A BIG thank you to Crazy Raw Vegan for including me in her fave list—the feeling is mutual—all the way back in June. Sorry I’ve taken so long! I heard about ‘crazy’ inspiring Sara when Mimi Kirk shared one of her posts on Facebook in 2011 (whoa! time flies). Subscribed.

So how does this work? As Sara mentioned it’s blog chain mail/viral networking. This is my first time…I think…yeah, I’m pretty sure. Rules are below followed by my 7 things and that vegan spent grain chocolate chip banana walnut bread recipe—a delicious mouthful. It’s definitely been a great weekend of baking—perfect with the approach of autumn.

1. Add One Lovely Blog Award photos on a blog post.
2. Thank the person who presented you with the award and link back to him or her in your post.
3. Share seven things about yourself.
4. Pass the award along to 15 bloggers that you have recently discovered. Contact the chosen bloggers to let them know about the award.

• I want to learn everything about everything. Now. All the things! Johnny Mnemonic it into my brain NOW. Pine nuts come from pine trees, seems obvious but have you ever stopped to really ‘realize’ it. How videos are edited. How everything is made/came to be. Love it ALL!
• I have the collar of the cutest beagle ever and claim she was my dog but she wasn’t really. She was my neighbor’s dog, but when ever they let her out the front door she would gallop across the shared driveways and put both front legs up on our door and let out as many howls until we came and said hi. I love(d) her so much and I still cry over her (it’s happening right now) and she’s been gone for 13 years now.
• Skulls are my ‘old lady floral print’, I want them on everything.
• Next year I’m growing a squash patch, it could be acorn or pumpkin it doesn’t matter. There’s a nice dirt patch in the back that’s going to have vines everywhere! Currently that dirt patch is where the neighborhood quail families bathe. (Cutest thing ever)
• Even though I’ve made a bazillion batches of sauerkraut now, I still get pit sweats when I’m about to open the crock and think what if it’s not right but it always is.
• My top—obsess favorite—TV shows of all time are: Babylon 5, Buffy, X-Files, and Supernatural.
• In middle school I subscribed to Civil War Times magazine and bought an epic-ly huge Civil War book from Disney World. Forget the Mickey and Minnie Mouse shirts.

Sometimes I think Zooey doesn’t have anything on my quirkiness. Well we’re all quirky in different ways which is why life is so interesting!

Now for the other blogs that I love in alpha order! No pressure ladies but it would be fun to learn more about you!

• Cassey:: Blogilates (she is killing me with her sweatember calendar—love)
• Valynne:: Caretaking Couple
• Christine:: Colorado Vegan
• Ashley:: Edible Perspective
• Robyn:: Girl on Raw
• Sara:: Go Gingham
• Lindsey:: Happy Herbivore

Now for banana bread! Jeremy recently delved into the beer brewing realm, just another limb in our family tree of fermentation projects. I asked him if there was anything to do with the ‘spent grain’—in this case barley—after it’s been used. He laughed and said that’s your field.

He had his hands full with the beer and he’s right so here I am with an adapted recipe from Brooklyn Brew Shop dot com. They have a plethora of information and recipes using spent grain. I veganized their recipe and added chocolate chips! I also cut the fat down by a lot.

This is probably the best whole grain banana bread I’ve ever had. It’s thick due to the whole wheat and barley flours but still moist like proper banana bread. It also holds shape while cutting which is nice.

What quirks to you bring to the table?

xoxo