Baking banana bread on a crisp New England morning* (Repost)

Not a big fan of bananas, but our daughter is.  What to do with the rotten bananas?  (The three pretty nasty looking bananas ended up behind some things on the counter where she couldn't see them so they ripened before she had a chance to eat them.)  Have to say the bread smells sweet baking in the oven on a crisp New England morning.

Hot out of the oven...

True story:  A close family friend from Korea has been practicing acupuncture for over 40 years and is extremely knowledgeable about the mind, body, and spirit connection through diet and told me that if a pregnant mother does not eat a food that she does not like than her child will not like that food either.  So, I tried an experiment.  I detest bananas and when I was pregnant with our daughter I gagged down one bite of a banana.  Yep!  For sure, she is our only child that loves bananas.

Best health always...I now enjoy warm banana bread on a crisp New England morning...and it's even better toasted the next morning.

Substituted Earth Balance* for the butter of course.

Will update with recipe in following post...

Dairy-Free: Banana Bread for those that don't like bananas

(See post above for the banana story.)

BANANA BREAD                                                    

1 cup sugar
1/3 cup Earth Balance - soften by letting sit on counter
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (3 to 4 bananas)
1/3 cup (filtered) water
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt (to help rise)
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 chopped walnuts
Pan sizes: 4 small loaf pans or 9x5x3

Preheat oven to 350º.
Grease bread pan bottoms with Earth Balance
Mix sugar and Earth Balance in large bowl
Stir in eggs until blended
Add bananas and water: beat together for 30 seconds
Stir in remaining ingredients until moist (except walnuts)
Fold in walnuts - try not to over mix
Pour into pan
Spread so the batter is even
Bake until tooth pick inserted in center comes out clean
9-inch loaf approximately 55 minutes
4 smaller loaf pans 20- 30 minutes - check back often after 20 minutes

Ingredients insight:
Eggs - cage free, raised naturally without antibiotics, vegetarian feed with no animal by products - a dozen costs (thankfully in our area) less than $1.50 more per dozen than the factory egg farms.

Well, no wonder America (and her children) are so confused about what's "healthy and nutritious"

"Roasted Walnuts"

My husband is a big fan of nuts and the other day purchased this product.   He thought he was buying, well, "roasted walnuts."  (He doesn't read labels*.)

Meanwhile, a study is released last month that eating nuts are great for you.  The part that's left out is  the highly processed food product above.   Now, this is what should be in a package of walnuts...


Seriously, went to take the picture and can't find the walnuts. 
He must have eaten them all.

*"Roasted walnuts" ended up in the trash and the container in recycling.


Too Busy Folding Laundry to Accept Award

This morning the dishwasher was running at 6:08AM and not a clean mug to be found for my tea.  Until, I remembered the gift from my good friend the night before.  Thank you!

Notice the small print

The SuperMom101 Show - Promo

Friday Night Favorite: Sloppy Joes - fast, cheap and easy after a long work week

Friday Night Favorite…
when we don't order out for Chinese Food

This is a quick and easy favorite and a great way to get rid of the leftover (almost) stale hamburger buns that never made it to the freezer.

1 cup tomato sauce from a jar (we enjoy marinara) 

3 hamburger buns - preferably whole wheat

1 lb. ground beef (no steroids, antibiotics or growth hormones here)  

Fry hamburger until thoroughly cooked (drain fat)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  

Place buns in oven - close to top (or toast in toaster) - I prefer the oven to heat up the house by opening the oven door after they are toasted - takes about 10 minutes max - so keep checking up on them.  

Cut up some cucumbers and you have a quick and easy meal in less than 10 minutes for under $9.00 that will feed one hungry teenager after basketball practice.

Add tomato sauce. 
Stir until well mixed over low heat. 
Serve on toasted hamburger buns.

Even Fido isn't safe: Pet Food Recall

Details at www.foodsafetynews.com

New England* Pot Roast - Boneless Chuck Roast

(Born, raised and harvested in USA - no growth hormones, steroids or antibiotics)

2 lb pot roast (bring to room temperature)

1/4 cup flour (or substitute for gluten free)

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1 medium onion

2 cups of raw potatoes diced - large pieces

Bag of baby carrots (about 2 cups) -  I love cooked carrots

3 cups of chicken broth or water

1/4 up red wine (optional)

2 bay leaves

Coat roast on all four sides with flour.  Heat dutch (cast iron) skillet/pan with olive oil over medium heat.  (Not too hot or the oil will burn).  Brown roast on all sides.  Add onion, diced raw potatoes, baby carrots, chicken broth, red wine and bay leaves.   Roast at 350º for 3 to 4 hours. (Turn roast every 1/2 hour. )

Remove roast and cut/tear in to smaller pieces.  If the broth is not thick enough - you can thicken the broth that remains in the pan (to create a stew) by taking 1/4 flour and 1/2 cup cold water,  shake together in a plastic container until completely mixed - this will prevent lumps and gently stir in to hot broth stirring to thicken.  Add slowly to thicken to your liking.

Whew! Almost finished the Pot Roast
and barely remembered to take a photo
p.s. Not the best photo - but it does taste great

*Because it snowed 10.5 inches yesterday and it's a great way to keep the kitchen warm for four hours.  Plus, the kitchen smells great and it's a hearty meal after shoveling.

Today is World Cancer Day | American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR)

"To raise awareness that approximately one-third of cases of the most common cancers in the U.S. – over 374,000 cases every year – could be prevented just by making changes to our diet, weight and physical activity,"  according to the American Institute for Cancer Research who is uniting with World Cancer Research Fund International and other organizations.

 

Check them out: eNews: Today is World Cancer Day | American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR)

Fat Chance - What's Wrong With America's Food? Quantity or Quality: A must read on why America (and her children) have never been fatter or sicker

Thank you again to Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution and the life changing work you are doing.

What's Wrong with Our Food? Quantity or Quality? - This article is a must read.

Here's an excerpt:

Everyone thinks it’s about the calories. Overconsumption of total calories drives obesity. Yet we humans have a hormone called leptin, made by our fat cells, which is supposed to tell our brain to stop. But leptin now doesn’t work, which leads to “brain starvation”, and which is why 30% of Britain and 33% of America are obese. But why did leptin stop working? And why do some obese people get metabolic syndrome but others don’t; and why do normal weight people also get metabolic syndrome? Obesity prevalence is increasing worldwide by 1% per year, while diabetes prevalence is increasing by 4% per year. The quantity of calories — obesity — doesn’t explain diabetes. Rather, the quality of those calories determine whether you can suffer from metabolic syndrome — and the leptin disconnect, by the way.

1. Too little fiber
There are two kinds of fiber: soluble, which is what holds jelly together; and insoluble, like the stringy stuff in celery. When you consume both, it forms a gelatinous barrier along the intestinal wall, which delays the intestine’s ability to absorb nutrients — and that’s good. This limits the blood sugar rise, which limits the insulin response, which limits how much energy is stored in fat cells, and which does away with the leptin disconnect. When you consume fiber, you consume less.

To continue the article: What's Wrong With Our Food? Quantity or Quality

p.s. This article really made me reflect on the last time I was in the hospital (to visit a sick family member) and the only individuals that were not borderline obese were the surgeon and the man polishing the floors. Sadly, there were only a few nurses that were not (by most standards) way overweight.