Almost NO-FAT Banana Cherry Bread

Can you believe that title?  Well it’s true. Don’t be turned off by the ingredients because you and your family will never be able to tell there is NO EGGS and NO ADDED FAT in this recipe.  It’s one of those healthy alternatives but with great moisture, a slightly chewy texture, a balanced sweetness, and easy to make.  That about says it all.

No Fat Banana Cherry Bread

• 2 2/3 cups All purpose flour
• 1 cup Quick Cooking Oats
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 lb (16 oz) Lite Silken Tofu (you can use regular Silken Tofu because there is still very little fat in it)
• 1/4 cup Black Cherry Concentrate (if you can’t find any juice concentrate, simply use Orange Juice or your favorite flavor)
• 1/4 cup water* Use water if using a juice concentrate. If using regular juice, omit water and increase juice to 1/2 cup total.
• 1 1/4 cup Sugar
• 2 Medium over ripe bananas
• 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 2 tsp Almond Extract
• 1 cup Dried Cherries or Raisins – OPTIONAL

Directions:  Preheat oven to 350 F.  Prepare loaf pans. Use either 2 large loaf pans or you can use a mixture of sizes.  I used 1 medium loaf pan and 3 small loaf pans. Spraying them with non-stick baking spray.

Mix first 6 ingredients all together in a large bowl. That’s all your dry ingredients from flour to cinnamon. Add the next 7 ingredients, from the tofu to the almond extract to a food processor or blender and mix until fairly smooth.  Add to the dry ingredients and stir in the cherries or raisins if using.  

Bake approximately 55-60 minutes for large loaf pans.  45 minutes for medium loaf pan. 35 minutes for small loaf pans.  Let cool and …don’t tell ANYONE there is tofu in this bread. They wouldn’t believe you anyway.

Enjoy! 

 

Remember I was talking about some construction at Apple  Crumbles?  Well, it is complete! Yay! 

We had a walkway put in around the back of the house.  It is done in stampcrete.

Here are some photos:

Ted's photo of the BIG truck....men and trucks!

From the side of the house looking toward the back deck

From back deck towards driveway side of the house.

Now we wait for the grass to grow. We will be putting flowers and some other adornments to pretty things up a bit.  With all the rain we are having, we should be seeing grass in no time.

Note to Mum:  You can now step from the driveway to the porch with no problem.  It has been made into a “normal” size step….and Mocha will be able to make it up onto the porch as well without leaping into the air. 🙂  All for you guys…we love you!

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The Mezzetta Sandwich Contest

This is an Eggplant sandwich to satisfy all tastebuds and is my entry in the Mezzetta Make That Sandwich Contest.

We used Mezzetta Napa Valley Bistro Artichoke Marinara Pasta Sauce  and Mezzetta Golden Greek Pepperocini Slices to add the ultimate flavor to this lunch or dinner meal.

• 1 medium eggplant, sliced about 1/3″ thick into 8 to 10 slices. Leave the skin on and salt in a colander for 30 minutes.
• 3 beaten eggs
• 1 cup breadcrumbs
• 1 TBS Italian seasoning
• olive oil for frying
• 1 fennel bulb, sliced thin
• 1 large tomato, sliced thin in 8 – 10 slices
• 8 to 10 fresh basil leaves, crumbled
• salt and pepper
• 8 oz Mozzarella cheese, sliced into 8 – 10 slices
• 1 cup or more of Napa Valley Bistro Artichoke Marinara Sauce
• 1 cup or more of Mezzetta Golden Pepperocini Slices, drained
• 8 TBS Honey or Sweet-Hot Mustard
• 8 – 10 pieces of crisp lettuce
• 8 – 10 Whole wheat or Kaiser Rolls, toasted

Preheat oven to 425 F.

Heat frying pan on medium – high and cover the bottom with oil.  Mix the breadcrumbs with the Italian seasoning and put into a dish. Dip the eggplant (after it has been salted and sat for 30 min.) into the beaten eggs, then into the seasoned breadcrumbs. Fry at about 5 – 6 minutes per side. Do not overcrowd the pan.

Add the fennel to the hot an and saute for about 4 minutes. Set aside.

Prepare a baking sheet with foil and place the eggplant slices on the sheet.  Top with a tomato slice, basil, salt and pepper, mozzarella cheese, 1 TBS Napa Valley Bistro sauce, some fennel and bake for 8 – 10 minutes.

Toast the rolls. Place a piece of lettuce on the bottom of each roll, top with prepared eggplant, put about 1 TBS pepperocini on each egglant, spread about 1 TBS mustard on top roll and enjoy.

This sandwich was SO good. Ted loved it – he ate 2!  I enjoyed it so much, I could’ve eaten two but thought better of it – the stomach can only hold so much..or so it told the brain.

The Mezzetta Pepperocini slices really did the trick to adding so much flavor. If you give this a try, don’t leave out the pepperocini. They come in mild or hot options.

Now it’s off to begin the long weekend.  Please stop by for a visit since I’ll be posting more delicious recipes. Do you have a favorite you want me to try? If so, either leave it in the comments, email it, or let me know your blog where I can find it. I just LOVE to try new things!

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