I have a standard Vegan Banana Bread recipe that is my usual go-to, but I decided it was high time to jazz it up a bit.  Since the ripe bananas provide a bit of sweetness, you don’t need to add much sugar (if any) to this bread at all!  And the end result is a delicious, moist (ugh that word), bread that you’ll want to make again and again.  I also like the fact that this bread is vegan, so if we don’t happen to have eggs in the house, I can whip it up any old time.

Vegan Almond Chocolate Banana Bread (adapted from this recipe)

Ingredients:

2-3 very ripe bananas
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 cup oat flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup slivered almonds
1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup water

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease and flour a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan.

In a large mixing bowl, mash the bananas really well. Add the maple syrup, vanilla and canola oil and blend well.

Sift in the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Use a wooden spoon to mix until the wet and dry ingredients are combined.  Add in your almonds, chocolate  chips and water and continue to mix well.

Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and sprinkle with cinnamon on top. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes. The top should be lightly browned when the bread is done baking, and then enjoy.

This bread tastes great by itself, with a nice slab of butter, or even mixed with some ice cream!

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We happened to come during happy hour (3-7 every day!), so we decided to take advantage and ordered some drinks and garlic fries.  Yes, garlic fries.

I have never had garlic fries at a sushi restaurant before, but these were delicious!  They weren’t super garlicky, but they were nice and crisp and were perfectly salted.  I may have to come back to Zipangu for the fries alone.

We were both in the mood for some sushi so we ordered some yellowtail, mackerel, and shrimp to share.  I’ll admit I was a bit skeptical since this restaurant has an item on the menu called the Kobayashi which is American Hot Dog Rolled Up with Rice & Soy Paper and Deep Fried, but I decided to give it a shot.

I’m glad I gave the sushi a shot because it was delicious!  I don’t think it’s quite as good as Shunka or Kitayama, but definitely decent.  I also had a veggie roll, because why not?

The veggie roll was good, but nothing amazing.  Just your standard vegetable roll fare.

For the grand finale, the Englishman ordered the Chicken Kara-age, which is Japanese style deep-fried chicken.

The chicken came with a side of chipotle mayo and some peppers.  I only had a taste of the chicken but it was pretty good!

Not going to lie, I’ve never had fries, chicken and sushi rolls all in one sitting before, but somehow it worked.  Zipangu has a lot of other interesting Asian Fusion dishes I wouldn’t mind coming back and trying as well.  Plus, this place has a happy hour on the weekend, so that makes it an instant win.

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So what’s so special about the Larabar ALT?  Protein, baby.  The Larabar ALT flavors contain 10g of pea protein, which is awesome because most protein bars out there are made with soy protein, which I unfortunately cannot have.  In addition to having a decent amount of protein, the Larabar ALT flavors are vegan, gluten-free, dairy free, and non-GMO.  Plus, the wrapper is 31% renewable.

The bars come in four flavors:  Lemon Pound Cake, Cinnamon Apple Crisp, Peanut Butter Cookie and my personal fave, Pumpkin Pie.  All of the flavors have many of the same ingredients as the traditional Larabars, but also contain brown rice syrup, brown rice flour and sunflower oil.

Texture-wise, the bars are a bit drier than the traditional Larabar, and you can tell they are more dense.  I really enjoyed the flavor of the bars, and love the fact that they have the extra protein.

These ALT bars actually came at the perfect time since the Englishman and I just started crossfit and could use a little extra protein.  And speaking of crossfit, how are wall balls so hard?  Please tell me those get easier.  I’m really enjoying the classes even though I spend most of the time flailing about trying to keep up.  Now I see how people can drink the crossfit kool-aid.

But back to the Larabar ALT bars.  If you are looking for a protein-packed bar that’s made with all-natural ingredients you can pronounce?  Then this bar is for you.  I know I’ll be adding these to my regular snack bar rotation.

Thanks Larabar for the goodies!

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Since the Englishman is quite the connoisseur of savory meat pies (he was born in New Zealand after all), he was eager to check Pie-Not out to see if they were as authentic as the pies he had growing up.

When we arrived at Pie-Not they had already sold most of their pies for the day, so we had a limited selection to choose from.  After much deliberation, the Englishman decided on the Dog’s Eye, which was a meat pie made with ground beef and onions in a short crust pastry shell with a puff pastry top.

