Small Batch Vegan Banana Bread

I love baking. And eating baked goodies. But living in a small household spells trouble when I pull out the loaf pans and announce my desire to bake. Especially when that desire is for banana bread, since I am the only one at home who likes banana in my baked goods. So I played with a variety of recipes and tweaked a combination of a couple in order to create this small-batch vegan banana bread. It made two mini loaf pans which meant one to enjoy and one to share!

In order to get the breakfast (dessert?) I shared in the picture, just cube up one half of a mini loaf of banana bread and served it over some grilled pineapple spears with a dollop of your favorite dairy or non-dairy yogurt.

Small-Batch Vegan Banana Bread
(makes two mini loaves)
2 2/3 tbsp brown sugar, loose
2 2/3 tbsp white sugar
2 2/3 tbsp Earth Balance Vegan buttery spread (or your margarine of choice)
1 ripe banana, mashed
1 1/3 tbsp unsweetened almond milk mixed with 1/3 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/3 tsp vanilla
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/10 tsp baking soda (you can use 1/8 of a tsp but it has a slight after taste, in my opinion)
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
dash of salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two small loaf pans and set aside.

Mix flour, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. Set aside.

Cream sugars and margarine together. Add banana, almond milk mixture, and vanilla. Mix until blended.

Slowly add flour mixture to wet mixture until it has been combined.

Pour into loaf pans and bake for 45-60 minutes depending on your oven (mine took 45 minutes but a friend who tried it said it took about an hour in her oven). You want the bread firm with a toothpick coming out clean, but you want to prevent it from drying out.

Using Weight Watchers PointPlus, this recipe comes out to 6 PP per 1/4 of the recipe.

That's a Wrap! Uncovering Lavash

As the economy continues it's slowing trend, more people are optioning to pack a lunch rather than buy lunch out in order to cut costs. But basicsandwiches get old fast, as I am discovering on my quest to eat cheap and healthy while traveling. So while in Minnesota this weekend, I set out to explore the local grocery store for something to change up my meals.

Near the deli, I found excatly what I was looking for. Lavash! According to CookThink, "Lavash (pronounced "luh-VOSH") is a thin, round Armenian flatbread (sometimes called cracker bread) made from flour, water and salt. It's traditionally cooked in a tandoor-style oven. Popular in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran and Turkey, it is available in Middle Eastern markets. "

I was lucky enough to discover Joseph's Flax, Oat Bran & Whole Wheat Flour Lavash. The package was relatively inexpensive and had four large wraps in it. One half of a wrap is a serving and makes a delicious replacement for traditional bread.

This weekend I enjoyed turkey & Laughing Cow Cheese light wraps with sprouts and a spicy honey mustard. I also used the lavash for brekkie wraps of egg, cheese, and chicken. I packed some lavash with individual servings of peanut butter, honey and jam from the hotel breakfast buffet and gave them to my students for airplane snacks (packing the pb, honey and jam in the quart size plastic bag for security!). And when I returned home, I made my favorite of all wraps:

BB&B Burrito (Barney Butter & Banana Burrito)
(serves 2)

1 large Joseph's Lavash, sliced into two
1/2 large banana, sliced in half lengthwise (so two 1/4 banana slices)
1 90-calorie packet of Barney Butter

Warm you panini press. Lay each 1/4 slice of banana on one of the two wraps. Distribute the packet of Barney Butter between the two bananas. Wrap and press!

One serving of Joseph's Lavash: 50 calories, 2 grams of fat, 3 grams of fiber, 5 grams of protein

Nutritional Information for 1 Burrito: 125 calories, 5.75 grams of fat, 4 grams of fiber, 7 grams of protein

Curried Banana Frozen Yogurt

1/4 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp coriander seeds
1/8 tsp chili powder
1/8 tsp cinnamon
3 small bananas, diced
1 tbsp Nutiva coconut oil
2 tbsp sage honey
2 cups nonfat plain yogurt

Grind turmeric, coriander, chili and cinnamon together. Set aside.

In a medium size pan, heat coconut oil over medium high heat. Add bananas and toss to coat in oil. Saute for two minutes and then add spice blend. Saute for another minute. Drizzle honey over bananas and saute for another one to two minutes until bananas are coated and begin to soften. Remove from heat and chill.

Blend yogurt and chilled curried bananas together. You can opt to mash the bananas further or leave them chunkier. I mashed about a third of the bananas but kept the mixture on the chunkier end.

