My table is gone ;.;

I bought this old, but really nice drop-leaf oak table about a year and a half ago.  At the time I needed a dining table.  Today I had to get rid of it.  I have a fancy, new, electric height-adjustable desk coming.  The desk will do my back a lot of good.  It will make work at home so much easier since I will have an actually desk to work at and will actually be able to use my supportive office chair.  This all great, but I can't help missing my oak table.  It was an antique but it was pretty.

Banana Carrot Cake; gluten free, dairy free, egg free

Following up on my 'Going Bananas' post, I was inspired to share this classic recipe; altered for us allergy sufferers.

Ingredients:

3 ripe bananas

2 medium carrots

1/2 cup sugar

2 cups gluten free flour

1 teaspoon Bicarbonate of soda.

2 teaspoons egg replacer

1 1/2 cups soy milk or hazelnut milk

8 cloves

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees and grease a cake tin.  Sift the flour into a large mixing bowl and stir in the sugar, egg replacer, spices, soda and milk.  Peel the carrots and grate the carrots into the flour mix, stirring periodically. Mash the banana's and then mix them into the flour as well.  Stir thoroughly and then pour the mix into the greased cake tin.  Bake for approximately 40 minutes.  The cake is ready when a knife through the centre comes away clean.

Serving suggestions:

Spread a smidgeon of Nutella on a slice for a wicked treat.

Or

Serve with a scoop of ice cream.

There are so many possibilities.

Going Bananas

I was in the Co-op today getting myself some lunch.  I thought, 'Bananas, that's a nice healthy option to have with my salad'. I went to grab a few from the fruit selection, and then I discovered all of the bananas were over-ripe!  They were spotty and bursting out of their skins!  They were clearly not going to be sold, which is just wasteful.  There's so much that can be made from ripe bananas.

Banana Cake - in Chocolate, nut, cinnamon and coffee varieties.

Banana Bread - Chocolate chip, rye banana, pumpkin.

Banana muffins - Chocolate chip, nutmeg, cinnamon.

Banana pancakes

Banana Milkshakes

Banana smoothies.

Banana cookies.

Banana pie.

Banana sorbet.

It's so easy to make something tasty out of over-ripe bananas!

Apple Crumble: Gluten-free and Dairy-free

I won't lie, this is a damn easy recipe to make.  It was one of the first deserts I learnt how to cook when I had to go one a gluten free diet.  Apple crumble is dead simple and oh so very cheap.  It also so very yummy.

Ingredients

For Crumble
1 1/2 cups gluten-free flour
200-250grams margarine
3/4 cups sugar.
2 teaspoons cinnamon
4 cloves.

For Filling
6-8 Apples
1/2 cups sugar
20 Grams fresh or minced ginger.

Preparation directions

Peel, core and finely slice the apples.  If you are using fresh ginger, peel and dice the ginger as finely as possible.  Mix the apple, sugar and ginger together and spread this apple mixture on to a greased baking tin.  Cover the tin and set aside for the moment.

Sift the gluten-free flour into a mixing bowl.  Mix the sugar, cinnamon, and the cloves into the flour; ensuring the sugar and cinnamon are as evenly mixed into the flour as possible.  Begin to rub the margarine into the flour mix until it is fully mixed together.

Dogs fights.

Dog fights make me very sad. More so then cock fights.  At least roosters would willingly fight each other any way.

Don't get me wrong, I know dogs fight normally.  God knows I've pulled my dogs away from other dogs often enough to know.  However, when they fight it is never to the death unless there's some extenuating circumstances.

To train dogs to fight, the dogs are often deliberately starved and subjected to 'corporal punishment'.  These malnourished dogs are then pitted against other malnourished dogs.  The dogs are forced to continue fighting until one is dead.  And yet, if one of these dogs turn on their 'masters', it is the dog who is put down!