I Love using Bananas for Baking as evident from my Low Sugar Banana Muffins and Banana Walnut Bread. I like ti even more with walnuts. For me nothing tastes better than a combination of Banana and Walnuts. That being said, I was amazed to see that I dint have Banana Walnut Muffin posted when I have been making one quite a lot. I find having such treats around help me to avoid reaching for junk foods at the danger time - you know, the time between lunch and dinner. I read somewhere that if this period is not handled right, then thats where one goes bersek with their dieting strategies!
Anyways I have made these Banana Muffins with wheat flour instead of all purpose flour and it has healthy ingredients for a guilt free gluttony :) It is immensely moist with a crunch of generous walnut pieces. I have used minimal fat.
Method
Add the flour,salt,baking powder, wheat germ together.
Add the wet ingredients together . Mash the bananas with a fork. I do this to get little chunks of banana in my muffin. If you dont prefer that, mash it in a food processor until smooth.
Mix both of them until well incorporated. Blend in some nuts.
Drop spoonfuls of the batter into lined muffin pans.
Top it off with some nuts and bake in a preheated oven 350F for approximately 30-40 min or until done.
Serve warm. Some tea with this muffin would make you feel all the more good about yourself :), the way it does to me.
You have had a healthy and simple lunch, you are happy that you ate sensibly, you put a nice blue tick near that particular meal in your "Eat Sensibly Resolution Chart" and feeling mighty pleased about it. Tick, Tock, Tick...the clock ticks away slowly the hand creeping towards 4:00 PM and something else creeps in your belly! Hey is a wild cat nearby? Is someone watching your favourite Animal Planet channel? No..No wait a minute? Is that growl coming from your stomach..yeah it is! Hunger pangs and the tongue starts playing dirty tricks - making you imagine - that Jalapeno chips wonderfully crunch, in your mouth; how about that 'tadak' sound when you bite that nutty chocolate bar, mm...and and how about that delicious looking bagel with a nice filling of cream cheese making eyes with you..........aaaaaaaah!!!!
No, No, you say, looking at your chart!. Then you think of diverting by checking your mails and you get entries for events you are hosting where your fellow foodies are Flaunting .Their . Wares . You start feeling like a dog! No not in a derogatory way..but you so resemble one, salivating this way! You are like OK, THAT's IT and try to grab that Cream cheese bagel - and that's when I say STOP! Here is another yummy alternative which wont make you feel that you are on a diet or something.
Apple Bran muffins is the way to go - They have that Jalepeno chip like crunch as soon as you bite into it and 2 seconds later, you get a nice chewy texture like that bagel and in the end you feel like you have bitten away the nutty chocolate bar to glory - except that you havent. What you did was eat into a nutrition powerhouse that is so ridiculously low in calories in return of immense benefits that its not even funny! It has a fruit, goodness of wheat and wheat bran, nuts and spices which make blend it all together. Don't go by the appearance - This is one Abraham Lincoln model - The packaging isnt pretty - but whats inside is worth all the time, effort and money :)
Method
1.Preheat Oven to 375F. Mix all the wet ingredients together along with the spices.
2.In a seperate bowl, add all the dry ingredients together.
3.Now mix both of them together.
4.Drop spoonfuls of the dough into a lined muffin pan.
The Food Pyramid esp for Vegetarians is little complicated. The need to maintain the essential balance is so crucial - instances like did you take the required amount of Dietery Fibre? what about whole grains? Did your meal the whole day today include sufficient servings of vegetables and fruits? and Oh yes! Proteins? Yes the Pyramid and its classification look simple enough - but in day to day hectic lifestyle, we tend to forget taking each and every thing into consideration and in long run we realise that we have missed out on lots of nutrition and adequate amount of balance much needed esp for Vegetarians.
So, in order to make sure of that aspect, I try to plan ahead all the meals during the week - right from breakfast, lunch, tea time to dinner; making sure to see that I have incorporated all the essential groups in the pyramid. Unless spaced out - its almost impossible to gobble down all the servings in one go - hence the process has to start right from breakfast. Hence this is one of those recipes I came up with - to start off our day on the right note.
I bought a 10grain Bread Mix a while back. It has all the essential whole grains like wheat,rolled oats,Rye,Corn,triticale,millet etc).I also had Teff flour at hand and pancakes are so common in so many households - so made Pancakes out of them.I also wanted to add one fruit and some nuts- so grilled and toasted them resp for the topping. It was light, fluffy, hearty and filled with all the nature's best ingredients.
Method
1.Mix the flours along with baking powder, salt and sugar. Make a well and then add the eggs and milk and make a thick batter
Mix well and refriegrate for 10 min while you grill the fruit
2.Take the sliced bananas and with a brush lightly apply the maple syrup to the bananas. grill them for a min and set them aside.
3.Take the batter and drop a spoonful on a pan. cook for 2-3 min and turn.
4.Usually it gets done v fast - so make sure not to keep it for very long on the pan.
