A Recipe from the Kitchen of the Recently Retired

My Saturday ritual goes a little something like this; I get up anywhere between 7 AM and 8 AM, do what it is necessary to make myself look presentable for Saturday morning viewing, and walk five blocks to the Farmer's Market where I purchase my groceries for the week.  

I have to thank my friend L for bringing this little local treasure to my attention. I have lived in my current orchard for a little less than four years and had no idea that this Saturday-only purveyor of some of the freshest regional produce, baked goods, jams, hummus, spices, flowers, and everything else you need to prepare a quick meal or host a dinner party for 10, was so conveniently located. (Although, some of the vendors are seasonal, the market is open all-year-round.)

My weekly shopping list includes a variety of fruits and vegetables that I can throw into my Breville juicer. A juicer was never on the “must-buy” list of appliances. Actually, I have never had a list with anything kitchen related on it except for paper towel. The word juicer conjured up images of me slaving over a sink cleaning it and Jack LaLanne. I was spending $7 or more a day on a 16-ounce juice. Then I Googled “Best juicer, easiest to clean” and found the Breville Compact Fountain Juicer, Model BJE200XL. After reading several positive reviews, I made my purchase. I am obsessed with my juicer and use it daily.

Preparing to juice.

A few additional tidbits of information you should know about the Pink Lady. Besides a few glasses of wine on the weekend and indulging in a large bag of movie theater popcorn (with butter) on occasion, I exercise daily, watch my diet, and do whatever is necessary to keep the wrinkles at bay. I am also a vegetarian but if that was not the case maybe I would have called this blog Prime Beef, Fresh Selections from a Purveyor of Fine Meats.  

My unexpected retirement has me cutting back in certain areas and one of those is dining out. I used to despise cooking and when I was coming home from work at 9 PM every night, the last thing I wanted to do was cook. If I did not meet friends for dinner, I was ordering in. In a previous post, I mentioned that retiring has allowed me to things that I did not have the time to before, and one of those things was cooking. Lately, the bill from the Farmer's Market has increased from approximately $30 to $50 a week but I am saving at least $200 because of my new found hobby. I am becoming quite the chef  and “bakress.” I will admit that some of my initial attempts were rather unsuccessful. For example, the cranberry pumpkin scones that you see below. They look more like flat bread than the latter but I have improved since then.

Pumpkin Cranberry Scones

Asking my friends with discerning palettes to be my test kitchens, I have been told that my banana cranberry quinoa bread and pumpkin cranberry muffins are bakery-worthy. Going forward, I have decided to dedicate one post a week to cooking. Here is the first in the once-a-week feature that I like to call, Recipes from the Kitchen of the Recently Retired.

Banana Cranberry Quinoa Bread

Two medium ripe mashed bananas

1 cup vanilla soy milk or almond milk (or any other type of non-dairy milk)

1 tbsp ground flax seeds

¼ cup canola oil cup agave nectar or pure maple syrup (I prefer coconut nectar. I purchased it at my local health food store but if you cannot find coconut nectar the agave and or maple syrup works just as well.)

½ tsp. vanilla extract

1 ¼ cups whole-wheat flour

¼ cup almond flour

1 ½ tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

½ tsp. cinnamon

½ tsp. cardamom

1 ¼ cups cooked quinoa

½ cup dried cranberries

½ cup pumpkin seeds and or slivered almonds

1. Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees

2. Spray a 9x5-loaf pan with an organic non-stick cooking spray

3. Mix the bananas, milk, ground flax seed, canola oil, agave nectar, and vanilla extract in a bowl

4. Combine all of the dry ingredients in a separate bowl

5. Add the dry and wet mixtures together and mix well

6. Pour into loaf pan

7. Bake for 60 minutes, let cool, and slice (should make 10 slices)

Banana Quinoa Cranberry Bread