Whole Wheat Blueberry Banana Waffles

Breakfast is one of my favorite meals of the day, but so often there simply isn't time in our schedule to spend 20+ minutes over a pan putting something together before the hubby and I are dashing out the door.  I'd rather take an extra bit of shut eye and grab something that is still yummy, but easy to throw together.

But most Saturday mornings this changes.  I sleep in a bit (hopefully) and then roll out of bed around 9:00 or 10:00 to make a brunch of sorts.  We had some blueberries and bananas on hand this weekend so I decided on waffles.  Waffles are just a no brainer and there's something so nostalgic about whipping that wonderful waffle maker out, don't you think?

And while it's pretty darn hard to mess up a waffle, I do think these turned out just fabulous.  Most banana waffle recipes have you mash up the banana, but I chopped mine so that the end result was thick chunks of them all throughout the waffle.

Top these babies with more fresh blueberries and banana (and walnuts in my case) and you're good to go!  I used whole wheat flour for a healthier option, but really any all purpose flour will do.

Enjoy!

Banana and Honey Oat Muffins

I have been hunting for a recipe for that perfect breakfast muffin, which in my humble opinion means that it's not too sweet but still has good flavor.  Often something sweet first thing in the morning can leave me craving nothing but loads of sugar for the rest of the day.

Unfortunately (or fortunately...whichever way you look at it) most of the muffins you buy at the grocery store or at a bakery are loaded with sugar.  You're basically eating cake without icing.  Not that that would be a bad thing, but not when the goal is the get a nice healthy kick start to your day.

The recipe below is a (somewhat) healthier option I came up with.  This recipe swaps wheat flour in for white flour, uses honey instead of processed granulated sugar, and adds bananas and oats.

The hubby and I can never eat a full batch (12) of these before they go bad, so I always stick a bunch in the freezer and then pull one out at night for the next morning's breakfast.

My favorite way to eat these it to top them with a little dab (okay a nice dab) of peanut butter and stick them in the toaster for a minute or two....heaven!

Whipped Banana Ice Cream

Surprise!  I'm back.  I know I said yesterday was my last post before my "wedding furlough", but I made some whipped banana "ice cream" yesterday and have been chomping at the bit to share it with all of you.  I have read about this recipe on Pinterest (don't even get me started on the addictive properties of Pinterest...oh dear lord!), and have been pondering trying it for some time now.

This recipe involves a banana.  Yep, that's it.  Just a banana.  Or two, or three, or even four depending on how much "ice cream" you want to make.  I put ice cream in quotation marks because it's not really ice cream.  But the frozen bananas are supposed to taste like ice cream.

You simply slice a banana, stick the pieces in a tupperware container in the freezer for an hour or two, and then whip the pieces in a blender.  Easy as pie.  Or well, in the case, as easy as ice cream.  I will say that I tried freezing the whole banana, but it doesn't work so great when you try to peel that whole frozen banana.  Peel it and chop it first, then freeze it.

Pinterest says you can just whip a banana, but I think next time I'd add a bit of peanut butter or chocolate to give it some depth of flavor.  Don't get me wrong, it's not that I didn't like it.  But I think it would taste better with some sugar :)  Leave it to me to ruin a healthy treat.

Banana Sour Cream Bread

Hi there!  Can you believe I've logged 7 posts in 14 days?  Yeah, me neither.  This was my intention all along....regular, frequent posts.  However, life kind of got in the way and things didn't turn out as planned. I'm getting married in just 11 short days, so there will definitely be about a week and a half there with no posts.  However, when I get back from the honeymoon I plan on sharing all of the yummy meals I'll be whipping up for my hubby on a (hopefully) nightly basis.

Today I bring you my favorite banana sour cream bread.  I actually made this bread over a year ago, but just this morning stumbled across the photos and realized I had never blogged the recipe.  This bread is absolutely divine, with a great deal of yummy banana flavor, plenty of moistness (is that a word?) from the sour cream, and a nice crunch on top compliments of the walnuts.

The funny thing is that I absolute hate bananas.  I couldn't eat one if you tried to force me.  I think it's a texture thing though, and doesn't have as much to do with the actual taste.  Oddly enough, I love banana bread.  And hopefully you do too!

The only thing I will say is that the consistency is more like that of a cake than that of a quick bread.  Most banana bread is very dense, with so much moisture it's almost as if it's a bit wet.  But this bread is very light and fluffy.  Heavy on flavor, but still light.  If you're good with that, then this recipe will be right on the money.

Banana Sour Cream Bread
1/4 C white sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon

3/4 C butter
3 C white sugar
3 eggs
6 very ripe bananas, mashed
1 (16 oz) container sour cream
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
3 tsp baking soda
4 1/2 C all purpose flour
1 C chipped walnuts

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Grease four 7x3 inch loaf pans.  Mix first two ingredients and dust pans lightly with sugar and cinnamon mixture.

In large bowl, cream butter and 3 cups sugar.  Mix in eggs, bananas, sour cream, vanilla and cinnamon.  Mix in salt, baking soda and flour.  Stir in nuts and divide into prepared pans.

Mashing the 'naners....

At this point I also added some extra walnuts and cinnamon/sugar mixture on top.  Just for good measure :)

See the extra walnuts on top?

*Tip: To keep the nuts from sinking strait to the bottom of the bread pans, coat them lightly in flour.  Any time I add anything like chocolate chips or nuts to a recipe I always place them in a cup with a little bit of flour and toss to coat.  It solves the "sinking" problem like no other!

Bake for 1 hour or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Deliciousness