Yummy, Healthy & Easy Banana Bread

One of the things that's challenging about being sugar-free is that so many things are off limits.  It has taken a lot of label reading over the past six months to learn what's okay to eat and what to avoid (almost everything in packages).

I love banana bread and haven't had it in ages.  As you could imagine, I haven't found a store-bought banana bread or mix that wasn't just loaded with sugar or HFCS.

A few months ago I baked a banana bread that had no sugar at all (no artificial sweeteners, no honey, no maple syrup, etc) and it was, shall we say, less than a favorite? I sliced it thin and slathered it with peanut butter and Babyface liked it, but he was the only one.

Most banana bread recipes call for at least a cup of sugar.  I made this banana bread recipe with just 3T of sugar (less than a quarter cup).  Since it bakes into a 10-slice loaf, I figured I could live with this very small amount and have the bread as a treat.

So good we ate some before I could take a pic

The applesauce in this recipe not only adds natural sweetness, it also reduces the amount of butter needed.  I also used the mixer rather heavily, adding air. This recipe is super easy to make and doesn't have any unusual ingredients.

Yummy, Healthy & Easy Banana Bread Ingredients:
3T sugar
2T butter, soft
1 beaten egg
1/4c unsweetened applesauce
3 mashed bananas
1t vanilla
1 1/2c flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

First, here's a trick for mashing bananas.  Peel them, put them on a cutting board, then mash with a fork.

Preheat oven to 350*.

Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl and give it a few good stirs.

Cream butter and sugar for at least three minutes.  Add the egg and applesauce and mix for two more minutes.  Add the bananas and vanilla until well combined.  Add the dry ingredients half a cup at a time.  Pour into a parchment-lined loaf pan.

Bake for an hour or so at 350*.  The top gets golden but not very brown, so when a knife comes out pretty clean, it's ready.  Let it sit in the pan for 5 minutes or so, then cool on a wire rack. It's very moist and yummy.

Yummy, Healthy & Easy Banana Bread

Next time I would add some chopped nuts, pecans or walnuts.  I left them out this time because My Heart's Desire doesn't care for nuts in food.

It also freezes beautifully.  You can freeze slices, microwave them, then pop them in the toaster for that fresh-out-of-the-oven consistency.

Free Advice 8

Mom & Me & Mom

I loved listening to Maya Angelou read Mom & Me & Mom. Although who are we kidding, I'd love to hear her read a Pizza Hut menu.

As always, this book offered beautiful storytelling and was by turns heartbreaking, poignant, funny, and serious.  Starting from childhood when she and her brother were taken to live in Stamps, Arkansas, with their paternal grandmother (Momma) for ten years, the complicated relationship between Angelou and her mother is delved into deeply.  It's interesting to see how their relationship changed when Angelou became a mother herself at age 17. And how even as an adult, Angelou had revelations about the importance of mothering.

If you're already familiar with Angelou's other books, then this book is a little treasure.  If you haven't read any of her other books (why not?), this book wouldn't be nearly as enjoyable since you wouldn't know her story.  Start with I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and go from there.

Grateful Thursday

Today I am grateful for morning exercise, clean water, folded laundry (!), the desire for simplicity, a short week at work, bargains, the nice library near my new office, comfy shoes, when Babyface calls himself banana boy, and trying new things.

My Healthy Role Model

I don't know her age, what she does for a living, or even what her name is, but my healthy role model (MHRM) is already doing the healthy things I want to be doing.  She's definitely closer to my mom's age than mine, has shortish red hair in a sensible haircut, and is very fit. MHRM must live near my neighborhood because I see her regularly. Whatever I'm considering, she's already got down pat.

When I belonged to the gym, whenever I got there in the morning, she'd already be there, lifting.  And not the light weights, either.  When I go  for long walks in Rock Creek Park, MHRM's already there.  I'm not exaggerating when I say she laps me.

I go to the grocery store, armed with my list, and she's already there, buying produce.  Later I sneak a peek in her cart and am not surprised to find it full of healthy foods.  When it's very cold outside, sometimes I see MHRM at the county pool, getting dressed as I arrive and hurriedly shove my bag into a locker. She's already done when I pull on my goggles.

MHRM is not a young woman and of course she has wrinkles and laugh lines. She is beautiful and strong and confident.  When I see her, I am inspired.

Easy Sunday Slow Cooker Baked Rigatoni

We are in the dregs of winter and the comfort food cravings have come a-knocking.  I make this slow cooker baked rigatoni and add veggies to pretend it's healthy.

Easy Sunday Slow Cooker Baked Rigatoni Ingredients:
Box of rigatoni
Minced garlic, I like a lot 1 heaping T or so
Onions
1 container mushrooms
Butter or olive oil
Jar of marinara sauce—I like Trader Joe's Traditional Marinara because it doesn't have sugar or HCFS and is inexpensive to boot
1 cup of shredded mozzarella
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can cream of mushroom soup*
1 cup chopped spinach
Salt, pepper
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/4 cup grated or shredded Parmesan

Cook the pasta according to directions on the shortest side of the time range.  Drain and rinse with cold water.  Saute the garlic, onions, and mushrooms.  If you are short on time, you could skip this step but if I'm already at the stove making one thing (pasta), it's no big whoop to make this while I'm standing right there anyway.

Combine the remaining ingredients except the parm in a big bowl.  Add sauteed veggies and stir.  Add in pasta and stir. You could stop right here, put it in a giant Ziplock bag, and put in the fridge to cook later.  Or freeze it and thaw it and crock another day.

Spray the inside of a 6-7 quart slow cooker with Pam.  Pour contents of bowl into slow cooker.  Cook on low for 4-6 hours or 2-3 hours on high.  Then top with parm, turn the heat on high, and let it melt for ten minutes or so.  This is also great with leftover homestyle roast chicken.

