I am in a moment that I want to change my health. I know that by simply changing my health, a lot of my life that I want will come naturally. It's not weight loss that I want, but it's the life I've lost because of my weight. I need to move forward and walk the walk. I have a ton of knowledge about health, yet I have bad follow through. This blog will make a difference because hopefully I can make a difference in your life. .
Showing posts with label banana. Show all posts
Showing posts with label banana. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 05, 2010


Making a healthier banana split
The way we're going to increase the fruit quota is by adding strawberries and pineapple to the banana split. And instead of the high calorie strawberry or chocolate syrup that usually tops a banana spilt, we're going to use a strawberry sauce made from fresh strawberries instead.
Reducing the amount of ice cream in a banana split is as simple as using two small scoops of ice cream instead of the typical two or three large scoops. And we're going to forgo the whipped cream all together. Although, if you have this banana split as only an occasional treat, feel free to add a little. But we find that a banana split is already creamy from the ice cream, and banana has a naturally creamy texture in its own right, so it's not really something that's essential anyway.
Let's have a look at how these changes have impacted the calorie and saturated fat content of a banana split:





In the end, we have a banana split that's not only far lower in calories and saturated fat than a regular banana split, but it's also rich in nutrients as well. The banana is a good source of dietary fiber and potassium; the strawberries contain fiber and also plenty of vitamin C (which acts as a powerful antioxidant mopping up free radicals); the nuts sprinkled on top also contain healthy unsaturated fat, and even the ice cream is a good source of calcium.

Here's the step-by-step instructions for making two banana splits:


Cut bananas in half lengthwise

Peel and cut two bananas in half lengthwise and place in bowls.

Hull and slice strawberries

Hull 4 fresh strawberries and slice. Hull and chop more fresh strawberries to make up 1 cup for the sauce.


Make the strawberry sauce

Place the cup of chopped strawberries in a blender or food processor with 1 tablespoon water and 2 teaspoons superfine (caster) sugar and process until smooth.




Place strawberries and pineapple on split bananas

Arrange 2 sliced strawberries and ¼ cup fresh or canned pineapple pieces (drained) on top of each banana.

Add the ice cream

Place 1 small scoop each of chocolate and strawberry ice-cream on top of each.


Add strawberry sauce, crushed nuts and cherries

Drizzle each split with equal amounts of strawberry sauce, sprinkle each with 1 teaspoon of crushed roasted peanuts, and top with a cherry on each scoop of ice-cream to serve.

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Eat a Raw Breakfast Smoothie

Before you cringe, let me tell you this is so delicious. Once you try it, you’ll be hooked.

Green Smoothie

green smoothieIn a blender mix:
  • 2 Bananas
  • 1 Cup berries (any kind, frozen is perfect)
  • 1-2 cups spinach or any other type of green leafy vegetable
  • 1 cup water
Optional (these are not vegetarian)
  • 1 scoop whey protein
  • 1/4 cup yogurt (plain, vanilla, lowfat, no fat, whatever you like)
photo by faster panda kill kill
And if you want to become serious about eating healthier, I can’t recommend anything more highly than a VitaMix blender. It’s a little pricey, but they last a lifetime and they make eating healthy a breeze. I love mine!

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Protein Smoothie Banana and Pineapple

Ingredients:
2 bananas
some strawberries
pineapple
4 raw fertile eggs
blend everything in a blender and drink.
Very nutritious, enjoy.

I'm not sure if this is good, but it may float your boat. When I was younger, my older siblings loved banana smoothies. We called them shakes because it had a large amount of milk in them. I remember that my sister Johanna would prefer her smoothie to at least have one egg because it made the shake/smoothie have a better consistency. I personally don't remember the difference, but I remember loving every shake that my siblings made for me. It's more of a nostalgic item of food with me because of that.  I was the youngest of 3 older brother and sisters, so I pretty much followed them to anything and I owe my love to smoothies to them!

Banana Oatmeal Smoothie Recipe


This is a great breakfast, or a brilliant way to get some essential nutrition into your kids.

Ingredients:
{ This is so delicious!!!!}
1 cup milk
1 cup of oatmeal
1 banana
1 cup orange juice
Cut banana into chunks.
Place all ingredients in blender container.
Blend until smooth.
2 servings


Superfood Smoothie Banana and Blueberries
Ingredients:
½ cup fresh spinach, washed and dried
1/3 cup frozen blueberries
½ large banana (1 small)
½ cup orange juice
¼ cup soymilk
1/3 cup crushed ice

Put all the ingredients in a blender and give it a whirl until smooth. Drink up!
Serves 1-2
 
Ingredients:
1/2 banana
1 cup frozen mango chunks
1 cup orange juice
3 tablespoons vanilla yogurt
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
Optional: *1/2 cup uncooked oats (not instant) Directions: Place all the ingredients in your blender container and blend on high speed until everything is smooth. Blender times will vary depending on the type of blender you have. Enjoy!


Banana Peanut Butter Smoothie and Pumpkin Smoothie


One of my favorite smoothies is banana! Now that I am searching the health world, this is a great new twist!

Now it's with banana, yogurt, peanut butter and flax seed for fiber. Ground flax seed also has a great nutty taste.

A friend of mine and I made pumpkin smoothies; here’s the recipe:
1 cup soy milk
2 cups soy ice cream or replace with yogurt that is frozen
1/3 c. pumpkin
1 tsp cinnamon
dash cloves
2 dashes nutmeg
dash ginger

Makes a DELICIOUS dessert!!!
Coconut Banana Smoothie


While we were at Whole Foods finding the quinoa, I decided to try something different and got this coconut milk. We really didn't like it as a milk substitute, but I thought it might be good mixed up with some pinapple and banana in a smoothie! I made that the other day, and we all really liked it. Today I made it again, but without the ice, and poured it into these popsicle molds. It kind of reminds me of a banana cream sicle, but it doesn't have any sugar! Score! We'll see how the popsicles actually turn out. Funny that I made popsicles today when it was snowing all day.

I keep finding these great recipes by Colleen! She is so motivating when it comes to health, no sugar, exercise and being a mom of 3!

Check out her Blog at Faster Than Pete Marathon Mom!
SUGAR FREE ORANGE (strawberry) BANANA BREAD by Colleen Lasko


1 c. whole wheat flour
1 c. oat flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
4 mashed ripe bananas
1 (6 oz.) can frozen unsweetened orange juice, thawed
2 eggs, beaten
1 c. fresh strawberries, diced
1/2 tsp. almond extract

Mix dry ingredients. Blend well the bananas, orange juice, eggs and extract. Add dry ingredients. Stir in strawberries. Pour into greased loaf pan or pans. Bake in 350 degree oven for 40 minutes or until well done. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Remove from pan and let cool on rack. Slice thinly.


Colleen's comments: "Um, at the end, I also thought it was a little weird that there wasn't any butter so I stirred about 1/4 cup butter in, and what was left of our cream cheese (about 1 oz.). I also greased the pans with butter. We ate one whole loaf not long after it came out of the oven. Luckily we still have one loaf left."


Colleen! I'll be sure to try these and post a picture to see! I bet they are so pretty!