Happy Valentine’s Day!
Check out the Valentine I received this morning from the DOUGHBOY himself!
How sweet, right? 🙂
Yesterday Jason had to work, so I was up way earlier than normal for a weekend day. I decided to use my time “wisely” and bake some treats. I had a ton of lovely strawberries in the fridge, so I decided to make a Strawberry Bread.
Looks delicious, right? And it turned out pretty well for a first attempt!
Strawberry-Cornmeal Bread
¾ cup flour
¾ cup cornmeal
3 TBSP sugar(see note* below!)
½ tsp salt
1 ½ tsp baking soda
1 egg
1 banana, mashed
1 cup soy milk (or any milk)
2 cups sliced strawberries
(I also intended to add some vanilla but I forgot!)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix dry ingredients in one bowl, mix wet in another. Add wet to dry and stir until combined. Fold in sliced strawberries. Pour into greased bread pan (or you could try muffins instead) and bake for 40-45 minutes (or until toothpick comes out clean!)
*This bread had great texture – however, I thought it lacked sweetness. I was hoping the banana and strawberries would be sweet enough, but if I make this again I will add more sugar. I also think using blueberries (in addition to the strawberries or alone) would taste wonderful, and would perhaps add the right amount of sweetness. Jason, on the other hand loved this bread — he didn’t think it lacked sweetness at all.
I’m bringing most of the loaf to work today, hopefully it is a hit with my coworkers!
After I was done baking, I went to visit Jason at work. His work is almost an hour drive away, so by the time I got there, it was time for lunch! We went to The Old Markey Deli which had a great lunch/sandwich menu.
I went with the bowl of chili:
Which was so filling and delicious. Jason had the turkey/swiss sandwich which had avocado, sprouts, roasted red peppers and a garlic mayo spread on top:
And the whole meal cost about $10! You can’t beat that.
After I got home I decided to plan out dinner and figure out what I’m going to make for Valentine’s Dinner (or if we should go out!). Since I wanted to use my new Nutritional Yeast, I went to Angela’s blog and found a recipe for Vegan Alfredo. I think I have mentioned before, I am not even close to being a Vegan, but I appreciate their recipes so much because not only are they usually very creative, they also don’t use dairy products!
Jason and I prefer to eat dairy free (digestive issues…enough said!) although we seem to be able to tolerate some dairy: butter and swiss, provolone, and mozzarella cheeses all seem to work well for us. Cheddar cheese? Problems. Ice cream? Cottage cheese? Yogurt? No way.
Back to the Alfredo!
Click here for Angela’s recipe. I omitted the tahini (didn’t have any!) but otherwise followed the recipe 100%!
This was rich, creamy and so delicious! The sauce contains raw cashews + other ingredients and I was worried that my Magic Bullet would not be able to grind the cashews – but it worked out well! The sauce tasted like Alfredo! Jason loved it as well and I will definitely make this again!
*What are your plans for Valentine’s Day?
*Are you an Alfredo or Mac and Cheese fan? Do you make it as a side dish or is it the main star? As I made this, I thought of my dad making us Mac and Cheese when we were kids. He would add chopped hot dogs and a can of peas/carrots/lima beans. YUCK!!!
Enjoy your day!
~Holly
February 14, 2011 at 6:52 am
I don’t have any plans for Valentines day as it is not something we celebrate.
I’m more of a Mac and cheese fan. My mother used to make Alfredo and added canned tomatoes, canned corn and peas. Yuck as well.
That bread of yours sound good. Yum
February 14, 2011 at 9:45 am
Ugh — canned corn mixed in pasta sounds terrible!!!
February 14, 2011 at 7:03 am
I prefer mac and cheese. Cheddar is my fav!
February 14, 2011 at 8:38 am
aweee strawberry love bread!! reminds me of the Green Cuisine brown rice muffins i had a while back with the strawberry “kiss” tops 🙂 Holly this bread looks SO GOOD!!! ❤
happy valentines day love!!!
xoxo
February 14, 2011 at 9:46 am
I remember that post of yours with the strawberry kiss — how cute!
February 14, 2011 at 8:45 am
I celebrated Valentine’s Day yesterday, so tonight I have no plans besides to cook dinner and lay low!
February 14, 2011 at 9:46 am
We sort of celebrated last night too — tonight we’re having the alfredo leftovers I think 🙂
February 14, 2011 at 8:54 am
I don’t discriminate when it comes to pasta 🙂 Alfredo or mac & cheese… I’ll take it!
