Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Who Needs Flour Anyway?

Cookie Magic

I'm going to slide in a recipe here. It was in Monday's Globe and Mail's regular feature by Sue Riedl who often has nifty ideas for the kitchen.

This one is for cookies using only 3 ingredients: elderly bananas, large flake oats and chocolate chips.

Mash 2 ripe bananas with 1 to 1 1/2 cups of large flake oats, amount depending on the size of the bananas. Mine were large, so I went with the max, but then I'm an oat person - the more the better, especially toasted. Stir in about 1/4 cup of chocolate chips. Then mound onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet and bake at 350F for 15 minutes.

I also added in an optional sprinkle of cinnamon, a few sunflower seeds that were begging to be used and a squirt of maple syrup because, well, why not?

They actually turned into tasty toasty goodness!! Gluten-free as an added bonus, with no processed carbs. Yay!

How Does Your Zoo Grow?

Spring has sprung at the Toronto Zoo where the birds and the bees have been busy. We're talking baby animals!

Polar Bear Cubs: Aurora, the mother gave birth to two cubs on Nov. 11, 2015, but, unfortunately, one cub did not survive the first 24 hours. The other cub was taken into intensive care for polar bear cubs and is doing so well now at 4 months of age that she has received a forever name (Juno) and is being introduced to the public.

Then there's the baby rhino. born on Feb. 24, so only 3 weeks old at this point and already nearly 150 pounds of cuteness, busy exploring his world.

Also there are the four white lion cubs, born at the end of September 2015 to mom, Makali and dad, Fintan. They have been named Gus, Hank, Oliver and Harrison.

Here they are with their dad who doesn't seem overly impressed.

Finally, the giant panda cubs, now 5 months old attracted a lot of attention recently when the zoo introduced them to the world with the help of the Premier of Ontario, Kathleen Wynne and the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau. 

A male, Jia Panpan (Canadian Hope)

and a female, Jia Yueyue (Canadian Joy)

Here they are at 4 months, just beginning to move around.

Pi Day Update

That Chocolate Peanut Butter Tart from Smitten Kitchen was sure tempting, but I opted for a healthier main course dish instead. Fritatta.

Eggs with red onion, mushrooms, asparagus, spinach, green onions and sliced cherry tomatoes and feta cheese on top, baked in the oven. Pretty tasty! Served with leftover roasted baby potatoes and a cabbage, kale and Brussels sprouts salad with diced onion, celery, apple, pomegranate seeds, sunflower seeds and dried cranberries with an Asian dressing. Yum!

Happy Pi Day!

It's March 14: 3.14 tomorrow. Pi Day! I'm going to schedule this post a day early in case you want time to prepare for tomorrow ;)

Run to your kitchen and make a pie to celebrate. Here's one from Deb Perelman at Smitten Kitchen that looks pretty awesome to me: Chocolate Peanut Butter Tart.

Find her recipe here. Comment 41 has a recipe for a homemade shortbread tart crust that looks pretty easy.

Oh, and by the way, don't forget to also celebrate square root day in three weeks: 4.4.16. This is the time to get out those recipes for squares (brownies anyone?) and go for it. 

Boxer Ingenuity

We always wondered what went on when we were out. Now we know.