Distractions & Cranberry Bread

Posted on November 22, 2011 by Kelly

Thanks for your comments about my no good, very bad, stupid IT band injury. I really want to keep the complaining and whining about it to a minimum – I know it’s not the end of the world – but sometimes the frustration gets the best of me.

Besides trying to stay positive, scrape up the funds to go back to ART (which is $$!) and doing my PT exercises, I’ve found distraction to be a good way to avoid thinking about deal with this injury situation.

Distractions
I’m feeling more down than I was this past weekend – I actually didn’t sulk that much about my wonky IT band because I was so busy studying for my Vitamins & Minerals test (vitamin K, iron, zinc, copper, magnesium, folate, B6 – holla!), working on a case study and basically living at the Starbucks near my apartment.

I hate studying at home – I need another venue to help me concentrate for some reason.

I’ve also been scrambling to prepare for Thanksgiving in my little casa. My sister and I have developed a tradition ever since I moved here five years ago.

(this is us!)

She comes down from Boston, we walk to Central Park West to watch the parade, come back to my apartment and cook, feast and watch our favorite holiday movies. It’s usually one of my favorite days of the year, and pretty amazing how we manage to cook a full meal together in my ridiculously small kitchen with usually minimal fighting.

This will be the first year we get our turkey from Fairway rather than Whole Foods. I have no idea why this make me nervous – I guess I don’t like change. And I recognize this is totally an “Upper East Side Girl” problem.

Anyways, stay tuned for how that goes and some recipes. We’ll even be having a special guest this year (Susan!). :)

Back to the weekend
I did take a few breaks from studying – once for an important froyo date with Meggie and once for somewhat of a baking experiment.

I wanted to bake something with cranberries – they are so happy and seasonal! And also full of antioxidants – I’m trying to convince myself they will in some way help my IT band heal. No research on this so far…

So I decided on a quickbread using pretty healthified ingredients that are coincidentally also vegan.

Winging it and baking don’t really mix, but I consider this my version of living on the edge. And it looked decent when I took it out of the oven!

The end product had a great punch from the cranberries but was a bit dry.

This was obviously because there wasn’t a lot of fat in the recipe (no butter, oil or eggs), which I’d probably change next time around. Or use my other go-to, chocolate chips. Everything tastes better with chocolate, no?

A shmear of Dark Chocolate Dreams peanut butter made everything ok again. Here’s the recipe with some suggested tweaks I might make next time

Whole Wheat Cranberry Bread (vegan)

Ingredients

  • 1.5 cups whole wheat flour
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup agave nectar
  • 1/2 cup applesauce
  • 1/3 cup almond milk
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 1/4 cup fresh cranberries, roughly chopped
  • Suggestion: 1-2 tbsp vegetable oil
  • Suggestion: 1/2 cup chocolate chips, walnuts or shredded coconut (?)

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 and grease your loaf pan. Combine the dry ingredients, wet ingredients, except for the cranberries. Mix the wet and dry ingredients, and then add in cranberries. Bake for 45-55 minutes, until a toothpick or fork comes out clean.

Question: Do you ever wing it when baking? Thoughts on “healthified” baking recipes? I think there’s a time and a place for them – sometimes I definitely want the real stuff. Lastly, what are you doing for Thanksgiving??

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  • http://fueledbysalad.wordpress.com/ Lyn @ FueledBySalad

    This recipe looks freaking delicious! And I have a bag of frozen cranberries waiting to be used up in the freezer, too. :)

    I definitely wing it all the time when baking – I use whatever’s on hand. Maybe that’s why I kind of suck at it…? Cooking’s a lot more my ‘thing’ than baking.

  • http://keepingitrealfood.com Jess

    The bread still looks very good, but I totally agree about the chocolate chips—dark chocolate and cranberry is a great combo. My ex was allergic to cranberries so I almost never ate them, so I’m looking forward to getting reacquainted.

    I’m spending Thanksgiving at my parents’ house this year. It’ll be the first time since, like, 2007, I haven’t spent the holiday in Boston. I am so looking forward to hopping a bus to NJ instead of making the 5-hour trip.

    • Kelly

      I know! I have no idea why I didn’t add chocolate chips in the first place…. Hope you have a great Thanksgiving!

