Grilled Banana S'Mores - A Featured Recipe on the Tour

Grilled Banana?       Whaaaaat?       How does that work?      What is the secret?
These are the many questions we get when we tell people we are sampling our Grilled Banana S'Mores.

Although there may be doubt at first, the typical reaction is:
"DELICIOUSNESS" and "YUM" and "HOLY SMOKERAMA GIVE ME MORE!!."  I guess nobody has technically said, "Holy Smokerama Give Me More" out loud, but I know that this is the deep down, whole-hearted personal reaction to these tasty treats.

There are many reasons why you must try these at home whether you are or are not a stop along the Peel the Love tour.

1. Ooey, Gooey Goodness.  When the banana comes off of the grill, the inside is a sweet and custardy flavor and is also very soft.  The natural sugars from the banana become the star of the S'more and are a much better compliment to the graham cracker and chocolate square than a roasted marshmallow.

2. Healthier!! I don't know about you all, but I am not a big fan of marshmallows to begin with, but I LOVE me some bananas!!  So much so, that I still am eating them every morning for breakfast despite the fact that I am surrounded by bananas (and their smell) all day every day.  Bananas are so healthy compared to marshmallows and they are something you are more likely to have around the house!  I always say, "If it doesn't go bad, it isn't good for you."  Can someone remind me how long it takes a marshmallow to go bad?  Foreverrrrrrrrrr.  Bananas?  About 5-7 days.  Anyway, the point is, the Grilled Banana S'more tastes better and is better for you!

3. At Home OR At the Campfire:  I typically don't eat S'mores unless I am camping, because that is the only time I buy or use marshmallows, yet I love s'mores.  Using the banana instead of the marshmallow makes them more accessible as a dessert at home, even if you don't have a campfire roaring in your back yard. At the same time, it is just as easy to pack a banana for a camping trip as it is to pack a bag of marshmallows that you probably won't finish.

All in all - it is a win win situation with the Grilled Banana S'more.  Plus, it is easy!  The recipe is below, so give it a try - or visit us on the tour somewhere - and I promise you will fall in love.

Grilled Banana S'mores
Ingredients & Supplies:
- 6 bananas, still in the peel
  (Ripe bananas are best - "cheetah" bananas if you will.  Bananas without brown flecks are okay too).
- Graham Crackers, each sheet split in half
- Chocolate Squares 
- A grill, a bowl, a small spoon

Directions:
1. Place unpeeled bananas right on the grill rack on medium/high heat. Grill each side for 10 minutes or until the bananas are black and very very soft (the peel may split and some sugars may ooze from the peel).
2.  With tongs, take the grilled bananas off the grill - those suckers get super hot!
3. Peel, Ooze, Squish the bananas into a bowl.  This is super easy because the grilled bananas slip right out of the peel.
4. Stir with a spoon so they are easily spreadable.
5. Spread on a graham cracker, top with a chocolate square and sandwich with another graham cracker.
6. Eat before the chocolate melts all over our fingers!!


You won't want to eat your standard S'more again.  These have been a hit on the tour - and don't worry, I have been able to sneak some for myself too!

P.S.  Check out Dole Bananas at your local grocery store and see if they have the Peel the Love sticker!!


PEEL THE LOVE!!

Launching of Love and Flinging of Bananas

Whew!  It has been quite the week / weekend getting this tour off the ground!  I must apologize to those of you receiving an email from me recently.  I went back to re-read some of my emails and BOY did I not edit that before sending.  I was a bit tired at that point in time, but if you are reading this it means you made it to the correct blog address!

Our first fill up of the 50 gallon tank!

 For those of you that heard about the bridge collapse in Seattle, no, we were not involved.  Ironically, I have a fear of drowning and falling from bridges into water while driving.  Irrational, I know.  But, as we drove in to Seattle I had asked Lucas about the way the truck doors lock from the inside because I was thinking, "What would we do if we went over a bridge in this thing??"  Sure enough, the next morning we heard the story about the bridge on I-5!  Bad timing.  My heart goes out to the people that were involved, but man-o-man that did that make me nervous!

On Thursday, we picked up the Peel the Love truck from the airport and finally had a chance to feel how the thing drives!  It wasn't too bad, although getting used to how wide we are will take some time.  We basically take up an entire lane.  It is nice sitting so high above everyone else...so much so that we can't see anyone as they drive past to see their reaction to how bright we are.  It was fun to finally get to drive around, fill up with gas for the first time, and discover that our windshield definitely leaks when it rains!  That will be fixed soon though.

Lucas also discovered the great acoustics that compliments our truck.  We anticipate there will be some great singing sessions during our longer road trips...maybe we can get a video of that at some point.  We also "get to" stop at weight stations!  Riding at 14,050 lbs. qualifies you for a weigh station stop, so that should be an experience!  Don't worry, some quality trucker hats are on the list of things we need to purchase sooner rather than later.

