Clean Eating Banana Bread

Who doesn't love banana bread? I know that everytime I look over at the fruit bowl on my kitchen table and see the bananas getting a little brown I get excited that I can finally make another batch of banana bread. Is that weird? I'm sure I'm not the only one that thinks like this. I mean banana bread is amazing and tasty and it's hard to mess up.

For years I have been making the traditional Southern Living Banana Bread recipe that I found in my mom's cookbook in high school. I have been experimenting with recipes to make it lower calorie and cleaner. I have finally found a recipe that tastes so good it tricked everyone who tried it. There's no sugar, no oil, and no guilt. This recipe is a little similar to my pumpkin spice bread recipe but even cleaner.

Please pardon my chipped nail polish I skipped doing my nails this weekend because I'm getting my nails done before Thanksgiving.

Ingredients

3 large bananas

2 egg whites

2 tbsp Light butter spread (I use Brummel and Brown with Yogurt)

3 tbsp honey 

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup flour 

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

Pinch of salt 

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Put the bananas and the other wet ingredients in a bowl and mash until smooth.

In a separate bowl mix the dry ingredients. 

Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and stir until all mixed together. 

Pour into the loaf pan or muffin tin and cook at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. 

It comes out this gorgeous light golden color. 

Okay, well now this has made me hungry. I'm off to go toast up a slice and spread on some Laughing Cow Cinnamon Cream Cheese. Oh. My. Gosh. sooo good! 

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 1 Slice (Loaf makes 10 slices)

Amount Per Serving

Calories 135 Calories from Fat 27

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 3.0g 5%

Trans Fat 0.0g

Cholesterol 0mg 0%

Sodium 79mg 3%

Potassium 267mg 8%

Total Carbohydrates 24.9g 8%

Dietary Fiber 1.8g 7%

Sugars 10.2g

Protein 3.2g

Vitamin A 2% • Vitamin C 6% Calcium 4% • Iron 5%

Nutrition Grade C+

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet

Skinny Zucchini Parmesan

My grandmother is an amazing cook. She's Italian so it's completely natural for her to make amazing food. One of my absolute favorite things she makes is her zucchini parmesan. I'm not sure whether she would applaud me or ring my neck for making one of her classic recipes a lighter. (Especially since I used jarred sauce instead of homemade. Sorry Grammy!). Her zucchini parmesan is delicious, but it's fried. She frys up her zucchini slices in olive oil, which is so very good. But it's so very bad for me. I lightened her recipe up a bit. I also made lighter bread crumbs to coat the zucchini. It was the first time I tried to make this and came out delicious.

Ingredients:

1 Large Zucchini (I used 1 very large one from a neighbors garden, I would probably use 2 is your are using the store bought kind)

4 Slices Sara Lee 45 Calorie Wheat Bread

4 Tbsp Newman's Own Light Italian Dressing

1 Jar Healthy Pasta Sauce (I used Prego Heart Smart)

2 tsp Parmesan Cheese

1/4 Cup Reduced Fat Shredded Mozzarella Cheese 

I started with the breadcrumbs. I laid out the four slices of sandwich bread on a baking sheet and brushed each one with Italian dressing. I popped them in the oven at 350 until they were browned then I flipped them over, brushed the other side with dressing and popped them back in the oven.

Both sides should look like this. Then I crumbled them a bit with my hands and threw them in the blender.

I pulsed it in the blender until it was a crumb consistency. Transfer the crumbs to a bowl and stir in the parmesan cheese.

While the bread was toasting I started to slice up the zucchini. I made them decently large slices.

Time for the conveyor belt method. Beat the egg in one bowl and put it next to the breadcrumbs. Dip each slice of zucchini in the egg, shake off any excess, then dip in the breadcrumbs. 

Place the breaded zucchini slices in a hot pan sprayed with PAM Olive Oil. After about 2-3 minutes flip them, very carefully. 

Once both sides have browned and the zucchini is tender. Take them out of the pan and place them on a paper towel to collect any excess oil. 

Now it's time to assemble...

I covered the bottom of a casserole dish with about 1/2 cup of the sauce. Then I placed some of the zucchini slices over it. ( I ran out of breadcrumbs for the last 2 slices of zucchini so I just fried them up with salt and pepper and stuck them on the bottom. No one will ever know the difference.)

Continue to layer sauce and zucchini slices about 3 times or until zucchini is gone, depending on the size of your casserole dish. Then sprinkle the mozzarella cheese over the top. 

Cover and place in a 400 degree preheated oven. Bake for 15-20 minutes, remove lid and bake for an additional 5 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly. 

I may have been too excited to eat this that I completely forgot to take a picture of it on my plate. I enjoyed it with a salad and it was a wonderful dinner. 

What is your absolute favorite thing your grandmother makes?

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 1/2 cup (1/6 of recipe)

Amount Per Serving

Calories 185 Calories from Fat 71

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 7.9g 12%

Saturated Fat 1.7g 9%

Trans Fat 0.0g

Cholesterol 30mg 10%

Sodium 650mg 27%

Total Carbohydrates 23.6g 8%

Dietary Fiber 5.9g 24%

Sugars 13.9g

Protein 7.8g

Vitamin A 16% • Vitamin C 35% Calcium 10% • Iron 9%

Nutrition Grade B+

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet

Turkey Sloppy Joes

Lately, I've been craving comfort food. But comfort food isn't typically diet friendly. I wanted to make lower calorie sloppy joes and add in a bit more veggies than I normally would (normally, I don't add any veggies at all so this is an improvement). I think this sloppy joe recipe rocks. Totally delicious and really quick and easy. 

Ingredients:
2 lbs Lean Ground Turkey
1/2 Red Onion
1 large red bell pepper
3 Celery Stalks
1 Garlic clove
1 cup Ketchup
3 Tbsp Tomato Paste
1 Tbsp Light Brown Sugar
2 Tbsp Worcestershire
1 tsp Chili powder
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp Tabasco (Optional)
1 tsp sriracha (Optional)
Hamburger Buns

Chop up the red bell pepper, celery, and onion as finely as possible.

Spray the pan with Olive Oil spray and set to medium heat.

Throw those veggies in the hot pan.

Wait until they are a bit soft and tender then add in minced garlic and sprinkle salt and pepper.

Let the veggies cook for another 2-5 minutes then remove from the pan and set aside.

I have never been that crazy about ground beef. In fact, when I was little I wouldn't eat anything with ground beef, not even a hamburger. My taste buds have changed,of course, but I still prefer ground turkey over ground beef when I can. This Jennie-O ground turkey is my favorite! 

Cook up the ground turkey until you no longer see any red/pink. Use a spoon or spatula to go through and break up any of the larger pieces. 

Add in the rest of the ingredients, including the veggies we set aside earlier.

Stir it up until everything is fully coated in sauce.

I put half a cup of the sloppy joe mix in a toasted bun. I used regular hamburger buns because the whole wheat buns were an additional 100 calories. Of course whole wheat is a lot healthier but right now I'm focusing primarily on calorie count. 

    Makes 8 Servings

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: 1 sandwich with 1/2 cup of sloppy joe mixture

Amount Per Serving

Calories 328 Calories from Fat 88

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 9.8g 15%

Saturated Fat 2.5g 13%

Trans Fat 0.0g

Cholesterol 80mg 27%

Sodium 668mg 28%

Total Carbohydrates 34.2g 11%

Dietary Fiber 2.7g 11%

Sugars 13.7g

Protein 26.4g

Vitamin A 26% • Vitamin C 55% Calcium 7% • Iron 21%

Nutrition Grade B-

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet

What is your favorite comfort food?