salt city/portland: part 1

Sorry I've been a bit MIA. I returned home last night after a long and much needed trip home to Salt Lake and a mini trip inside that vacation to Portland/Vancouver. I didn't intend on being away for so long, but it was nice to unplug and enjoy some time with friends and family.

I'm not even going to attempt to fit my entire vacation in one post, so the my next few posts will be sort of a photo dump (Salt Lake > Portland > Salt Lake) with some stories along the way!


Thursday: This little lady never approves of my departure.




Between the airport and my opa's work, my moms car broke down and this happened.

So there is this store called the NPS that my opa is particularly obsessed with and EVERYTHING is on sale. They carry damaged items or items that don't sell well; everything from clothing to electronics to an entire warehouse of food.


Anyone else remember these juice barrels?!


That's not creepy?


Toilet paper anyone?


Of course if you can get 5lbs of fresh tomatoes for under $1, homemade salsa is in order.


...and opa makes his infamous homemade tortillas weekly.


Dinner with Tiffany at my favorite sushi restaurant, Tsunami!




Haaaaaaaaaaalt! Saw this as we were leaving, obvious photo opportunity.


I FaceTime with my cat, don't judge me.


Friday: slice of Great Harvest cinnaburst and soy mocha


...with Nick Party.




Chill out bb girl.


and finally Meditrina with my mama. The baseball game was going on across the street so the wait was atrocious, but worth it in the end--love this place!


Basilico and patatas bravas. Not pictured: grilled granny smith arugula salad, parmesan bruleed artichoke and curry lime prawns.


Bruleed bananas with nutella mousse. (better photos from another visit to Meditrina here)



See you tomorrow for Foodie Friday, in Portland!

Foodie Friday: Homemade Banana Bread

I love love love fresh baked banana bread, but I'm not a fan of nuts in my breads, so the options are very limited on where I can buy from. Jon found my new favorite banana bread recipe. We've made it THREE times in the past three weeks!

Vegan, nutless and super duper delicious!



What you will need:



+ walnuts are obviously optional, you can add them to the batter at the end.





Mix all the dry stuff. In a separate bowl, your largest bowl, mix soy milk and apple cidar vinegar.



While you let the soy milk and apple cidar vinegar mix stand, mash the nanners.



After a few minutes, add the nanners and the rest of your wet ingredients to soy milk mix.









Cook on 350 for one hour (make sure the bread is fully cooked by inserting toothpick, it should come out clean).


___________________________________

For those of you who didn't enjoy or couldn't follow along with my overuse of the masking tape feature, here is the preparation recipe from the website:

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Lightly oil a 9"x5" loaf pan and set aside.

2. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugars, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.

3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the soy milk and cider vinegar and let stand for 2 minutes. Add the mashed banana, canola oil, maple syrup, and vanilla extract, whisking until well combined. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, mixing until just combined (do not overmix!). Fold in the walnuts if using and pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake for about 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted into the center emerges clean. Allow the bread to cool on a wire cooling rack for 20 minutes before serving.