Bed full of t-shirts

Otherwise, we have been doing a lot of shopping, organizing of the truck and figuring out how to clean dishes since the sink on our truck is relatively small.  Oh yes, I also sorted 1000s of t-shirts in my hotel room.  The picture shown is a birds eye view of the queen bed at our hotel...the bed is there somewhere!  There is a lot to figure out but we are starting to get some systems down so our sampling days are like a well oiled, but very delicious, running machine.

1,400 DOLE Bananas

We also loaded up our food truck with 1,400 bananas....and no, that is not a typo.  With 15 boxes stacked every which way, we arrived with 1,400 bananas on the truck for the first event.  We served 1,000s of samples and still had plenty of boxes on our truck.  We are constantly surrounded by bananas but I can't say I mind it so much.  I was worried about the smell, but so far that hasn't been a problem.

Our first event has gone really well and I will be blogging about that it my next post, but we have also had some time to see the city of Seattle, walk around the Northwest Folklife Festival (where our first event took place), see Luke's wonderful cousins, eat some local Seattle fare and also met some great people.  I wish I could write about it all right now, but I really like the idea of going to bed.  So I will show some photos instead!

The first brewery we tried of the summer.  Delicious!! In Kent, WA.

Puppets and guitars at the Folklife Festival

Space Needle 

Pikes Place - I finally got my own pic of the sign! 

I was tired and this seemed like a good idea...

The gum wall....so gross, yet so cool!!

One of the many garages under The Pike Brewing Co. 

Clara - our cousin, doing some dancing with her flower balloon!

Our last day at the Northwest Folklife Festival is tomorrow and I will post about it then, so be on the lookout!

For now, I will leave you with this:

Blue Diamond Almonds is a 100 year old company and is a co-op.  They work with 3,000 almond farmers from California for all of their almonds and work closely with them to make their snack almonds, Nut Thins, and Almond Breeze delicious!!

Good night and Peel the Love!!

The Peel The Love Tour!!

     It must have been fate when I created this blog, because my husband and I are about to embark on the most adventurous Gourmet Getaway of all!  This summer we will be seeing the country - from coast to gulf to coast - on a food truck!  Traveling to events, museums, festivals, science centers, zoos, and various grocery stores, we will be sampling my favorite fruit ever...BaNaNaS!!  
     Considering I already eat a banana just about every day, love a delicious smoothie, enjoy traveling and cooking, aim to live a healthy life and love talking to people - the tour was just too good to be true! Bananas, promoting healthy lifestyles and some adventure mixed in...this tour was designed for someone like Lucas and me!

 In addition to Dole Bananas, we will also be sampling Almond Breeze almond milk made by Blue Diamond Almonds, and combining bananas and various flavors of Almond Breeze to dish up some tasty and unique recipes!  It turns out bananas are a great addition to salads, and the chocolate almond milk made by Almond Breeze is out of this world.  I can go into details later, but this is just an intro into this adventure of ours!



The Truck:
    Since choosing to be tour managers for the Peel the Love Tour, the food truck has been referred to as many different things - The Banana Boat, The Banana Bus, The Banana Truck, The Banana Mobile, etc.  
     Also, many questions such as - 
Is it shaped like a banana? No...
Is it big? YES.... 
Is it yellow?...Not exactly, but more exciting than yellow... 
Will you live in the truck?  Nope.

Low and behold, our newest companion and home away from home for the summer:

The Getaway:

     During the summer we will be traveling to the following cities via food truck, and hopefully seeing some great sites in between each stop!  We begin our tour in Seattle and finish in New York with many cities along the way.  If you have any suggestions for things to do in these cities, please comment at the end of this post:
Seattle...
Sacramento...
Los Angeles...
Phoenix....
Houston....
Des Moines....
Baltimore / DC ....
New York

The Gourmet:
     I will go into details about each recipe as we make our way through the tour, but below is a list of the food we will be sampling at events:
1. Pineapple Banana Coconut Smoothie
2. Chocolate Monkey Smoothie (with chocolate, peanut butter and banana)
3. Frozen Banana Pudding Pops
4. Grilled Banana S'mores
5. Grilled Bananas with Sundae Bar Toppings
6. Thai Peanut Banana Salad (yup, banana salad)!

     If you are interested in following our travels, seeing photos, learning about Dole bananas and Almond Breeze almond milk, and staying in touch this summer...this is the place to be!  I will do my best to update a couple times per week and will also provide recipes, banana and almond fun facts and general updates about our travels.  Please add comments below or shoot us emails during the summer, because we will surely miss everyone!

By the way - Did You Know?!?! - The average person eats 28 pounds of bananas a year!
We will probably eat 28 pounds on this tour alone!

Have a wonderful summer, keep your eyes peeled for our new ride trucking along the interstates, and if you are in a city where we will be, please stop by and say hello!  In the meantime...

PEEL THE LOVE!!