Becca's Banana Bread Recipe

I finally wrote out this recipe this morning while I was making it. I start with a basic recipe, and then add a few things, but I never really measured or kept track. I sort of make it up on the fly. But here it is. Mine is currently baking in the oven and smells amazing already!

1/2 c (1 stick) butter, softened
1 c sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
6 bananas (over ripe but soft, not frozen)
1 1/2 c flour (white or wheat)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 c quick oats
1/2 c bran

Cream butter and sugar together in large bowl. Add eggs one at a time and mix well after each. Add bananas one at a time and use a pastry cutter to chop them up. (Or you could chop them into slices first and add slices instead. Your choice.) Blend this wet mixture together pretty well, but leave some of the banana chunky. In separate bowl, combine all dry ingredients. Slowly add dry ingredients into the wet mixture and blend together. Pour into well greased 9x5 loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 mins. Lower temp to 325 and back another 30 mins. Test center of loaf with knife and if needed, lower temp to 300 and bake an additional 10 minutes. Voila!

Side note: This is not in any way shape or form the low fat or calorie version. Even I need a break from uber healthy now and then. ;)

Spaghetti Squash with Tofu Sausage Ragu Sauce

I am not 100% vegetarian, but I sure do love to try new meals without meat. This all got started when Lori over at The Stonybrook House  posted this: Whole 30 Spaghetti and Meatballs. I have always wanted to try spaghetti squash but really had no idea how to get started. Well apparently the perfect time was now. Her directions for cooking the squash were perfect. It came out just a little firm and crunchy, which I really liked. But I'm not a meatball lover, and really wanted to do this as a complete vegetarian dish. So here's how I substituted.

Tofu Sausage Ragu Sauce:

Fat free no stick cooking spray

1 tsp diced garlic

1 14 oz can of diced tomatoes w/ Italian Seasonings

1 small can tomato sauce or paste (optional)

1 cup mushroom slices

1 cup diced zucchini

4 oz tofu sausage

Spray pan with cooking spray and start garlic browning. Add sausage right away and chop it up in little pieces (it doesn't exactly crumble easily). Add zucchini and mushrooms and cook until soft. Add tomatoes (not drained) and sauce or paste, if desired, and cook until all ingredients are hot and combined. Without the sauce or paste, it's a little bit extra liquidy. Sauce makes a little thicker sauce, and paste makes an even thicker sauce. Just depends on your preference. I admit it could have used a little salt, but I've given up salt, so I did without and it was still delicious and very filling.

This makes 2 servings of ragu sauce, each poured over 1 cup of spaghetti squash, for a grand total of: 172 calories/0.5g of fat/11.5g of protein. 

The squash made 5 servings of 1-cup each, and I froze them in individual baggies. I also divided the tofu sausage into 2 oz servings sizes and froze them. This is how I do all my meals so that everything is pre-weighed and individually packaged. Yes, I really do weigh and measure all my food. Each morning I take whatever I want for dinner out of the freezer and put it in the fridge to thaw. By the time I get home that evening, it's ready to go.