Many slow cooker recipes (soups, stews, fajitas, pesto mushroom chicken thighs) can wait for you on warm for hours.  This recipe, not so much.  It should be eaten within the hour of it being done as the pasta starts to get mushy.  For this reason, and because it takes a pot and a pan and the crock, I like to make it on Sundays when I'm not in a hurry.  Also, I can make it in the afternoon so it doesn't have to rest on warm for ages.

I've made this TWICE recently and both times I forgot to take pictures! Drats!

*I use ricotta when I bake this in the oven but the cheese doesn't stand up well in the slow cooker. Usually I am loathe to use cream of whatever soups but other experiments failed.

UPDATE: A friend made this recipe with bison and sent me the pic above.

Bargain Day: Real Simple Subscription

Last year I bought a year of Real Simple on sale for $12—half of the regular subscription price of $24.  On a recent issue was a notice saying that my subscription was going to auto-renew at $33, a truly terrible price.  So I called and opted out of the auto renew. I enjoy reading it and have even made a few of their recipes, with varying success.  

Anyway, about a week later I got an email offering me the regular subscriber price of $24.  After some thorough Googling, I couldn't find a better deal, though it seems about once a year they offer a subscription at a low rate to add subscribers. 

So I sent an email and asked if they could offer me the $12 price again.  I figured not but it never hurts to ask.   I was prepared to wait for the annual sale so I could get a bargain. I was pleasantly surprised to get an email response a few days later confirming my Real Simple renewal for $12.  It never hurts to ask.

I also like to subscribe to Real Simple because they featured my answer to their question: "What would you do for an extra $100?" in September 2008. What would I do with an extra $100? I'm so glad you asked.

My 2008 answer:

$8 pineapple chunks from Whole Foods

$10 roll of quarters to keep in ashtray for parking

$12 greeting cards to have handy

$15 books glorious books!

$15 new umbrella

$40 lunch for two at Indian buffet

My 2014 answer:

$45 mani-pedi
$55 travel fund

What would you do with an extra hundred bucks?

Grateful Thursday

Today I am grateful for super warm socks, working by the fire, candy cane flannels, that spring isn't so far away, being genuinely happy for other people, pleasant surprises, that all home appliances work, that Babyface still naps (usually), that my wardrobe is shrinking as I lose weight, and that the Valentine's Day party for Babyface's class is tomorrow afternoon.

Free Advice 7

Heads In Beds

I bet Jacob Tomsky's Heads in Beds: A Reckless Memoir of Hotels, Hustles, and So-Called Hospitality would have been an excellent feature article. As a book, my interest waned before I was halfway through. Tipping the front desk clerk to get a better room isn't breaking news.  There are some clever and funny moments but too few and far between.  C

And now, a published essay

In 2013 I did a lot of writing, mostly nonfiction short pieces and a few poems.  More importantly, I went on a submissions tear. I average a lot of rejections before I get any acceptances.  So every rejection just gets me that much closer to an acceptance. I average about 50 rejections for every acceptance.

And so the rejections came in, as I expected.  I felt rusty because it has been years since I did any serious submitting.  Imagine my surprise when an essay that I wrote about living in Los Angeles was accepted by Marco Polo, an online literary and arts magazine. It was published yesterday.

Read my essay here: Around in Circles

Grateful Thursday

Today I am grateful for morning workouts, peanut butter, sneakers, family visit to look forward to, life hacks, how cute Babyface is with his new haircut, everything counts, slow change is still change and that My Heart's Desire makes dinners Tuesdays-Thursdays.

Sisterland

I listened to Curtis Sittenfeld's Sisterland on Audible because the library wait was too long.  I really liked American Wife but her other books, not so much.  The writing in this long novel is so beautiful that I didn't notice at first that the characters are kind of flat and she doesn't get to the point until very, very far along.  The sisters are twins with ESP and the story is told exclusively by the less interesting of the two.

Free Advice 6

5 Things I Learned: Easier Mornings for a Working Mom

Since I went back to work and Babyface started daycare in December, it's been a whole new routine for all of us.  Mornings can be particularly challenging. 

Here are 5 things I learned about how to have easier mornings:

1. Planning meals.  So I've been planning out as much as I can in advance.  For years I've made weekly/biweekly/monthly dinner plans.  Now I've added lunches and snacks to it as well.  I was finding it tiresome to pack lunches daily.  So now on Sunday nights I make Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday lunch bags.  If I plan on having leftovers for lunch on Tues or Wed, I just note that on the bag so I can add it.  And on Mondays, I bring in a big bag with veggies, salad dressing, and an emergency protein bar. On Wednesday nights I pack bags for Thursday and Friday.  Since I make Babyface's lunches, I do the same for him.
   
2. Since I stopped watching TV on weeknights, I have more time in the evenings and I get to do things that I like to do more.  Because I'm not rushing to get things done or zoning out in front of Netflix, I'm also going to bed on time and that makes getting up easier too.
3. Get up earlier than everyone else.  I'm lucky because Babyface is usually a pretty great sleeper (knock on wood).  I like to exercise in the mornings and check it off for the day.  It also gives me quiet time on the treadmill or bike.
4. Picking out clothes in advance.  It feels a little silly to pick out five outfits on Sunday night, especially since I am not a clotheshorse.  However, it makes my mornings run much more smoothly since all of the decision making's already been done.  I pick out five outfits, put necklaces on the hangers, and write down which earrings to wear on what day.  
   
5. Set a backup alarm.  Sometimes when my alarm goes off at 5:08 am, I just can't get up.  This has been particularly true lately since it's been cold enough to use the electric blanket at night.  So I always set a backup alarm for 7, which is the latest I can get up and ready without rushing.