anna cooks - fruit smoothie

I was inspired to make a smoothie after seeing this beautifully photographed post from the blog food and other stuff.

So off I went to the grocery store. I decided to make a dairy-free fruit smoothie with frozen peaches, frozen strawberries, orange juice, and bananas.

So easy, and so delicious!

anna cooks - homemade granola bars

A few years ago I made this recipe for Banana Chocolate Breakfast Bars from the blog Chocolate and Zucchini. They came out very well, but I then totally forgot about the recipe until this past week. I was going to visit my boyfriend for the weekend, and since he is trying to loose a few pounds after his summer in Brussels, I decided to bring him these granola bars, instead of my usual cookies or brownies.

This time I added dried cherries - I love the combination of cherries and chocolate - as well as more shredded coconut to the recipe. They came out so well that I made them two days in a row! Easy, delicious, and healthy, this is a must try recipe.

Oh, and this recipe is vegan! No butter or honey, etc.

Vegan* Chocolate, Cherry Granola Bars 

Adapted from Banana Chocolate Breakfast Bars on Chocolate and Zucchini, which adapted its recipe from Nikki's Healthy Cookie Recipe on Heidi's 101 Cookbooks.

*As long as the chocolate you use is vegan!

- 2 cups rolled oats
- 2/3 cup ground almonds (I ground mine in a food processer)
- 1/2 cup dried, unsweetened grated coconut
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 4 very ripe, medium bananas
- 1/2 teaspoon natural vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup slightly warmed coconut oil (may substitute whole almond butter or olive oil)
- About 3 1/2 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips (may substitute with a darker chocolate)
- About 1/4 cup dried, sweetened cherries chopped (about in quarters)**

**You can add any type of dried fruit you'd like - cranberries, blueberries, pineapple, etc. It is a very flexible recipe.  

Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease an 8x8 baking dish with vegetable oil.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine the oats, ground almonds, coconut, and salt. Set aside.

In another medium mixing bowl, combine the bananas, vanilla, and coconut oil, and mash together using a potato masher. Add the oats mixture and mix well. Fold the chocolate and cherries in gently.

Pour into the prepared baking dish, level the surface, and put into the oven. Bake for 25 minutes, or until the top is set and the edges are golden-brown. Let cool completely before slicing.

Cut into bars of your preferred size and wrap in wax paper or saran wrap. Decorate with stickers.

anna cooks - leftover buttermilk

I had some leftover buttermilk from making my birthday cake, so I decided to make some buttermilk muffins for breakfast. I found this recipe for chocolate chip buttermilk muffins from the blog Life's a Feast.

They were quick and easy to make, and turned out great. I'll definitely make them again!

anna cooks - leftover mashed potatoes

Last night I made pesto mashed potatoes. They were delicious, and I had leftovers so I decided to eat them again tonight. Instead of just heating them up though, I made a summer version of Giada's Eggs in Purgatory. I was lazy and just fried the potatoes as is, instead of adding flour and egg. I also used fresh tomatoes, instead of tomato sauce. Very good!

anna cooks - crepe bar

Yesterday, a few of my friends from college and I got together to skype a mutual friend who is living in Paris. Before the skype date, I cooked a mini parisian brunch for us. I decided to set up a crepe bar, where guests could fill their freshly made crepe with whatever fillings they wanted. I just pulled out whatever I had on hand, but you could substitute your favorite crepe fillings. Here's what I laid out:

Anna's Crepe Bar

- Nutella (I got mine at Venda Raviloi in Providence, RI - they import it from Italy, and it really is better than the stuff they sell at American supermarkets)
- Fresh strawberries
- Fresh bananas
- Parisian honey
- Granulated sugar
- Butter
- Marmalade 

I used a basic crepe recipe from allrecipes.com, to which I added a little vanilla. The secret is I made the batter the day before and let it rest overnight. I then used a non-stick pan to cook my crepes, which worked perfectly. 

While I was looking for tips on the internet about how to make the perfect crepe, I found a post from the blog theKitchn on how to make perfect crepes. 

The blog interviewed pastry chef Jehnee Rains who suggests putting beer in your crepe batter. Very intriguing. I might have to try that at my next crepe bar. You can find her recipe here. 

news, etc. - dessert for breakfast

I am a HUGE proponent of dessert for breakfast. If there is ever a left over slice of cake or chocolate chip cookie, I have no qualms about eating it in the a.m. Some people - who shall not be named - have questioned my practice. So it is with great delight that I share this article from Time magazine, which this week reported that eating dessert for breakfast may actually aid weight loss. 

photo by time.com

While researchers from the study referenced stress that dessert for breakfast is not the ideal diet for everyone looking to loose a few pounds, I, personally, take this story as a little bit of vindication for my occasional indulgence in morning after birthday cake.

I may have to indulge myself further with an "Eat Cake for Breakfast" T or tote from Kate Spade.