Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Fiber-licious food doesn't have to look like sticks and twigs.... or....how to trick your child into eating something good for them

I've been trying to switch my daughter over to the "brown" side for years now and she's having none of it....or so she thinks. (Insert evil, snarky laugh here) I'm talking about getting her to eat anything other than white bread which has virtually no health value whatsoever. Yeah I know, it's soft and fluffy, has a few, and I stress few, vitamins in there courtesy of your local bread manufacturer and kids pretty much love it with PB&J. The thing is, with anything you put in your mouth you want the biggest "bang for your buck." This not only applies to how much something costs but how good something is for you. You can eat good, wholesome food and get your nutrients or you could pop a Flintstones chewable and eat a bag of chips. Same caloric content and vitamins, give or take, but truly not the same at all. Back to the bread. I happen to love whole wheat bread. The denser the better. When I chew it I want it to have a texture all it's own. I like knowing that the fiber found within is going to aid in my digestion and help me to stay fuller, longer. And we all know what else fiber does. It's got it's own Roto-rooter action thing happening that helps things along when your "dropping the kids off at the pool," if you get my drift.

I've been experimenting with recipes lately that I already know Nicole likes, and sneaking whole wheat flour in there instead of all purpose. My latest is banana bread. The child loves this stuff and anyone who knows me knows how much I detest waste. Bananas are notorious for going bad before you get to the end of the bunch so I almost always go for the green ones when I buy them. We eat however many we can until they start getting too brown or pithy tasting and then they become bread. This recipe also has no sugar in it. Yep nada and the kid still loves it! Go figure. Usually when you use whole wheat you have to remember that it has less gluten in it than white flour so it generally doesn't rise as much. To remedy this baking soda is used and it rises just wonderfully. It has a great texture. Since there isn't any sweetening other than honey it's not as sweet as most other banana breads but this is easily remedied by either adding a little more honey or if you must have sugar, about 1/4 cup should do the trick. Please try it first without the sugar and see what you think. I'm telling you, if MY child will eat this and proclaim to love it, we have a winner.

Whole Wheat Banana Bread

1/3 C Vegetable Oil
1/2 C Honey
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
2 Eggs
1 1/2 C Mashed Bananas
1 3/4 C Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Baking Soda
1/4 C Hot Water
1/2 C Chopped Nuts (optional, I use walnuts)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl beat oil and honey together. Add eggs and mix well. Stir in bananas and vanilla. Stir in flour and salt. Add baking soda to hot water, stir to mix and add to batter. Blend in chopped nuts. Spread batter into a greased 9x5 inch loaf pan.

Bake for 55-60 minutes. Cool on wire rack 1/2 hour before slicing.


Servings - 12
Calories - 229
Fat - 10.6 grams
Carbs - 29.6 grams
Fiber - 2.9 grams
Protein - 4.4 grams

4 comments:

  1. With a little know how, high nutrition and yes, high fiber food is excellent. I mill my own flour and so much of what we eat that is a bread product comes from that. It's healthy and yummy!

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  2. Wow! You mill your own flour?! That's awesome!! You definitely have to be a guest writer on here and explain how that's done....please!!! :)

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  3. You bake bread?
    She mills flour?
    I, uh...drink beer?

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  4. Hey...they all involve yeast. Yours counts!

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