6 recipes, one day—Part 6—Caramelized banana pancake

This one... is decadent.
It's so rich, so sweet, so... heavenly. I had something very similar at a local pub (Highlander), and ever since I had that first bite, I told myself I had to try to recreate it.

Though this one isn't exactly like the one I had, it's still soooo darn good.
But beware, it's big and it's hella sweet. You were warned.

You will need (this was for 2 people):

• Pancakes ( I don't have a recipe for them. You can use any pancake recipe that you know and love)

Caramelized bananas

• 2 bananas
• 1/4 cups of butter
• 1 cup of sugar

Cream cheese filling:

• 1 pack of cream cheese at room temperature
• 2 table spoon of vanilla
• 1/2 cup of sugar

• Nutella or any chocolate-nutty spread you have
• 1/4 cup of sugar
• 3 tablespoons of cinnamon

1. Make your pancakes, according to your recipe. Set aside.
2. Take you cream cheese, drop it in a bowl and mix in the vanilla and sugar. Make sure it's well blended. Set aside.
3. In a frying pan, melt 1/4 cup of butter and pop in the 2 bananas. Brown them for about a minute on each side and then add the sugar. Make sure the bananas are well covered with both the butter and sugar. Cook them for about 5-10 minutes. Or until you actually see the caramel forming.
4. Now all you need to do is take a pancake, put flat in a plate. In the middle of the pancake, spread a bit of the chocolate spread. Spread some of the cream cheese filling. Drop a banana on top and roll.
Sprinkle a bit of sugar and cinnamon on top... and get ready.

SO good. I would advise you to share. It's a whole lot to take on for one person. 

This is it. The 6 recipes we made in one day.

For me, it was pretty easy and enjoyable. I hope that it was the same for my friend. I may have to have a little chat with him.

Maybe I should give him a test... you know, just to see if he actually listened.

I hope you will try some of those recipes, and PLEASE, let me know how it went!

Till then, take care y'all!

6 recipes, one day—Part 5—Lentil stew

Don't we love those "One pot meals" like the soup from part 4?
Well here is another delicious one to try out. A lentil stew. You can have this one on its own, or with rice or potatoes. It's easy, vegan and lovely.

It's perfect for some one who isn't used to cooking.

Here are your ingredients :

• 1 can of lentils, rinsed (red, green, whichever you prefer)
• 2 onions, chopped into rings
• 2 tomatoes, deseeded and chopped
• 2 branches of celery, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 cups of tomato sauce
• 1/4 cup of water
• 1/3 cup of chopped, fresh cilantro
• 1 tablespoon of thyme
• 2 tablespoon of cayenne pepper
• 2 tablespoons of onion powder
• salt and pepper
• a bit of butter (margerine) for cooking

1. Over medium-high, in a sauce pan, melt the butter and fry the onions, celery and garlic. About 4 minutes.

2. Add the tomatoes and spices. 

3. Drop in the lentils, stir.

4. Add the tomato sauce and the water and let simmer for about 5 more minutes.

And that's it! If you like it spicier, you can always add a bit of tabasco sauce.



6 recipes, one day—Part 4—Creamy Butternut squash Potage

Ok, now this one was so good that when I came home, I make some immedietly.
It's so smooth and comforting and warm.

Even though spring and the warm weather is among us, this potage makes me kinda, almost want to have colder weather just so I could have some, sitting in a blanket, by a fire.

I said kinda almost.

This one pretty much cooks itself. It's THAT easy. Try it!

Here's what we used:

• 1 butternut squash, deseeded, peeled and cubed (we learned the hard way, if you can, please buy the already peeled and cubed squash. It'll make your life so much simpler)
• 2 onion, chopped in 4
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 6-8 carotts, chopped
• 2 large potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 1 tablespoon of cinnamon
• 2 1/2 tablespoon of curry powder
• 2 tablespoon of parsly
• 1 tablespoon of cayenne pepper
• 2 tablespoons of onion powder
• 2 cups of vegetable broth
• 1 cup of water
• salt and pepper
• 2 tablespoons of butter (margarine)

1. In a very large sauce pan, over medium-high, melt butter and drop in all the veggies. Stir and let cook for about 3-5 minutes.
2. Pour in the broth, water, and all the spices. Stir. Turn the heat to medium-low and let cook for about 20-25 minutes or until the veggies are soft.

3. When this is ready. Let it sit for about 5 minutes, off the the heat.
4. Using a blender, pour in the soup, little by little and blend. BE CAREFUL. Hot liquids in a blender tend to explode a bit. Use a wash cloth over the lid to secure it.

5. Pour it all back in a sauce pan, and heat it back up to eat it!

Normaly, a potage will have cream in it. But because we used potatoes and blended it, it gives you the same smooth and creamy texture.

While writing this, I wish I had some...

