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Tag: banana

Healthy Irish Oatmeal

Irish Oatmeal2

  • 4 cups water
  • 1 cup Irish Oats
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup agave
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Add 4 cups water into a medium saucepan. Add the cinnamon and salt. Bring to a boil. Add the oats and simmer on medium low heat for about 30 minutes or till the oats are soft but still have a bit of chew to them. Turn the heat off and add the agave and vanilla extract.
Top with flaxseed, walnuts and banana.

Kale Super Smoothie

This is my favorite smoothie- perfect for Meatless Mondays…

  • 1 cup almond milk
  • 1 cup baby kale
  • 1 teaspoon natural peanut butter
  • 2 tablespoons flaxseed
  • 1 scoop green powder or protein powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 banana
  • 2 teaspoons honey
  • 1/2 cup ice

Transfer all the ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth. Consume immediately!

 

Perfect Snack for the Royal Wedding: Apricot Banana White Chocolate Scones

apricot-banana-scone

The Royal wedding is tomorrow and a friend suggested I repost this old scone recipe for the occasion. I love eating scones but certainly don’t like all the calories… This is my healthy version. You can slather a huge amount of clotted cream and not feel too guilty. Enjoy these with a cup of English tea and enjoy the wedding. Speaking of the wedding, will you be up early morning or will you dvr it??

When it comes to eating out- one of my all time favorite things to do is- afternoon tea. I love the tradition and of course the food! I love the idea of sitting in a very adult and pleasant place; drinking tea and eating all the finger sandwiches and scones. When we were in London and Scotland, I made sure to go a few times for high tea. I usually get the darjeeling tea; all the sandwiches I can eat and of course – my favorite – currant scones. The subtle flavor is just enough to enjoy them with lots of jam and clotted cream. Oh- how I love the clotted cream- if it wasn’t so bad for me- I would eat it all the time. There is a place in Chester, NJ that serves great afternoon tea- I have not been in a very long time- now that I am writing this piece- I will be going very soon!

Typically scones are made with all purpose flour and lots of butter. The texture is crumbly and a bit dry- perfect combination for jam and cream. I do have a recipe I have been meaning to try for a long time- it is for traditional English scones given by my English Aunt. For whatever reason- I have never made them at home. Recently, I had a friend ask me if I could post a scone recipe on the blog. I remembered the one I have from my Aunt and thought about using the recipe- but I realized it has a lot of butter … and somehow it didn’t appeal to me. I started looking for other recipes but nothing stood out. Then, one day I had an overripe banana and I didn’t want to make my usual banana bread – so I thought- maybe I can bake some scones with it. Bananas are sweet and I wanted to pair a tangy ingredient to make the scones eatable without jam or cream- more like a snack- actually I was trying to save myself the clotted cream calories!- so I came up with dried apricots. I switched the all purpose flour for white whole wheat flour and decided to cut back on the butter a bit- this recipe does not have that much at all. I also decided to add some white chocolate chips- somehow using apricots made me think of white chocolate- they added a nice burst of sweetness to the scones.

Overall the scones were good- moist and not overly sweet- the bananas helped with the soft texture. I think next time I bake them- I might add an egg glaze on top with some extra sugar. They would be a bit more aesthetically pleasing. In terms of taste, they were delicious- Sia loved them and I gave them to my husband for breakfast- which he loved!

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Healthy Snack: Fruit and Yogurt Parfait

Fruit and Yogurt

This is a great snack and I am still eating it. I posted this back in September and thought I needed to repost it since it so healthy and delicious. If you missed it last time- here it is again. I changed it a bit in keeping with the seasonal fruits,etc.

I am sharing my new, healthy snack. I eat it everyday. Sometimes even for a meal.

If it’s a snack, then I don’t use as many fruits- but if it’s a meal- I make sure to add at least five to fulfill my daily fruit requirements. It is a delicious way to incorporate a bunch of healthy things I need to eat through the day.

I use the non-fat greek yogurt– it’s creamy like whipped cream and has a good amount of protein. I like to use wild blueberries– they are a super food, even better than the regular ones. I put them in frozen to achieve a nice crunch- and they are delicious. Besides the other fruits, I add walnuts– the best kind of nut to have. Fills you up and is good for you. Raw honey is very good for you as well. I add a tablespoon of it on top- it tastes like I am eating a big bowl of dessert. I also add flaxseed mixed with dried blueberries. I buy it from Trader Joes and love the taste of it. I sprinkle it right on top- it gives the snack a nice crunch.

I am absolutely loving this concoction. I look forward to it everyday and I am thrilled with how healthy it is. Definitely give it a try- I am sure you will enjoy it as well!
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Banana Chocolate Walnut Bread

banana-chocolate-breadI have been baking this bread for many years now. I got the original recipe from food television but have tweaked it over time. One of the things I changed was the sugar. I have stopped using white sugar and have switched to sugar made out of evaporated cane juice. The raw version of that is turbinado sugar. It brings a crunch and a nutty flavor to the bread. I also substituted all-purpose flour to white whole-wheat flour. This definitely darkens the color of the bread and again it adds nuttiness to it. I also added chocolate to it! Now anything with chocolate is usually very good- including this bread. I guarantee this will be the best banana bread you will taste! It is simply delicious!!  I am curious to know if any of you have a favorite banana bread recipe.  My daughter absolutely loves it and likes to take some to school for an after lunch dessert. I don’t mind as I am happy about the healthy ingredients in it. It is good for breakfast, snack or dessert!

  • 1¼ cups unbleached white whole-wheat flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon fine salt
  • 2 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for preparing the pan
  • 1 cup turbinado sugar
  • 3 very ripe bananas, peeled, and mashed with a fork (about 1 cup)
  • ½ cup toasted walnut pieces
  • ½ cup milk or dark chocolate, chips or grated

Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl, set aside.  Whisk the eggs and vanilla together in a liquid measuring cup with a spout, set aside.  Lightly brush a 9X5X3 inches loaf pan with butter.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Gradually pour the egg mixture into the butter while mixing until incorporated.  Add the bananas (the mixture will appear to be curdled), and remove the bowl from the mixer.

With a rubber spatula, mix in the flour mixture until just incorporated.  Fold in the nuts and chocolate pieces and transfer the batter to the prepared pan.  Bake for 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean.  Cool the bread in the pan for 5 minutes before taking it out.  Cool completely before serving.