I’m gonna go ahead and tell you that it is a 5 out of 5, a 10 out of 10, and 100%!  I was going to take off points for the high calorie content, but these little nuggets of deliciousness are just too good.  And I just can’t make myself care because they are that good.  AND they were good 2 days later.  I made it again tonight, experimenting with the amount of butter.

Paula’s recipe calls for one whole stick of butter.  I used a half stick of butter, melted it in the pan with the brown sugar like the recipe calls for, and added some water.  You pour this delicious goodness on the bottom of the bundt pan and between every layer of biscuits, so it worked out well with the water instead of the extra butter.  It made more of a candy coating on the gorilla bread instead of a more…buttery/greasy coating.

Here’s Paula’s recipe for Gorilla Bread posted on Food Network’s site:

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 3 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese
• 2 (12-ounce) cans refrigerated biscuits (10 count)
• 1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped walnuts

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray a bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray. Mix the granulated sugar and cinnamon. In a saucepan, melt the butter and brown sugar over low heat, stirring well; set aside. Cut the cream cheese into 20 equal cubes. Press the biscuits out with your fingers and sprinkle each with 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon sugar. Place a cube of cream cheese in the center of each biscuit, wrapping and sealing the dough around the cream cheese. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of the nuts into the bottom of the bundt pan. Place half of the prepared biscuits in the pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, pour half of the melted butter mixture over the biscuits, and sprinkle on 1/2 cup of nuts. Layer the remaining biscuits on top, sprinkle with the remaining cinnamon sugar, pour the remaining butter mixture over the biscuits, and sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup of nuts. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes. Place a plate on top and invert.

• 2 very ripe bananas
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 2 tbsp. melted Earth Balance shortening or margarine
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/4 cup soy yogurt
• 4 tsp. vanilla almond (or soy) milk

• 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup wheat flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup old-fashioned oats (NOT quick-cooking or instant)
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder

• 1/2 cup frozen blueberries
• 1/4 cup carob chips (or semi-sweet chocolate chips)

1. In a large bowl, mix all the dry ingredients–flours, sugar, oats, baking soda, baking powder
2. In a medium bowl, mix all the wet ingredients–mash the bananas, add the applesauce, margarine, vanilla, soy yogurt and almond milk.
3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until combined.
4. I cannot remember where I learned this next thing, but I want to say it was an older lady at one of the restaurants I worked at. It could be a total myth, but it seemed to really work for this. So get a few Tbsp of the all-purpose flour in a separate bowl. Add your blueberries and your carob chips and make sure they are coated with the flour. This ensures that they won’t sink to the bottom during baking.
5. Add the flour-coated blueberries and the carob chips to the mixture and combine.
6. Pour into a greased loaf pan and bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes or until fully cooked throughout.

Although this turned out all tasty and full of yummy things that are also good for you, I would probably just choose blueberries OR chocolate as both flavors mixed with the banana bread can be very dynamic. Not bad, especially if you like new things–just different.

Today, I mixed 1/8 cup quick oats with 1/8 cup old-fashioned oats.  The usual rule is to add twice as much water or milk to whatever measurements you have.   Since my measurement was for my one serving of a 1/4 cup, I added a 1/2 cup of soy milk and cooked in the microwave for about 2 minutes.  A quick stir, and then back for another 2 minutes.  Make sure your bowl is big enough or you’ll get a messy boil over.

I went to Whole Foods last night for some vegan chocolate cookie supplies, and I made an impulse buy.  I imagined the delicious texture of it all mixed in with my oatmeal, and I could not resist.  I am here to tell you that it was GOOD.  The old-fashioned oats livened up the texture of the instant oatmeal so that if you’re not into sludginess, this might be the trick for you.   I’ll try to take a picture next time of my concoction (even if it wasn’t that pretty), but this time I just ate them all up!

Two muffins from one batter. The mango muffins are on the left, and the cinnamon sugar muffins are on the right.

You can do any flavor combination you want with this, so I’ll just give you the basics first.  This batter will make 12 muffins.

Basic Muffin Batter

• 1.5 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1.5 tsp baking powder
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 4 tbsp wheat germ
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 to 1/3 cup applesauce
• 2 tbsp. vegetable oil

1. Mix the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
2. Lightly whisk egg in a smaller bowl and then add the other wet ingredients
3. Add wet ingredient mixture into dry ingredients and mix just until combined.

