Veganizing a recipe from the Aldi website - Banana and Oat Bread

I know everyone seemed to be making Banana Bread last year. I did a lot of baking at the start of the lockdowns but we didn't make banana bread.  We made cakes and cookies and crusty breads and we usually eat out bananas before they go brown. But I missed these three and I didn't want to waste them.

Yesterday we did our supermarket challenge in Aldi again and  I bought some dates there, I use dates a lot in cooking and baking and I wanted to try the Aldi dates.

I couldn't find a recipe on their website that was okay for vegans so I decided to take one and veganize it and also replace the sugar with dates.  Easy!  

Sugar Free, Dairy Free, Egg Free and Low Fat Banana Oat Bread

or

Delicious Banana Oat Bread

Ingredients

240g SR Flour

90g Oats

1 teaspoon baking powder

pinch of salt

150g dates

boiling water

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

3 or 4 mashed bananas

1 dessert spoon maple syrup

2 dessert spoons of oil - rapeseed or sunflower

Glaze

Maple syrup

Equipment

Mini-chopper/processor for blitzing the dates

2lb loaf tin

Lining paper

Method

Turn your oven on to Gas Mark 4

Cover the dates with boiling water and leave to soak while you 

Add all the dry ingredients to a bowl

Mash the bananas with the vanilla essence, maple syrup.

Blitz the date and the water in the food processor

Add the dates to the banana mix

Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and add the wet mix.

Mix well.  

Pour into the lined tin.

Bake for around 40 minutes.  Cook to see if it is cooked through with a skewer.  

Turn out from the tin and cool on a rack.

Glaze with maple syrup.

This slices well and is perfect with tea.

Suggestions:

If I make it again, I will add cinnamon and some nuts

Check out the Instagram reel here!

Potato, Green Bean and Spinach Curry with Sticky White Rice

Cheap and healthy food

less than €1 per serving, 312 calories per serving
by Louisa Moss

Ingredients

Onion

Garlic cloves x 4

Ginger, 1 inch

1 tspn mustard seeds

1 tspn ground coriander

1 tspn ground cumin

1 tspn garam masala

1/2 tspn turmeric

1/2 tspn paprika

1/2 tspn ground fenugreek

salt to taste

8 cherry tomatoes

4 medium potatoes

water - to cover the potatoes - but not too much!  You can steam it off at the end if you have added too much

1 packet green beans

350g spinach (looks like a lot but it will be fine!)

coriander leaf

fenugreek leaf

1 cup of white rice

Method

Add a little water to the Instant Pot on the saute setting, add mustard seeds.

Blitz the onion, garlic, cherry tomatoes and ginger in a mini-chopper

Add to the Instant Pot

Add the spices, mix and let them cook for a few mins, add a little more water if needed

Chop the potatoes and add them to the IP.

Stir.

Add a trivet to the Instant Pot so you can cook the rice at the same time.

Rinse your rice and add it to the pot you will cook it in with one cup of water and a little salt

Set you Instant Pot to HP for 8 minutes.

Chop green beans and wash spinach.

QPR and take your rice out.  Keep it covered.

Remove the trivet, add in the chopped green beans Cook at HP for 1 minute if you have a daughter who complains about stringy bits

Type up blog! LOL

QPR and add the spinach and coriander leaf  and fenugreek leaf.  The spinach will take a minute or two to wilt.

Dish up and enjoy

Notes

Pot in Pot cooking is a timesaver and a pot save.  When cooking rice like this make sure it is covered. If your port doesn't have a lid use tin foil tightly pressed down on the top.