I’m not the most well-versed in the world of meat pies, but this one was quite good.  The puff pastry was light and flaky, and the meat was juicy and tender on the inside.  If I had one small complaint, it would be that the pie was a little bland side, and the Englishman agreed, although he was quick to point out that the pie did taste very close to the traditional Aussie pies he had growing up.

I feel like I need to try more of Pie-Not’s pies before I can make a full assessment.  The shop has lots of delicious looking pies on the menu such as the Sprung a Leek with chicken in a cream sauce and the Vege Patch which is an assortment of vegetables in a gluten-free pie.  Pie-Not also has other items such as the traditional Sausage Roll, which is pork and beef rolled in a pastry dough and some breakfast pies that also looked delicious.

***UPDATED 5/19/13***

The Englishman and I made a return to Pie-Not and this time got the Sausage Roll and the “That’ll Do Pig Pie” which came with beef, onion, cheese and back bacon.  The aroma from the sausage roll was intoxicating, so I dove right in for a bite.

This roll was delicious!  I’m not the biggest sausage fan, but this was outstanding.  A simple beef and pork sausage rolled in puff pastry.  The Englishman loved this too, declaring it his favorite.

The That’ll Do Pig Pie had a lot to live up to after the delicious sausage roll.

This pie was good as well.  Lots of flavor and seasoned perfectly.  Pie-Not definitely knows how to make a great pie.

I also discovered that Pie-Not has ALMOND MILK for their coffee and tea, and they make Lamingtons!  I’ll need to pop back in there on a day they have lamingtons in the shop.

So excited to have this place in the 17th street rotation.

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I call these power cookies because they have lots of good stuff in them.  Chia seeds for your omega-3s, goji berries for your antioxidants, coconut oil for your healthy fat, and chocolate chips because chocolate chips just make everything better.  I made the cookies with almond flour and was pleasantly surprised with the results!  I think next time I will add in some coconut flakes and nuts to these power cookies for an extra powerful punch.

So if you are looking for a cookie that’s not too sweet and has lots of good stuff in it, then make these.  You could almost call it a healthy snack, but I prefer the term power cookie instead.

Power Cookies (makes 12 cookies)

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup blanched almond flour
1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup goji berries
2 tsp chia seeds
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
3 tbsp coconut oil (softened)
1/2 tsp vanilla

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350F, and lightly grease a baking sheet.

In a large bowl mix your flour, baking powder and salt together.  In a smaller bowl, blend your egg, coconut oil and chia seeds.  Fold the wet mixture into the dry mixture and continue to blend well.

Add in your chocolate chips and goji berries (and any other ingredient of your choosing) and mix until the batter is sticky .  Gently spoon the batter onto the baking sheet and create small balls.

Place baking sheet in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Remove cookies from the oven and enjoy them in all their powerful goodness.

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On Running a Half Marathon:

I remember when I ran my first 5k about four years ago.  One of my friends had talked me in to running one with her and I remember crossing the finish line in just under 30 minutes with a sense of pride and accomplishment.  Prior to that 5k, I had never run in a race ever, and only ran on the treadmill off and on.  After that 5k, I ran another, and then another, and eventually did a 10k but never progressed further than that.  A half marathon was always on my “bucket list,” but I never thought that much of it, because quite honestly the idea of running 13.1 miles was kind of terrifying.

The Englishman started running with me and we began doing short 3-4 mile jaunts around the neighborhood, and even ran in a few 5ks.  Then we moved to a new neighborhood surrounded by wonderful running paths and the idea of a half marathon began to slowly creep back into my head.  Could I run 13 miles?  I decided to make it my resolution for 2013 and before I knew it the Englishman and I had signed up for the OC Half Marathon on May 5th.

I decided to put together a training plan that had us running no more than 3x a week since there are other workouts we enjoy like Barry’s Bootcamp.  The plan ran from January to May which gave us lots of flexibility should any conflicts arise (illness, work, injury, etc.).

Of course starting a training plan in January meant lots of runs at 6am in the dark, in the cold, in the rain and in the fog.  I’ll be honest, March and April were my favorite months of training.

There were good runs and not so good runs.  Runs where my legs felt light and our place was flying, and runs where my legs felt like lead and were so sore that I wanted to cry (and I did cry, which I’m sure other runners on the trail appreciated).  And as we ticked off each long run, my confidence began to grow.

Which brings me to race day, the day that we had been anticipating for 4 months.  I had a few rough time goals in my head but had no idea how I would do since I had a few rough runs in the weeks prior, and my garmin had conveniently stopped working, which meant I was going into this race blind which in hindsight was actually better.  We lined up in the corral and got ready to start.

