Banana Bread

Last night I went to hang out with some lovely ladies I attend a small group with. I didn't want to show up empty handed, but also didn't want to trek to the store for any ingredients. I often enjoy the challenge of working with what I have. The idea for banana bread came to me when I remembered all the over ripe bananas I always stash in the freezer and rarely get around to using. However I did not want to use a typical recipe. I did not want to use refined sugar or oil and I wanted to use whole wheat flour. A quick google search for "healthy banana bread" provided me a recipe that I had every ingredient for and fit what I was looking for perfectly.

 

 

My final product

I enjoyed the bread. It was definitely not your typical loaf, but good none the less. Next time I would check it a bit sooner for doneness and possibly pull it form the oven before an hour, which is how long I left it in the over.

Healthy Banana Bread (Whole Wheat, Vegan, Oil-free & Sugar-free)
*I found this recipe from the blog love food eat

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 cups mashed banana (preferably overripe)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 cup finely chopped dates
• 2 tbsp flax seed powder + 6 tbsp water
• 1-2 tbsp sesame seeds (I love this idea!)

Pre-heat the oven at 300 degrees Fahrenheit.
Mix flax seed powder with water, stir well and leave it aside till gooey.
Mash the banana well.
In a big bowl add the flour with baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and mix well. now add the chopped dates and stir together. Add the mashed banana and flax seed powder mixed with water and stir till it’s combined. It’ll be a hard dough but don’t be tempted to add any more water. do not over mix. Just stir till it forms a hard dough.
Fold this into a greased loaf pan and sprinkle sesame seeds on top.
Bake for 50 to 60 mins till it’s well risen, crusty and golden on the outside. A toothpick inserted right in the center has to come out clean and that’s when the loaf is cooked.
Let the bread cool down completely. It’ll be sticky and hard to cut into when it’s still hot.

Natural Healing

My cousin, Anna, was a huge driving force in my shift to my plant-based diet. She gave me the books The China Study and Eat to Live during the summer of 2007. She just recommended I read them, but wasn't shoving any of her new found knowledge down my throat. That summer was a huge turning point for me not only nutritionally, but I began thinking of many things in a much more holistic and natural way.

I remember being interested in vegetarianism and veganism since I was a child. I am trying to remember if at a young age I ever thought about natural healing and can't recall. I grew up with a pediatrician that I typically only had to see for an annual physical except for a few rare sinus infections and a couple bouts of strep throat. My family wasn't one to use herbs and the like for trying to better our bodies. I fit right in with the majority of Americans and our use of western medicine.

Today I am fascinated with natural healing. My passion is nutrition and I strongly believe nutrition has the power to heal many things people commonly suffer from, specifically through a whole food plant-based diet (WFPBD). However I also believe the body can be assisted by other things as well such a herbs and tinctures. I do not have much, if any, education on the later topics, but I love learning new little tid bits here and there.

When I visit my family in my hometown of Bellingham, WA I always stop in a Wonderland Tea & Spice. The owner, Linda, has an amazing amount of knowledge. She can always direct me to great teas that can help with all sorts of ails. When I was there about a week ago she recommended some natural skin care products that she makes from the simplest ingredients. So far I am loving them.

Before I ramble on too long I want to get to the point of this post, which is to share a video I watched. Anna is actually the one who sent this to me. Dr. Richard Schulze will tell you a bit about his journey to believing in natural healing. I find it fascinating! I do believe God created our bodies with great power to heal themselves, when we fuel them with the things they need to accomplish their healing.

Think of creatures like the star fish or the worm. We are nothing like them genetically, but I've always been enamored by the fact if they lose a part of their body they can regrow it. Could humans have a similar ability? In the instance of human skin we are constantly shedding and regrowing it, so when I stop to think about a body rejuvenating badly burned skin such as Dr. Schulze had it doesn't seem that outlandish.

My late father-in-law was an Orthopedic surgeon. He was a phenomenal doctor. He was a good man who truly cared about his patients. I do not want anyone to watch this video and think I am trying to slam all doctors. There are doctors I think highly of and value their contributions. Western medicine falls right into western culture and many people (I won't even remove myself) are indoctrinated with this culture. Many people are looking for the quickest and easiest fix. Someone who messes up their knee wants the doctor to do the work for them. Orthopedic surgeons are high educated and skilled individuals. I think there desire to heal is admirable. I think that is enough said for now. I just don't want anyone to read this and get offended for misinterpreting why I am choosing to post this video. I'm more than happy to further discuss with anyone interested further.

