The Banana Muffin, Perfected

It's difficult to type while patting oneself on the back, but I'll try. You see, for some time, I have been trying to arrive at the perfect banana muffin. Something that tastes good, has a pleasant texture (moist, but not mushy; tender, but not crumbly...) and is not too terrible from nutritional standpoint. After making many adjustments to many recipes, by Jove! I think I've got it! Now, you can have it, too :)


Perfect Banana Muffins

1 cup almond meal
1.5 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 TBS graham cracker crumbs
2/3 cup oil
1 cup honey
4 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups mashed bananas
½ cup hot milk or milk substitute**


Heat oven to 325 F.

In a large bowl, combine all dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, combine oil, honey* vanilla and eggs. Stir mashed bananas into wet ingredients and mix well. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients, alternating with hot milk.

Pour batter into greased muffin tin and bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until done.

Optional: serve topped with a dollop of peanut butter and a drizzle of honey (do this upon serving, or provide toppings on the side ~ do not top them all and plan to store them this way).

* Tip: Measure oil first, then use the same measuring cup to measure your honey, and it will slide out cleanly, without sticking.
** I used So Delicious Coconut Milk Beverage, but you can use your favourite milk substitute…or regular milk….or probably even just plain water.


And here's the rest of the good news: I found a site that will let me input a recipe and figure the nutrition facts. Check it out.


Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 85 g

Calories 258
Calories from Fat 109
Total Fat 12.1g
Saturated Fat 1.7g
Trans Fat 0.0g
Cholesterol 42mg
Sodium 290mg 12%
Total Carbohydrates 34.7g
Dietary Fiber 1.7g
Sugars 18.3g
Protein 4.7g
Vitamin A 1% • Vitamin C 3%
Calcium 3% • Iron 7%
Nutrition Grade C-
* Based on a 2000 calorie diet


I am no nutritionist, but I think this one stacks up pretty well. What do you think? Are these good numbers for a muffin? I mean, I am not thrilled with the C- grade, but, when I compared it to the nutrition facts on another site for a generic banana nut muffin, I found that mine had fewer calories, less sugar, less sodium, less fat, less saturated fat, more protein, more fiber and more iron, so, for a snack food that you don't plan to eat every single day, it's probably okay, right? I mean, it may not be the healthiest food in the whole world, but, for what it is, I think it's acceptable.

Obviously, if you serve it with the optional peanut butter/honey topping, you change the nutrition information, but it is so, so yummy that way. And, if you eat it for, say, breakfast, it's probably still a pretty decent choice. I checked the nutrition facts for that (assuming 1 TBS peanut butter and 1/2 tsp honey per muffin), and it wasn't bad, IMO. Calories and fat rose, as expected (363 cal. and about 20 grams of fat, which is, admittedly, a lot), but so did the protein, fiber and iron, so, you know, make informed choices. You could probably lower the fat in the actual muffin by subbing applesauce for some of the oil, but you have to go in knowing that the resulting muffin won't be quite as moist as the original, and you'll bring up the sugar count a bit, I suspect.

Ultimately, I feel this recipe works for us because it is sweet, but not too sweet, and because Kaia won't eat baked goods with nuts in them...but...nuts are so good for you! The addition of almond meal to this recipe packs in little extra nutritional umph, but it blends right in with the texture of the wheat flour, so she'll actually eat it. Hallie is not a huge fan of whole wheat baked goods (weird, because she loves whole wheat pastas), so using part whole wheat and part all purpose flour makes it a little less...um..."Whole-Wheaty," I guess.

The Afterschool Special

AKA ~ afterschool snack.

We're snackers. In fact, I tend to snack my way through my days, rather than sitting down and packing away a great big meal all at once. Maybe that's why I never post here. I'm too busy snacking.

Because I know this, I try to encourage healthy snacking habits. Every bite counts, so if I can pack a little nourishment into every morsel, all the better, right? I think so. When I use eggs, I make sure they are the ones that are especially high in Omega 3 fatty acids, for instance, and I like to add applesauce or pumpkin to the pancakes, so my finicky little non-fruit-and-vegetable-eating 7-year-old will accidentally get a little something that might be missing from her limited diet. I try to use wheat bread and brown rice, I add pureed carrots to my tomato sauce. You get the picture.

But then, we like to have fun, too. I mean, we can't be serious all the time. Sometimes, you want cookies, candy, muffins, cake...you know, treats. And sure, we have those things sometimes, but, when I can, I try to keep it as healthy as possible. It just makes sense to me. If I can give my family a delicious treat, but amp up the nutrition a bit, why not?

So, on this, the third day of the new school year, I will devote an entry to after-school snacking.

I have always felt that, when the kids get home, they should get a little time to unwind before they tackle the books again. I like to give them about an hour to decompress, relax, play, run off steam, and have a little snack to fuel them through the rigors of homework that await. I generally keep around the house an assortment of healthy snacks: nuts, dried and fresh fruits, veggies, hummus, whole wheat pita, cheeses, yogurt (dairy and soy), whole grain crackers, olives, graham crackers... We're not really a Goldfish crackers and juice box kind of family, but we do have those sometimes, too.

I had been wanting to do a little something special for back-to-school, but Justice's scheduling problems ate up Monday afternoon, and jury duty killed Tuesday for me, so, here I was on Wednesday, finally, with time to make something a little more involved than, say, yogurt and fruit.

