Tasty Tuesday – Banana Oatmeal Bread

Hi there!

It’s Tasty Tuesday!!

Make sure you head over to Lena’s page to check out all the yumminess! She’s featuring a recipe today – Quinoa Stuffed Squash from Welcome to Mommyhood.  Holy decadent deliciousness!! You’re definitely going to want to be putting THAT on your table! Don’t forget to invite me over for dinner. *wink wink nudge nudge*

So, the other day, my sailor mentioned that he had a hankering for some banana bread.

Well, you know what? Me too! Apparently, I just needed the thought to bring out the craving. mmmm…..banana bread……

So I made some!

But, I didn’t want it to be super heavy and laden with butter and oils.

Because, no one likes to feel guilty eating banana bread. It’s supposed to be healthy, right? I mean, it’s made from BANANAS!

I didn’t want it be be boring either.

Nobody likes boring banana bread. It just gets moldy instead of getting eaten.

So, I fiddled around a little with some ingredients and I came up with a winner!

It’s dense without being heavy, pretty much guilt free, and delicious – everything banana bread should be and more.

I made it on Sunday and we’re already down to less than half a loaf.

That may or may not have something to do with the fact that my sailor and I both have jobs outside of the home… not anywhere near the bread box….

Eat it as is, slather it with peanut butter, eat it straight out the pan with a fork, or whatever floats your boat….

Just don’t burn your fingers.

Banana Oatmeal Bread
makes 12 decent slices

3 bananas, mashed
1/2 avocado, mashed
1/2 cup raw honey
1/3 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt
1 egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup old-fashioned oats
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
pinch salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray loaf pan with non-stick spray.

2. In small bowl, whisk together flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.

3. In large mixer bowl fitted with paddle attachment, combine mashed bananas, avocado, honey, greek yogurt, egg, and vanilla until well blended. Slowly incorporate dry ingredients into wet until combined. Do not overbeat.

4. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 60-70 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in pan 10 minutes before turning out onto cooling rack.

Nutritional information (per the Spark People site) per slice:
Calories 172; Fat 2.5g; Carbohydrates 35.4g (fiber 4.1g, sugar 14.8g), Protein 4.5g

– jennifer

Blueberry Banana Bread

I cannot tell a lie. I did not go to CrossFit this morning.

My ribs are actually starting to feel better and, honestly, I didn’t really trust myself to take it easy. And, I really, really didn’t want to get out of bed. Besides, rest and recovery after both a marathon and an injury are important. (I’m convinced – are you?) 😉

Anyway, I’m heading out for a run in the morning and I can’t wait! I got new shoes!!

I’m so excited! They are the Saucony Kinvara 3 (I’m too impatient to wait for the 4 and Road Runner Sports has the Kinvara 3s on sale at an amazing price. I love Road Runner Sports, by the way. We only have a small running specialty store here in Pensacola and they don’t always carry what I want. I’m a VIP member with RRS (so totally worth it!) so I get 10% off all the time and free shipping. FREE! ALWAYS!! You should check them out. 🙂

It’s Friday!!

Can you tell I love Fridays?

Blueberry Banana Bread!

Apparently, I am the only one in my house that eats bananas. Well, that aren’t in bread form because a loaf of banana bread doesn’t last long in this joint! Anyway, I came back from Salt Lake City to discover the exact amount of bananas I left still hanging on my banana tree. And, as much as I love bananas, I don’t love squishy, overripe bananas (*shudder*) so these were definitely destined to become bread!

Blueberry Banana bread
Makes 1 loaf (about 12 slices)

1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3)
2 egg whites
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup plain nonfat yogurt (I used Chobani Greek)
2 1/4 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour*
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Coat a large loaf pan (about 9×4 inches) with nonstick spray.

2. With an electric mixer on medium, beat the bananas, egg whites, sugar, vanilla, oil, and yogurt. Sift the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda into another bowl. Stir until well mixed. Then, beating at low speed, add the dry ingredients to the banana batter. Stop beating as soon as the batter is moist. Gently fold in the blueberries.

3. Spread into the loaf pan and bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before turning out into a wire rack.

*Are you measuring flour the right way? I used to think the right way was to shove my measuring cup down into the flour and scoop up what I need. Oh, no. That isn’t right. Flour packs when you scoop it like that and you’ll end up with much more than you need. That can really affect your recipe! The proper way is to use something else (a spoon or another measuring cup) to scoop the flour, pour it into your measuring cup, and then level it off. Your baked goods will be so much happier!

Recipe adapted from 1,000 Lowfat Recipes – Banana Bread

Per serving:
Calories 219; Fat 4.8g (poly 1g, mono .6g); Carb 41g (Fiber .3g, Sugar 19.7g); Protein 4.5g; Sodium 118mg