Fall baking favourites

It's no secret that I'm obsessed with baking. I have a favourite recipe for every season, holiday, and special event. Fall is one of my absolute favourite times to bake though. It's not too hot to have my oven on for hours, and there's just something so cozy and homey about having fresh baked chocolate chip cookies or banana bread on the counter. Which is why today I'm giving you guys two of my favourite fall recipes, golden Crisco walnut chocolate chip cookies, and triple chocolate pumpkin seed banana bread!

First, the cookies! The recipe for these can be found on the back of any package of golden Criso, but I need to make sure that EVERYONE knows about this amazing chewy, soft, chocolatey marvel. Just make sure to not add 1 cup of baking soda like I did the first time I made it! I was making them for my siblings lunches and I ruined a triple batch because I wasn't paying attention. Oh well, lessons learned, even if I cringe every time I think about it!

Golden Crisco walnut chocolate chip cookies

3/4 cup golden Crisco all-vegetable shortening

1 1/4 cups lightly-packed brown sugar

2 tbsp. milk

1 tbsp. vanilla extract

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp. salt

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

Heat oven to 375ºF.

Beat shortening, brown sugar, milk and vanilla in large bowl with mixer on medium speed until well blended. Beat in egg. Combine flour, salt and baking soda. Mix into shortening mixture until just blended. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts.

Drop by rounded measuring tablespoonfuls 3 inches apart onto baking sheet.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes for chewy cookies, or 11 to 13 minutes for crisp cookies. Cool 2 minutes. Remove to wire rack to cool completely.

Next, the banana bread. I happened upon this one on www.twopeasandtheirpod.com while looking for a chocolate banana bread recipe earlier this year. I'd never made chocolate banana bread before, but I'm so happy that I did! I am in love! It's so soft and moist and full of chocolately goodness!

Triple chocolate pumpkin seed banana bread

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup Dutch process cocoa

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 large brown bananas  (1 1/2 cups mashed)

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled

1/4 cup canola, vegetable oil, or melted coconut oil

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1 large egg, at room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup dark chocolate pumpkin seed Bark Thins, chopped

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1. Heat your oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, mash the ripe bananas with a fork. Add the melted butter and oil and stir until combined. Stir in the brown sugar, egg, and vanilla extract. Stir until smooth.
4. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, don’t overmix.
5. Mix together chocolate chips and chopped Bark Thins. Stir in 3/4 cup of the chocolate chip and Bark Thin mixture.
6. Pour batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of chocolate mix over the top of the bread. Bake for 50-65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out mostly clean, you might have some melted chocolate chips on the toothpick and that is fine. You just don’t want a lot of gooey batter. Check at 50 minutes, just to be safe. Oven times vary.
7. Remove the pan from the oven and set on a wire cooling rack. Let the bread cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the edges of the bread and carefully remove from the pan. Let the bread cool on the wire cooling rack until slightly warm. Cut into slices and serve.

You can also use a bundt pan, as I clearly did in the above picture. I find this makes for a prettier finished product.

Note-the bread will keep on the counter, wrapped in plastic wrap, for up to 4 days. This bread also freezes well. To freeze, cool the bread completely and wrap in plastic wrap and aluminum foil. Freeze for up to 1 month. Defrost before slicing.

Also, a personal note - I got this recipe from www.twopeasandtheirpod.com, and they used just a cup of chocolate chips. I'm sure this would be delicious as is, but I find the dark chocolate and chunks of pumpkin seed add a whole new depth of flavour, and the seeds a new texture. Also, if you don't have dark chocolate pumpkin seed Bark Thins, as I don't always, since they only seem to be available in the fall at Costco, you can just use 1/4 cup chopped dark chocolate with a couple tbsp. of chopped pumpkin seeds.

I really hope that you enjoy these recipes as much as I and anyone I force to have some has! Let me know in the comments below if you try either of them, or what your fall favourite is!

I Tried Using a Diva Cup

Menstruation cups are becoming a more and more popular method to maintain your period. They're eco friendly, cost effective, easy to use and generally risk free. That being said, I decided to give one a go. Anything to make my time of month easier - I will gladly do.

I decided to go with the Diva Cup - purely because it's arguably the most common one, therefore making it easy to find in stores. I usually choose a tampon as my weapon of choice because I don't like how a pad feels. It makes me feel like I'm wearing a diaper, I find it smelly and messy. I like tampons because they're easy to use, discreet and relatively comfortable.

