Peanut Butter Banana Bread: Making Healthier Recipes

This weekend I took a recipe I knew I liked and tweaked it to make it healthier.

My Great Grandmothers Banana Bread Recipe:

Ingredients:
3/4 cups Butter
3 cups Flour
1 1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 1/2  teaspoon Baking Soda
1 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 1/2 cup Sugar
4 Eggs
4 over-ripe Bananas
3/4 cup Walnuts

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350
Mix butter, eggs and sugar
Mash bananas and add salt, baking soda and vanilla
Mix everything together
Bake for 1 hour
Makes 2 loaves

Nutrient Facts:

Grandma Helen's Banana Bread Portions: 20 (2 loaves)
Limits	Amount Per Portion
Total Calories	232 Calories
Empty Calories*	99 Calories
Added Sugars	57 Calories
*Calories from food components such as added sugars and solid fats that provide little nutritional value.
Empty Calories are part of Total Calories.
Nutrients	Amount Per Portion
Protein	4 g
Carbohydrate	35 g
Dietary Fiber	1 g
Total Sugars	18 g
Added Sugars	14 g
Total Fat	9 g
Saturated Fat	3 g
Monounsaturated Fat	2 g
Polyunsaturated Fat	3 g
Cholesterol	55 mg
Minerals	Amount Per Portion
Calcium	15 mg
Potassium	140 mg
Sodium	288 mg
Copper	129 µg
Phosphorus	61 mg
Vitamins	Amount Per Portion
Vitamin A	53 µg RAE
Vitamin C	2 mg
Vitamin K	1 µg
Folate	67 µg DFE
Choline	27 mg

My Vegan Peanut Butter Banana Bread:

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Unflavored Almond Milk
3 cups Flour
1 teaspoon Salt
2  teaspoon Baking Soda
2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1  cup Brown Sugar (1/4 cup to sprinkle for crust)
6 Brown, over-ripe Bananas
1 cup Peanut Butter

Directions:
Mix everything together

Bake for 1 hour at 350
Makes 2 loaves

Nutrient Facts:

Vegan PB Banana Bread Portions: 20 (2 Loaves)
Limits	Amount Per Portion
Total Calories	213 Calories
Empty Calories*	39 Calories
Added Sugars	36 Calories
*Calories from food components such as added sugars and solid fats that provide little nutritional value.
Empty Calories are part of Total Calories.
Nutrients	Amount Per Portion
Protein	6 g
Carbohydrate	34 g
Dietary Fiber	2 g
Total Sugars	15 g
Added Sugars	9 g
Total Fat	7 g
Saturated Fat	1 g
Monounsaturated Fat	3 g
Polyunsaturated Fat	2 g
Cholesterol	0 mg
Minerals	Amount Per Portion
Calcium	28 mg
Potassium	260 mg
Sodium	296 mg
Copper	290 µg
Iron	3 mg
Magnesium	63 mg
Phosphorus	71 mg
Vitamins	Amount Per Portion
Vitamin A	156 µg RAE
Vitamin C	3 mg
Vitamin E	6 mg AT
Vitamin K	0 µg
Folate	122 µg DFE
Niacin	3 mg
Choline	14 mg
www.SuperTracker.usda.gov

Analysis: By switching the butter and eggs in the original recipe for almond milk and extra bananas, my vegan version is much healthier. With fewer calories, less saturated fat and no cholesterol, my version also contains more protein, calcium and vitamin A than my great grandmothers recipe.

Olive Hummus

Simple Olive Hummus (with no Tahini!)

This is another one of my grandmothers recipes. 

It's a delicious and healthy snack 

that's super easy to make and only uses 5 ingredients.

Ingredients:

1 can Chickpeas

1 can pitted Black Olives

1 jar Green Olives (with pimentos)

4-7 cloves Garlic

Olive Oil

Optional pinch of Salt

Instructions:

Drain the olives and chickpeas.

Cook the garlic in olive oil

Add ingredients in a blender and puree.      

Add oil as needed/desired.     

8-10 servings 

                                            

                 

Nutrient Facts:        

Olive Hummus Portions: 9
Food Groups	Amount Per Portion
Vegetables	¾ cup(s)
Beans & Peas	¼ cup(s)
Other	½ cup(s)
Oils	1 teaspoon
Limits	Amount Per Portion
Total Calories	188 Calories
Nutrients	Amount Per Portion
Protein	4 g
Carbohydrate	13 g
Dietary Fiber	5 g
Total Sugars	2 g
Total Fat	14 g
Saturated Fat	2 g
Monounsaturated Fat	10 g
Polyunsaturated Fat	2 g
Minerals	Amount Per Portion
Calcium	62 mg
Potassium	123 mg
Sodium	804 mg
Vitamins	Amount Per Portion
Vitamin A	18 µg RAE
Vitamin C	5 mg

Remember that you can get nutrient facts for your own recipes at supertracker.usda.gov

Homemade Apple Sauce

It's easier than you think to make delicious home-made apple sauce!

Ingredients:
4 Apples*
3/4 cup Water
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon

Directions: Peel & chop apples. Combine all ingredients in a saucepan. Cover with a lid and cook at low/medium heat for 20-30 minutes until apples become soft. Allow the sauce to cool before mashing the apples. Serve warm or cool in the fridge.

Ingredients in the pot:                         After cooking for 10 minutes:

 

 
^After cooking for 20 minutes          ^ After cooking for 25 minutes &
                                                            cooling. I started mashing
                                                                          with a fork                                                        

**Note on Apples: the type of apple you use makes a huge difference! I recommend McIntosh apples for applesauce because they really break up on their own, you wont really have to mash them. This time I tried Gala apples so that's what you're seeing in these pictures. It turned out great but I had to put more effort into mashing than with McIntosh apples.
Best Apples for Sauce:
-McIntosh (my favorite for apple sauce so far)
-Golden Delicious
-Fuji
-Cortland
-Honey Crisp is okay
-Gala is okay
-Red Delicious
-Pink Lady is okay

Nutrient Facts:
Homemade Apple Sauce Portions: 4
Food Groups	Amount Per Portion
Whole Fruit	1¼ cup(s)
Limits	Amount Per Portion
Total Calories	125 Calories
Empty Calories*	50 Calories
Added Sugars	50 Calories
Nutrients	Amount Per Portion
Protein	0 g
Carbohydrate	33 g
Dietary Fiber	3 g
Total Sugars	28 g
Added Sugars	13 g
Total Fat	0 g
Minerals	Amount Per Portion
Calcium	25 mg
Potassium	167 mg
Sodium	8 mg
Vitamin A	4 µg RAE
Vitamin C	6 mg
Vitamin K	3 µg

Remember you can go to supertracker.usda.gov to get nutrient information for your own recipes.