Banana Tahini Bread

Banana bread just hits the spot sometimes, right? Right.

Nut Free Banana Tahini Bread

It’s easy to understand why banana bread is so universally loved; When done right, the texture has an inviting richness, with a smooth banana taste throughout. It begs you to take the next bite. The tahini in this recipe adds an earthy depth to the banana bread, which I absolutely adore. It’s hearty. It’s flavorful. It’s well balanced on the sweet/unsweet scale. It’s almost confusing… you’ll want to savor a slice of it, and yet shove it in your mouth as fast as possible. Yeah, it is that good.

banana tahini bread

I cut myself a slice yesterday, toasted it and smeared on some butter and flake salt. The melty chocolate chips with the salted butter was a revelation! Give this one a try. You won’t regret it. Most recently I’ve been making this with fairly bruised, but not super ripe bananas and I might prefer it! The result is a slightly less sweet but equally delicious loaf. This recipe is dairy free and nut free, and can easily be made vegan by substituting flax eggs for eggs. It packs up beautifully in a lunchbox, and you can serve this any time of day.

I’ve made this multiple times, both with and without chocolate chips, and no surprise, my kids usually vote to include the chocolate chips.

If you make this, tag @lalalunchbox #lalalunchbox so that I can marvel at its beauty!

mashed banana

Banana Tahini Bread

3 ripe bananas + 1 banana for the top (optional)
1/4 cup tahini, well stirred 
1/4 cup coconut oil
3 tablespoons oat milk (you can use any milk here)
3 tablespoons maple syrup
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar 
1 teaspoon cinnamon 
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour 
1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional) 

• Preheat the oven to 350 F and grease a loaf pan with neutral oil.

• Mash 3 very ripe bananas against the side of a large bowl. Add the wet ingredients to the bowl: tahini, coconut oil, oat milk, maple syrup, eggs, vanilla extract and apple cider vinegar.

• Mix thoroughly. I always make sure to leave some lumps of banana, because that’s how I prefer it, but you can use a mixer if you prefer a smoother textured bread.

• Add the cinnamon, salt and baking soda and stir gently.

• Slowly add the flour, and continue to stir gently until it is fully combined.

• Add the optional chocolate chips and give it one final mix.

• Pour into your prepared loaf pan.

• Slice the 4th banana in half lengthwise. Place each half on the top of the bread before baking.

• Bake for 50-55 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.

*to make this recipe vegan and egg free, replace the two eggs with 2 tablespoons of flax meal mixed thoroughly with 6 tablespoons of water. Let that sit for at least 5 minutes before adding to the batter.

*to make these into muffins, simply adjust the time. Bake for 20-25 minutes for regular sized muffins. To make these into mini muffins, bake for 12-16 minutes.

Blueberry Chocolate Cups

Move over nut butters and raspberry, there’s a new Queen in town!

Blueberries and chocolate go together beautifully, and it’s time the two share the spotlight with these delicious mini Blueberry Chocolate Cups! With just 7 ingredients and under 30 minutes to make, gather the kids into the kitchen and watch how quickly the magic of this easy recipe comes together!

Blueberry Chocolate Cup

I love these because they’re naturally sweet, quick to make and perfect for little hands. I designed them to be a frozen treat, but you can keep them in the fridge if you prefer. The chia seeds make the inside a bit jammy, and because dates don’t harden when they freeze, you’ll always have a soft middle on these cups. Did I mention that there’s no added sugar? Score!

I’ve made this recipe with dark chocolate, milk chocolate and white chocolate. My personal preference is dark chocolate, but you’ll have to try them all to see what works best for you!

If you make these and post them, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram and use hashtag #lalalunchbox!

Blueberry Chocolate Cup

Blueberry Chocolate Cups

Ingredients

2 cups chocolate chips

1 tablespoon + 1/2 teaspoon neutral oil, divided

1 6 ounce container of blueberries

4 medjool dates

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

1 tablespoon chia

Flake salt for the top (optional)

Method

Melt the chocolate chips over a double boiler with 1 tablespoon neutral oil and let it cool for 5 minutes.

