This is so simple, so good, and more healthy than the alternative.

Prep time 45 minutes. Serves 4 – 6.

• 1/2 cup Earth Balance margarine
• 1 cup of organic sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 3 mashed bananas (to a paste)
• 2 Ener-G egg replacements
• 1/2 cup nuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream the sugar and margarine. In a separate bowl, sift the flour, salt, and baking soda. Blend with the wet mixture. Add the bananas, Ener-G, and nuts. Stir until mixed. Spoon into a mini-muffin sheet (like Pampered Chef’s) and bake for 15 – 17 minutes. Allow to cool for 5 and them pop ‘em with some coffee or hot chocolate.

Peanuts, to be exact.

We started eating almond butter a couple years ago simply because it was not as “strong” as peanut butter, but it also packed all the nutrition with less saturated fat (make no mistake, it still has fat. Almond butter is expense in general ($6 as opposed to $2.50 peanut butter) , but ridiculous in the two stores in Tulsa that sell it ($11+). This has caused me to pick it up at Trader Joes in CA on my biz trips.

Since I have already started throwing nuts in a blender, I decided how hard would it be to just make my own nut butter of some kind. So, I threw a handful of almonds, pecans, flax seed (gotta have the flax), and walnuts into a blender. They chopped up to a sticky powder. This was hardly spreadable. Instead of pouring oil into it to make it more “creamy”, I opened a can of conconut milk and threw it in. That definitely worked. I finished it off with some cinnamon and sugar to add a little sweetness.

When it was all said and done, I took a wiff of the stuff. It smelled like a cross between maple pancakes and tropical something. When I tasted it, I was shocked at how well all the flavors came together. Since then, we have been making a batch a week and just kinda throwing it on bread, in cereal, or even in my smoothie. Compared to peanut butter, it has a wider spread of protein, nutrients (especially calcium and iron), and is very “basic” (as in chemistry) to neutralize stomach acid, a natural antacid.

After we had finished our meal the day before, I had about 4 tablespoons of the pesto mix left. We decided to make grilled veggie sandwiches for lunch. I made these two weeks before we went vegan just to experiment with taste. We liked the sandwiches then and we wanted to try them again now.

I took a red pepper, green pepper, yellow squash, green squash, and an onion and sliced them into big pieces. I kept the marinade simple with olive oil, lemon, salt and pepper. The veggies were grilled on our backyard grill for about 15 minutes (7.5 on a side) at 425 degrees. For bread, Aleta brought home some nice french bread. I cut some big slices, coated them with olive oil and grilled them nice and brown.

Back to the pesto. I added 2 tablespoons of vegan mayonnaise (which is quite good) to two tablespoons of the pesto mix. We could have dipped it on the bread right there and called it a day. The sandwiches were crafted with the pesto spread on both sides, squash, peppers, onions, and fresh avacado.

Flavor explosion.

I was determined to grow some kind of vegetables this year before Aleta made the vegan decision. Being clueless about gardening, I sought the most remedial stuff to plant. Herbs. “Herbs are essentially weeds, you can’t mess them up”, said the guy at the local nursery. I learned about an Earthbox. These things make it absolutely simple for anyone to grown anything (including weeds). So, we have basil, parsley, rosemary, sage, thyme, and tarragon in addition to some pepper and tomato plants.

I remembered watching a Food Network show a while back where Giada threw some walnuts into a mushroom pesto sauce for flavor. This last Sunday for lunch, I had decided to try something like this. From the backyard, I picked two cups of basil a couple sage leaves, and a couple tarragon leaves. I threw in two garlic cloves and about two cups of nuts. Pulsing the mixture, I gradually added olive oil, a shot of balsamic, and a whole lemon until it made a decent paste. Aleta and I both stuck our fingers in the mixture and were shocked out how tasty, fresh, and savory it was. We mixed it with some diced tomatoes and whole wheat fusili, garnished with some basil.

What a phenomenal lunch.

Recipie:

• 2 cups basil
• 2-3 sage leaves
• 2-3 tarragon leaves
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 – 2 cups walnuts
• juice from one lemon
• olive oil for desired consistency
• balsamic vinegar to taste

Preparation:

Pulse the herbs, garlic, and lemon in a food processor. Add walnuts 1 cup at a time to taste. Gradually add olive oil until the mixture is to the desired paste (1/4 to 1/2 cup of oil). Add shots of balsamic for extra flavor. Serve as a dip with pita or mix with pasta.