Soooo... I went to the gym last night. Great hey? Except that I made it as far as the car park and couldn't bring myself to get out of the car. I sat there in the drivers seat, with a view to the inside of the gym, watching all the better looking, better bodied fit people doing their thang, and I just couldn't bring myself to face their judgement. I do realise they probably wouldn't have judged me at all. Maybe some of them started out where I am, but it's just one of those joys of being overweight and hating it. It's a catch 22 really. To get to a place where I like my body and feel healthy, I have to get active. Diet alone just isn't going to cut it. But to get active, I have to face my fears of being silently judged and show my jiggly bits off to the world. Yay! Not.
I also lost my job last week. Technically I resigned, but you know, I wasn't really left with much choice. A (big) part of me is actually relishing the time off. I mean after all, now I have the time to do all the things that I have been putting off due to lack of time, like sorting my house out, crafting, cooking, GOING TO THE GYM. It's amazing how quickly a whole day can go by before you realise you haven't really done anything and it's over! But I will get motivated tomorrow. Really I will.
In the meantime, I needed some comfort food, STAT! But I reeeeeally didn't want to feel guiltier than I already did about not going to the gym. Entrer (that's french for "enter", not a typo ;) Banana Bread!
After researching a lot of "paleo" style banana bread recipes online, I came to the conclusion that I needed to develop my own. I am really surprised with what some people are calling "paleo"! Buckwheat? I don't think so lady! Coconut flour based recipes... well yeah, but I always find coconut flour based recipes to be dry and banana bread should be moist... (apologies to those of you who hate that word, but there really is no other that conveys the same meaning when talking about banana bread). And I know what I like in a banana bread, and none of these recipes had it. So I kind of wung it (that's the past tense of winging it in case you missed the link...). Here we go!
Banana Bread
Ingredients:
3 mediums sized ripe bananas
1/2 cup melted coconut oil (or melted grass fed butter)
1/3 cup of nut butter
3 tablespoons of pure maple syrup
3 eggs
1 and 2/3 cup of almond meal
1/3 cup of coconut flour
1 tsp of baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup of chopped and toasted walnuts or pecans
NB: The following substitutions can be made...
Sweeteners - You can sub the maple syrup for honey if you like, just keep in mind that honey is a tad sweeter. If you would like to omit the extra sweetener completely, or you like a stronger banana flavour, you can add another banana.
Nut butter - I used Woolworth's Macro brand Almond, Brazil and Cashew nut butter. They also have a DELICIOUS plain cashew nut butter, but I like to save this one for eating straight our of the jar...
Toasted nuts - I actually used a mixture of pine nuts, sunflower seeds and pepitas that you can get in a little tub in the fruit and veg section of woolies. These toast up beautifully and add a really nice texture, but walnuts are a bit more traditional and not as strongly flavoured as pine nuts. Basically just add whatever you like!
Method
Preheat Oven to 180°C.
Combine bananas and the rest of the wet ingredients in a food processor. In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients well (except for toasted nuts), then add to food processor and process until smooth. It shouldn't be runny, but should be more the consistency of.... mashed potato? You know, like you need to spoon it instead of pour it. If it seems too runny, add 1/2 a tablespoon of coconut flour at a time until it looks right. Too firm, just add some more oil, or banana, or even some water.
Mix in the toasted nuts/seeds and spread into a loaf pan (I use silicon which is non-stick but if you are using metal or glass make sure you grease and maybe even line the tin). Mine was quite a small loaf pan so it ended up rather deep, and as a result took about an hour to bake. But basically, if you spread it thinner, it will take less time. Best to just keep an eye on it the first time and it will be finished when it is brown and firm when you poke it lightly but firmly it in the middle. Make sure the oven isn't on too high or it will be cooked on the outside but doughy on the inside. If in doubt, lower temp and longer cooking time is better. You can put it in a slice tin or even a muffin tin if you like.
Let it cool a little and set properly before you take it out of the loaf pan. Remember there's no gluten so it's a little bit more fragile than a traditional banana bread, especially when it's still hot.
Slice and enjoy warm as is, with a dob of butter, or wrap it up cold and take it to work for morning tea! It's a great breakfast full of protein and healthy fats. You can wrap the pieces individually and freeze, so you don't need to eat it in a hurry either. My absolute FAVORITE way to eat it though is fried with bacon and maple syrup ;). That's tomorrow's brekky for me. I'll take a photo! oh I can't wait... :)
Jas xx
No comments:
Post a Comment