Healthy Banana Bars

A little while ago I came across this recipe for Peanut Butter, Banana and Honey Road Cake. And this morning, as a reward for the busy day I had yesterday, I decided to finally enjoy some quality baking time. Unfortunately I didn’t have one of the title ingredients — honey. But the fact it was the healthiest banana bread I had stumbled across in some time (possibly ever) made me decide it was worth trying anyway. And the substitutions I made seemed to work out perfectly. The only thing I think I could have added but didn’t think of until it was too late was chopped walnuts. Walnuts are always a great addition to banana bread. Oh well — next time! Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 3 ripe bananas, mashed
• 1/4 cup Splenda (or other sweetener of choice)
• 1 egg (or flax egg if making vegan)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 1 heaping tablespoon creamy peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons apple sauce
• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine banana, Splenda, egg, vanilla, maple syrup, peanut butter and apple sauce in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Ensure all banana lumps have disappeared.
3. Stir in flours, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.
4. Pour mixture into a greased 8 x 8 baking pan. Even out mixture.
5. Bake in oven for 30-35 minutes. You can check on it at 25 minutes but I find the bananas cause the mixture to take a long time to cook.
6. Let cool for 10 minutes or so as bread will continue to cook on the inside and then serve.

Note: Loaf can easily be cut into squares which are convenient to take with you as a quick snack or breakfast on-the-go.

Huevos Rancheros Cups

Need a little bit of Mexican in your day to day meals? This recipe from Canadian Living’s Best Recipes Ever definitely fits the bill. I had it with my family for brunch on Christmas day and it was absolutely perfect. The ground beef was our own addition because meat is big in our household but you could easily not use it if you’re looking for a vegetarian dish. Hope you like it!

Huevos Rancheros

Serves 8

Ingredients:

- 8 tortillas

- 1 lb lean ground beef

- 1 tablespoon olive oil

- 1 onion, chopped

- 4 cloves of garlic, minced

- 1 bell pepper, diced (red or green – it’s up to you!)

- 1 tablespoon chili powder

- salt and pepper (to taste)

- 1/4 teaspoon hot sauce

- 2 cups tomato sauce

- 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

- 8 eggs

- coriander (optional)

Directions:

1. Grease 8 large muffin tins. Press a tortilla into each muffin tin. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Brown ground beef with oil in a frying pan. Remove excess liquid. Add in onions and let cook until they begin to soften. Stir in garlic, pepper, chili powder, salt, pepper, and hot sauce. Once peppers have softened add in tomato sauce and black beans. Bring to a boil. Reduce to very low heat.

3. Place tray of tortillas in oven for 6 minutes, or until crisp.

4. While this is happening, begin poaching the eggs.

5. When tortillas are done, remove from tray and place each tortilla in a bowl and stretch slightly so you can load in more sauce.

6. Place a spoonful of sauce in each tortilla cup and top with a poached egg. You can sprinkle with coriander if using.

The dish is best served right away so eat up!

Whole Wheat Carrot Banana Muffins

These sugar-free, whole wheat muffins are the perfect way to start your day! They are filled with yummy and good-for-you ingredients and the recipe yields about 16 so you’ll have plenty to last you through the week. I made some alterations from the original recipe to increase the nutritional content and I think they turned out great.

Whole Wheat Carrot Banana Muffins

Makes 16

Ingredients:

- 1 and 1/2 cups whole what flour

- 1/2 cup all purpose flour (to help them fluff out a bit more)

- 2 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

- 3/4 teaspoon salt

- 2 teaspoons cinnamon

- 3/4 cup chopped walnuts

- 1/2 cup chopped dried dates

- 1/2 cup hot water

- 3 medium ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 and 1/4 cups)

- 1 and 1/2 cups shredded carrot

- 1/2 cup plain yoghurt (I used non fat)

- 2 eggs

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Combine flours, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and walnuts in a large bowl.

3. In a small bowl combine dates and hot water and let sit so the water can soak up some of the sweetness of the dates and the dates can soften.

4. In a medium bowl combine bananas and carrots. Whisk yoghurt and eggs together in another small bowl and add to the banana-carrot mixture. Add in the date-water mixture.

5. Gently stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just combined (you don’t want to over-mix)

6. Scoop the mixture into paper muffin cups or a well greased muffin tray. Don’t be afraid of filling them up too much as they will barely rise at all.

7. Bake in oven for 30-35 minutes. Remove and let cool before transfering to an airtight container for storage. They will keep very well in the fridge or can even be frozen if you don’t think you’ll use them all within the week.

Hope they warm up your mornings as much as they did for me!

 

Peanut Butter Banana Muffins

Well, any recipe that involves peanut butter is good by me!This recipe is nice because it isn’t too heavy on the peanut butter so you get that nice nutty flavor without it being too rich. I didn’t have any flax seeds on hand so I made some alterations to the original recipe but they still turned out great. They’re a great way to kick off your day!

Peanut Butter Banana Muffins

Makes 14

Ingredients:

- 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

- 1 cup oats

- 1 teaspoon baking powder

- 1 teaspoon baking soda

- 1/2 cup sugar (I used Splenda)

- 2 tablespoons oil (I used grapeseed)

- 6 tablespoons peanut butter

- 2 ripe, mashed bananas

- 2 eggs (lightly beaten)

- 1 cup water

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place muffin cups in muffin tin.

2. Combine flour, oats, baking soda, baking powder and sugar in a large bowl.

3. In a medium bowl combine peanut butter and oil.  Add banana and mix well. Stir in eggs and water.

4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix well.

5. Scoop batter evenly into muffin cups. Place in oven and bake for 20-25 minutes. Remove and let cool – or if you’re me, snag one to eat for breakfast right away!

 

Lemon Blueberry Oat Muffins

It has been far too long since I have made breakfast muffins – so this batch definitely hit the spot. They’re very easy to make and you likely already have the majority of the ingredients sitting around your kitchen.

Lemon Blueberry Oat Muffins

Makes 12

Ingredients:

- 1 and 3/4 cups rolled oats

- 2 tablespoons brown sugar

- 1 cup flour (I used whole wheat)

- 1/2 cup sugar (I used Splenda)

- 1 tablespoon baking powder

- 1/2 teaspoon salt

- 1 cup milk (I used soy milk)

- 1 egg

- 2 tablespoons oil (I used olive oil)

- zest of 1 lemon

- 1 teaspoon vanilla

- 1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen

Directions:

1.Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place 12 muffin cups in a muffin tin (or lightly oil it is you don’t have any cups on hand).

2. Combine 1/4 cup oats and brown sugar for topping. Put aside.

3. In a large mixing bowl combine oats, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

4. In a small bowl stir together milk, egg, oil, lemon zest and vanilla.

5. Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients until just combined. Do not overmix.

6. Gently fold in blueberries.

7. Scoop mixture evenly into each of the 12 muffin cups. Gently sprinkle oat and sugar topping over each muffin.

8. Bake in oven for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.

My thanks to Quaker Oats for the recipe – it was just what I needed!

Pumpkin Spice Smoothie

After making an incredibly delicious Pumpkin Spice Latte last week, I still had more pumpkin puree to make use of. So I was very grateful to come across this recipe. It is the perfect example of a healthy treat. It literally tastes like a smoothie version of pumpkin pie filling but every single ingredient is good for you. How can you say no to that!?

Pumpkin Spice Smoothie

Makes 1 small dessert sized smoothie (if you want it to be more of a meal I would recommend doubling the ingredients)

Ingredients:

- 2 iced cubes

- half a banana (frozen and cubed)

- 1 tablespoon oats

- 1/4 cup pumpkin puree

- 1/3 cup milk

- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

- 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

- 1 teaspoon sweetener (I used Splenda)

Directions:

1. Blend iced cubes and frozen banana.

2. Once they are broken down add oats, pumpkin, milk, cinnamon, nutmeg and sweetener.

3. Once thoroughly blended transfer to a small glass and eat up with a spoon.

The All Time Best Smoothie

After many cases of trial and error through the years I finally discovered the trick to the thickest, creamiest smoothie:

Frozen Fruit!

If you make your smoothies with all frozen fruit they come out with a texture so thick they practically have to be consumed with a spoon! Using a frozen banana also helps to create the thickness and a little bit of Splenda goes a long way in terms of frothiness.

The following is just one example of the fruits you can use but feel free to play around with whatever you have on hand. As long as there is frozen fruit, banana, yoghurt and milk – you can’t go wrong!

Amazing Smoothie

Serves 1 as a meal or two as a snack or beverage

Ingredients:

- Half a banana (sliced and frozen)

- 4 strawberries (cut in half and frozen)

- half a peach (cubed and frozen)

- quarter of an avocado (cubed and frozen)

- 1/4 cup yoghurt

- 1/2 cup milk

- 1 tablespoon Splenda

Directions:

1. Begin by blending frozen fruits in a food processor.

2. When they have broken down add milk, yoghurt and Splenda. Continue to blend.

3. Transfer to a glass and drink up!

Pumpkin Spice Latte

I enjoy Starbucks’ pumpkin spice latte but I’m not a huge fan of all the added sugar in it. So when I stumbled upon this healthy homemade recipe I just had to give it a try. I had leftover pumpkin puree from my pumpkin oat pancakes and this seemed like the perfect way to make use of it. Definitely a great pick-me-up in the morning!

Pumpkin Spice Latte

Serves 1 (But can be easily multiplied to make as many as you desire)

Ingredients:

- 1/4 cup milk (I used soy milk which brought out the sweetness really nicely)

- 2 rounded tablespoons pumpkin puree

- 1 teaspoon vanilla

- 1 tablespoon sweetener (I used Splenda but honey, agave or sugar would work great too)

- 1 teaspoon cinnamon

- pinch of nutmeg

- coffee (I used just under 2 coffee cups going by the markings on my coffee pot – probably equals about 200ml – but you can use more or less depending on how strong you like it)

- you can also add other spices like cloves or allspice if you have them on hand – it’s totally up to you

Directions:

1. Brew coffee.

2. Warm milk in microwave. Stir in pumpkin, vanilla, sweetener, cinnamon and nutmeg.

3. Pour in coffee and stir well.

With the arrival of fall it’s the perfect treat to enjoy on an early morning, after a long day at work or to curl up with on your day off. Mmmm…so good!

Pumpkin Oat Pancakes

This is definitely the healthiest pancake recipe I’ve ever come across – no flour, minimal sugar and nutritious additions like flax and pumpkin puree. I got the recipe from the wonderful blog, Clean Eating Chelsey, which you should definitely check out if you’re interested in healthy eating. This recipe is delicious, nutritious and can be made vegan to boot!

Pumpkin Oat Pancakes

(Makes 6 small patties)

Ingredients:

- 1 cup oats

- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

- 1 teaspoon cinnamon

- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

- 2 teaspoons vanilla

- 2 tablespoons ground flax

- 4 tablespoons water

- 6 tablespoons pumkin puree

- 5 tablespoons milk (I used soy milk)

- 1 tablespoon sweetener (I used Splenda but you could use brown sugar, agave or honey just as easily)

Directions:

1.In a small bowl combine flax and water. Let sit for 5 minutes.

2. Grind half the oats in a food processor. Combine ground oats, solid oats, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg.

3. Stir in vanilla, pumpkin puree, milk, sweetener and flax mixture.

4. Heat a frying pan to medium heat. Pour mixture into disks (you can do whatever size you like – I did them small so I would have six).

5. Once bottoms have turned golden, flip them and continue cooking. Once they have fully cooked, remove from heat.

They are best served with butter and maple syrup but are also suitable as a grab and go snack. Enjoy!!

Mediterranean Frittata

So as I’ve mentioned in past posts, I’m training for a half marathon and trying to nourish myself as well as possible so my body can perform at its best. This is a huge challenge because I have one job that places me in front of dozens of sugary baked goods and another one that forces me to run around without eating for hours at a time. I’ve notices that my body often feels lethargic and I think part of that has to do with the fact I’m not getting enough protein or veggies. So my mission for the next three weeks is to get as much good food in my body as possible. And this Frittata is a great place to start because it creates multiple servings and is easy to take with me to work. Hope you enjoy!

Mediterranean Frittata

Ingredients:

- 6 eggs

- 1 tablespoon butter

- 4 tablespoons milk

- 1 tablespoon olive oil

- 1 onion, diced

- 8 button mushrooms, washed and chopped into quarters

- 4 cups shredded spinach

- 3 tablespoons bacon bits

- 3 tablespoons crumbled feta cheese

- 3 sun-dried tomatoes, chopped

- salt (to taste)

Directions:

1. In frying pan, combine olive oil and onions on medium heat until onions begin to sweat.

2. Add in mushrooms. Allow them to cook for about five minutes and then add in spinach.

3. Whisk together eggs, milk and butter.

4. Once spinach has wilted, drain any excess liquid from the pan. Distribute the veggies evenly in the pan. Sprinkle bacon, dun-dried tomatoes and feta over veggies. Let sit for a minute.

5. Pour egg mixture evenly into pan. Allow to cook on low-medium heat until eggs have solidified. For an added flare, broil frittata in the oven to crisp up the top and make sure it is cooked fully. Enjoy!!