As you may recall from my last post, I've been feeling a little under the weather. For a few months I've been having terrible stomach aches that come out of nowhere and last between one hour to a few hours. Not fun at all! What has been the most frustrating is that my stomach problems have started to get in the way of Jim and my plans lately. This past weekend we had planned to go down to Wilmington to hit up Trader Joe's and Home Goods. The plans were halted when one of my stomach aches took over on our drive home from church. BOO! Don't you worry everyone, I'm working on figuring out the cause of my ailment.
On Tuesday night I had a pretty bad bout and Jim came to my rescue. I know it has been hard for him to see me in pain and discomfort and not be able to do anything about it. Whenever I have a pain he always asks, "What can I do to help?" Unfortunately I never have any answers for him. I've tried heat packs, antacids, pepto, tums, ibuprofen, laying on my back, laying on my stomach, nothing has really helped. Tuesday was the worst pain that I have had so far and it was excruciating. Jim was so sweet and compassionate and sat by my side the whole time. I kept telling him that he could go to bed since he had to get up at 5am, but said he wouldn't even think of it. He rubbed my back, got me water and tissues, and tried to make me laugh in case it helped to take my mind off of my stomach. I'm so blessed to have him as my husband! He is so good at showing his love for me through his actions : ) I'm not used to being the one that is taken care of, I'm much more comfortable doing the care taking! Although it was outside of my comfort zone, it gave Jim an opportunity to serve and support me and it gave me an opportunity to appreciate my husband.
Wednesday [yesterday] I was feeling much better - Praise Jesus! Since I was so excited to be feeling better and able to be productive, I spent the entire afternoon in the kitchen. I tested out an apple chips recipe - you can find them all over the internet. It worked out well and tasted delish : ) I also whipped up a gluten free, dairy free, vegan enchiladas recipe [to Jim's portion I added shredded chicken and he added shredded cheese, no longer vegan and dairy free on his plate!] for dinner. It was a high maintenance recipe and I made the mistake of making it ahead of time which caused the corn tortillas to get soggy in the refrigerator. If I have success another day then I'll post the recipe!
My major accomplishment of Wednesday was reinventing my grandma's banana bread recipe. Now let me clarify, the recipe does not NEED to be reinvented. Her banana bread is off the charts! I simply wanted to see how it turned out with some healthy substitutes, and it turns out that cutting 2000 calories from the entire loaf did not cut taste one bit! It actually turned out quite rich! Almost too rich - which is a good thing in my book. When something is rich I don't go back for seconds [thirds, fourths, or even fifths]. Thanks to the richness of this recipe, I was satisfied with one slice! That NEVER happens, especially with oh-so-tasty bread ; ) One thing that happened due to one of the substitutions is that this bread turned from a banana bread to a pumpkin bread. Being that it's October I was quite alright with that flavor adjustment!
Seriously, after tasting this bread you will not believe that there are only 100 calories in one slice!
Ingredients
3/4 cup pumpkin in a can [replaced 3/4 cup butter]
3/4 cup Truvia/stevia sweetener [replaced 1 1/2 cup refined sugar]
3 bananas, mashed
2/3 cup applesauce [replaced 2 eggs]
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups gluten free flour [replaced 2 cups regular baking flour]
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup almond milk + 1 tbsp. white vinegar [replaced 1/2 cup buttermilk]
Not in original banana bread recipe:
1 tbsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
I believe that these two spices are what contributed to the rich flavor of the pumpkin bread. If you would like a toned down flavor, I recommend adjusting the amount so that you use less cinnamon and nutmeg.
In the original banana bread recipe, but left out:
1/2 cup chopped walnuts [I didn't think the walnuts would work well with pumpkin bread]
STEP ONE
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine pumpkin and stevia, adding stevia gradually. Cream well. I love that this recipe allowed me to use my new KitchenAid Mixer!
STEP TWO
Blend in bananas, applesauce and vanilla.
STEP THREE
In a mixing bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. In another mixing bowl, combine the almond milk and vinegar to create a buttermilk alternative. Add dry mixture and liquid mixture, alternating between the two until all of the ingredients have been combined - blending just until well combined. I made quite a mess when adding the flour!
STEP FOUR
Pour into greased loaf pan, if you use a 9x4 it should all fit in one pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes. When you insert a toothpick and it comes out clean your loaf should be done!
STEP FIVE
Allow to cool in the pan for at least 30 minutes, then move to a cooling rack to cool completely. I cut notches in the loaf so that I had 16 slices, meaning that each slice should have about 105 calories. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator and I recommend serving cold. The loaf isn't normal consistency, it's very dense and moist, which I think tastes much better when it's cold than warm.
Would ya look at that? And it tastes just like pumpkin pie, but surprisingly healthy! ENJOY : )
Until next time,
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