Category Archives: banana

Monster Smoothie

Posted on October 26, 2011 by

I am firm believer in teaching kids to eat their veggies in their normal recognizable form.  It is the only way to develop the health habit of eating veggies.  That said, I am not above sneaking in a few extra veggies in unexpected places along the way as well.

For today’s recipe I used spinach to create a fun green “monster” smoothie.  This smoothie is actually an ordinary banana smoothie with a little bit of baby spinach thrown in for color.  Don’t let the green color scare you – you can’t actually taste the spinach at all.

I served Monster smoothies with Batty Chicken Salad and Pumpkin Soup this weekend to rave reviews.  Give them a try and let me know what your family thinks.

Monster Smoothie

Prep Time: 5 minutes (plus time to freeze the banana) – Makes: 1 smoothie

  • 5-8 baby spinach leaves
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1 (6 oz) container vanilla yogurt
  • 1 frozen banana, cut into 5-6 pieces
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 1/2 cup crushed ice
Place spinach leaves, milk and yogurt in a blender and blend on high until smooth.  Add remaining ingredients and blend on low until smooth.  Serve and enjoy.

 

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Banana Bread with Nutella Swirl

Posted on September 24, 2011 by

Every Saturday morning I have this debate with myself as I contemplate breakfast.  Am I going to be Healthy Mom and serve up something with whole grains and fruit or Hero Mom and serve up something with chocolate and syrup?  This morning I tried to compromise somewhere in the middle with Banana Bread.

I used 2 recipes as the inspiration.  The first was a recipe for Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Ashley posted on Not Without Salt. The second was a Nutella Swirled Banana Bread recipe posted by Recipe Girl.  I mixed it up a little but by sneaking in some whole grain flour to “healthy it up” a bit.  Trust me you will never notice the whole grains over the chocolaty goodness of the Nutella Swirl.

    

So there you have it.  A Saturday morning  breakfast that sneaks in some whole grains while feeling like a total treat.  Hope you enjoy it!

Nutella Swirled Banana Bread

Prep time: 8 minutes  -  Cook time: 60 minutes  -  Makes: 1 loaf

  • 3 very ripe bananas, mashed
  • 1/4 cup melted butter
  • 1/3 cup vanilla yogurt (regular or low fat but not non-fat)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 3/4 cup all-purpose white flour
  • 1/2 cup oat flour
  • 1/3 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3/4 cup Nutella

Preheat oven to 350ºF.  Spray a 8 x 4 loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.

Place mashed bananas, melted butter, yogurt, vanilla, sugar, brown sugar and egg in a large mixing bowl.  Mix with a hand mixer on medium speed until well mixed and creamy.

In a separate bowl place all-purpose flour, oat flour, whole wheat flour, salt and baking soda.  Toss together with a fork.  Pour flour mixture into bowl with banana mixture.  Mix with a hand mixture on low speed until flour mixture is incorporated.

Place Nutella in a microwave-safe bowl.  Microwave for a 10-15 seconds until softened.  Add 1 cup of banana batter to softened Nutella and stir.

Fill prepared loaf pan 1/4 full with banana batter.  Add the Nutella batter as the next layer so that the pan is 1/2 full.  Add a top layer with remaining banana batter being careful not to fill the pan over 3/4 of the way full.  (If you end up with more batter than will fit in the pan, you can use it to make a muffin or two.)

Place the loaf pan on a baking sheet an place both in the oven.  Bake the bread for approx 60 – 70 minutes or until fully cooked. If the top of the loaf appears to be browning too quickly lay a loose piece of tin foil over the top.  Once the loaf is fully cooked, remover from the oven and let cool for 15-20 minutes before removing from the pan.

 

Other Recipes You Might Enjoy!

Blueberry Cinnamon Multigrain Pancakes with Maple Pecan Syrup

Nutty Banana Smoothie

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Blue Cheese and Honey on Crostinis with Figs

Posted on August 26, 2011 by

Mom is in town and I wanted to whip up some cool appetizers for us to nosh on while we catch up on the latest family and life happenings.  I happen to have some figs in the refrigerator which are always the start of something tasty!  That reminded me of I post I saw a month or so ago on Not Without Salt for Grilled Soft Cheese, Thyme Honey and Fresh Figs.  (Now doesn’t that sound heavenly!)

One small problem – there is a hurricane barreling down the coast today and call me crazy, but I just  do not want to be hanging out in the backyard in the wind and rain grilling up some cheese….no matter how delightful the end results would be!  (And no need to worry about us during Hurricane Irene – we are just getting a little wind and rain here.  It is the poor folks up the coast in NC and beyond that I am worried about this weekend!  Please say a prayer for them.)

So since grilling is out, I decided to shameless borrow Ashley’s idea and make it my own with some blue cheese and honey over oven-toasted crostinis.  The results were totally delectable!  You have warm gooey blue cheese melting with honey over crunchy crostinis and topped with fresh slices of figs.  Yummy!!  Does a simple appetizer get any better??

In addition to the taste there is another thing I love about this fabulous little appetizer.  It sounds really fancy but it is really simple and quick to make!  You don’t really need to even measure – just toast the crostinis, add some blue cheese and honey and bake again for a few minutes until everything is melty.  While crostinis are cooking you chop up a few figs for serving and you are done.  Fancy doesn’t get much simpler than that!

If you happen to be one of those people who don’t like blue cheese, you can still enjoy this dish.  Just swap out the blue cheese for some brie or camembert.  Those cheeses would be equally delicious!!

So as hurricane Irene comes barreling through the east coast this weekend I hope you are staying safe and dry where ever you are.  Happy Friday everyone!

Blue Cheese and Honey Crostinis with Fresh Figs

 

Blue Cheese and Honey with Crostinis with Fresh Figs

Prep time: 4 minutes – Cook time: 9 minutes – Makes: 10 crostinis

  • 10 slices of french bread
  • olive oil
  • 3 oz blue cheese
  • 3-4 teaspoons honey
  • 5 fresh figs

Preheat oven to 400º F.

Line a baking sheet with tinfoil.  Place slices of french bread on the baking sheet.  Drizzle or brush with a little olive oil.  Bake for 5 minutes.

Remove crostinis from oven and leave them on the baking sheet.  Add a slice or crumbs of blue cheese to each one.  Drizzle honey (roughly a heaping 1/4 teaspoon per piece) over the blue cheese and crostinis.  Return the baking sheet with crostinis to the oven and bake for 4-5 minutes or until cheese is melting. (Don’t over cook or the cheese will melt away off of the bread and onto the baking sheet.)

While crostinis and cheese are baking, cut up figs and place in a small bowl or on a small plate for serving.

Serve blue cheese and honey crostinis warm out of the oven with figs on the side.  Enjoy!

Another recipe you might enjoy!

Roasted Roma Tomatoes and Garlic Crostinis with Feta

 

 

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