Reviews: Vegan Banana Bread, Clinique City Block SPF 25, e.l.f. Shine Eraser
I ran out of butter. I had ripe bananas but no butter. Little things like that don't stop me.
This recipe for Vegan Banana Bread from Veg Recipes of India looked like it would solve my lack of butter problem. I still had to make a few changes though. Since I don't have whole wheat flour, I just used regular all-purpose white flour. I also ran out of vanilla extract so I instead added some ground cinnamon, ground ginger, ground cloves, and a touch of ground cardamom. I had three large bananas left instead of the four medium bananas that the recipe calls for. I didn't have any sunflower seeds so I nixed that. For the oil, I used a 2/3 cup combination of coconut oil and a canola/olive mix. I used almost half a cup of loosely packed regular brown sugar and about a teaspoon of honey (thereby making my particular banana bread no longer vegan). And yes, I put in salt. I also added some chopped walnuts to the batter and sprinkled some on top before putting the bread in the oven. The banana bread finished baking in half an hour at 355 F.
What I liked: It's not too sweet and I don't need to break out an electric mixer for this. People who don't really like sweets/dessert/candy but love bananas might enjoy this.
What I didn't like: Falls apart too easily and deflates a lot in the centre.
What I would change for next time: Use a half cup of oil instead of 2/3. Make sure I have vanilla extract on hand. And maybe not use the honey, particularly if I'm making this for my vegan friends. I wonder if my spreading the batter out evenly in the pan helped contribute to the deflating so I won't do that next time.
I was originally going to go with this recipe, which looks very similar at first glance, but the kitchen scale's batteries ran out. I'll test it later and see which one I like better.
Review: Update on Clinique's City Block Sheer Oil-Free Daily Face Protector Broad Spectrum SPF 25
I first talked about this last month and since I've been using this sunscreen nearly every day, I think it's time to do an update on how I feel about it now.
I still like it. I still wish it had a bit more hydration. It has yet to irritate me. I would repurchase it though I wish it came in a slightly larger bottle for the price.
I would recommend trying the City Block Sheer if you:
Review: e.l.f. Essential Shine Eraser
The Essential Shine Eraser is just a fancy name for oil blotting papers. I got this pack of fifty sheets for a little over $2; obviously, it's only $1 in the States. It's cheap and it does the job. The sheets aren't too small, which is nice, and they aren't so paper thin and delicate that they tear easily. The only complaint I have is that it's a little hard to remove a single sheet due to the way they're all packed together in the thick, glossy paper case. I'd prefer if they came out one at a time like a lot of other brands' blotting papers. But hey, it's so cheap, I don't really care. I recommend this. (How do they compare to the Boscia Green Tea Blotting Linens? Find out here!)
This recipe for Vegan Banana Bread from Veg Recipes of India looked like it would solve my lack of butter problem. I still had to make a few changes though. Since I don't have whole wheat flour, I just used regular all-purpose white flour. I also ran out of vanilla extract so I instead added some ground cinnamon, ground ginger, ground cloves, and a touch of ground cardamom. I had three large bananas left instead of the four medium bananas that the recipe calls for. I didn't have any sunflower seeds so I nixed that. For the oil, I used a 2/3 cup combination of coconut oil and a canola/olive mix. I used almost half a cup of loosely packed regular brown sugar and about a teaspoon of honey (thereby making my particular banana bread no longer vegan). And yes, I put in salt. I also added some chopped walnuts to the batter and sprinkled some on top before putting the bread in the oven. The banana bread finished baking in half an hour at 355 F.
What I liked: It's not too sweet and I don't need to break out an electric mixer for this. People who don't really like sweets/dessert/candy but love bananas might enjoy this.
What I didn't like: Falls apart too easily and deflates a lot in the centre.
What I would change for next time: Use a half cup of oil instead of 2/3. Make sure I have vanilla extract on hand. And maybe not use the honey, particularly if I'm making this for my vegan friends. I wonder if my spreading the batter out evenly in the pan helped contribute to the deflating so I won't do that next time.
I was originally going to go with this recipe, which looks very similar at first glance, but the kitchen scale's batteries ran out. I'll test it later and see which one I like better.
Review: Update on Clinique's City Block Sheer Oil-Free Daily Face Protector Broad Spectrum SPF 25
I first talked about this last month and since I've been using this sunscreen nearly every day, I think it's time to do an update on how I feel about it now.
I still like it. I still wish it had a bit more hydration. It has yet to irritate me. I would repurchase it though I wish it came in a slightly larger bottle for the price.
I would recommend trying the City Block Sheer if you:
- want a regular, everyday facial sunscreen that you can use around the eye area
- have normal or combination-oily to oily skin (dry and combination-dry can still use this fine but will need to use a moisturiser underneath)
- have sensitive/reactive skin
- have a light to medium-dark complexion (the slight tint makes me hesitate to recommend this to very light and darker skin tones; I'd need to see it on those people first)
- find this to be within your budget
Review: e.l.f. Essential Shine Eraser
The Essential Shine Eraser is just a fancy name for oil blotting papers. I got this pack of fifty sheets for a little over $2; obviously, it's only $1 in the States. It's cheap and it does the job. The sheets aren't too small, which is nice, and they aren't so paper thin and delicate that they tear easily. The only complaint I have is that it's a little hard to remove a single sheet due to the way they're all packed together in the thick, glossy paper case. I'd prefer if they came out one at a time like a lot of other brands' blotting papers. But hey, it's so cheap, I don't really care. I recommend this. (How do they compare to the Boscia Green Tea Blotting Linens? Find out here!)