But in an effort to be healthier I’ve been subbing some EVOO + 1 Laughing Cow for Alfredo or cream sauce.
February 14, 2011 at 9:43 am
I absolutely ADORE mac n cheese and alfredo! And your bread looks not only delicious, but also SUPER pretty. And how appropriate for Valentine’s Day 😉
February 14, 2011 at 10:24 am
Love mac n cheese. Such a guilty pleasure!
Very cute that you called this Love bread 🙂
February 14, 2011 at 10:28 am
I’m planning on spending the afternoon with my Grammy since my husband is away at Army training.
I love chili! That bowl looks delicious. 🙂
February 14, 2011 at 11:14 am
I’m not as big on alfredo, but I love mac and cheese! I have been meaning to make a cheezy cashew sauce though… I made a sweet potato cashew “cheese” last night based on something I read on Choosing Raw that is soooooo good! Your strawberry bread sounds amazing… I totally want to make blueberry muffins out of it! 🙂
February 14, 2011 at 1:14 pm
I am so excited about having the nooch — and sweet potato cashew cheeze sounds amazing!
February 14, 2011 at 1:13 pm
I guess I never make alfredo, so I’m more of a mac & cheese girl!
We celebrated vday last night with a wonderful dinner at Alma!
February 14, 2011 at 2:45 pm
Glad you put the nooch to good use!
I appreciate that YOU appreciate good vegan cooking. It’s so much easier (usually) to get amazing results when using full fat dairy products, or eggs, but when you do get a vegan recipe right, it’s usually out of this world. And so rewarding!
I can’t really tolerate dairy. Which is largely why i became vegan/plant-based. Some trace dairy doesnt seem to bother me though. Food allergies are so confusing.
That bread. Omg i WANT IT! My grandma used to make strawberry bread! Must be a MN thing!
February 14, 2011 at 3:05 pm
I was really nervous when I made the Alfredo — especially when it said to add soy sauce — I thought, what?!?!?! But it all worked out! I was honestly amazed at how much it tasted like alfredo.
I was a little sad that I had to buy a big ass can, but after yesterday I’m glad I got a ton of it. I think you’ve mentioned you buy your nooch online? I paid $16 for that tub, is that ridiculous?
February 14, 2011 at 2:57 pm
I made a strawberry bread before and loved it, but the boys were not fans. I don’t think they like the chunks in it. They lost out on that one! I am making the boys mac and cheese tonight. I will check out the alfredo sauce recipe…sounds good and I need to come up with something like that for me. I hope you have a great evening Holly!
February 14, 2011 at 3:55 pm
that was so sweet of you to visit jason at work! and great that you could get out for lunch!
hmmm, i am thinking i could swing this alfredo recipe past the husband…he’s SO not close to vegan…nutritional yeast is one of the best products i have discovered this past year! i love it!
happy valentine’s eve, holly!!
February 14, 2011 at 3:56 pm
Please make this recipe, you won’t be disappointed!
February 14, 2011 at 4:26 pm
Mac n’ cheese all the way! I can eat a whole pot all on my own (so it’s my main star). Your alfredo does look yummy though!
February 14, 2011 at 4:40 pm
I loveee strawberry bread! I made a batch a few months ago while back home..and while the bread itself wasn’t the most moist, the strawberries made up for it. So yummy! I’ll have to give this one a try.
February 14, 2011 at 6:56 pm
omg i love baking strawberries! must try this!
February 14, 2011 at 7:01 pm
The pasta sauce is awesome! I want to try this out myself! Being dairy-intolerant myself, I have a hard time with all kind of cheese.
February 14, 2011 at 7:24 pm
Cute E-card! Happy Valentines Day to you! Hope it was fab!!
Good looking vegan alfredo. I really never eat mac n cheese or alfredo sauce. If I had to pick, I would do mac n cheese. I love using noosh though! Always creative and tasty!
February 14, 2011 at 7:34 pm
That bread looks RIDICULOUSLY amazing!
February 14, 2011 at 9:11 pm
I don’t really enjoy alfredo or mac and cheese that much – every once in awhile, it’s okay, though. The strawberry bread looks amazing, though.
My sweetie’s out of town, so no Valentine’s Day plans. I did buy my kids a stuffed animal and box of chocolates each, though. What’s Valentine’s Day without chocolate, right? Oh, and I went for a run – sort of a gift to myself. 🙂
February 14, 2011 at 10:29 pm
I absolutely LOVE your blog!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Reka
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