Banana Bread for Diabetics

Marie of The English Kitchen pointed me to this Diabetes UK recipes website. I found this banana bread recipe they are featuring. Of course I had to convert the measurements to North American standards but I was very happy with the way it turned out. So one slice works out to be 22g of carbohydrate which would be the equivalent of one and a half slices of bread. It may be less as I didn't use nuts. The recipe uses only half a cup of brown sugar and whole wheat flour instead of white flour. It smelled heavenly while baking, sort of like you were in an old baker shop.  That is one slice I put on top in the photo.  It makes 12 slices, the one loaf.

Here are my converted measurements:

2 large bananas
2 eggs
4 tbs oil
1 tsp vanilla
1/2c brown sugar
1c whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg

preheat oven to 350F

mash bananas, add eggs. Then add oil, vanilla, sugar. Stir in flour, baking powder, spices. Spoon into loaf pan (I line mine with parchment paper). Bake 50-55 mins.

Dark Calla Lily

My poor daughter L has been diagnosed with severe sleep apnea, she was tested a few weeks ago.  She will get an oxygen mask and she will get good sleep now.  It should also solve a lot of other health problems, it seems everything including stress is connected to getting (or not getting) good sleep. Sometimes she would wake up with headaches or feeling tired still.  Being young is in her favour along with early diagnosis.

Well I was at the grocery store the other day and passed by this dark coloured calla lily. It looked almost black, I had never seen one like it before, how exotic! Have you seen these?

Weekend Brunch

It is time to change into warmer clothes, it is getting much cooler out.  We turned the heat on this Saturday, it was like 12C (54F) and I pulled out some blankets to cover my knees when I sit on the couch.

We had brunch with some friends on the weekend. Husband M had a classic breakfast with whole grain bread. Son K decided on french toast and I had the crab cakes benedict. The food was amazing, much enjoyed. My eggs were nice and runny in the middle the way I like them. We did take 2 challah bread blocks home to enjoy later.

French Toast (challah bread)

crab cakes poached eggs benedict

Sunday Sketches - Pumpkin Patch

Welcome to Sunday Sketches, I did a Pumpkin Patch in watercolour pencil on a little post-it note for you today, in honour of the season! 

Environmental Weed Control

An interesting tidbit, my cousin was telling me he bought a couple of pet guinea pigs for his daughter.  He had read somewhere that they like dandelions.  So they let them out on the lawn and sure enough, they eat them right up!  This is environmental weed control isn't it, how natural can you get?

These are some seasonal photos I took for you this past week or so, it is what it looks like around here lately:

Paint Party Friday - Soaring

Welcome to Paint Party Friday! Thanks to our wonderful hosts Eva and Kristin. This piece is done on an index card in watercolour pencil. It's called 'Soaring', into the sunrise I suppose.

Adventures with Couscous

Well, son K is more than halfway through his field placement, it is going  very well, and quickly.  He is on track to graduate with a college diploma next year.  He missed the October graduation and the next date is July 2016.  The next step will be to find a decent full time job, but one thing at a time.  That is a challenge many kids face after graduation.

I made some dishes with the healthy grain couscous. It's too bad I'm the only one that wants to eat it.
I had some leftover couscous so I tossed it into a soup I was making and noone was the wiser.

Salad with couscous and flavoured tuna

Peppers stuffed with couscous