Day 92: A bowl of oatmeal and Banana Bread with peanut butter
Did you ever have one of those days when you looked at the clock and it was 6 pm and you had no idea what was for dinner and were completely sick of making dinner but you have a responsibility to feed your two year old and besides that there were several hundred people waiting to hear and see what you’re going to have?
Yeah, me too.
W and I had a late nap, an unusual event but I have been subbing in as traffic reporter on CBC radio all week, which gets me up at 4:30 am, so since I haven’t yet figured out how to adjust my bedtime accordingly, my schedule is a little out of whack. When we woke up, W and I peered in the fridge, poking around at the usual suspects: the rotini noodles in tomato sauce always on standby, eggs waiting to be poached and put on toast, a tub of mixed greens, some leftover cold rice and barley, still far too much Easter chocolate.
He asked for oatmeal. Why not? He loves it for breakfast. Someone somewhere at some point decided what was appropriate breakfast food and what was only suitable at dinnertime; why do pancakes, oatmeal and eggs on toast constitute breakfast, and pizza and roast chicken classify only as lunch or dinner? Ease of preparation? Digestibility? Even more of a mystery to me: who labelled Pop Tarts, donuts and danish breakfast, when other pastries are classified as dessert? I love fruit pie or crumble for breakfast with vanilla yogurt (not that it’s something I have often), and people think it’s weird. But chocolate Pop Tarts or Crispy Cremes are perfectly appropriate? Not to mention the Tim Horton’s muffins that are higher in fat and sugar than either of the two?
So I cooked some oatmeal, adding a bit of the leftover whey from our cheesemaking into the water, and grating the remains of one of the apples he ate a third of and left on the couch into it as it cooked. A handful of raisins and a sprinkle of ground flax (the best plant source of omega 3s), and it was done. We both ate some, and then I popped a slice of banana bread that I froze a few weeks ago into the toaster and smeared it with peanut butter. (If you slice it before you freeze it this is easy to do, but slicing frozen quick breads is much like slicing frozen cake – much easier than slicing frozen bread or bagels.)
Banana Bread
Everyone needs a good banana bread recipe in their repertoire. If you like, add a drizzle of flax oil to the wet ingredients. To make muffins, divide the batter among 12 muffin tins that have been sprayed with nonstick spray or lined with paper liners, and bake them at 400 F for 20-25 minutes, until golden and springy to the touch.
1/4 cup butter or non-hydrogenated margarine, softened
3/4 cup sugar (brown, white or both)
3 mashed very ripe bananas
2 large eggs
1/3 cup plain yogurt, low fat sour cream or buttermilk
2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour, or half all-purpose and half whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 cup chopped walnuts, pecans or raisins, or 1 cup fresh or frozen (unthawed) blueberriesPreheat oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until well combined – the mixture will have the consistency of wet sand. Add banana, eggs, yogurt and vanilla and beat until well blended. Don’t worry about getting all the lumps of banana out.
Add flour, baking soda and salt and stir by hand just until combined. If you are adding nuts or other additions, throw them in before the batter is blended.
Pour batter into an 8″x4″ loaf pan that has been sprayed with nonstick spray. Bake for an hour and 10 minutes, until the top is springy to the touch. Cool in the pan on a wire rack.Makes 1 loaf, with about 16 slices.
Per slice: 152 calories, 3.8 g total fat (2.1 g saturated fat, 1.1 g monounsaturated fat, 0.3 g polyunsaturated fat), 2.9 g protein, 26.8 g carbohydrate, 35 mg cholesterol, 0.8 g fiber. 22% calories from fat.
To make Chocolate Swirl Banana Bread: remove 1 cup of batter and gently stir 2 tbsp. cocoa and 1/4 cup chocolate chips into it. Alternate big spoonfuls of plain and chocolate batter in the pan and gently run a knife through to create a marbled effect. Bake as directed.
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Thought you’d be interested in this short omega-3 video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIgNpsbvcVM
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Hi Julie, I am looking forward to trying this banana bread recipe, except I WILL be adding some chocolate of some sort. It’s the only way I can eat banana bread. I know, wierd.
Just wanted to say that pancakes are definitely a dinnertime favourite around here, especially when the cook (AKA Mom, Me) needs a break!
I’m enjoying your blog, having been led here via bmimedical, and one day hope to look through the archives for more yummy recipes!
I’ve wondered the same thing about what exactly constitutes breakfast. I mean, the sugar content in poptarts (which used to be my favorite breakfast growing up) is way higher than a scoop of ice cream. Strange, huh? I agree with you, some days I could just eat yogurt w/ fruit and granola,or peanut butter toast ALL day. In fact, I might start doing that!
Oatmeal for dinner…not so unusual to me, especially if you consider southerners (U.S.) eat grits for breakfast, lunch and dinner…French toast is a fave last minute dinner in our house…and incidentally the only way my 23mo old son will eat eggs. In reverse, having dinner for breakfast – I’ve put some of last night’s salmon on a piece of toast.
So long as the meal is healthy I don’t think it matters what time of day you serve it 🙂
Julie, I have made YOUR Chocolate Banana Swirl bread and am a huge fan as are any of my friends and family who have tried it. They think it must be bad for them as it tastes soo good. (insert evil laugh here) I am converting them to healthy eating one goodie at a time!!
Hi Julie,
Sounds like a great supper to me!
We often have ‘breakfast for dinner’ – whether it’s eggs, or cereal, or smoothies. It’s definitely about getting the nutrition you need – regardless of ‘meal stereotypes’!!! 🙂
Julie, Julie, I think my family is in love with you! The banana bread is wonderful! Thx!
have u ever tried flavored yogurt ???