  • http://secondcityrandomness.wordpress.com Amy B @ Second City Randomness

    I’m spending Thanksgiving in Chicago with my friend’s family. I call her inlaws my “Chicago Parents”. They’re amazing!

    And I always hated studying at home. It seemed silly, but I’d make the long trip to the library when something big was coming up.

  • http://www.runforyourlifeblog.com Emilia @ Run for Your Life

    I’ve tried healthifying cupcake and cookie recipes before, but in the end I always decide that the real stuff tastes better. I almost always bake with egg whites, but never sub the butter! When I make brownies I usually sub melted butter for the oil. It’s delicious. :)

    Have fun with your sister! My sis and I once did Trader Joe’s Thanksgiving for just the two of us. We had one more meal’s worth of leftovers. :)

  • http://www.insightfulappetite.com/ sofia

    i love your thanksgiving tradition! how nice to do your own thing with your sister. sounds like fun to do all the cooking together!

    this year, like last year, i’m doing Italian Thanksgiving on Long Island. of course we’ll start with an antipasti round, move onto pasta dishes, sausage and peppers, all that, and maybe get to turkey at some point :) then i’m headed upstate for a day to the catskills to celebrate Thanksgiving Leftover Night with my parents. yes, it’s an important enough event to be capitalized.

    • Kelly

      I’m pretty jealous of your Italian Thanksgiving – we used to have lasagna, meatballs, etc. when my great-grandma was around and cooking. nothing beat it – didn’t miss turkey in the slightest! Have a great one :)

  • Melanie

    OMG I have about 2 cups of heirloom cranberries (Sunnyside farmers market FTW!) left over after making my cranberry sauce last night, and I’m TOTALLY making this bread. I’m going to add the oil as suggested – as well as some orange zest and a little bit of juice.

    YUMZIES!

    XO

    • Kelly

      oooh – orange zest and juice! that sounds sooo much better. I think I need to remake this!

  • http://katiessweatylife.wordpress.com/ Katie

    OMG that bread sounds and looks AMAZING! Your blog makes me hungry every single day. Also, your Thanksgiving tradition sounds like so much fun! Enjoy! :)

  • http://twitter/com/melissah528 Melissa

    Um you forgot to include “watch the DOG SHOW.”

    • Kelly

      haha no, it would have been more like “argue about watching dog show but give in only because I want to see the bulldog and then lose interest when he is ROBBED and doesn’t move in to the finals.”

      • http://twitter/com/melissah528 Melissa

        Haha… didn’t one get to the finals last year? The corgi never wins.

  • http://nyc-runner.blogspot.com Rach@ Girl on the Run

    Looks delicious! Glad you are staying positive and trying to stay busy. I think my real-life friends are so sick me complaining that I can’ run hah.

  • http://thismouseruns.wordpress.com jen

    Aw sorry you’re down about the IT band. You will get better! I hate studying at home too, I spent literally all of law school in Starbucks.

  • http://thethinksicanthink@wordpress.com Meggie

    I do healthify my baking but I just eat what you make that is healthified. Plus, I basically only bake for bake sales for charity. :)

    I liked that cranberry bread. Totally agree that you need to add a little peanut butter or some fat to make it a bit less dry. I liked the zing of the cranberries though.

    I flew home last night, but listen to this…they had to divert us from Knoxville to GREENVILLE,SC because of fog, then cancelled the flight (it was like 11:30 pm at this point) and were going to put us on a BUS to drive through the FOGGY MOUNTAINS back home. Luckily, I teamed up with a radiologist that coincidentally lives in my neighborhood. He and his wife rented a car and offered to drive me back. I did and got home so much quicker. Still, ugh. So, here in TN until Thurs –> drive to AL to see gparents and for my brother’s tennis tournament (NINE HOUR DRIVE) –> back to TN Sunday –> fly back to NYC Mon.

    • Kelly

      OMG you must have been beside yourself. ALthough, driving > flying in fog, right?? glad you got home! And I am so remaking that bread recipe to be more delicious. stay tuned.

  • http://runningseal.com Celia

    Chocolate chips make everything taste better (!)… but even without them, the bread looks delicious!

    I have to work this Friday. Boo! And flights were also ridiculously expensive to fly back to Michigan so I am staying in NYC for Thanksgiving. Maybe I should invite myself over to eat some of your delicious cooking :p

    • Kelly

      Celia! You’re more than welcome to come over! Seriously – let me know what your plans are!

