Banana Berry Smoothie

Feb 23, 2012 by

I haven’t posted a smoothie to The Lovely Pantry in a while. My first (and only) smoothie post thus far was the Banana Nutmeg Smoothie. I think its safe to say that every smoothie that I make will have a banana in it. Everything else is purely optional. For  the past week, I’ve been eating soft foods and so smoothies almost became mandatory – which is great. I’ve been whipping up smoothies for me and the kids, and even allowing them to choose some of the ingredients. Great!

 

Banana Berry Smoothie

 

I generally keep smoothies pretty simple. Occasionally, I’ll add vegetables or a flavoured protein powder (if I’m making just for me).

 

4.7 from 3 reviews
Banana Berry Smoothie
 
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A quick fix smoothie
Author:
Recipe type: Smoothie
Serves: 2
Ingredients
  • 1 Cup Almond Milk
  • 1 Cup Baby Spinach
  • 1 Banana
  • ½ Cup Frozen Berries (of more if you like)
Instructions
  1. Place all ingredients in a blender
  2. Strain into serving cups (optional)

 

Banana, Berries, Spinach, Almond Milk

 

Frozen berries are always in my freezer specifically for smoothies. That way I have them on hand throughout the year and also I don’t have to add ice. I’ll use frozen bananas too if I don’t have fresh on hand. Whatever works, right?

 

 

My cousin told me that she adds spinach to her smoothies. I’ve been putting it in my smoothies ever since. You don’t even know it’s there. But I let my son put it in the blender so that he knows there is goodness his smoothie.

 

Spinach - the ingredient you don't realize is even there...

 

 

 

Into the blender they go

 

And here you have a healthy and refreshing breakfast drink!

 

Banana Berry Smoothie

 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone! Take good care of yourselves 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Special Banana Pancakes

Feb 10, 2012 by

My children enjoy pancakes immensely. When I have time, I like to make what we call “special pancakes”. These are the pancakes that… don’t come from the freezer. Mommy gets the ingredients together, and lovingly prepares a variety of pancakes to everyone’s delight. Very special indeed! I experiment with pancake recipes to ensure that we are experiencing different tastes, and sometimes different textures too. I came across a recipe that made me so eager to try – Banana Bread Pancakes. Oh my goodness. So light and fluffy and banana filled. I did make a small change… I added Quinoa Flour. I went half and half with it. Good choice.

The itsy bitsy spider… climbed up the water spout…

Of all the bugs, they liked the spider. And so they sang while they waited for their pancakes.

 

The Itsy Bitsy Spider

 

I can’t tell you how this little pancake griddle brought such delight to my children. I told them we were having “bug pancakes”. Somehow, they found that really, REALLY funny. The sound of your children’s laughter truly is a beautiful thing. Now every time I see this griddle, I’ll remember their smiles, and how much we enjoyed these mini-pancakes.

 

Pancake Griddle

 

This recipe is adapted from The Slow Roasted Italian.

 

5.0 from 1 reviews
Special Banana Pancakes
 
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A tasty breakfast for the family to enjoy
Author:
Recipe type: Breakfast, Brunch
Serves: 8
Ingredients
  • 1 Cup unbleached, all-purpose flour
  • 1 Cup Quinoa Flour
  • 2½ tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • 4 tbsp sugar
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1½ cups buttermilk (1%)
  • 2 large eggs
  • 6 tbsp butter, melted
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 ripe bananas
  • Cooking spray
Instructions
  1. In a small bowl, add flours, baking soda, baking powder, sugar and salt. Whisk to combine
  2. In a medium bowl, add buttermilk, eggs, melted butter and vanilla
  3. Gently combine dry ingredients into the wet
  4. Crush the banana with a fork, and fold into the batter
  5. In a hot griddle, spray with cooking spray
  6. Add ¼ cup of batter onto the griddle or pan
  7. Cook until bubbles appear on the sides, about 1 minute or so untill golden brown
  8. Flip and cook for another minute
  9. Serve with maple syrup and/or fruits
Notes
I used a special pancake griddle that yielded mini-pancakes. I ended up with over 40 pancakes. If you are using a regular griddle, you will have less.

 

 

 

These pancakes were so delicious. I honestly did not need any syrup. The kids started to eat them without any syrup but half way through, they asked for it. I guess pancakes are supposed to have syrup on them. I look forward to making these again. Using the griddle did take more time, since the pancakes are smaller. Maybe next time I’ll use a regular griddle. Bigger pancakes 🙂

 

Banana Pancakes

 

Have a great weekend everyone! Make special pancakes! ~ Lyn

 

 

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Lyn’s Banana Bread

Jan 6, 2012 by

I’ve been making this banana bread for a few years now. It somehow never fails. Everybody loves it and I’m so happy to be sharing it with you. It’s definitely “lighter” than most recipes which is great because I really don’t care for the guilt that comes along with loaded baked goods. So this recipe satisfies me. I found this recipe on Food Network Canada and I’ve made my changes to get it to where I like it.

Bananas should never EVER go to waste. I learned a few years back that over-ripe bananas can be stored in the freezer for baking. That advice was like gold to me. I now use frozen bananas for porridge, smoothies and banana bread.

