Baking mistaking!

Well yesterday I was recommended to try www.marathontalk.com for podcasts to listen to while running (from Belgmoo on WLR). I had a look today and it looks fab- not sure how often they release a new one but there are already 30 back podcasts on the site, ready to download. It looks like they are over an hour each too so should be good to try sometime.

I had a pop to the shops this morning, and when in the health food store I decided to ask about a loyalty card. (You may remember that last time I was there the lady asked me if I had one, I just said “no” and then realised after that I should have asked for one). Anyhoo, now I have one- they send money-off vouchers once you spend so much.

A while back I was looking for a veggie cookbook, and so many of them have loads of egg dishes in them, which I am not keen on, or they were not “proper” veggie ones (eg still had parmeasan in recipes etc), and I came across a vegan one called Veganomicon . Now I am not vegan, but it is a massive book with everything from soups, salads, beanburgers, desserts and loads in between. I also thought that if they need dairy-free milk then normally I would be fine to replace it with milk and so on. There are already quite a few recipes that I have my eye on, including chickpea burgers, kidney bean balls (like meatballs for spagetti), bean burgers (is there a theme here? I missed having beans while I was on holiday!)- things that I can make a lot of anyway and then keep for later. But all those recipes call for vital wheat gluten, and I was hoping to find it in the shop, but no. I did however find cliff bars- muchos excitement!

Anyway I decided to try out another recipe from there- Lower fat banana bread. Seemed simple enough- mash bananas, apple sauce, splash of sunflower oil (didn’t have rapeseed oil), treacle, then mix in dry ingredients (spices, sugar, flour). Only when I had put it in the oven did I realise I had forgotten the baking powder- duh! Not sure how I managed that as I never buy self-raising flour, I only ever use plain and add the stuff if needed. So while it was cooking I decided it would be like a banana brownie instead. In fact when it came out the oven it had risen a bit, and when I cut it into slices, although it is not traditional banana-bread texture it is quite moist in the centre, almost like it has dates in it (but it doesn’t). So I was thinking I was going to have to freeze it and turn it into bread pudding in the winter, but in fact it has been rescued! Result! I had a little slice spread with some smooth PB and it was lovely- the texture of malt loaf but with a banana-rey flavour-yum. Who knew a silly mistake would create something so yummy?

Anyway I had decided on a little run, and loaded up the podcast. I only went out for half an hour (just wanted to stretch the legs after yesterday, and have a few non-running days ahead so decided to take my chance) but listening to it was really interesting. I think for a short quick run it would not be so good, (I like the music to keep me running faster) but for longer runs and slower steady ones it would be great (so thanks to Belgmoo J ). This one they talked about having running goals, looking to the future instead of the next race, having time off from chasing PB’s and so on. I didn’t finish it, looking forward to finishing it.

After a shower it was dinner time- hooray for kidney beans! Mashed them up with onion, tomato puree, chilli, mixed in a pepper (and some chopped chillis from my plant!!!), put in a wrap with a little grated cheese and baked in the oven- delish! With a big salad and some corn on the cob it was very summery and is helping to make up for all the good veggie protein I missed while on holiday.