Healthy Marbeled Banana Bread

Recipe from Cooking Light

Now, to continue with my Fall theme and my eating right theme I found this recipe from the Cooking Light website.  Now, I'm a HUGE fan of banana bread and usually make my Grandma's recipe, but wanted to see how this healthy version would taste to sort of "lighten" things up this week. We are going to eat a piece of this for dessert tonight after our Minestrone Soup.  I hope you enjoy!

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 bananas)
• 1/2 cup egg substitute
• 1/3 cup plain low-fat yogurt
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I used dark chocolate chips)
• Cooking spray

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°.

• Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt, stirring with a whisk.
• Place sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 1 minute). Add banana, egg substitute, and yogurt; beat until blended. Add flour mixture; beat at low speed just until moist.
• Place chocolate chips in a medium microwave-safe bowl, and microwave at HIGH 1 minute or until almost melted, stirring until smooth. Cool slightly. Add 1 cup batter to chocolate, stirring until well combined. Spoon chocolate batter alternately with plain batter into an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Swirl batters together using a knife. Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

Cooking Light
SEPTEMBER 2003



Layered Fiesta Taco Bake

LAYERED FIESTA TACO SALAD BAKE

1lb. ground beef (I used extra lean ground turkey)

1 can spicy chili beans, undrained

1 can corn, drained (I used no salt added)

1 cup salsa {I used Joe T's}

1 pkg. Taco seasoning {I used McCormick’s Reduced Sodium)

2 cups crushed tortilla chips {I used Indiana Popcorn Chips}

These are low-fat, low calorie,and have fiber!

1/4 cup green onions, chopped

1 medium tomato, chopped

1 cup shredded cheese {I used colby & jack reduced fat}

1 large avocado, peeled and cubed/sliced

Shredded lettuce

Coarsely crush two cups of tortilla chips and throw them into a deep casserole dish.

Cook ground turkey and drain. Return to large skillet and stir in beans, salsa, taco seasoning, and corn. Heat to boiling and stir often.

Remove meat mix from heat and layer over top of the tortilla chips.

Cut your veggies and start layering.

First add the tomatoes…

Cover with green onions…

And top it all off with  cheese.

Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes or until cheese is hot and bubbly :)

Remove from oven and top with avocado, shredded lettuce, and any other fixin’s you’d like.

Now shove some tortilla chips alongside the edges of your baking dish to finish it off.

Serve and ENJOY…because I promise you will!!!

Crock pot Minestrone Soup

Okay, we've all had that feeling.  You wake up in the morning and realize that the pants are a little tighter than last week, you're feeling sort of "blah" from over indulging over the weekend.  (Thanks dad for that Oreo McFlurry by the way.:)  Just like my blog states, I believe in a life of balance.  I am not going to deprive myself of special "treats," but I do listen to my body and for this week's meals it is saying vegetables please:)  To continue with my Fall themed meals, I found a recipe for Minestrone Soup.  This meal will be satisfying, but also feed my body those nutrients it really wants:)  Enjoy!

• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1 cup carrots, chopped
• 1 celery stalk, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced

• 1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes

These are the best brand!

• 1 (15 oz) can white beans, drained, rinsed (cannellini or navy) 
• 3 cups fat free chicken broth (or vegetable broth for vegetarians)
• 1 oz chunk of good Parmesan cheese rind
• 1 fresh rosemary sprig
• 2 bay leaves

• 2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves 

• salt and fresh pepper
• 1 medium zucchini, chopped
• 2 cups chopped fresh or frozen (defrosted) spinach
• 2 cups cooked small pasta like ditalini or elbows (al dente)
• extra parmesan cheese to top 

Rinse and drain beans. Puree beans with 1 cup of the broth in a blender.

In a crock pot, combine broth, tomatoes, pureed beans, carrots, celery, onion, garlic, herbs, Parmesan cheese rind, salt and pepper. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.

Forty minutes before the soup is done cooking, add zucchini and spinach. Cover and cook 30 more minutes.

I love this brand because it's full of fiber and protein!

Add cooked pasta, cook 10 minutes more. Remove bay leaves, rosemary sprig, parmesan rind and season to taste with salt and black pepper.

No Sugar Added Strawberry Crockpot Applesauce

After waking up this morning to cooler weather it TOTALLY put me in the mood for Fall cooking.  After Austin's 5:30 AM feeding I opened up all of the windows and sat with some coffee and looked up Fall inspired recipes for the week.  I always wanted to find a special recipe that was just for Lilly and ran across a recipe for "No Sugar Added Crockpot Strawberry Applesauce."  Lilly enjoyed helping me make this recipe and all day she has been asking for it because it smells SO good!  I hope that you enjoy!

• 10 cups apples (semi-tart, quartered and cored, not peeled)
• 1/4 cup unsweetened apple juice
• 2 cups frozen unsweetened strawberries

Directions:

1.  Wash apples really well

2.  Cut apples into quarters and make sure they are cored.  I bought a fancy new gadget at WalMart this morning and it helped do the trick quickly!

3.  Pour the apple juice into the bottom of the crock pot and then put apples and frozen strawberries.  Cover and cook on Low for 8 hours or high for 4. 

4.  Use an immersion blender to blend all of the apples and strawberries together. 

 

5.  Depending on the tartness of your apples, you might want to add some sugar sparingly, but we did not.

6.  If you want to freeze, let applesauce cool completly, ladle into freezer bags, and lay flat in the freezer.