Line a mini muffin tin with liners and place a small amount of chocolate in the bottom of each. This will be the bottom of the chocolate cups. Place in the freezer while you complete the next step.  

Soak the dates in warm water for 5 minutes. Remove them from the water, cut them into chunks and add to a food processor.

Add blueberries to the food processor and blend together until the large chunks have become small. Add 1/2 teaspoon neutral oil, vanilla and salt and process again. 

Place contents into a bowl and add chia seeds. Stir and let that rest for at least 5 minutes. 

Take the muffin tin out of the freezer. The chocolate should be relatively hard. Spoon some of the blueberry date mixture into each cup and top with remaining melted chocolate. Sprinkle with flake salt (optional). Place in the freezer again to set. 

Store in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 2 months. Because dates don’t freeze, the inside texture will remain soft. Makes 15 mini cups. If you’d like to keep it at 12, use the leftover blueberry date sauce on sandwiches. 

Blueberry Chocolate Cups

Black Lives Matter

We’re living in challenging times.

I have been wondering whether and how to address the Black Lives Matter movement via LaLa Lunchbox beyond my Instagram. When I remembered that communication is the best tool we have for progress, I knew what I had to do.

As a kid, my parents regularly talked about politics with us around the dinner table. Civil rights, justice, mercy, freedom, hunger, and more. We were never considered too young to learn about the world and its issues. My friends knew to expect a full on conversation when they’d stay for dinner. Many of them loved it. Some of them feared it and didn’t stay, despite wanting my mom’s delicious cooking. Some friends endured what they considered “grilling,” and would later chuckle about it. It’s all fine. Above all, my parents wanted to connect and to educate. These conversations emphasized dignity, humanity and justice as essential to our lives and our futures. I’m grateful for them.

Today, as I am actively learning how to be antiracist, I am humbled. While I understand how white privilege has impacted my life in broad terms, I am becoming more aware of how systemic racism has a pernicious impact on society. (If you haven’t yet seen 13th on Netflix, I highly recommend it.) The work that needs to be done for the purpose of equal justice has no end date.

LaLa Lunchbox — the meal planning apps, this blog, and all associated social media channels — has always centered around food and family. Some may say that politics don’t belong here. That food creatives should ‘stay in their lane.’ I strongly disagree. The issues and values of equality and justice that the Black Lives Matter movement stands for are about humanity and dignity. Those values span every lane. I am committed to raising my family with an open dialogue about racism and prejudice and with the simple truth that all lives can’t matter until black lives and the lives of all people of color matter. There is absolutely no room for racism, hateful rhetoric or division here at LaLa Lunchbox. Full stop.

Below is a small sampling of some of the organizations, books and accounts that I am following, reading, reading to my children and looking to for inspiration. Many of the books are available via @hereweeread here. I hope you’ll join me in supporting these creators. If you have others to share, please add them below in the comments, and thank you in advance.

Children’s Books
A Kids Book about Racism, by Jelani Memory
Ruby Head High, by Irène Cohen-Janca
Let’s Talk About Race, by Julius Lester
We Are the Change
Whoosh!: Lonnie Johnson’s Super-Soaking Stream of Inventions, by Chris Barton

Books for Me
How to Be an Antiracist, by Ibram X. Kendi
White Fragility, by Robin Diangelo

Food Accounts
Foodie in New York
The Hungry Hutch
A Classic Twist Blog
Mash and Spread
Feed the Malik
Baked by Benji
Marisa Moore
Supper with Michelle

Strawberry Smoothie Snack - 3 Ways

These days, I’m focused on meals and snacks that are easy, delicious and budget friendly. This Strawberry Smoothie trio accomplishes that and more… it’s also fun for the kids and takes very little time to make. I’ll take a win wherever I can these days.

One smoothie, three ways

This recipe relies on frozen strawberries, making it budget and season-friendly. Don’t like strawberries? You can use any frozen fruit here. Use it to make 3 different snacks for your family:

1. Use some for mini smoothies

2. Use some as a dip for fruit

3. Use the rest as a coating for frozen bananas.

Three snack ideas all from one smoothie! All you need are 5 ingredients, a blender and some fruit.

