Dessert Recipes : Banana Bread

What do you do with overripe bananas?

Some of you may throw them out, but my wife makes the best banana bread I’ve ever tasted. Topped with a little butter or cream cheese and you have a great breakfast or afternoon snack. Add a little ice cream and you have banana bread alamode for dessert.

Couldn’t be easier. Usually at least one of the girls volunteers to help. Best of all, we can pack a slice or two for the girls to take to school for snack time.



Ingredients:

2 eggs
1/2 cup shortening or try substituting vegetable oil
3 ripe bananas
1-teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
1-cup sugar
2 cups flour
Butter for greasing the loaf pan
chocolate chips, walnuts (optional)


How to Make Banana Bread at Home

Start by preheating you oven to 350F.

Combine the ingredients together in a mixing bowl (I use a cuisinart) in the order listed above. Mix by hand (or by cuisinart) until it forms a thoroughly blended batter.

Transfer the batter into a greased loaf or bread pan.

Bake until done, usually about one hour. A good way to tell if the bread is done is to stick it with a toothpick. If nothing sticks to the toothpick, it is done.

Simple and delicious.

Yo-J Banana Bran Smoothie

(This recipe yields 1 serving)

* 5 Tablespoons nonfat vanilla yogurt
* 1 large banana
* 3/4 cup orange juice
* 1/4 cup wheat bran
* ice (3 to 6 cubes)

Add yogurt, banana (quartered), bran, and juice to blender. Blend. Serve over ice (or blend with ice for a colder drink with a different texture).

Makes one VERY large serving.


Potassium, vitamin C, protein, calcium, and 6 grams of fiber! For some delicious variations, add a few berries, or substitute chocolate soy milk for OJ.

Apple Apricot Smoothie

(This recipe yields 2 servings)

* 1 golden delicious apple
* 1 cup apple juice
* 4 apricots
* 1 medium banana
* 3/4 cup plain yogurt
* 1 dozen icecubes
* 1 Tablespoon honey

Pit the apricot and peel if desired. Peel and core apple. Chop all fruit into 1/2-inch blender-friendly pieces.

Place all ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth.


This recipe makes two large servings. A healthy way to start the day !

Basic Fruit Smoothie Recipe

Fruit smoothies were invented as a healthy alternative to the milkshake. While very popular because of their taste, smoothies are also very healthy. Most smoothies are high in fiber, low in fat, and packed with vitamins and antioxidants.

While there are hundreds of ways to make a fruit smoothie, with varying tastes and textures, here are the basics:

First, chopped fruit (one type of fruit or several) is the smoothie's fruit base. Great fruits to use are bananas, berries (including strawberries and blackberries), pineapples, mangos, and/or kiwi.

Second, add an ingredient to the smoothie as a thickener. Good choices include low-fat yogurt, low-fat frozen yogurt, a can of frozen juice concentrate, frozen fruit, or a cup of ice. How much of these ingredients you will use depends on how thick you want your smoothie to be.

Third, you will need a liquid so everything will blend smoothly. You can add skim milk, soy milk, fruit juice or even water (some smoothie makers use flavored water). Start with 1/4 cup and then add more if needed.

An extra option to enhance flavor is to add a sweetner, cinnamon or vanilla extract.

A good rule of thumb for the ingredient measurements is to make your smoothie with 1 part fruit, 1 part liquid, and 2 parts thick base. For example: for 1 smoothie (a little over 1 cup), you would use 1/4 cup fruit, 1/4 cup liquid, and 1/2 cup thickener. But these measurements are not set in stone. The great thing about smoothies is you can experiment to get exactly what you want!

Directions
Put all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Serve immediately or refrigerate. You may want to serve in a chilled glass if serving immediately.

Tips
A lot of people choose to add nutritional supplements to their smoothies, such as wheat germ, Vitamin C powder or ground flaxseed. Also, if you want extra protein, add soy protein isolate or soy protein concentrate.

The most common recipe for a fruit smoothie is orange juice, strawberries, and a banana that is blended until smooth. Calorie-wise, a version of the fruit smoothie that is the lowest in calories just uses water (flavored water is optional), fruit, and ice cubes. Adding dairy products or soy adds protein, calcium, and a different taste to your smoothie.

Smoothies are great for a quick and easy breakfast or even a snack because they are very filling.

Credits: Jennifer Murray

Chocolate & Banana

Satisfy that chocolate craving with a drizzle of melted chocolate chips over banana slices for an easy treat.

Makes 1 serving

ACTIVE TIME: 5 minutes

TOTAL TIME: 5 minutes

EASE OF PREPARATION: Easy

1 tablespoon semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 banana, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon nonfat vanilla yogurt

Melt chocolate chips in a small bowl in the microwave. Top banana slices with the chocolate and yogurt.

NUTRITION INFORMATION: Per serving: 117 calories; 3 g fat (2 g sat, 0 g mono); 0 mg cholesterol; 23 g carbohydrate; 2 g protein; 2 g fiber; 14 mg sodium; 277 mg potassium.


1 1/2 Carbohydrate Servings


Exchanges: 1 fruit, 1 other carbohydrate, 1 fat

Breakfast Fruit Kebabs

Ingredients

For four people (Vegetarian)

3 bananas, cut into chunks
1 ripe pear cut into wedges
1 nectarine cut into wedges
8 strawberries
2 plums or one apple cut into wedges
150ml fresh orange juice
2 tablespoons runny honey

For the sauce :
400g tin of mango slices
juice of 1/2 lemon
2 teaspoons runny honey


Recipe

Thread the fruit onto eight small wooden skewers. Warm the honey and orange juice, use to brush the fruit, then grill for 2 - 3
minutes, turning and basting halfway.

Make the sauce by pureeing
the drained mango slices, lemon and honey. Drizzle over the hot
kebabs and serve on a large dramatic leaf.


Body Talk

It really doesn't get better than this for those fruit-lovers amongst you. Bursting with vitamins, minerals and fibre, you'll get a tasty, nutritious meal that makes your taste-buds tingle. You'll be left drooling for more . . .

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Breakfast in a Glass

If time is at a premium in the morning but you want a real energy
booster - then here it is in a glass. For the very best results peel the bananas, wrap them in cling film and store them in the freezer. This will give a much better consistency. You can chop them straight from the freezer.

Ingredients

For two people (Vegetarian)

2 whole bananas - peeled
250ml mango juice
2 dessertspoons honey
350g natural Greek low fat yogurt
100g ready made muesli

Recipe

Using a liquidiser, whiz together the bananas chopped up, the mango juice, honey and yoghurt. Whiz for about 30 seconds or until the mixture is well combined and thickened into a 'smoothie'.

Pour into two tall glasses and add one heaped dessertspoon of muesli to the top of each glass. Add a jumbo straw and a long spoon
and enjoy.

Body Talk

You can’t get any healthier than this one. It’s low fat, very high nutrition and with the addition of yogurt it’s good for your digestive system too. The secret power of this breakfast is the muesli full of complex carbohydrates to keep your energy levels high for longer and packed with vitamins, minerals and fibre. Bananas are rich in potassium, magnesium, iodine, vitamin C and folate to name but a few! How good can it get? When mixed with yogurt, bananas help to reduce the level of harmful bacteria in the gut.

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