September 1, 2021

by drplasticpicker

Yesterday was a really big climate win day. I put it on Instagram @drplasticpicker and my personal facebook page. County Board of Supervisors voted to pass 3-2 for the county to join San Diego Community Power. This gives our region a shot at meeting 2035 GHG goals. This was big. Very big. I was only one of two health care voices that came. Anyone can sign up to speak. But Dr. Bruce Bekkar and I were the two health care voices that spoke up as part of the Public Health Advisory Council of Climate Actions Campaign. All the other doctors were working. But for me, I use my educational leave time and OFF time to do climate work.

It was a big climate high. I even walked around the park at Salt Creek Recreational Center while our daughter was finishing her last volleyball session and did not even pick up a bag of trash. The area is actually pretty clean now that I’ve been there this summer. The parking lot still had litter but the field was pretty clean. I had already picked up two bags of litter that morning during my plogging run. But last evening I just walked and walked around the oval path around the playfields working off my nervous energy. I was marching and marching without much purpose than letting time pass and working off my nervous energy. It was a big day. It was and I’m proud of my small part in it.

But what I want to remember on the blog is the chocolate coconut banana bread that started it off! I baked it early yestserday morning and it has less sugar and healthier because I made it and modified the recipe. It sat on the counter and everyone I loved at home had several pieces from it. The last piece Mr. Plastic Picker had while I was at volleyball with our daughter, and he said he really enjoyed it. I was happy because this chocolate coconut banana bread I made using left over coconut milk I had (I’m Vietnamese and we use a lot of coconut milk in our cooking and I often have left overs) and 3 very brown bananas. Here is the modified recipe.

Chocolate Coconut Walnut Banana Bread modified from Two Peas and Their Pod https://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/chocolate-banana-bread/

Ingredients  

• 1 cup all-purpose flour ( I used whole wheat pastry flour because it sounded healthier and I had it around)
• 1/2 cup Dutch process cocoa (just used the hershey’s cocoa)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 3 large brown bananas   (1 ½ cups mashed)
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
• 1/4 cup canola vegetable oil, or melted coconut oil (squirted some vegetable oil instead, and added in 1/4 cup of coconut milk)
• 3/4 cup  packed light brown sugar (1/2 cup of light brown sugar)
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup  semisweet chocolate chips, divided (omitted and replaced with a cup of chopped walnuts)

Instructions 

• Heat your oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside. (I greased with the already greasy buttered wrappers)
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and sea salt. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, mash the ripe bananas with a fork. Add the melted butter and oil and stir until combined. Stir in the brown sugar, egg, and vanilla extract. Stir until smooth.
• Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, don’t overmix. Stir in ¾ cup of the chocolate chips. (omitted the chocolate chips, but added in a cup of chopped walnuts)
• Pour batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle the remaining ¼ cup of chocolate chips (no chocolate chips for us) over the top of the bread. Bake for 50-65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out mostly clean, you might have some melted chocolate chips on the toothpick and that is fine. You just don’t want a lot of gooey batter. Check at 50 minutes, just to be safe. Oven times vary.
• Remove the pan from the oven and set on a wire cooling rack. Let the bread cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the edges of the bread and carefully remove from the pan. Let the bread cool on the wire cooling rack until slightly warm. Cut into slices and serve.
• Note-the bread will keep on the counter, wrapped in plastic wrap, for up to 4 days. This bread also freezes well. To freeze, cool the bread completely and wrap in plastic wrap and aluminum foil. Freeze for up to 1 month. Defrost before slicing.