P.B. Banana Dream

Apparently I'm on a banana dessert kick because that's what I have for you again today! Actually, at work we are doing a fruit and veggie challenge. We are challenging all of our clients to get at least five servings of fruits and/or veggies each day. Afterall, that's the minimum recommended amount of fruits and veggies you should eat a day. But do most people get that? No. Do you???

So I've been a little more aware of my fruit and vegetable intake each day. I do a pretty good job of getting at least 5 servings in each day but THE MORE THE BETTER! So lately when I've been craving something sweet, I'm reaching for a piece of fruit instead of thinking about making cookies.

This recipe is a variation of a recipe that is in one of the weight loss programs I administer in groups with my clients. It's always raved about by the clients so I thought I should give it a try. It is pretty tasty! I don't typically like vanilla yogurt but I found that I prefer Dannon brand over Yoplait. You could also try Greek yogurt for a little extra protein.

P.B. Banana Dream

2 small bananas, sliced in half lengthwise
2 Tbsp creamy peanut butter
1/2 tsp cinnamon
6 oz container fat free light vanilla yogurt

On a microwave safe plate, spread banana slices thinly with peanut butter and sprinkle with cinnamon. Cover with a paper towel. Microwave for 15 to 45 seconds, until banana is cooked and peanut butter is melted.

Top with vanilla yogurt and serve immediately.

Makes 2 servings. Per serving:

240.8 calories
8.7 g fat
37.2 g carbohydrate
4.0 g fiber
7.6 g protein

Chocolate Banana Soft Serve

It was a hot summer when I was pregnant last year. I swear it was in the 90's every day - at least it felt like it to me. One way that I found effective to cool off was to eat ice cream (every night). Needless to say, this did not help with my pregnancy weight gain. Even though I have all the nutrition training I could possibly need, I still over-indulged a little while pregnant.

Thankfully, after I had Finley I dropped the daily ice cream habit. I saw a post on Muncher Cruncher a few weeks ago on making Banana Soft Serve. I admit, I was a little skeptical. Really??? Its going to be like soft serve ice cream just by sticking a frozen banana in the blender? Right....

Well I tried it. And it worked! I did find that trying to make a single serving with just one banana didn't blend up too well. So I added a second banana and shared with my husband. It was the perfect evening sweet treat. DELICIOUS :) I also added a tsp of unsweetened cocoa powder to almost make it like chocolate soft serve.

I decided to compare it to another Chocolate/Banana ice cream. Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey ice cream provides the following per serving:

300 calories
18 g fat
30 g carbohydrate
1 g fiber
5 g protein

This provides

110 kcal
0.7 g fat
28.2 g carbohydrate
3.1 g fiber
1.3 g protein

Not a bad trade....

So what do you do?

Stick two frozen peeled bananas in your blender. Begin blending. Add 1 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder (if desired). Blend until smooth and creamy. Divide into two servings and ENJOY!

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins / Bread

I have been on a quick bread kick lately. I seem to keep making them as treats to give away or to go along with our meal. So I decided to declare this Quick Breads Week. First up - Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins / Bread.

I had a freezer full of brown bananas and needed to do a little reorganization so they needed to be used. I also am in a calorie burn competition at work and having been pushing extra hard with the workouts, so I'm a little hungrier than normal. So having a sweet fix like banana bread around has been a lifesaver!

I went out in search of a banana bread recipe that was a little different and found one that called for sour cream on Foodies, Inc. So I decided to give it a try.

Original recipe provides (per serving):

194 calories
8.7 g fat
27.4 g carbohydrate
0.9 g fiber
2.8 g protein

I made the usual changes: I substituted reduced fat sour cream for the full fat version as well as used unsweetened applesauce in place of the butter. The result was awesome! I made 12 muffins and 2 medium sized loaves out of a double batch of this. The muffins were gone in just a few days. The loaves made it to the freezer. One was delivered to my coworker who is a new mom. The other one waits in the freezer for it's final resting place (which just might be my belly!).

Rock Your Banana Bread - BETTER

1/3 cup reduced fat sour cream
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup mashed ripe bananas
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter desired baking dish (muffin tin, loaf pan, etc). Combine sour cream and baking soda in a bowl. Cream applesauce and sugar in a large bowl. Beat in eggs, bananas, and sour cream mixture. Sift in flour and baking soda. Stir in chocolate chips. Spoon mixture into pan. Bake for one hour for 9x5 pan, 30 minutes for muffin tin, 45 minutes for 4x8 pan, etc.

Take it out of the oven , let it cool and enjoy! Makes 20 servings. Per serving:

153 calories
3.7 g fat
28.1 g carbohydrate
1.0 g fiber
2.7 g protein

***You could probably omit the chocolate chips here and save a bunch on calories and fat... that really wasn't what I was going for :) ****

Banana Carrot Bread (or muffins)

I’m not a big banana eater. I will buy them a few times a year for my husband to eat but he usually forgets about them and they turn brown and mushy on the counter. So I toss them in the freezer for their inevitable fate of banana bread.

This past weekend my brother and his family came from Pittsburgh to see our new house and meet our new baby. I assume all young children eat bananas so I purchased a bunch for my 2 year old niece and 11 month old nephew to eat. Turns out they are not banana eaters… so banana bread it is! I went searching among the food blogs for a banana bread recipe. I came across this recipe from The Sisters Café for Banana Carrot Bread and thought I’d give it a try.

As originally posted, this recipe provides:

Per serving (18 servings per recipe)

200 calories

9.8 g fat

30.5 g carbohydrate

0.9 g fiber

2.3 g protein

This recipe has a lot of good qualities. The bananas provide a good source of potassium which helps your heart and muscles. The carrots are a good source of vitamin A which has many benefits, including vision health.

I only made two small changes in this recipe. I substituted unsweetened applesauce for the canola oil to decrease the fat.

I also substituted whole wheat flour for the all purpose flour to provide added fiber and a source of whole grains.

The result was a batch of delicious, flavorful, and tender muffins.

Banana Carrot Bread – BETTER

1 cup mashed bananas (~3 very ripe bananas)

1 cup brown sugar

¾ c. unsweetened applesauce

2 eggs

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

½ tsp cinnamon

½ tsp nutmeg

1 cup finely grated carrots

Combine bananas, brown sugar, applesauce and eggs in mixer. Sift flour, soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg together in a large bowl. Stir in banana mixture. Fold in carrots. Spoon into greased and floured large loaf pan. I baked in lined muffin tins for 20 minutes. Bake at 350 degree F for 45-50 minutes or until done. Do not over bake.

118 calories

0.9 g fat

30.9 g carbohydrate

2.3 g fiber

3.3 g protein