I settled on this:

Agave Spice Cake

Ingredients

* ¾ cup agave nectar
* 1 cup applesauce
* 3 eggs
* 1 tsp. vanilla extract
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* ½ teaspoon ground clove
* ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
* 1 cup all-purpose flour
* 1 scant cup whole wheat flour
* ½ teaspoon baking powder
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* ½ tsp salt
* 1 cup strong brewed decaffeinated coffee
Directions

1. In a large bowl, mix together the first 4 ingredients.
2. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, spices and baking soda.
3. Add the flour mixture to the wet stuff, alternating, with the coffee. Beat well.
4. Put into one greased 9"x13" pan.
5. Bake at 325F--60-90 minutes.

The kids love this. It is quick and easy to mix up, and mine has never taken longer than 60 minutes in my oven. I wish I could remember where I found the recipe, but I have made several modifications since then. The flavour is similar to gingerbread, and the texture is firm, but moist. It is not too sweet, and agave nectar, as I recall, has a low glycemic index. Sometimes, I substitute pumpkin puree for the applesauce, and substitute pumpkin pie spice for the other spices. That is divine, too.

Children were thrilled to find this waiting when they got home from school, and they will be getting slices in their lunchboxes for the next few days, too. Give it a try ~ it's especially nice enjoyed with a glass of milk (or milk-like beverage of your choice), while listening to your Schoolhouse Rock CD :)

School days, school days...

Dear ol' golden rule days..

Ah, yes, it is that time of year again. Time to dust off the old backpacks and lunchboxes (and replace the ones that the cat defiled near the end of the last school year), label mountains of new socks, try on the old uniforms, school shoes, sweaters...And time for school lunches.

In a world full of quick this and disposable that, we have made a concerted effort to strike a balance between convenience, health and personal responsibility. It's harder than it sounds...and, also, easier than it sounds, once you get the hang of it.

Our children carry lunch to school each day. We have thought about letting them buy school lunches, but, as vegetarians, the options available to them at the school cafeteria are very limited. Even on days when they offer a vegetarian option (cheese pizza is the only offering I have ever seen), they cannot guarantee that it will not be gone by the time my girls get up to the counter. Besides which, Justice can't have the cheese, anyway.

The great thing about packing lunches is that I know exactly what they are getting, so I can try to make healthy choices. Another bonus is that we can use reusable containers and utensils, so we aren't adding heaps of garbage to the landfill. The girls have cloth lunchbags, thermal bowls, water bottles, containers in a variety of sizes and cloth mats for wrapping their sandwiches. In addition to the health and environmental benefits, I find it is fairly easy, most days, to make sure that everyone has something she actually likes and will eat.

There are a couple of down sides. At least once a year, some teacher or other adult with express concern about the fact that one of my children isn't eating what they consider a "complete lunch." The truth of the matter is, sometimes my girls can be finicky (some more than others). I know what they ate for breakfast, what they will eat for snack after school and what they will have for dinner. In short, over the course of a day, they will get everything they need. To be honest, Kaia doesn't like most fruits and vegetables, so I don't often pack them for her. It would be a waste of perfectly good food. She also doesn't like sandwiches, or most traditional school lunch foods. I guess it throws them off when they see that she has things like crackers, yogurt, nuts..., but no real "main dish," as it were. The other stumbling block we have occasionally hit is other kids at school thinking my kids' lunch is "weird." The girls have all had to deal with this at some point, and I am pleased to report that they have all gotten through it. Hallie once said to a kid who told her that her food (hummus, tabouli and pita bread) was gross, "Um, you're eating dead animals." Granted, probably not the most polite thing, but, really, mashed chickpeas are gross food and flesh it not? Eh, it's a matter of opinion, to be sure, but, having both mashed chickpeas and sliced rare roast beef while working at a deli in college, I would beg to differ.

Anyway, here we are, on the first day of school. We have new haircuts, new backpacks, new pencils, a huge supply of fresh loose-leaf paper, carefully selected back-to-school ensembles...and our very first school lunch. What to pack? hmmm...

Well, it was the first day back, so I asked each of the girls, if they could choose their very favourite school lunch, what would it be? Their answers were surprisingly do-able, so they all got just what they asked for. Here's what they took today:

Justice:
gnocchi w/ olive oil, basil and garlic (packed in thermal bowl)
baby carrots
chocolate soy pudding
water

Hallie:
panini w/ fresh mozzarella, tomatoes and basil
baby carrots
peach-mango gel (vegan jell-o)
water

Kaia:
peanut butter (in a small container w/ a spoon)
banana
panini cut into slices
chocolate pudding
apple juice

I think we did pretty well, frankly. I'll admit, I did buy the prepared pudding and fruit gel in little plastic cups. Like I said, we try to strike a balance. Nutritionally, I think their lunches stack up pretty well. Kaia's is most likely to raise a few eyebrows. Funny thing about that is, if I had made the peanut butter, banana and bread into a sandwich, nobody would have thought twice about it. The only difference would have been that the child would not have eaten her lunch, and, for me, that's a fairly monumental difference.

Now, what's Mama having for lunch? hmm...leftovers, perhaps? We had tacos last night...maybe a taco salad? Or perhaps some of that gnocchi? Come to think of it, what's a great "back to school" dinner?

Off to the kitchen!