Shay's Strawberry Tart

My little sous chef arrived the other day with a notebook in which she'd copied down recipes from a children's cookbook she'd checked out of the library. She was so excited to show me and to ask we could cook one. One problem... her notes didn't actually contain any measurements!

Rather than disappoint her, I decided to take the basic premise of one of the recipes and wing it. In the end, I was able to simplify it so much that this nine-year-old chef was able to do it entirely on her own (with careful supervision, of course).

Shay's Strawberry Tarts

Ingredients:
1 pkg mini graham cracker crusts (the Keebler ones are accidentally vegan)
1 qt fresh strawberries
1 sm jar all-fruit preserves

Directions:
Spray the crusts lightly with baking spray and pre-bake according to package directions. Cool five minutes. Slice strawberries and arrange in crusts. Place preserves in a saucepan over medium heat until melted. Pour into strawberry-filled crusts. Cool tarts in refrigerator for at least 20 minutes until preserves are set. Top with vegan whipped cream or ice cream, if desired.

Fool-proof no-fat vegan banana bread

I couldn't find my family recipe for banana bread, so I decided to wing it. This turned out awesome. It's less like a traditional crumbly quick bread and more like a nice dense breakfast bread, but with all the delicious banana bread flavor and none of the fat. (Well, there's a negligible amount of fat in the banana itself, but not enough to count - less than a quarter of a gram per slice. And you do spray the pan. Still, I'm comfortable calling this 'no-fat'.)

Fool-proof no-fat banana bread

4 over-ripe bananas, mashed

2/3 cup sugar

1 cup white flour

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt 

1 tsp vanilla

4 tbsp water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mash bananas and add wet ingredients. In a separate bowl, sift together dry ingredients. Slowly mix dry ingredients into wet. Spray a loaf pan with cooking spray and pour batter into pan. Bake 55 minutes or until golden brown and pulling away from the sides. Cool in pan on a wire rack for five minutes, then remove from pan (or cool completely in pan).