When purchasing the Diva Cup, they only have two sizes:
Model 1: Recommended for women under the age of 30 who have never delivered vaginally or by caesarean.

Model 2: Recommended for women aged 30 and over or for women who have delivered vaginally or by caesarean.

Those being the only options available, I went with model 1.

I found the cup was a little difficult to put in. It's awkward and a bit uncomfortable. You have to fold the cup a certain way, insert and twist it to create a suction. I found the process to be a bit time consuming and it's hard to tell if it's in correctly. Diva Cup does say that it may take a few cycles of using the cup to get used to inserting it properly.

To be honest, I was terrified of overflowing the cup. Sometimes my flow can be pretty heavy (tmi?), but even on the heaviest day, it never overflowed. Saying this, I did experience minor leakage. It was nothing major, but I would feel more comfortable knowing that there was zero leakage. Since I never bled enough to make the cup overflow, it must've been down to the cup not being inserted correctly. User error.

Like the rest of our bodies, vaginas come in all different shapes and sizes. I don't necessarily think that only two models (having had birth vs not having birth) are enough sizing options. Someone could very well be inserting the cup properly, but because the size/shape isn't correct, it could cause leakages. I'm curious if other menstrual cup brands have more sizing options and if it's proven to be more effective.

One really nice aspect of the cup is being able to wear it for such a long time compared to a tampon. You just need to ensure that you remove the cup and clean it twice a day. It's also safe to wear over night - bonus! Diva Cup does have it's own wash for the cup that you can purchase. It's mildly scented, cleans the cup just fine and re balances the Ph levels. As you wear it more often, you'll adjust to how often you need to empty it. Unlike a tampon, it's not as discreet. If you work somewhere with a public washroom and you need to take it out and wash it, you might feel uncomfortable doing that out in the open sink area. If it works for you, emptying in the morning and night works well.

Removing the cup itself can be messy at first until you get the hang of it. Otherwise, it's very simple. Using a cup really allows you to get to know your body better during your period. Using a tampon or pad, you can't exactly measure your flow, but with a cup it's easy to do and it's handy to know.

I will continue to use the cup and I hope it'll get easier and be more efficient with time. Hopefully I'll be able to correct the slight leakage problem - if not, maybe I'll look into other brands.

Have you ever tried a menstrual cup? How did it work out for you? Let me know in the comments below!

Turning over a new fitness leaf

Attempting to lose weight is a tricky thing. You feel compelled to tell people so you have something to be accountable to, but then you feel like a failure when you can’t stick with your goals. But if you don’t say anything to anyone, it’s so easy to skip the gym once, twice, forever, and order pizza for the second time in three days. On top of that, weight loss culture is everywhere. Blogs, magazines, cookbooks, the fact that we should be trying harder at losing weight is constantly shoved in your face.

That being said, two months ago, I decided to join the gym again. The decision took a lot of thought, as time and time again, I’ve joined the gym, gone for a few weeks, and at the most, a month, and then it tapers off into being just another bill I pay, with no benefit at all. I did my research, and finally picked Planet Fitness, as there are two locations, one close to where my fiancé and I do our shopping on the weekend, and one right on the route home from work.

This has always been one of my biggest issues when it comes to the gym. My old one was an almost 15 minute walk from my house, with no buses going to it. Having to walk 15 minutes there, and then 15 back, sometimes in knee high snow doesn’t exactly encourage me to go. I’ve found great success in going to a gym that’s on my bus route home. I can see some definition on my arms, and within two months, I’ve been able to increase the weight on the machines from 35 to 55-75, depending on the machine, and I can go longer and harder on the arc trainer. I’m also using the elliptical for the first time in my life. I can use it for a whole 10 minutes!

I also bring my fiancé every Sunday, and he’s gone from being scared of stepping foot in a gym to coming with me every Sunday. Seeing his confidence go up makes me feel amazing. He’s even talking about getting his own membership at some point (right now, he’s a guest on my membership).

The biggest lessons I’ve learnt are to take it at your own pace and not worry about making it a huge deal where you tell everyone and set up expectations, and find a gym that works for you. Those two things make all the difference in the world.

Do you have any tips for successfully becoming healthy and fit? Share them below, because I’d love to know!