas are tender and yield gently to the touch, about 10 to 15 minutes (depends on the heat of the embers)
Carefully open packets, and eat with a spoon. Careful very hot!!

Waking up to sunlight…

…and some lovely scenery from the kayak cockpit!

Looking up through the rocks at where we will end up, after the uphill hike. And of course I had brought some Trail mix Granola Bars!

Sunset Rock, overlooking North South Lake. You can’t see it from here, (I know this from the map) out of sight, off to the left there, are the Kaaterskill Falls, the lake water drains over the rocks into a fantastic multi level waterfall

April 3, 2012December 16, 2017

Banana Chocolate Raw Pudding

There are days when chocolate is the only thing that will do. And today I had one of those days. To make up for it, there is nothing like treating yourself with something yummy, delicious even decadent! Yay, treat time! Decision made, but good things don’t have to be bad for you. And yes, you can have this even if you don’t eat sugar. The only sweetness comes from the bananas! Let them get nice and ~~ripe~~ ~~over-ripe~~ brown, and you’re in business! Easy to make and guilt free too 🙂

Ingredients

2 over ripe bananas, mashed with a fork
about 1/2 cup milk (dairy or almond)
2 tbsp cocoa powder
2 tbsp ground flax seeds
2 tbsp chia seeds

Directions

Mash the banana with a fork
Add the milk, stir until well blended
Add the cocoa powder, flax seed and chia seed and stir it all together until mixed
Refrigerate overnight

March 13, 2012December 16, 2017

Raspberry White Chocolate Oatmeal Quick ‘Cake’

This chewy little treat can be eaten as much as a quick breakfast, on those gray and cold days, where the snooze button is your BFF and your feet are deadly afraid of the cold floor outside the cozy covers. You could even try to tell yourself it is all healthy by serving it topped with some greek yogurt. Or you can just face the facts that everyone needs a treat sometime, morning or night, and enjoy it as a quick desert or snack bake anytime you need a ‘cheer me up’. Very similar to the Snack Bakes shown here, it uses a ripe banana for sweetness, but I am splurging and adding white chocolate chips and some frozen raspberries that miraculously turned up in my freezer today 🙂 Isn’t is great when you find things you didn’t know you had? Like the $20 bill in the pocket of your winter coat when you take it out of ‘summernation’ (yes, I just made that up) in October

Because heart-shaped things make me happy 🙂

Makes 2

Ingredients

1/2 really ripe banana
1/2 cup rolled oats*
2 tbsp white chocolate chips,
2 tbsp frozen raspberries * you can also use rolled quinoa or other rolled grains

Grease 2 ramekins or other heat proof little bowls/forms
In a larger bowl, mash the ripe banana with a fork, until it doesn’t look dry anymore.
Mix in the rolled oats, then add the chocolate chips and the frozen raspberries.
Divide among prepared ramekins, and microwave for 3-4 minutes, depending on the power of your device, until the top looks no longer moist and the sides pull away from the ramekin. Like in the picture below. (Mine usually take 3 minutes)
Let cool down before quickly eating all enjoying, whoever you are trying to hide these from will smell them anyway 😉

You can flip it over on a plate to serve or just eat with a spoon right out of the bowl after you have given it enough time to cool down a bit.

My ‘sweet seduction’ speed cooking contribution is ready in under 10 minutes! That should be an incentive to enjoy life and have desert, even after a long day or week!

This is my contribution to a blog event over in the German speaking world of food blogs. Every submission has to be prepared in under 30 minutes, or the time it takes the average pizza delivery to get to you. Here is the whole list of all the goodies that can be made super quick! This sweet treat is ultra quick, and I am hoping it will sweeten up many a tired after work meal!

Nachwort auf Deutsch: Leider hatte ich keine Zeit den ganzen Beitrag auf Deutsch zu = Übersetzen, hier nur kurz: Oatmeal/Rolled Oats= Haferflocken, eine ‘1/2 cup/ ist etwa ein Deciliter, white chocolate chips= weisse Schokolade, in kleine Stücke oder Würfelchen geschnitten. Ich hoffe das diese kleine süsse Verführung hier manchen langen Tag erträglicher macht, wenigstens im Rückblick oder aber da man schlauerweise geplant hat, von wegen transportfähig und so 🙂 Einfach einpacken und mitnehmen!