Terre Pruitt's Blog

In the realm of health, wellness, fitness, and the like, or whatever inspires me.

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Posts Tagged ‘low fat’

Blender Banana Bread

Posted by terrepruitt on October 4, 2012

I don’t like to waste my bananas.  My husband won’t eat them if they have one little tiny spot of brown.  And I don’t usually eat that many bananas.  So you might have learned from some of my posts that I usually use the over ripe bananas in banana bread or Banana Oatmeal Walnut Cookies.  Both of these items are not low calorie nor low fat, they are just a way for me to use up my bananas and put a treat in my hubby’s lunch.  I have a great recipe I found on the internet for banana bread.  I think it was called the World’s Best Banana Bread and I actually think it is.  I have issues cooking it though, it never seems cooked all the way through, but that could because it is hand mixed and the bananas kind of chunk up in the batter.  Well, since I got a fancy new blender I have been trying to find things to use it for.  In the recipe book there is a recipe for banana bread so I thought I would give it a try.  Even though the ingredients get mixed in the blender the recipe calls for the bananas to be mashed.  Before I stared I grabbed my camera fully intending on taking pictures along the way.  The next thing I knew I was putting the pan in the oven.  DRAT!  I forgot to take pictures as I was making it. But I took some of the finished product.  Can you see how smooth it is?  Blender bread is really like “commercially made” bread.

I liked the taste ok.  It was actually good.  I think the vanilla yogurt added the extra sweet, yumminess.  Since it has no butter it has to be less calories and grams of fat then my other recipe.  And it really was good, but it was so . . . “commercial”.  It was like a loaf of bread from the store.  There was no texture, no chunks, no . . . personality.

In addition to using my blender the other reason I wanted to try this recipe is because it called for two bananas and that is what I had.

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, ZumbaI can’t find the recipe on the Blendtec website and, of course, I did some modifying anyway, so here is what I did:

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Blender Banana Bread

Using the WildSide Jar

2 ripe bananas, mashed
2 large eggs
1/2 C low-fat vanilla yogurt
3/4 C sugar
1/4 C olive oil
1 teaspoon vanilla

3/4 C wheat flour
3/4 C white flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Add first six ingredients to the container and secure lid.  Select “Batters.”  After that has blended, add the remaining four ingredients to the container and secure the lid.  Press “Pulse” 3-5 times until dry ingredients are incorporated.  (Do not over blend.)  Pour batter into greased 9″X5″ loan pan.  Bake for 50 to 60 minutes.

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I guess the WildSide Jar and the FourSide Jar for this blender are very different because there are additional/different instructions if you are using the FourSide Jar.

Well, I know that I have been posting a lot about my blender, but . . . I am trying to get a fraction of the money’s worth out of it!  I will not turn this blog into a blender blog, I will post about Nia, exercises, other health stuff, and even Zumba, but I am getting some post out of my first uses of the blender.

Do you like your banana bread smooth?  Or do you like it more rustic and chunky?

Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Banana Oatmeal Walnut Cookies

Posted by terrepruitt on August 13, 2011

This recipe allows you to use up the over ripe bananas without having to resort to banana bread.  Although these taste pretty much like banana bread, but lighter, more airy.  While the large amount of butter seems to make these anything but a low-fat cookie, I find that they are very satisfying so I don’t gobble down an entire half-dozen.  If you break it down it is about 1/8 of a tablespoon per cookie.  It is a cookie and like all cookies, they are meant to be a treat.  I think that the bananas, the oats, and the walnuts add a bit of nutrients to them.  I think anytime good-for-you ingredients can be added to a sweet treat it is a great thing.  Homemade is better than packaged goods.

Nia cardio workout, workout San Jose, Nia Los GatosBanana Oatmeal Walnut Cookies

Ingredients:

3/4 cup of butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon of vanilla

1 cup wheat flour
1/2 cup white flour
1 3/4 cups oats
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon cinnamon
A sprinkle of nutmeg
3 bananas

Chopped walnuts

Preheat oven 375 degrees

Using an electric hand-held beater, mix up the butter and sugar.  I mix it up until it is fluffy.

Then, add the egg and vanilla. Mix well.  This I mix until it is light and fluffy.  (I think that is what helps make the cookies lighter than banana bread.)

Add the rest of the ingredients (except the nuts) one at a time.  Blending well – using the electric hand-held beater – after adding each one and before adding the next.

Stir the walnuts in using a spoon or whatever.  I just wouldn’t use the beater.

The “dough” is rather runny for me at this point.  I use a round measuring spoon to scoop up the mixture and put it on a cookie sheet.

I don’t grease the sheet, but I think that really depends on what you are baking on.  You can decide.  I do space them out rather far because they tend to grow a little bit.

I bake them at 375 degrees for 12.  I bake them for 6 minutes, then I turn the pan.  And bake them for another 6 minutes, for a total of 12 minutes.  Again, you decide how “DONE” you want your cookies, plus you know your oven.  So maybe start out with 10 minutes and add minutes accordingly.  And if you have greased the cookie sheet the time might need altering.

I think I get about 4 dozen out of this recipe.

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Nia in San Jose, Nia in the San Francisco Bay Area, SFBayNia, SF Bay Area Nia, http://www.sfbaynia.com/

I am going to keep this version of the recipe, but also do some alterations sometimes when I make them.  I have some ideas I want to try.  I want to try LESS butter.  I also might try the chocolate chips again, but maybe less of them (I only used ¾ of a cup the first time!) and maybe WITH nuts, oh (!) and with my nutmeg addition.  That might make a big difference.  But I somewhat agree with my husband about adding chocolate chips to a cookie, it just makes it a chocolate chip cookie.

I want to let you know the path that led me to making this recipe.  First I went looking for recipes and ideas on what to do with over ripe banana and I found 100 Things to Do with a Banana (yeah, really).  Since they have pictures I just scrolled through clicking on pictures I liked and it led to A little bit of this, a little bit of that .

So, what do you think?  Are you a chocolate lover?  Then you might want to add a cup or so of chocolate chips.  What else can you think of to make this better?  Let me know.  I am always interested in hearing about alterations.

Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments »

Veggie Burrito

Posted by terrepruitt on March 20, 2010

Some people Tweet what they had for lunch I blog about it! I think I was actually born to the wrong family because I love tortillas. As far as I am concerned you can put ANYTHING in a tortilla and you have a meal. The issue is that most tortillas are made with lard or loads of fat. The ones I used to get are low fat, but made with . . . . . guess? Yup, you got it partially hydrogenated oil. Even though the label says “Og TRANS FAT per serving” it stills has transfat (that’s the partially hydrogenated oil).

I found one without it. Doesn’t taste the same, but it is not bad. The other day I was craving veggies. Lucky me we had a lot in the fridge.

Here is what my lunch looked like

It was a low fat tortilla (98% fat free) with 8 grams of fiber (whoa!), then I filled it with broccoli, asparagus, and mixed greens. I had some cheese in there too! It was so yummy. I need to write about it when I am eating it from now on otherwise I end up wanting it again as I type!

I hear it is asparagus season (at the time of this post), which for us in San Jose, just means it get down to a reasonable price. Because otherwise we have it here all year round. Might not be at its peak, but . . . I like having it all the time. If you don’t know, I love asparagus.

Usually I roast it, but I had chopped it and sauteed it the night before and it workout that we had leftovers, so for this burrito that is what I had used.

So, tell me what do you put in your tortillas? How do you prepare them? Grilled? Micro-waved? Right out of the package? Does anyone make their own? I would love to learn how to do that!!!

Posted in Food, Vegetables | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments »