Friday Favorites...

It was time for a change...hope you like the new background! Those of you who know me will understand that I couldn't stay away from purple for too long. :-)

This week, I decided to post another recipe that became a instant favorite with my family. "Branana Bread" was easy to make and easy to eat! We doubled the recipe and devoured it in just a few days. Being a "sneaky chef", I love how it has bran and flaxseed mixed in, but my family couldn't tell. (Success!!!!) It brings a unique twist to regular banana bread and has been slightly altered to aid those of us who are calorie conscience. :-) Here is the recipe so you can give it a try:


Moist and delicious chocolate-chip banana bread with bran and flax.

Makes 1 large loaf, 16 pieces (Cut loaf into 8 thick slices and then cut each slice in half)

Per slice: 174 calories, 6.2 g total fat (1.8 g saturated fat), 6 g protein, 27 g carbohydrate, 3.5 g fiber, 31 mg cholesterol, 159 mg sodium

Ingredients
2 cups Robin Hood Nutri-Flour Blend (or 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour mixed with 1/2 cup wheat bran)
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup ground flaxseed or flaxmeal
1 teaspoon each baking soda and baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups mashed RIPE bananas
3/4 cup plain yogurt (2%)
2 eggs
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/3 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions
1.Preheat oven to 350ºF. Spray a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan lightly with cooking spray and set aside.
2.In a large bowl, combine flour, ground flax, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.
3.In a medium bowl, whisk together bananas, yogurt, eggs, butter and vanilla. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir just until moistened. Fold in nuts and chocolate chips, being careful not to overmix the batter.
4.Spoon batter into prepared pan. Bake for about 50 minutes, or until wooden skewer inserted in center of loaf comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes. Remove loaf from pan and cool completely on a wire rack. Slice and serve or wrap tightly with plastic wrap and store at room temperature.
5.Tip: The bananas must be very, very ripe (sweet!) for this banana bread as there’s very little added sugar.

Now, I changed the recipe just a bit by using coconut oil instead of butter, unrefined sugar instead of white, whole wheat flour, and I dumped a generous amount of flax seed in. And it tasted great!

For those of you who are watching your calories (like me!) let me warn you that I would only advise you to make this if there are other people in the house to help you eat it. Otherwise, I know you'll be tempted to consume WAY too much of this. Most weight loss programs advise people to stay away from "baked goods", because of the higher calories per serving - you can't eat as much as you'd like. (One little piece of bread doesn't seem like it holds many calories, but it does!) So if baked goods are big a temptation for you, I'd suggest either:
-make a batch of this, cut it into single slice servings and then freeze them. That way, you can pull out a single piece at a time and not be tempted when staring at a whole loaf of the bread.
-make the batch and share it with family, friends, neighbors, etc
-or...just skip this all together! Yummy recipe, but would you rather shrink your waist size or eat a loaf of branana bread? That is the question. :-)

You see, I have found this out the hard way several times. Baked goods are a huge temptation for me! Especially when they are healthy baked goods, full of good fats and whole wheat. It's easy to think, "This is so healthy! How can it be wrong to eat some?" But the truth is -eating too much of anything is not good for our bodies. Whether it's branana bread or carrots, it doesn't matter! Our stomach wasn't designed to stretch out of proportion just so that we can satisfy our taste buds and the lust of our eyes. (Preaching to myself here!)

Anyway, if you want to practice self control - make yourself a batch and PRAY! LOL Otherwise, don't set yourself up for failure. Make a batch and freeze it or share it.

Have a great weekend everyone ~ Bekah