I love Banana Bread. Even more so with dark chocolate chips.

I use 2 bananas because I found using 3 made the bread overly moist, which wasn’t so nice for me. I love that yogurt is used as the binding agent instead of eggs. Notice too, that butter is absent. The garnish on top is optional too, it’s really there to make the cake look even prettier. The cake on its own is delicious. Yes, even without the chocolate chips.

 

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread – Ready for the oven

 

Banana Bread

 

Lyn's Banana Bread
 
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A lighter version of a wonderful family favourite - Banana Bread
Author:
Recipe type: Bread
Serves: 10
Ingredients
  • 2 very ripe bananas
  • ¼ cup honey
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • ¼ cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup fat free vanilla yogurt
  • 2 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 cup all purpose, unbleached flour
  • ½ cup whole wheat flour
  • 2 tsp baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ tsp Allspice
  • 1 ripe banana, sliced, to bake on top of bread as a garnish (optional)
  • ¼ cup dark chocolate chips (optional)
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
  2. Lightly grease a 4-inch X 8-inch loaf pan.
  3. In a large bowl, mash bananas. Add the honey, vanilla, sugar, yogurt and oil. Mix to combine.
  4. In a medium bowl, sift flour, baking soda, salt and allspice.
  5. Gently fold the dry ingredients into the banana mixture until just combined.
  6. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.
  7. Arrange banana slices decoratively on top of the batter, if desired.
  8. Bake 40 to 50 minutes, until golden and a knife inserted comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 30 minutes before cutting into slices.
Notes
Adapted from http://www.foodnetwork.ca/recipes/Fruit/recipe.html?dishid=5918

 

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

 

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

 

If you ever get around to making this bread, please do think of me. Imagine me with a big smile on my face, whispering sweetly…”I told you so”

Have an amazing weekend!

 

~Lyn   XoXo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Banana Nutmeg Smoothie

Oct 17, 2011 by

After chit-chatting with my friends on Facebook, I realized that Smoothies are quite popular with healthy-minded individuals! I guess I’m a bit late on the smoothie band wagon, but I’m slowly getting into it. I mean, who can resist a fruity drink that’s natural and GREAT for you? It’s always a bonus when the kids LOVE it too. I’m down for Smoothies! Are you?

  • What are your best smoothies?
  • How often do you have them?
  • What do you use to make them? (Blender, Immersion blender, Single Serving Blender etc)

 

Smoothies are so versatile. Its a meal on the go, or a quick nutritious snack. When it comes to ingredients, my Facebook friends have listed both fruits and veggies. Bananas seem to be the must have ingredient, followed by mango and pineapple. Peanut Butter adds a smooth shot of protein and frozen spinach adds some extra goodness to the mix. I look forward to experimenting more with Smoothies.

 

Here’s a recipe for a smoothie that my children and I enjoyed ~ Banana Nutmeg Smoothie

 

Ingredients:

2 Bananas (If you use frozen Bananas, you don’t need ice)

1/2 Cup Milk (Substitute with Soy or Almond if desired)

1 Cup Low Fat Vanilla Yogurt

1/4 Tsp Nutmeg

1 Cup Ice

 

Directions:

Add ingredients to a blender and mix until the ice is crushed and the liquid becomes frothy. Pour into individual glasses (or cups for the little ones).

 

If using as an adult meal replacement, adding a flavoured protein powder is great too.

Happy blending!

 

Lyn

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Chocolate Oatmeal Banana Bites

Jul 28, 2011 by

 

You’ll hear me say quite often, that I love different. When I came across this recipe on Marmande In The Kitchen‘s blog, I knew I had to try it. I’m always looking for neat little treats for my family that tastes great and won’t harm them in the long run. Believe it or not, these little bites have no Eggs, Butter, Flour or sugar – which are basics in making baked items. Now, I did make some changes but it tasted awesome just the same. The original recipe called for Coconut Oil so I will try to use it when I make it the next time. Oh and guess what? I made my own Almond Meal! You should try it! Really!

As always, I used what I had available. I had some Sliced Almonds, so I put it in my Magic Bullet for a few pulses until I achieved the desired result and quantity. I had dark chocolate chips in the pantry. I did try the frosting, and it was great but I felt that the bites were good enough on their own. So here’s my amended recipe:

 

Ingredients:

3 Large, very ripe bananas, mashed

1 Tsp vanilla extract

¼ Cup Olive Oil

2 Cup Rolled Oats

2/3 Cup Almond Meal

½ Tsp Cinnamon

½ Tsp Allspice

½ Tsp Salt

1 Tsp Baking Powder

2/3 Cup Dark Chocolate Chips

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 24 hole mini muffin pan.

Mix to combine, the bananas, vanilla, and olive oil in a large bowl.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the oats, almond meal, coconut, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and baking powder.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients along with the chocolate chips and stir until just combined.  The dough will be fairly loose and wet.

Spoon the mixture evenly into the muffin tray and bake for about 15 minutes.  Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then cool completely on a cookie rack. If you can wait that long.

 

Enjoy!

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