5.Serve it in a plate hot with a topping of bananas and some nuts - mm may be honey if needed.
Summary of health benefits
1) Whole grains benefits 2) Protein in eggs and milk 3) Fruit - banana brimming with potassium 4) Pecan Nuts - little goes a loong way. 5) Maple Syrup benefits
Can you think of more? I mean thats a good way to encompass lots of nutrition- dont you think :) This is my entry to Susan's Pancake Parade Event
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I have a penchant for..mm..lemme think...EVERYTHING! I am simply tooo *greedy* a person to leave out anything that one can possibly do. That being said - my journey in blog-o-sphere started for learning more about food - culture - ways of cooking ; to get inspired by all you talented ones and try to push my boundaries farther than the norm. That being such - when I am bestowed with awards , it makes me feel happy and appreciated.
Siri and LG have bestowed me with Blogging With a Purpose Award and Lg Esp has some v generous things to say about me. I am honoured Lg and thanks for thinking of me. I dont have to say anything about Siri - no not cos I have nothing to say - but cos if i start I wont stop. :) All the best dear for you-know-what dear.
I am starting off my RSVP Series(Cheese) with Ricotta, since I am partial to it :). Although not technically a cheese, I am categorizing it in here for ease since it is mostly known as cheese ( Ricotta CHEESE! Duh! )
Ricotta Cheese is a soft, low-fat unsalted cheese which can be made from sheep,goat or cow milk. It has a slightly granular texture and is widely used in Italian cooking.Its mild, clean flavor means that it is incredibly versatile. It makes a wonderfulling filling for pasta where it is sometimes combined with spinach.Source @ Books and Internet
I have come across many families, where women usually keep their routine foods for weekdays and make something special on the weekends. That being the norm for obvious reasons( time to make something,family around to eat together etc), I seem to be made of something from outer unknown planet! A typical specimen who likes to make all sorts of foods during weekdays but absolutely nothing during weekends! Oh yeah! my reason is the same as mentioned earlier - lots of free time ( so utilize that for lazing around!), family around - so more reason to spend time with them than to slog out all alone in the kitchen :-)
But got to feed the family right! So thats when I thought of making more hearty breakfast! why? Dont have to make elaborate lunch and dinner cos usually a hearty and fulfilling breakfast cuts down the appetite for the rest of the day ( Oh well!I am Evil!) Anyways a balanced meal would include something from every food group in the pyramid. I have tried to include from almost all the groups resulting in a satisfying meal.
They cater to our taste, so do try variation around it, to suit your palate, cos this is one wonderful meal which is not to be missed.
No, wait - dont go seeing the long list. Its simple really ! :)
Method
1.mix the wheat flour,sugar and ginger powder together.
2.Add the ricotta,milk and egg, if using and mix well till it becomes smooth without lumps. It should be of pourable consistancy.
3.Heat a non stick pan, coat with Pam spray ( Cuts out the unwanted butter) and pour down the batter to form round pancakes.
4.Meanwhile take the berries in a m/w bowl. If fresh, add few tbsp water , M/w for 2-3 min till there's liquid. Add some honey/Malt syrup to adjust the tartness and set aside.
5.Cut the pear lengthwise, remove the seeds and apply the butter,cinnamon and sugar mixture to it
and grill it skin side up in a grill pan greased with PAM butter spray.
Take them when done. We like the crunch of the fresh fruits so I dont grill for long.
6.Take the Pancakes, drizzle it with berry sauce and one half of grilled pear. This alongwith one cup of hot tea is so fulfilling and healthy.
This has wheat,fruits,protein from ricotta and milk and little bit of fat. You can also sprinkle it with oats. Or else sometimes cut out that tea and have some fresh vegetable juice to make it a total balanced meal :)
Like many I try to collect eggless cake recipes. Most of them turn out to be 'Blech! what was I thinking', few of them 'Umm..so-so' and handful 'WOW is this really eggless? U must be kidding me'. This one is of the last category. I have made this couple of times and every time, I have been amazed at the ease,simplicity and wonderful taste of this cake. And yeah! The aroma while Baking is something else!
I made this a while back and only today realised that I had forgotton to post it! So here it is Eggless Almond Cake and also my entry for Sunita's Think Spice - Cinnamon Event
Method
Combine sugar, water, shortening, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and lower heat and simmer for 5 min .Set aside to cool.
Sift the flour and add soda and baking powder along with the broken almonds. Mix well.
Gently add the wet ingrediants with the dry
Beat well.Add almond extract and mix well Pour batter into a cake tin.
Bake at 325 degrees F for approx 45min to 1 hr. If you want to decorate with the blanched almonds, then remove the pan from Oven abt 30min after set. Decorate with the almonds and then put it back in the Oven for another 15min.
Care should be taken not to keep it for a long while since it could make the cake very dry. If taken at correct time, it comes out all moist and crunchy with nuts.Regular chk is advisable.Once done, cool and cut into slices of your choice and sprinkle with powdered sugar if using.
Image taken from 