The horn went off and we started making our way around Fashion Island and down towards PCH.  The first few miles seemed to tick by, especially since we started on a nice downhill.  We made our way into the fancy neighborhoods in Corona del Mar and before I knew it we had hit the 10k mark.  I knew we had some pretty intense hills coming up (since we ran them on our long runs), so we both tried to pace ourselves and started taking our Honey Stinger Chews (love these btw!).

We started to make our way into Costa Mesa and hit our first big hill and ran up that with ease.  The next couple of miles were a bunch of rolling hills with the exception of one unwelcome hill around mile 9.5.  After that it was a bit more downhill and one more big hill push before we started to make the turn to head into the finish line.  I’m not going to lie, those last few miles were hard.  My legs were burning and I just wanted to be done.  But then I saw a dude running in a target sundress and spandex shorts and encouraging everyone to give it one final push so I gave it my all and sprinted towards the finish line.  I was shocked to learn my finish time was 2:05:21, which was one of the “A” goals I had given myself going into this race.

Now I’m not a super fast runner by any means, but I am incredibly proud of the Englishman and myself and how we ran this race.  We trained smart, tapered smart, and ran smart.  And I ran a half marathon!

The point of all these ramblings is that anyone can run a half marathon.  Really.  If you put in the time, and put in the training, you can and you will complete the race.  I fully believe this after running the race that I did.

So will I run another one?  Yep, but probably not for awhile.  The Englishman and I started to get burned out on running towards the end of training and are ready to try new workouts such as crossfit and focus on short distances for awhile.  But I definitely hope to achieve a sub-2 hour half marathon one of these days.

And those are my thoughts on running a half marathon.  Next post will be all about food, I promise.

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I find gluten-free baking to be a bit tricky.  Many of my recipes have not turned out because they were too dense, or too much flour, or just not rigjht.  I also don’t like to use xanthan gum which is found in many gluten-free recipes.

I am happy to say that this recipe is xanthan gum free and came out delicious!  These muffins are made with pineapple Chobani (my current fave), coconut oil and have toasted coconut on top.  If you are a bit afraid of gluten-free baking like I am was, then this is the recipe for you.

Sure, these muffins may not be exactly the same as pineapple upside down cake, but they are tasty!

Gluten-Free Pineapple Muffins (makes 12 muffins)

Ingredients:

2 cups gluten-free flour of your choice
6 oz pineapple Chobani yogurt
2 eggs (I used egg whites and they turned out fine)
1/2 cup almond milk
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
2.5 tablespoons coconut oil, softened
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350F.  Lightly grease a muffin tin or insert paper liners.

In a large mixing bowl add your flour, baking soda, vanilla, salt and brown sugar.  Mix until well blended.

In a smaller bowl blend your yogurt, eggs, almond milk, coconut oil and water until the mixture is nice and creamy.  Fold your wet ingredients into your dry ingredients and continue to mix until well blended.

Gently spoon your muffin batter into the muffin tin (be sure to fill each muffin only halfway).  Sprinkle the coconut on top and place in the oven.  Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.

Remove from the oven, cool, and enjoy!

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Since then Umami Burger has expanded to a bunch of different locations up and down California with three locations in Orange County.  After a 4 year hiatus, I knew it was time that I got some Umami back in my life, and decided to check out the location at The Camp in Costa Mesa.

After perusing the menu I was pleased to see the old favorites from 2009 such as the Umami Burger and the Port and Stilton Burger, and excited to see new (to me) choices such as the Manly Burger and Truffle Burger.  My heart broke a little when the waitress informed us they did NOT have the Port and Stilton Burger so I decided to try something different and ordered The Greenbird, which is a turkey burger with sprouts, avocado, and green cheese (does anyone know what green cheese is?).

I am pleased to say this burger did not disappoint.  The turkey was juicy and full of flavor, and I loved the crushed avocado with every bite.  Turkey burgers are normally kind of bland but this one was not.  Half of the group ordered the Manly Burger which I sampled as well.

The Manly Burger was also delicious.  The beer-cheddar cheese complemented the smoked salt onion strings and bacon lardons on top of the burger quite nicely.  The Manly Burger may sound well decadent, but this burger was cooked perfectly and didn’t taste greasy at all.

In addition to the burgers, Umami is also known for their delicious sides and secret dipping sauces.  We ordered sweet potato fries, thin fries and onion rings to share amongst the table as well as a full round of the dipping sauces which included the Umami Ketchup, Dijon Mustard, House Spread, Roasted Garlic Aioli, Jalapeno Ranch and Diablo Sauce.

