No Sugar Banana Bread

I've been working on cutting out sugar this year, so my baking tools have been collecting dust. Until Friday, that is, when I saw some sad, over-ripe bananas sitting on the kitchen counter, asking to be made into banana bread. I'm not sure why they weren't asking to be frozen for smoothies, but they just weren't.

I'd been wanting to experiment a little with dates, so I figured that this was the perfect time. This recipe is adapted from the Post Punk Kitchen, and the whole family agreed that it turned out great!

No Sugar Banana Bread

Ingredients:
1/2 cup almond milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup pitted dates
1/2 cup Earth Balance
3 very ripe bananas (mashed)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Mix the vinegar into the almond milk, and set aside.

3. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice and salt.

4. Combine almond milk mixture and dates in a blender, and process until smooth.

5. Cream the Earth Balance until smooth, then add the milk/date mixture, bananas and vanilla. Mix until well combined.

6. Add the dry ingredients into the wet, and mix well.

7. Bake at 350 degrees for 60 minutes.

Chocolate Chia Pudding

It seems that chia may be my new obsession - and I only tried it for the first time today. Actually, it was the second time, but I'm choosing to forget my first chia experience because it was terrible. (In my opinion, there are certain places that chia doesn't belong - and kombucha is definitely one of them.)

Putting that experience behind me, I decided to give chia another try after reading about chia breakfast porridge on my friend Gretchen's blog. I winged it with my own porridge recipe (coming soon!) this morning  but will be trying hers tomorrow for the kids.

Tonight, I still couldn't get chia off my mind, and I kept thinking that it would make a pretty good pudding. Turns out that it does! Keep in mind that I haven't had any traditional type of pudding in years, so my "pretty good" is coming from a different point of view. If your kids are used to Jello pudding, this one probably won't cut it. Mine thought it was great though, and I love that they're eating something healthy and thinking it's dessert!

Chocolate Chia Pudding

Ingredients:
1 cup almond milk
3 tablespoons chia seeds
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
4 fresh dates

Directions:
Mix together almond milk, chia seeds, vanilla extract and cocoa powder, and set aside to soak for at least 10 minutes (longer is fine). Pour chia mixture into a strong blender or food processor, add dates and process until very smooth. Served chilled.

Fabulous Juice Recipes at Join the Reboot

It's no secret that we love our fresh juice around here! And while I typically stick with a basic green juice, I've started getting a little more adventurous. Last week, following a field trip to the citrus farm, I made Green O.J. (oranges and kale) for the kids, along with a grapefruit / sweet potato / golden beet combo.

Needless to say, I was thrilled to find an entire section of juice recipes while exploring Join the Reboot recently. I made the Gazpacho Juice (really good!) yesterday and will be stocking up on ingredients for several others (including the Cinnamon Apple & Butternut Squash Juice) this week. Whether you're new to juicing or just looking for new recipes to try, there is definitely something (or probably a dozen "somethings") for everyone there.