Meat-Eater Goes Meat-Free: Day 6 (+ Nutella Blondies!)
Banana Brioche French Toast at Volunteer Park Café
Hi friends, we’re in the home stretch at Day 6 of Meatless Week. Yesterday, I talked about how I felt more energetic on Day 5, and today, I felt as well as I normally do when I’m eating meat. I even had the energy to do a 9-miler this afternoon!
This morning began with a quick brunch with friends at Volunteer Park Café. I didn’t feel too left out that there were only a handful of vegetarian choices on the menu. My apple and brie panino was tasty enough. (The above pictured brioche french toast was enjoyed by a friend, but I like the photo I took better than the one of my sandwich.)
As Meatless Week draws to a close, I am a little sad that the challenge is over. The week went by quickly, and there were dishes I wanted to make that I didn’t get around to doing. I won’t be cooking tomorrow since we’ll be on the road to my hometown of Vancouver BC, where I’ll be visiting my family for a few days. Meatless Week, for me, ends tomorrow at 6:00pm, exactly 168 hours from when I started. My first “meaty” meal, after much careful deliberation, will be at Alvin Garden.
I am playing with the idea of doing another Meatless Week during the week of Monday, August 16th-Sunday, August 22nd. The Seattle farmer’s markets will be at their full potential in late summer. There’ll be gorgeous heirloom tomatoes, then, and a bounty of other vegetables and fruits at their peak.
If you’d like to participate in our August Meatless Week challenge, leave your name/email/blog url (optional) in the comments and I’ll stay in touch with further details.
My goal is to get at least 30 meat-eating bloggers signed on by August.
30 people doing 7 Meatless Days in a row is just as good as 210 people participating in one Meatless Monday.
(Yes, it’s a little more difficult, but imagine the good it’ll do for the environment!)
Celebrating Day 6 of Meatless Week with gooey Nutella Blondies
So while you’re pondering whether you’d like to join me in our second Meatless Week round, August 16th-22nd, I’ll leave you with this tried and tested recipe for Nutella Blondies. These are so good–full of demerara sugar, with a slightly crunchy, caramelized edge and gooey middle. I keep sneaking back into the kitchen and snagging more, but I figure I earned these treats after that 9-miler. 
I’ll be back on Monday with a final post about the effects of meat consumption in America.
Nutella Blondies
2 sticks + 2 tbsp unsalted butter 3 large eggs 2 cups demerara sugar (if unavailable, sub either light or dark brown sugar) 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1/2 tsp kosher salt 1 tsp vanilla 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 tsp baking soda 1 tsp baking powder1 heaping cup Nutella (or any chocolate hazelnut spread)
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line a 9″ x 13″ pan with parchment paper.
In a pan, melt the butter over medium heat, taking care that it doesn’t burn. Set aside to cool slightly.
In a mixing bowl, stir together the eggs, demerara sugar, and granulated sugar. Stir in the melted butter, salt, vanilla, flour, baking soda, and baking powder. (Mixture will be quite thick.)
Spoon the batter into the prepared pan in an even layer. Dollop the Nutella over the surface of the batter, and swirl the tip of a knife in the Nutella to get a pretty, freestyle pattern.
Bake for 25-30 minutes, checking frequently to make sure the blondies don’t overbake. The blondies are done when the batter is puffed and golden, and is still a little moist in the middle.
The blondies will collapse slightly once they come out of the oven, and will harden into sliceable pieces in about an hour.Posted: May 29th, 2010 under Uncategorized.
Tags: baking, desserts, meatfree, meatless, sweets, vegetarian
Comments
Comment from Meg
Time May 30, 2010 at 5:30 PM
Lorna, I couldn’t do this week (a wedding and people in from out of town), but I’d LOVE to participate in August. Count me in!
Comment from Kelley
Time May 31, 2010 at 9:24 AM
Should you try for two weeks next time? just to see you how feel going for a week “after the finally fog lifts”
I am going to put a link on my blog to ask people to join your challenge in August!!
Comment from amy dishes
Time May 31, 2010 at 9:50 AM
congrats, lorna! you made it! i am so happy to read you got your boost of energy toward the end, too. looking forward to seeing how this takes shape for you longterm. 
Comment from Jen @ My Kitchen Addiction
Time May 31, 2010 at 6:09 PM
Congrats! I’ve loved reading all about your meat-free days in the past week. My hubby and I try to eat meat free as much as we can, but I know we can do better. I’d love to participate in your August challenge (hopefully it will work out to a week when we’re not away on vacation)… Look forward to hearing more about it.
Comment from Lara Alexander
Time May 31, 2010 at 9:50 PM
The bananas look great. I made carmalized banana crepes for breakfast this weekend – so easy! I may not have been perfectly meatless this week, but I did pretty well, and just got back from my vegetarian retreat in Oregon – that made things pretty simple for three days! I posted photos on my site.
Comment from lorna
Time May 31, 2010 at 11:13 PM
Yay, can’t wait for the August Meatless Challenge!
Kelley: Don’t know if 2 weeks would be feasible, just because I do have to eat meat for my job when I’m dining out. But maybe sometime in the future, I’ll do a 2 week challenge.
Lara: Yum caramelized banana crepes! I am hungry just thinking about it.
Pingback from Samoa Blondies from The Newlywed Kitchen | recipegirl.com
Time June 1, 2010 at 1:02 AM
[...] know that Yee has her own cooking blog: The Cookbook Chronicles, where she is currently displaying Nutella Blondies… of all things. Wow! // Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the [...]
Comment from Sarah – A Beach Home Companion
Time June 1, 2010 at 9:24 AM
Nutella Blondies? Brilliant! There must be something going around about Nutella lately–I have been seeing recipes everywhere. The other one I have to try: Marshmallow and Nutella ice cream shake.
Pingback from Better than a brownie « Giuggiulena
Time June 2, 2010 at 7:28 PM
[...] so it happened earlier this week when I stumbled upon this tantalizing recipe for Nutella blondies. I will save my ode to Nutella for another day, another post. While I have [...]
Comment from Klary
Time June 6, 2010 at 8:15 AM
Lorna, I’ll happily join you for another meatless week in August. I had fun this time, even though I cheated 1 day (I did add an extra meatless day to sort of make up for it). Thanks for doing this and congrats on your achievement!
Comment from CookTeen
Time June 11, 2010 at 2:37 PM
I’d love to participate!! Count me in!!
email: cookteen@gmail.com
with love and cupcakes,
Cookteen
Comment from Adrienne
Time June 17, 2010 at 11:17 AM
Oh, I’m in for August! My fiance and I did this in January for about 10 days and it was really difficult. I can only imagine how much easier it will be in August. Tomato sandwiches for everyone!
Comment from Sara
Time August 9, 2010 at 12:35 PM
Hi Lorna!
I’m in for the next meat-free week, and so is my best friend. We’re going to do it together. I’m looking forward to it! I’ve included it on my list of 101 things to do in 1001 days!
Comment from stephanie
Time May 29, 2010 at 11:41 PM
I made another pizza last night – this one with mushrooms. So a third meatless night in a row.
Tonight, we ate at Dahlak Eritrean, and while we had a few spoonfuls of lamb and chicken, the vegetables were the stars. They separate the meat from the rest of the platter on their combination plate – a nice touch.
Congrats on your week – and enjoy breaking your meat fast!