Bump n Grind - South Granville Grand Opening!

I was invited to the opening party of Bump n Grind Cafe grand opening. The South Granville location is their second location. The original location on Commercial Drive is well-loved by the neigbourhood. Owners Cheryl and Kyle Wright wanted to open their new location in a community-oriented neighbourhood, and found the perfect space on Granville Street and West 15th Avenue.

Bump n Grind is a multi-roaster cafe, where the owners search high and low across Canada for the best coffee. Coffees are rotated weekly to keep the menu fresh, and exciting.

Frozen Banana Ice Cream

We've been waging the war against fruit flies, and our bananas are always first to fall victim to this war. So we've been freezing a lot of bananas. While I love a good smoothie, and banana bread, I wanted to find something new. Off to Pinterest I go. I've always wanted to make my own ice cream, but I don't want to invest in an ice cream maker. So I was ecstatic when I found this pin.

All you really need are bananas, and any other flavouring you want to add to it. I didn't think bananas would give me the creamy texture like ice cream, but I was pleasantly surprised!

Ingredients

3 - 4 frozen bananas

Optional Ingredients

2 tablespoons Nutella

1/4 chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Break bananas into smaller pieces
2. Whiz it up in the food processor - about 30 seconds
3. Add flavourings (optional)
4. Transfer into a freezer safe container, and freeze for about one hour to firm up the mixture.
5. EAT!

What would you flavour your banana ice cream with?

xoxo
~meesh

Nutella Bites: Tried and tested Pinterest recipe

I bought Nutella from Costco. This means I have A LOT of Nutella. When I need a recipe, my go-to resource these days is Pinterest (follow me!). I decided to go with this pin because I already have all the ingredients, except the powdered sugar.

The directions are so simple, I had to make it right away, even though it was 9:30pm. All you have to do is whisk all the ingredients together, spoon 2 tablespoons of the batter into a muffin tin, bake for 20 - 23 minutes at 350 degrees until a toothpick poked into the center comes out clean.

For the full recipe, head over to Vancity Buzz!

How do you eat Nutella?

xoxo
~meesh

Pinterest Strikes Again!!...Peanut Butter Banana Drop Cookies

When I went to the grocery store a few days ago, I had a few things I wanted to make. One of them was the Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Cookies:

(Source - via Pinterest)

I didn't make too many tweaks to this recipe, but as usual, I substituted what I had in the pantry instead of buying more product.

Peanut Butter Banana Drop Cookies

Inspired By lux hippie

3 ripe bananas

1 tablespoon vanilla extract (you could substitute any other extract you think might go well with bananas)

1/2 - 1 cup of peanut butter (I had natural smooth PB, use whatever is in your pantry)

2 1/2 tablespoons of blue agave syrup (could substitute honey, maple syrup, brown rice syrup etc...)

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 cups rolled oats

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup chocolate chips (I love dark chocolate, so I used dark chips. You could use white chocolate, semi-sweet, you get the idea)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine bananas, vanilla, peanut butter, and blue agave syrup. I bought mine from Home Sense, you can also buy it at health food stores, and also Costco!!

Once the banana mixture is a smooth consistency:

Add the dry ingredients. I didn't combine the dry ingredients in another bowl because I didn't want to wash another bowl. But you can if you wanted to, of course.

Once all the ingredients are combine, add in chocolate chips, and I also added 3 tablespoons of chia seeds since I had some in the house. 

The batter will be sticky, I recommend using two tablespoons to help you drop them on the cookie sheet instead of trying to wrangle the batter off with your fingers.

Bake for 15 minutes. I used a silpat mat (the best investment EVER!! You can also find these at Home Sense once in a while). If you don't have a silpat, use grease the cookie sheet, or use parchment paper. The cookies don't spread, so you can put them pretty close together.

Here's the finished product!

Let me know what you think!

xoxo

~meesh

OMG!! So deeeelicious! Thanks Pinterest...AGAIN

Continuing with my Pinterest (FOLLOW ME!!) obsession, I've been eyeing the chocolate chia pudding for a couple weeks. I've been eating chia seeds for almost two years now. I have only ever mixed 2 tablespoons of seeds each morning with water and gulped it down. I didn't mind the texture or taste, so I didn't think much about what else I could do with it.

When I saw the recipe for chocolate chia pudding, I was hooked, obsessed really, with finding more recipes. I finally decided on the original recipe I had found:

(Source)

But I switched it up a little, cuz who wants to be confined to what's on the page? So instead, I made chocolate chai chia pudding!! Honestly, I opened the fridge looking for almond milk, and saw my chai syrup as well. So I thought, what the hell? Chocolate and chai goes well together, might as well give it a go!

Chocolate Chai Chia Pudding

Adapted from Food Doodles

2 tablespoons of chia seeds

1/2 cup of almond milk

1 tablespoon of chai concentrate

1 tablespoon of blue agave syrup

1 tablespoon of cocoa powder

Mix all the ingredients together, and let it sit for 20 mins. I found mixing it intermittently helps as well.

My picture isn't as pretty as others, but it's still deeeeelicous!! This recipe makes one serving.

When I first started eating chia seeds, I was buying them from organic grocers for about $23 a pound. As it has gained more popularity, national chains are carrying it, but they still sell for about $12 for 12oz. You can also find chia seeds at discount stores such as Home Sense, but I've recently discovered that Costco now has chia seeds!!! They are about $12 for 32 oz...AKA TWO POUNDS!!!!

I have a feeling I will be making a lot of chia puddings in the near future. Maybe a chocolate almond flavoured one? Maybe earl grey!!! Ooooh, the possibilities are endless!!!

What flavours do you want to try?

xoxo

~meesh