6 recipes, one day—Part 3—Mac n Cheese

Mmmm mac n cheese. Such a great comfort food. So gooey and warm. I think to this day, it's still one of my favorites. And I am not taking about KD. No, I am talking about homemade mac n cheese.

It's, once again, very easy to make. You can keep in the fridge for a couple of days, or even freeze some for later. And for those picky eaters, it's a must.

Here's what you'll need to make this recipe:

• 1 pack of macaroni pasta
• 3 cups of shredded cheddar cheese
• 3 cups of milk
• 1/4 cup of butter (margarine will work just as fine)
• 3 tablespoons of flour
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 tablespoon of butter
• 1 cup of Panko breadcrumbs
• and 1 teaspoon to 2 1/2 tablespoons of cayenne pepper ( I had to adjust it. I realized that not every one likes their food extra spicy!)

1. Cook the pasta following the instructions on the pack.
2. If you havent bought the already shredded cheese, shred it now.

3. In a large sauce pan, melt 1/4 of butter and cook the onion for about 2 minutes.
4. Add the flour to make a roux. (it will thicken the sauce).
5. Add the milk, stir well making sure that flour doesn't creat lumps and that the butter is well incorporated in the milk. Bring to a light boil and take off the heat.

6. Add little by little the cheddar cheese, whisking all the time, making sure the cheese melts and the sauce thickens. Add the cayenne. Start with a little bit and add some according to how spicy you want it.

7. In a large glass oven proof cookingware, pour in the macaroni that was drained, and then the sauce. Take a spoon to mix it all well.
8. In a frying pan, melt the reminding butter and mix in the Panko breadcrumbs. Make sure to cover them with butter, that's what will give them that crunch and beautiful golden color.
9. Pour the crumbs on top of the macaroni and pop it in a pre-heated oven (375) for 30 minutes.

10. Take it out, let it sit for 5 minutes, and mm mmm mmm enjoy!

6 recipes, one day—Part 2—"Chicken" salad sandwich

After doing the groceries and making those yummy truffles, we got a little hungry. So I took the opportunity to share a vegan recipe that pretty much tastes like the real deal. it's perfect for when you are in a hurry or on the go. You can even make them in advance.

Cruelty free and yummy. It's a win-win.

We needed:

• 1 can of chic peas, rinsed
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon of parsly
• 1/2 tablespoon of onion powder
• 1/3 cup of Veganaise (you can use mayo if you insist)
• slices of bread
• lettuce
• salt and pepper

1. Start by pouring the peas in a large bowl. Take a potatoe masher and start mashing those peas. Its okay if some are still whole.



2. Pop in the onion, parsly, onion powder, a dash of salt and pepper and the veganaise and mix well.

3. Take your bread slices, toasted or not and add a leaf or two or lettuce for some extra crunch and color.
4. ENJOY.

It all took about 5 minutes to make. It's a great alternative to chicken salad. It has less fat, the exact same taste and a very similar texture.

You could also spread it on cracker instead of bread or even roll it in a wrap or lettuce leaves.

We sure did enjoy it!

6 recipes, one day—Part 1—Dark Chocolate Truffles

If someone came up to you and said "Hey! I've got a whole Saturday off, would you come show me how to make some recipes?" what would you do?

For me, that's an easy answer. HELL YES I WILL! It's a great opportunity for me to test out some more recipes AND to see if my instructions are clear.

So I picked 6 easy recipes, with very easy ingredients. Though they aren't all vegan, they are all veg. My friend wanted to learn meat free recipes, so I thought I would go easy on him. Pick recipes that are somewhat familiar to him.

The best part of this was that they are also very cheap recipes. For about $100 you get 6 dishes/desserts that can easily feed 4 to 6 people. Or that can be frozen for later enjoyment.

Here is what we started with:

Dark Chocolate Truffles. (yummmm)

For this we used

• 8 oz of dark chocolate (one box)
• 1 cup of heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon of sour cream
• 2 cups of sugar
• 1 cup of cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons of butter

1. Start by chopping the chocolate into pieces, using a knife, and dropping it in a large bowl.

2. Over medium-high heat, bring to a boil the cream, sour cream and butter.

3. Pour the cream mixture over the chocolate and whisk until everything is well blended and melted.

4. Add 1 1/2 of the sugar and whisk again.

5. Pour into a flat glass pan, and spread it evenly. Put it in the fridge to solidify and cool for about an hour.

One hour later...

6. In two small bowls pour in the reminder of the sugar and in the other, the cocoa powder.

7. Now here, you will get messy. Using a spoon or your fingers, grab a bit of the chocolate mixture and roll it in your hands to create a ball. Think about play-doh, same principle.

8. Then carefully roll the ball in either the sugar or cocoa, covering it well and setting it aside on a bakingsheet lined with parchement paper.

9. Once they are all done you've got two choices. 1. you eat them or 2. put them back in fridge till you are ready to dig in.

That's it. Super easy right?