Banana picture from Wikimedia Commons
Today I’ve decided to dedicate an entire post to bananas. Why? Because not only are bananas great tasting, but they also can help satisfy sweet cravings and are an excellent source of potassium! Bananas can be a great snack to eat when you are feeling low in energy, but don’t have the time to take a nap, such as while out running errands or working.
My favorite snack with the banana is bananas and peanut butter – simply slice up the banana, spread a little no sugar added peanut butter and you’ve got a healthy and satisfying snack.
This post is also partially inspired by a great “mostly sugar free” banana bread recipe I found on this banana bread recipe site. It was a lot different than traditional recipes, so I decided to try making it myself and was pretty pleased with the results.
Banana Bread Recipe
Ingredients:
3 Mashed Bananas
2 cups flour (We used whole wheat, naturally!)
2 eggs
1/3 cup butter (I substituted 1/3 cup no fat margarine)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
10 pitted prunes (cut into small pieces) (I left this one out, prunes aren’t something I keep on hand at the house!)
10 pitted dried apricots (cut into small pieces) – I did have these so figured I’d try it!
2 tablespoons milk
1 cup all-bran cereal (I used Total)
1/3 cup maple syrup (ours is sugar free of course!)
Directions: Combine mashed bananas, cereal, milk and dried fruit. Beat butter, maple syrup, and eggs and stir into the cereal mixture. Mix remaining dry ingredients together in a separate bowl and stir in. Spread into greased bread pan and bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 45-50 minutes or until center is firm.
I was really shocked at the results – it wasn’t too sweet, but it certainly didn’t seem like anything was missing either! Also I think the cereal and apricots added a nice touch to the flavor of this banana bread.
Granted, it’s not “sugar free” since bananas naturally have sugar and even no-sugar maple syrup will add some sugar in large quantities. Overall though, I found it to be a nice alternative to the rest of the sugar loaded banana bread and muffin recipes I had tried in the past.
Here are Some More Ideas to Include Bananas in Your Diet:
In a fruit smoothie
In low-fat yogurt
On top of whole grain cereals or oatmeal
In a fruit salad
Open faced peanut butter sandwich on whole wheat bread
While I wouldn’t recommend going to a strict banana diet (and yes, there is such a thing!) adding bananas into your regular meals can be an easy – and delicious way – to make sure you are getting enough fruit servings and sweeten up any dish without the need for sugar.
What do you say? Do you like bananas? What are some of your favorite ways to eat bananas?