The last few weeks have been quite busy around here. Two weekends in a row we were out of town and as soon as we got back I got sick. Unfortunately, this resulted in little time in the kitchen but I am happy to say (and I’m sure Russell is as well) that I am finally feeling better. I am also getting back into a normal routine when it comes to cooking. One of the weekends we spent out of town, we went to Kansas City. After asking a few friends for suggestions on places to go, one suggested the T-Rex Cafe. It is a dinosaur themed restaurant that is a ton of fun.
As soon as you walk in, there is a very large T-Rex that is basically staring you in the face--it moves and roars. Jake really didn’t have a reaction other than staring at it. But Russell and I thought it was pretty awesome. No matter where you are seated, there are dinosaurs all around. The atmosphere was great. Every so often the lights would flicker and the dinosaur’s heads would move and they would make a lot of noise. Every time Jake would just turn around and look at them. :) Our table was next to the Apatosaurus dinosaurs.
On the other side of the restaurant they had an ice age type exhibit, a wooly mammoth, and a very large fish tank. Jake enjoyed looking as all of these. I had been told by a few people before we went that we definitely needed to go for the experience and not for the food. They were right. We had a great time checking out all of the dinosaurs...the food was not anything memorable. I told Russell I wouldn’t mind going back though since Jake had a great time. Inside the restaurant they had a Build-a-Dino (Build-a-Bear) station where you could pick out a dinosaur to build. We choose to get Jake a wooly mammoth and named him Wooly.
Now back to the blueberry-lemon yogurt loaf. I have had this recipe saved for awhile but just got around to making it. I love banana bread and apple bread but I wanted something a little different. This blueberry-lemon loaf definitely hit the spot. I changed a few things in an attempt to make it a somewhat healthier. I substituted part of the all-purpose flour for whole wheat flour and some of the oil for unsweetened applesauce. Also, since Russell doesn’t like things too sweet, I left off the glaze. I’m sure it would have been great with it, but since we were enjoying it as a mid-morning breakfast we really didn’t miss it. Overall I really enjoyed the blueberry and lemon combination.
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Ingredients:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x5 loaf pan with non-stick spray.
In a small bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine yogurt, sugar, eggs, lemon zest, vanilla extract, oil, and applesauce. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined. Gently fold in the blueberries.
Pour batter into greased loaf pan. Bake for 50-55 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center of loaf comes out with minimal moist crumbs.
Remove loaf pan from oven and place on a wire rack. Allow loaf to cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, carefully remove the loaf from the pan and place on wire rack. Let cool completely.
Now back to the blueberry-lemon yogurt loaf. I have had this recipe saved for awhile but just got around to making it. I love banana bread and apple bread but I wanted something a little different. This blueberry-lemon loaf definitely hit the spot. I changed a few things in an attempt to make it a somewhat healthier. I substituted part of the all-purpose flour for whole wheat flour and some of the oil for unsweetened applesauce. Also, since Russell doesn’t like things too sweet, I left off the glaze. I’m sure it would have been great with it, but since we were enjoying it as a mid-morning breakfast we really didn’t miss it. Overall I really enjoyed the blueberry and lemon combination.
Printer-Friendly Version
Ingredients:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup whole wheat flour (can substitute all-purpose flour)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup whole-milk yogurt (I used Fage 2% Greek yogurt)
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 large lemon, zested
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup canola oil
- 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 1/2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen
- 2 to 3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 cup powdered sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x5 loaf pan with non-stick spray.
In a small bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine yogurt, sugar, eggs, lemon zest, vanilla extract, oil, and applesauce. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined. Gently fold in the blueberries.
Pour batter into greased loaf pan. Bake for 50-55 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center of loaf comes out with minimal moist crumbs.
Remove loaf pan from oven and place on a wire rack. Allow loaf to cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, carefully remove the loaf from the pan and place on wire rack. Let cool completely.
For Lemon Glaze: Place powdered sugar in a small bowl, add 2 tablespoons lemon juice and stir. If icing is too thick add more lemon juice, 1 teaspoon at a time, until desired consistency. Drizzle over cooled loaf.
Slightly adapted from: Sweet Pea’s Kitchen
Slightly adapted from: Sweet Pea’s Kitchen
