Healthier Banana Bread and Other Fun Stuff

We have reason to rejoice at our house…my 14 year old got a haircut!

We’ve been wanting him to get a haircut for quite some time, but he was pretty attached to the “shaggy, homeless look”, lol.  I’ve been reminding him every day how handsome he looks now.  Yay.

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Well, I’ve still been sorta, kinda following Jackie Warner’s diet plan.  I’ve done really well on the weekdays, but I’ve loosened up (a little too much!) on the weekends.  Dang it.  I also haven’t been eating exactly what’s in her book.  I’ve eaten a lot of it, but I’ve also been tweaking some things too.  I’ll go into more detail and post some pics of the food tomorrow.

I’ve really learned a lot from this diet plan.  I’ve learned that if you stick to foods that are healthy, “real” and nutrient dense, you can eat A LOT of food for very little calories!  I’ve also learned to just eat smaller meals and to eat less in general.

I’ve also been enjoying running a lot lately.  I <3 it!  It’s been especially fun because I’ve been running “just for the fun of it” not because I’m training for a race or anything.

I’ve been running twice a week about 3-5 miles each time.  It’s just perfect for now.  I LOVE being outside, listening to great music and getting the endorphins flowing.  It’s the best!

I went on a run on Friday and it was fun.

I only ran 3 1/2 miles, but loved it.  I waited to run until my big kids got home from school (so they could babysit), so it was a little bit hot (~75 degrees), but I didn’t care.  I’m really loving the heat and sun right now.

When I got home, I found a fun package on my doorstep….

It’s a gorgeous box of jewelry from Wantable.com.  I will be trying it out and posting a review about it soon.  So fun!

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On Friday, I saw several very ripe bananas sitting on my counter, so I decided to make some healthy-ish banana bread!  AND I’m happy to say it turned out AWESOME!

It’s definitely a lot healthier than your average banana bread recipe, but I’m still not calling it “healthy.”  It’s more like a “healthy treat” to be eaten on occasion.  I feel a lot better about feeding my kids this banana bread though.

I found the inspiration for this recipe on the King Arthur Flour website, but I tweaked it a lot and made it even healthier!  I still kept a little bit of butter, brown sugar and honey in it because I’ve found if I completely eliminate these things then it just doesn’t taste good.

If you want to eliminate the butter altogether, just add more applesauce.  You could also replace the sugar and honey with alternative sweeteners, but I think I’ve found the “happy medium” of taste and health with this recipe.

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 3 medium bananas; smooshed
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/3 cup dark chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray one loaf pan with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, beat the butter, applesauce and sugar until smooth.
Add the vanilla, baking soda, salt, and bananas, beating until well combined.  The mixture should be fairly smooth, with some remaining banana chunks.

Beat in the honey and eggs.

Add the flour and stir until smooth.  Mix in the chocolate chips if desired.

Spoon the batter into the pan, smoothing the top.

Bake the bread for 50 minutes, then gently lay a piece of aluminum foil across the top, to prevent over-browning.
Bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes**, then remove the bread from the oven and let it cool about 10 minutes.

**You may need to bake the bread for more time.  Insert a toothpick or a clean knife into the middle of the bread.  If the toothpick/knife comes out clean, it’s ready!  If it has any raw batter sticking to it, put it back in the oven for 5 minutes and then check it again.

Remove from pan and let it cool completely (or eat it warm!) on a rack.

Enjoy!

I calculated these nutrition facts as 12 servings, but if you slice the bread thinly, you can (obviously) get a lot more slices out of it!  I also calculated these facts without the chocolate chips.  If you add chocolate chips, it will add an additional 30 calories per slice.

Oh, and I also calculated the nutrition facts for my grandma’s banana bread recipe and it came in at 295 calories and 11.5 g fat per slice!  Yikes!

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