Banana Chocolate Nut Butter Loaf, the Great Strawberry Transplant & vacaciones mini

My post is a day late. For shame. I hang my metaphysical head here.
But I bringeth a yarn of the great strawberry patch migration!

Being in winter, we have allowed our vegetable patch some R&R, which is supposed to improve the yield the next season. However, in the meantime, our 6 strawberry plants have been busy doing some shifty almost sci-fi takeover of their whole bed. Steadily sending out probes, creating clones and extending their reach into parsley territory.
Yikes!

We want the bumper strawberry haul naturalmente, but the lowest bed is not ideal to cover with our iron mesh, hence....the transplant.
A large portion of the newer clones were lovingly transported to the next bed, and given a lifestyle block of space.
They do look chuffed at all this personal room, if that is even possible!
The parsley can breathe again...

Behold the difference!


Why was I late? Well....basically I was feeling staler than french bread after a night in the oven, having spent the last few weeks between home and work.  I needed a change of pace, to freshen up my mind, blow out the cobwebs.
So I joined my mother on the way to visiting her sister. Since all my cousins are attending to universities 200 to 800 km away from the nest, it's just my aunt and uncle. Oh, and their well-trained rescue dog and two cats. So it was really quiet, but nice. Their house is in a quiet suburb, almost rural, on the edge of a sandspit, surrounded by hills and forest. I always feel at peace there, like the only things I have to mind are the rhythms of the tide, if I wish to stroll along the rocks. (Nature, enter meeeeeeeeeee)

My mother + her sister also have started a business selling home-made Dutch goodies, so I helped out with that, but never fear, I also made a new recipe before I left.

I saw chocolatecoveredkatie has a new peanut butter chocolate banana bread. I wanted to make it, but was lacking apple sauce and liquid sweeteners (and peanut butter)! So instead I adapted this recipe, slashed out most of the oil, didn't marble (cos ain't nobody got time fo' that) and voila.

A forgive my tardy, banana cocoa loaf. Incredibly soft, just a little moist, gluten-free AND vegan to boot. Slather a slice with fresh berries and almond butter....just a thought.

Banana Chocolate Nut-Butter Bread
makes a small loaf

Ingredients:
Dry
1/4 cup rice flour
2 tablespoon coconut flour
3/4 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 cup nice cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
sprinkle of salt
dash of vanilla, cinnamon
optional pinch of cardamom and turmeric
1/2 tsp guar gum or other stabiliser, if you have it

Wet
3/4 cup mashed banana
2 tablespoon coconut oil, melted
1/4 cup nut butter (I used tahini of course)
1/2-2/3 cup brown or coconut sugar
few drops of stevia for a super-sweet loaf
3/4 cup plant-based milk (I used rice milk)

Optional: Some finely chopped nuts, chocolate......

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 180 celcius (that's around 350 fahrenheit).
Grease and line a small loaf pan.
Mix wet ingredients in a medium bowl.
Sift over all dry ingredients and stir until incorporated.
At this point you an add the optional chocolate or nuts.
Pour into the loaf pan, and bake for 42-48 minutes, until the top feels firm and a skewer comes out with just a few crumbs on it.
Allow to cool for 10 minutes in the pan.
Remove from the pan and cool on a wire rack.
Slice and serve!

Notes: the banana flavour intensifies the next day, and using roasted nut/seed butter gives a nice accent.

Question: What do you do to rejuvenate your mind when you get in a rut?

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