The link is at the bottom of the page for the video: https://herbdocblog.com/article/Video/dr-schulzersquos-classic-videoscreating-my-own-healing-miracles/

Pancakes & Linguine

My subject might sound strange, but don't worry they were two separate meals. :)

When I eventually rolled out of bed this morning (I am embarrassed to admit what time it was) my wonderful husband had banana pancakes for me hot off the skillet. And I was so pleased he made them vegan for me AND he used whole wheat flour. This was extra special because he knows I love and prefer whole wheat flour and I know he prefers most things, except sandwich bread, to be made with white flour. (I haven't written anything about myself yet, how I eat or why I eat the way I do. I figure I'll get there when I get there.) These pancakes were delicious. I smothered mine with Adam's peanut butter and pure maples syrup. Mmmmm! Definitely not a breakfast I'd start everyday with due to the amount of peanut butter and syrup I consumed, but a tasty treat on this Thursday morning that we had off together.

I fell in love several months ago. Not with my husband, that was years ago. I fell in love with an app. I don't even have a smartphone (that is an ongoing debate inside my head), but I did recently become the owner of a second-hand iPod touch. I downloads, for FREE, the Whole Foods Market Recipe App. It is wonderful. If you don't have it, GET IT! I have not made anything I don't like. There was one recipe that wasn't my absolute favorite, but it still wasn't bad and I know what I'll do different next time.

The app allows you to specify a diet (I always choose "vegan"), a course (tonight I chose "main course"), and a category (tonight I chose "quick and easy"). Of my options I had almost all the ingredients for the Linguine with Spinach, Artichokes, and Red Lentil Sauce. I just had to pick up a few ingredients at the store. And I couldn't find brown mustard seed, so I just used yellow. I've never cooked with brown mustard seed, so I don't know how that may have changes the dish. My guess is, not much.

I invited my mother-in-law, Barb, over for dinner. So you have two opinions of how the meal turned out. :) I thought it was great. It truly was "quick and easy." I mise and placed all my ingredients before I began and once the mustard seed started "popping" I just put everything in the pan except the lemon juice until the sauce was ready. Then I stirred in the lemon, tossed the sauce with the noodles I prepared while the sauce was cooking, added the spinach and artichoke and voila... dinner was served. I thought the lemon in the sauce gave a nice freshness that paired will with the bit of tang the artichokes offered as well as with the spinach which remained fresh, not cooked. I can't wait to feed the leftovers to my husband and get his input, but I can definitely see myself making this again. Did I mention how easy it was? Some nights you just need an easy meal. And this one is so nutritious.

picture from: wholefoodsmarket.com

I did only have about 1/2 pound of pasta on hand and still used all the sauce and spinach even though the recipe called for a full pound. I liked the amount of sauce it provided and would probably do it this way again. I also love artichoke hearts, so I used the entire can even though the recipe only called for four. I bought a can that was water packed opposed to the oil packed. I find the oil packed ones overly oily and messy and I think oil can add unnecessary and unhealthy fat as well as detract from the natural flavor or the vegetable. So if you love artichokes I'd say feel free to toss in as many as you like.

I will also admit I bought a loaf of bread. I don't have anything against bread, but as I mentioned I believe in eating whole wheat and the bread I bought was not. You may have gathered my thoughts on bread from the title of my blog. But what the title does not say is that even brown bread is not always made from whole wheat flour. This bread was brown because it had unbleached flour as the first ingredient, but it was just wheat flour and yes there is a major difference when the word whole proceeds the word wheat. To find that out you must read the ingredients list. I bought my bread from Fred Meyer. Maybe I shouldn't admit this, since I will be working at Whole Foods. I just was not willing to drive the 30 minutes to get to the closest one for the three ingredients I needed to make dinner. I have a feeling Whole Foods will forgive me. I do know that if I made the trek to Bridgeport I would have found a loaf of whole wheat bakery bread. I mean, come on Fred, is it really too much to ask from your bakery department to have ONE whole wheat loaf for sale?

I've gotta start somewhere

I've been thinking about starting a blog that is related to my passion for nutrition for... well, maybe too long to admit that it has taken me to actually start this. But the important thing is I am finally taking the plunge.

What is spurring me to kick into gear? I am about to embark on what I hope to be one of the best journeys of my life. Today I had my new hire orientation at Whole Foods Market. Saturday will be my first day as the Healthy Eating Specialist at the Laurelhurst location in Portland, OR. If the job plays out the way I anticipate I believe it is going to be my dream job. I cannot wait.

I am not exactly sure what this blog will shape itself into. I might share about what I'm doing at work. New things I learn about nutrition. Things I'm frustrated with in regard to nutrition could definitely show up. And I might even use it to brag about the delicious and sometimes beautiful meals I enjoy making at home.

For now I'm just proud that I've written my first post.