Whole Wheat Banana Bread

Breakfast!

 

Breakfast: Blueberry Smoothie & Slice of Whole Wheat Banana Bread

Smoothie made with:

                1 cup plain fat free yogurt

                ½ frozen blueberries

                2 fresh strawberries

                ½ banana

                A splash of OJ on the top (adding it after pouring into cup)

Homemade Whole Wheat Banana Bread, topped with some Brummel n Brown (Recipe for bread below)

A cup of coffee, black

Note:  Nutrition Action is an amazing resource for information on healthy eating and living.  They discuss research, review popular foods and give ‘the bottom line’ on issues which I love.  One of their editions discussed spreads for bread etc.  We have been Brummel n Brown lovers for years (my dad likes to joke and say “pass the yogurt!” when he is over for dinner), so I was thrilled to see it got the top rating at Nutrition Action’s site; check out this link to see if your spread made the cut!

 

http://www.cspinet.org/nah/12_01/chart.html

Lunch:  Arugula & Pine Nut Salad

2 cups baby arugula greens

2 tbsp toasted pine nuts

3 small balls of fresh mozzarella, halved

5 small jarred, pickled beets, halved

5 grape tomatoes, halved

red onion slices

5 small brussel sprouts (wouldn’t have thought to add these, but they were left in the fridge and needed to be eaten, and they ended up being a good addition to the salad!)

1 hard-boiled egg

Dressing:  1 tbsp evoo & 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

Water w/ lemon

A cup of coffee, black

 

Snack:

¼ cup lightly salted peanuts

1 cup of fat free milk

 

Dinner:  Pizza night!

Homemade Whole Wheat Pizza (raw dough from Trader Joe’s refrigerator case)

Caramelized onions, sautéed mushrooms, green & black pitted olives

Marinara of course & Mozzarella cheese

YUM!  The picture is a bit sloppy, but it was delicious!  So delicious that I ate 4 pieces – yes half the pizza.  I am kind of embarrassed to admit it, but this is not the first time!  My husband and I often share a pizza and have no leftovers.  But it was soooooooooooooooooooo good!

 

Dessert:   

1 gala apple

Glass of water

Amy’s Homemade Whole Wheat Banana Bread Recipe:

3-4 mushy bananas

2 cups whole wheat flour

2 eggs

4 oz. cup of apple sauce & 1 tsp of honey (you can sub 1/2 cup of sugar)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 350.  Mix all the ingredients together (I use a big bowl and a hand mixer).  Pour into a greased loaf pan.  I use canola oil spray to grease the pan.  Should be done in 1 hour, give or take 10 minutes depending on your oven, so keep an eye on it at the end. 

 

This is a hearty banana bread; my boys love eating it for breakfast.  I’d say start slow with the whole wheat flour if you don’t currently use it.  For a long time I was making the bread with 1 cup white flour and 1 cup whole wheat flour.  Then one day I had everything mixed and realized we were out of white flour, so I had to do whole wheat flour for the whole recipe.  Shockingly the boys didn’t notice and continued to love it.  I tried it and like it too.    Of course, the Brummel n Brown on top makes it that much more yummy!  Also, I don’t use nuts in it because my boys are still little and try to avoid choking hazards, but it is even better with walnuts.