Strawberry Smoothie ingredients

We found some freeze dried strawberries in the pantry and the kids sprinkled them on with great delight. Crushed graham crackers, shredded coconut, sprinkles, cinnamon - those all work here too. The possibilities are endless, and that’s part of the charm of this snack idea. If you make these, tag me!

STRAWBERRY SMOOTHIE SNACK
15 frozen strawberries
1 cup Greek yogurt or Skyr
1 1/2 tablespoons maple syrup 
1 teaspoon vanilla
Fresh mint (optional) 

For frozen banana bites, you’ll need 1-2 bananas, peeled and cut into rounds + 1/4 cup toppings. Dip banana rounds into smoothie, add toppings, place on parchment and freeze.

For fruit dip, you’ll need any fruit (we used 2 sliced apples)

Blend all smoothie ingredients until creamy. Pour half into small cups for mini smoothies. Use 1/4 for dipping bananas and the rest as a dip for fruit.

Note: I’ve seen people do something similar and adding nut butter or seed butter. I’ve tried that with my crew, but they didn’t like the taste.

Easy Veggie Waffles

Savory Waffles are one of my favorite things to pack in a lunchbox. They’re the delicious leftovers from a relaxing weekend breakfast. My kids are not going to school these days, due to the novel corona virus, but in an effort to find some routine and sanity, I started packing lunchboxes again.

My kids grab their lunchboxes out of the fridge when online school has a lunch break, and we can all sit around the table together, because I’m no longer a line cook. This is what’s working for us now. These Veggie Waffles are easy to make, easy to freeze and easy to love. I hope you give them a go.

Veggie Waffles

I love this recipe because the waffle base (the ingredients minus the veggies and cheese) is so versatile. There’s flour and cornstarch, plus raising agents like baking powder and baking soda, eggs to make them fluffy and buttermilk to give them that perfect acid balance.

From there, I’m free to customize the flavors however I’d like. Cinnamon + cardamom + turmeric make a delicious dairy free and nut free Golden Milk Waffle. Add cheese + paprika and garlic powder for a cheesy waffle. Depending on the additions, I can adjust the cornstarch and flour to get the right texture.

Use these Veggie Waffles as a sandwich base or just by themselves, and your kids will celebrate. My kids eat these cold. Happily. And they love to pack them in their lunchboxes using the LaLa Lunchbox app. Of course you can warm them and place them in foil in that lunchbox, if your kids like things warm. You can pack my Grilled Cheese Wafflewiches or these Veggie Waffles and either way, you’re good.

Veggie Waffle ingredients

VEGGIE WAFFLES

INGREDIENTS
1 cup + 3 tablespoons flour
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/3 cup finely chopped veggies (such as broccoli, carrots, spinach)
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
2 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk*
4 tablespoons of neutral oil
1/4 cup grated parmesan (or any) cheese (optional)

*If you don’t have buttermilk, use 1 cup minus 2 tablespoons of milk + 2 tablespoons lemon juice. Let that sit at least 5 minutes until it curdles.

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the waffle iron and the oven to 200 degrees F. In a medium sized bowl, mix all of the dry ingredients.

2. In a large bowl, add the wet ingredients: apple cider vinegar, oil, eggs and buttermilk and whisk together until just combined.

3. In a separate bowl, mix together the dry ingredients, making sure that everything is fully incorporated.

4. Whisk together the dry ingredients with wet ingredients and mix thoroughly to make sure there are no flour clumps. Add chopped veggies and cheese.

5. When the waffle iron is hot, pour about 1/4 cup of batter to create each waffle (may change depending on your waffle iron). Close the waffle iron and cook for approximately 3 minutes, or until the steam stops spraying out of the sides.

6. Use a spatula or your fingers to remove the waffle and repeat until the batter is finished.

7. Place the waffles on a rack and place that rack in the oven to stay warm and crispy.

If you make these, tag me on Instagram @lalalunchbox #lalalunchbox