Out of all the sauces, I liked the aioli the best, which was the perfect dipping sauce for the thin fries.

The thin fries were nice and crispy and had the perfect amount of seasoning.  I actually found them to be a million times better than the over-hyped duck fat fries from Crow Bar.  But my favorite fries of the evening were definitely the sweet potato fries.

The fries were covered in a salty-cinnamon sugar topping and they were divine.  One could argue that there was a bit too much cinnamon, but I loved them.  The onion rings also had a nice crunch and flavor to them as well, but the sweet potato fries by far stole the show.

This meal at Umami Burger reminded me why I fell in love with them in the first place.  I can guarantee it will not be another 4 years before I return again.

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I like pound cakes because they are so versatile.  They can be made in a loaf pan, taste great with a side of ice cream, and can be topped with berries for a delicious summer treat.  I decided to go with the marble pound cake because there’s chocolate involved, and everything is better with some chocolate.  I topped the cake with some melted chocolate chips for a little extra oomph.

This cake was really easy to make and was a crowd pleaser.  It may not be the prettiest cake ever, but it sure was delicious, which is all that matters in the end.

Marble Pound Cake (adapted from this recipe)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup butter (softened)
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup almond milk
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
4 eggs (I used egg whites and it worked just as well)
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup semi-sweet cocoa powder

For the Chocolate Topping:

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup almond milk

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350F.

In a large bowl mix butter and sugar until well blended (you can do this with a hand mixer or stand mixer as well.  Add your flour, almond milk, baking powder, vanilla, salt, and eggs and continue to mix until the batter is nice and creamy.

Remove 2 1/2 cups of batter into a medium-sized bowl.  Gently fold in the cocoa powder using a whisk or a fork until the powder is completely blended in.

Grease a 9×5 loaf pan and spoon in the vanilla and chocolate layers into the pan (alternate the layers).  With a spoon or knife, cut through the layers to create a “marbled” effect.

Place cake in the oven and bake for 1 hour.  Remove cake from oven and let it cool.

While the cake is cooling, melt your chocolate chips either over the stove or in the microwave.  Add in the 1/4 cup of almond milk to the melted chocolate and mix until well blended.

Once cake has cooled, gently spread the chocolate mixture on top of the pound cake.

Slice the cake into layers, and enjoy!

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Sol Cocina is known for having happy hour 7 days a week, so when we arrived the place was packed with people enjoying discounted margaritas and tacos.  We had reservations so we were seated immediately and then waited and waited.  Finally after about 20 minutes our waiter appeared to take our drink orders.  And then we waited again (notice a theme?)

The drinks finally appeared and we decided to get some guacamole to share amongst the table.  The Guacamole Sol came with mango, tequila and goat cheese.

I normally wouldn’t think to add goat cheese to guacamole, but this was delicious!  The tang of the goat cheese combined with the sweetness of the mango and spices in the guacamole complemented each other perfectly.  Our table pretty much housed the entire thing in about five minutes.

Of course, there was more waiting and waiting before our entrees were served (I get that they were busy, but seriously?) and finally food started arriving at the table.  I ordered the Puerto Nuevo Lobster Tacos with flour tortillas on the side since corn and I aren’t exactly friends.

I was super excited to try this dish since I haven’t had lobster in ages and I found it to be a bit of a letdown.  The black beans and quinoa on the side were delicious, but the lobster was overcooked and a bit rubbery.

The Englishman ordered tacos, and those were excellent.  He went with the Beer Battered Shrimp Taco, the Taco Vampiro and the Taco Bufalada.

I loved the crispness of the batter on the shrimp taco, and the meat in the Taco Bufalada was juicy and tender.  The Englishman also loved the spiciness of the Taco Vampiro.

My parents each ordered the Taco Plate which came with two tacos, black beans and rice and raved about them.

But the highlight of the evening for sure was the Pork Carnitas my brother ordered.  I unfortunately didn’t snap a picture, but the meat was so flavorful and seasoned perfectly.  It was so good that everyone was asking him to share bites.

We ended the evening with some homemade birthday marble pound cake.  Recipe to come soon!

Aside from my lobster dinner and the lackluster service, I really enjoyed the food at Sol Cocina.  I could definitely see myself coming here for happy hour and enjoying some of their tacos and a margarita or glass of wine.  And if I come back for dinner, I’m definitely ordering the carnitas.

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