• For Cinnamon Sugar Muffins:
• Add 1/4 tsp nutmeg to batter.
• Fill muffin cups 2/3 way full
• Cook at 350 for 25  minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean
• When finished cooking, cool for 5 minutes and remove from muffin tin or wrapper
• Dip in 1/8 cup melted butter
• Then dip in 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 tsp cinnamon mixture
  

  Cinnamon sugar muffins are sweet and delicious. The wheat germ adds some healthy elements.

• For Mango Muffins:
• Add 1/4 tsp almond extract and 1/2 cup chopped dried mangoes
• Fill muffin cups 2/3 way full
• Cook at 350 for 25  minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean

These mango muffins came from the same batter recipe as the cinnamon sugar muffins. They are super delicious with some butter spread while still warm.

Other ideas: Cranberry Orange, Peanut Butter, Chocolate Chip, Blueberry, Cherry Almond

I want to read Michael Pollan's "Food Rules" because I really agree with this philosophy. It's not bad to eat french fries--just make them yourself.

Alicia has a book out, too.  I really want to read The Kind Diet after reading some of her blog.  She has some amazing recipes in there.  I also liked the fact that she “leaned into” this whole vegetarian/vegan thing to begin with.  Now she’s fully vegan (with the few exceptions of some cheese after her wine-drinking).  I vehemently respect this decision that several of my friends have made (my other blog was about this respect and love for natural and actual FOOD, just more poetic and eloquently written).  I have been “leaning” this way for a long time…I guess ever since I read The Jungle in high school. And you probably already know I hate dealing with raw meat.

Alicia Silverstone's book, "The Kind Diet," has some great recipes in it. And she really loves food just as much as I do.

So what does my breakfast have to do with all of this?  It is a snow day, and I don’t want to get out.  We are, however, running low on milk (organic, of course).  I’ve been big into warm oatmeal in the mornings lately.  I happily remembered that I had some boxed soy milk and rice milk in the pantry, so there was no need to get out in this mess.  I made my oatmeal with the soymilk and added some wheat germ.  It cooked up nicely–creamy and slightly nutty from the soymilk.  And I thought, “look at me being all healthy and vegan!”

Then I remembered the wildflower honey I bought at our local produce store.  They get their stuff from the farmer’s market and local farms in the area, they’re right near the gym now, and their produce is way cheaper (and prettier) than the grocery store.  They get their honey from a local dude, and it is GOOD.  I had tried the clover before, and the wildflower has a nice dark amber color.  Local honey is good for folks with allergies because the bees use local pollen.  I topped it with some organic granola (Cascadian Farms is real good, y’all) and took a big bite…and then remembered that honey comes from BEES.  Yes, I have the agave nectar which is vegan-approved, but ya know, it was kinda too late at that point.

So I will continue to lean.

I also want to read "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan.

Pumpkin zucchini bread is a nice holiday treat to keep around the house for breakfast or dessert.

This morning, while procrastinating away from the old bills and papers I need to file and go through, I started flipping through a cookbook my mom gave me last Christmas.  I was looking for a Thanksgivin’ dessert (which I will post about tomorrow), but I came across the breads and cakes sections.  Oh Lord!  There were all these zucchini cake and bread recipes.  And guess what was on sale at the Publix this week?  Zucchini squash.

It was fate that I make this today.  I combined things from about 4 different recipes and some bakin’ knowledge in my head, and this is what I came up with. Also know that I wanted chunky grated zucchini.  If you want it more so that you can’t taste it, you might want to blend or somethin’.

Thanksgivin’ Pumpkin Zucchini Bread

3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
3 eggs
1 cup veg oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
approximately 2 cups grated zucchini–I just used 2 medium zucchini
7 oz. of  a 15 oz. can of pumpkin (I used the other 8 oz for something else)
1/2 cup chopped pecans

• In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt, baking soda and powder
• In a smaller bowl, whisk eggs, oil, vanilla, and spices
• Stir into dry ingredients until just moist
• Stir in the pumpkin, zucchini, and nuts
• Bake at 350 for 55-65 minutes

I don’t have 2 regular sized loaf pans, so I used the one larger one that I do have and filled it 2/3 of the way full.  Then I poured the remaining mixture in a small shallow casserole dish.  It was finished about half way into the other dish’s time.  This works out well if you’re too impatient to wait for a taste.  It’s not too sweet, and I can’t wait to have it for breakfast in the morning–toasted up with some melted butter.

Someone obviously couldn't wait to cut into the pumpkin zucchini bread. Whatever kind of pans you have, this bread is sure to please.