Banana Bread {and bison & birthdays}

I love baking on the weekends. I've got the in-laws coming into town for the last home football game (already?) this weekend and I've got some brown bananas on my counter. I guess that means banana bread is in the works for me! I shared this recipe on my other blog a while ago....it's my mom's that she has been making since I was a little girl. It still gives me a warm fuzzy feeling when I eat it, and I still leave the "crust" for last because it's my favorite. I've got her original recipe copied down on a little notecard that I've had since high school and it's labeled "World's Best Banana Bread". I was (haha - still) quite dramatic about my food.  I've adapted the recipe to be gluten free, and I also make a whole wheat version with a little less sugar. As far as I'm concerned it still passes the delicious test - maybe my mom will have to test it out to get the real expert's opinion? 

what's in it?

FOR THE GLUTEN FREE VERSION...
1/2 cup shortening (I used Spectrum Organic)
1/4 cup white sugar + 1 packet of stevia
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 eggs 
2 cups Bob’s Red Mill All-Purpose GF Flour
1 tsp baking soda
3 medium bananas – black and mushy and super over-ripe!

Optional: for an extra treat - add some chocolate chips. I use Enjoy Life dairy/soy/gluten free chips in mine. 

For a non-gluten free/whole wheat version - just swap the 2 cups of GF flour for 1 cup whole wheat + 1 cup white flour. 

I made muffins with the GF batter so we could keep them apart. And I only have one bread pan...

how to do it?

1. Cream your shortening, sugar, stevia and applesauce together.
2. Add the eggs and mix until combined.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk flour together with baking soda (hey look! No gums added!)
4. Blend your wet ingredients with the flour mixture. Then mix in the mashed bananas. This is the time to stir in your chocolate chips if you would like. 
5. Pour into a large loaf pan (greased first!) and bake at 350 degrees for 45 -50 minutes.

nutrition facts

Serves 10 
whole wheat version facts...
1 serving = 250 calories - 33 grams carbs - 11.5 grams fat - 4.1 grams protein - 10 grams sugar

This is the one treat that I don't try to mess with too much to make it uber-healthy. I have made it really low sugar, and for me that's enough. I've got plenty of other recipes that I add protein and chia and flax too...but Mom's banana bread just isn't the place. Eat in moderation and enjoy every bite. 

in other news . . . 

Oh yeah...there was something about bison and birthdays in the title? Well - one of the cool crazy weird things about my life is that I work at a ranch. So random. It's been one of those cool opportunities that has come from being a coaches wife. There aren't always jobs in your field where your husband is coaching - and I've been forced to find a job outside of fitness while we are here in Alamosa. Fortunately, I get to work in a beautiful setting with wonderful people and hey - I get to hang out with bison sometimes. Last week we picked some bison out of our giant wild herd to create a domesticated herd. Here's a pic from the other day - when we were sitting on hay bales in the middle of the corral. Yep - hopped the fence and just walked right in. Ummm....how cool is that?!

And when the work week is over  - it's back to my football wife life. Like I said, we have family coming into town this weekend for the game and we're doing some belated and early birthday celebrating! It's a birthday - so I had to splurge on our treats. Mocha Frappuccino Football Cupcakes! Incorporating the two birthday boys' loves...coffee and football! These are gluten free chocolate cupcakes (from a mix) with some instant espresso mixed in. Topped with vanilla frosting and chocolate and Kona coffee shavings. Um...Yum?

This weekend will have a little more splurging than usual. I plan to balance it out with lots of fresh veggie prep on Sunday, some power yoga and a sunshine-y run. 

what about you?

What do you make when you have family coming into town?

Are birthdays a free sugar pass for you? Or do you make healthy treats?