Follow ice cream maker instructions to chill mixture. Store in freezer. Serve garnished with a mint leaf.

Makes six servings at 131 calories, 2.5 grams of fat, 1.3 grams of fiber, 5 grams of protein

*****

I am entering this in July's Royal Foodie Joust hosted by the Leftover Queen.

I am also entering this in the Ice Cream Social Challenge hosted by ScottySnacks, SavortheThyme and Tangled Noodle.

Debaters Dish: Peeled Snacks, fruit on the road

We are at the California State Championships this weekend, but before the tournament kicks into full swing, I wanted to share an organic, low-calorie product that has been in my carry-on luggage the last two weeks!

When a health conscious person is always on the go, some days it can be hard to get your produce in. While I always attempt to grab some local fruits and vegetables when we get to a location, it can be difficult to travel with a variety of fruit and I believe that variety helps prevent unhealthy eating.

Luckily, there exists in this world a company that dries and packages individual servings of fruits without any added sugar. Peeled Snacks have six different fruits to choose from: Cherry-go-round, pine-4-Pineapple, go-Mango-man-go, Banan-a-peel, Apricot-a-lot & Apple-2-the-core. They also offer variety packs as well as fruit and nut mixes.

While dried fruits are often higher in calories, Peeled Snacks lowered the calories by keeping the added sugars out of the mix. The fruits are all organic and tasty to boot! Every fruit is full of flavor and the servings are big enough to satisfy your cravings for sweetness.

Apples: 110 calories/0 grams of fat/3 grams of fiber/0 grams of protein
Apricots: 110 calories/0 grams of fat/3 grams of fiber/2 grams of protein
Cherries: 130 calories/0 grams of fat/4 grams of fiber/2 grams of protein
Bananas: 150 calories/0.5 grams of fat/2 grams of fiber/1 grams of protein
Mangos: 120 calories/0 grams of fat/2 grams of fiber/2 grams of protein
Pineapple: 140 calories/0 grams of fat/1 grams of fiber/1 grams of protein

This product has been tested by this debate coach as well as my high school students. We all agree that for health conscious travelers, Peeled Snacks is a must have product. Every flavor tastes like real fruit and the texture is perfect.

Right now Peeled Snacks is offering readers a $10 gift card just for going to their site and completing a short survey. Pineapple (one of my two favorites) and Apricot are also on sale for a couple more days. Act quickly to get in on the double savings!

Reporting on the Road: Crispy Green Bananas

I am on the road this week with my students in New York City. One of the hardest parts of traveling so much is trying to eat healthy while in transit. Fresh fruit tends to spoil and bruise which can get frustrating on a 5 hour flight!

Luckily I recently had the opportunity to acquire a couple of bags of Crispy Green freeze-dried fruits for my travels. When packing my carry-on, I tossed a bag of the Crispy Green Bananas into it next to my laptop and headphones.

I have been purchasing freeze-dried fruits for awhile. They are usually lower in calories than other dried fruits that contain oils or preservatives. Unfortunately, the flavors aren't usually as brilliant as the fresh options.

I can tell you that while the calories were lower and the Crispy Green product contains JUST BANANAS, the flavor of the fruit had not faded like so many other freeze-dried products. The texture is crisp and it doesn't leave that dull powdered flavor that similar products have left. The banana flavor is rich and lingers in my mouth after swallowing, something I appreciate in a fresh banana and was surprised to see how the flavor popped and lasted with this shelf-stable product.

It also travels conveniently well. The bag made it in my carry-on on a plane and through three means of public transportation before I got an opportunity to enjoy it. The individual serving package was easy to open and made a great on the go snack. I could see enjoying it in yogurt or cereal if you have the opportunity. But, for me it was a great way to get in a fruit serving without suffering the transportation bruising.

If you are a traveler, or just like to keep fruit in your desk at work, I would recommend checking out the Crispy Green bananas! And as my travels continue, I will let you know about more of the Crispy Green fruit products as well as other travel friendly healthy fare.

Nutritional Information: 55 calories, no fat, 2 grams of fiber, 1 gram of protein

Frozen Dalmatian Carob/Chocolate Banana

Banana, fresh
Carob Chips or Chocolate Chips
Kabob Skewer

Stick stick through the banana to turn banana into a Popsicle of sorts. Push chocolate or carob chips into the banana as far as possible, leaving the banana spotted, like a dalmatian. Wrap in plastic and freeze overnight.

Points are based on measurements. I use a small banana and one point worth of unsweetened carob chips for my pops.