Monday, October 18, 2010

Banana chocolate chip oatmeal bread and teaching

 

Yes! I'm still here! busy but baking and trying to post. This past two weeks have been insane. My exam at OHSU on Friday night (yes yes, Fri-day night), was the end of this crazy days of just studying. Granted I need to bake when I take a break, otherwise I'd be going insane. For real.

Anyway, other than classes, what keeps me busy is teaching. My little kiddos, or not so little, since a lot of them are decades older than me. I teach general chemistry lab. It's fun, it's a lot of work. Sometimes it's really frustrating but in general it's a dream come true. 

I honestly believe that if you can get people excited about what they do in a lab, everything becomes much easier when they go back to the textbook. I have to say, I'm a lucky gal. I had wonderful T.A's (for those who are not familiar with the terminology, teacher assistant). I loved my lab classes and I'm still really good friends with some of my teachers. 



I have to admit that I already have my favorite kids. The ones who are really interested in the class, that are excited about learning and are a pain in my ass asking questions all the time. And then obviously there's the stereotypes. Cute girl who doesn't listen to me, hot guy who thinks his 'goodlookingness' is gonna give him a good grade, smart guys who don't need any help or give me any trouble... and so on and so forth. 

The worst part is the grading. You should see my desk. Full of reports with millions of corrections. They are scary those reports. You would think that by this time, in college, students would know some grammar. Don't be fooled, they don't. I guess we'll have to teach them how to write. Right?

Anyway, the one thing I didn't expect when I started teaching was the exhaustion and the hunger. After my Wednesday evening class, which ends at 8PM, I just want to eat a dinosaur and go to bed. The key to prevent myself from starving is making big pots of soups and stews during the weekend so I can just come home and eat. Not sleep. That's not allowed yet. 



This banana bread was what happened a few days ago, when I really needed a break from grading. It was sort of a birthday gift to my friend Ali, who's birthday was around that date. It's not a cake, but it made her really happy. I'm sure you'll love it. Lots of oats, whole wheat flour, bananas and the kick of chocolate chips. Mixed and baked in an hour, self made recipe!. Too easy not to make. 

Banana oatmeal chocolate chip bread

1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
3/4 cups brown sugar
1 cup old-fashioned oats
2 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1 stick of butter
2 large bananas mashed
1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 350 F

In a bowl, cream the sugar and the butter. Add the eggs and mix until combined. Stir in the bananas and mix until creamy. Mix in the flour and baking powder. Add the oats and chocolate chips and combine with a spatula until homogeneous. If desired, top the bread with a few banana slices to make it prettier. Bake for about 40 min, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean. Let it cool before slicing so the chocolate chips remain intact.

14 comments:

Sheena said...

Teaching sounds fun! (but I imagine it would be quite stressful at times)And banana bread with the addition of chocolate chips sounds even better :D

Carmen said...

Tota una delícia, m'encanta la xocolata amb plàtan, fan una parella perfecta.
Molts petonets

La cuina vermella said...

Hola estimada, quina marxa que portes, segur que el teu examen de divendres a la nit et va sortir perfecte. Perfecte com aquesta creació de civada, xocolata i plàtan!!
Ets genial bonica, genial! ^^

Art and Appetite said...

Very good looking! Looks sooo hearty and delish! Ship some to Vegas!

Maria said...

Nena, estàs feta una mqquineeeeeta!
Sé el que vols dir, anar de cul sembla ser el pa de cada dia, però si treus temps per bake and publish, llavors ets una maquina!
M'encanta aquest pa, l'estava esperant!
Muaks muaks

redmenace said...

I love that teaching a chemistry lab is so fun for you. You're amazing! And, keeping up with the baking too. Superwoman. This looks wonderful!

Rachel said...

You're right, TA's can really make or break a class. I had some great ones and some not so great ones in college. I'll always remember the helpful, inspiring TA's who made sure everyone in their section understood a concept from class that may have been confusing. It must be a really rewarding experience to be in that role yourself!

The bread looks fantastic! I'd take it over a birthday cake any day!

Patty said...

You sound like a great TA! Now if you brought some banana bread for your students I'm sure you'd be their favorite. ;)

Val said...

I understand that feeling of coming home late and wanting to eat a dinosaur. I must start making more soups and stews it really is a fantastic way to satisfy your appetite.

This cake looks like just the thing for me. I'm currently trying to stick to reasonably healthy sweet treats. I love that this recipe has very little sugar but mainly I'm loving how quick it is to make. I'll get myself some bananas and give this a try. Thanks.

LimeCake said...

love this loaf bread/cake. it's got all my favourite things. looks delicious!

Chef Bee said...

The bread looks delicious. Moist and tasty with the addition of chocolate, sounds like a winner.

Plan B

glutoniana said...

Per agafar totalment forces :)

Alba said...

Hola!

M'encanta el teu blog i aquesta recepta ha de ser boníssima! Prenc nota!

Petonets!

365 sonrisas said...

Tiene una pinta buenísima! un beso, Marta

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