  • http://anotherdumbadventure.wordpress.com Kimra

    I’ve never baked with fresh cranberries, but I definitely want to try this bread! I’m very much a recipe-following baker, except when it comes to adding things. (“Oh, some butterscotch chips in addition to chocolate chips? Sure!”) My baking is typically very much NOT healthified, but I do swap out regular flour for whole wheat or whole wheat pastry flour regularly.

    My parents came out to San Francisco from the east coast for Thanksgiving. We’ll be watching football and the dog show and doing a lot of cooking. My husband and I are taking charge of the turkey for the first time!

    • Kelly

      Good luck with the turkey! We alway watch the dog show too :)

  • http://thenchangeit.com kace

    I really can’t get behind healthy baking. I’m go-big-or-go-home kinda gal!

  • http://sometimeshealthylivingblog.com Jamie aka “Sometimes Healthy” Girl

    That sounds like SUCH a great Thanksgiving! I almost wish I wasn’t going home so I could do the same thing.

  • http://www.susanruns.com Susan – Nurse on the Run

    I’m excited to spend Thanksgiving with you!! I just hope I can stay awake. :)

    I was never one to study in Starbucks/other public place. My dorm in college usually had a room that no one else would use, so I would commandeer it and study organic chemistry for HOURS. Yes, I was cool, and everyone in the dorm knew when a test was coming up because I would hole up in there all week. (The other people in my dorm were political science, government, sociology, and psychology majors. No chem for them!) Even when I went to the library I would have to pump up the music on my CD player (dating myself there…) and give dirty looks to anyone who would dare talk. Hope your test went well!!

  • http://www.runnerskitchen.com Megan (The Runner’s Kitchen)

    i am always envious of your chill Thanksgivings in NYC! fact – i’ve never actually watched the Macy’s day parade live. someday, hopefully! i had a longggg day of travels today, but am finally (finally!) at my Dad’s place, phew.

    my step mom cooks everything in bacon fat and butter and i must say it is delicious. i vote you add a stick of butter to the bread dough next time :)

    • Kelly

      noted. stick of butter added to dough next time :) Have fun at your dad’s!!

  • http://leashieloo.wordpress.com Leashieloo

    The cranberry bread looks so festive! And I totally try not to wing it while baking, it’s such a science as it is and I’m HORRIBLE at science!

  • http://collegegirlontherun.wordpress.com Sarah

    Dark chocolate + cranberries = winner!
    I’m not a huge fan of healthified baked goods. If I want a cookie I’d rather just eat a healthier dinner than dilute the butter/sugar content of the cookie itself in any way that makes it less tasty. Though if the baked good is both healthy AND delicious, then it’s a clear winner in my book! My favorite healthy(er) baked good is my favorite recipe for biscotti. It has no butter and only 1/2 cup of sugar and you can use half whole wheat flour if you want. But it’s still delicious and there’s nothing better than spending the afternoon than with a biscotti, a cup of tea and a good book.

  • http://www.naturastrideblog.com Kate @ NaturaStride

    Hi There! Sorry your IT band is still bugging you – annoying. Hang in there girl.
    Bread looks yummy! I like making “healthified” baked goods for just me and my husband to have at home on regular days. Love anything with cranberry. I had to promise my family that I would make a “non-healthified” pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving! haha – lets just say, it’s a challenge for me.
    Happy Thanksgiving :)

  • http://www.healthontherun.net Lauren

    I love your Thanksgiving tradition! Sounds relaxing and perfect. I haven’t been able to see my family on Thanksgiving in years, which always bums me out a bit about this time of year. I wish my sisters lived close enough that we could do this sort of thing!

    And I experiment with baking all the time. It doesn’t always turn out so well, but I don’t really like following recipes. The cranberry bread sounds good, though I agree – chocolate always does make everything better!

  • http://amandarunsny.com AmandaRunsNY

    Give that IT band time to heal! It will get better.

    I’ve winged it with baking many times. On way I like to “healthify” is to use coconut butter in place of real butter. It doesn’t lower the fat or calorie content, but it is better for you. I’ve also experimented with other flours like quinoa, chickpea, whole wheat etc.