Friday, October 22, 2010

Banana Coconut Bread with Lime Glaze

Hey everyone! So here's my first recipe made from Cooking Light: Quick Baking! I really Loved this recipe! It's the right about of moistness and it tastes fantastic, especially with the lime glaze! So this is a MUST for anyone who loves banana bread and wants to try something a little different with it. :)  Enjoy!

Banana Coconut Bread with Lime Glaze (made 10.14.10)

 
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
 1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 bananas)
1/4 cup plain low-fat yogurt (I used 2% Fage Greek yogurt)
3 Tbsp dark rum (optional - I did not put this in)
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup flaked sweetened coconut (I used dried coconut from an Asian market)
Cooking spray (Pam)
1 Tbsp flaked sweetened coconut
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp fresh lime or lemon juice (Nellie & Joe's Famous Key Lime Juice)


1. Preheat oven to 350°
2. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, level with a knife. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt, stirring with a whisk.
3. Place granulated sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with mixer at medium speed until well blended. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add banana, yogurt, rum, and vanilla; beat until creamed together. Add half of the flour mixture and beat until moist, then add the other half and beat until moist. Stir in 1/2 cup coconut. Spoon batter into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray; sprinkle with 1 Tbsp. coconut. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean (mine took 1 hour and 15 minutes). Cool in pan for 10 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pan.

4. Combine powdered sugar and juice, stirring with a whisk; drizzle over warm bread. (I suggest putting the wire rack over wax paper to contain the mess.) Cool completely on wire rack.
Yield: 1 loaf, 16 servings. - Calories: 193, Fat: 4.6g, Protein: 2.9g, Carbs: 35g, Fiber: 11g per slice.

  I will definitely be making this banana bread again! It's perfectly moist, just the way it should be and the lime gives it a nice tartness. I might forgo the coconut next time.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Protein Shake: Pumpkin (pie)

Hey everyone! So my first challenge that I've set for myself is to make everything from Cooking Light: Quick Baking. I like a lot of the recipes in this magazine because they're sweets in the low calorie range. When I post a recipe from the magazine I'll mention it in the said post.



I'm also going to post recipes from blogs that I follow and write about why I liked said recipe, etc. So now on to my first recipe:

Pumpkin Pie Protein Shake by Linda (Pie in a Glass!)
1 cup light soy milk or 3/4c water and 1/4c fat free half & half (I used 1 cup Vanilla Almond Milk)
1 rounded scoop vanilla protein powder
1/4c pumpkin puree 
1/4c whipped topping, thawed or frozen
2-3 Tbsp Splenda - to taste
1/2tsp pumpkin pie spice (or 1/4 tsp cinnamon, 1/8 tsp each ginger and cloves)
6 Ice cubes



In a blender combine the almond milk, protein powder, pumpkin,  whipped topping, Splenda, spices, and ice cubes. Process until smooth. Serve in a tall glass with a sprinkle of cinnamon on top or whipped cream. Makes one serving - 220 calories. (I filled up an old Odwalla Pumpkin shake bottle).



My thoughts: Well, I like the consistency because it reminds me of Odwalla's pumpkin shake. I like Almond milk so that's what I used; however I think you could use whatever base you'd like such as Oat Milk, Hazelnut Milk, 2% milk, etc. I'm going to re-do this recipe to my preferences because I think it could use more pumpkin as it doesn't taste much like pumpkin pie to me in this version.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Just a simple Hello

Hello everyone!

This blog of mine will be about my baking and cooking adventures. Mostly baking to begin with and then eventually cooking. I'll be posting the recipes I try out from different cookbooks and pictures, too. Since I like step by step pictures when I'm looking at blogs, that's what my goal is for everyone that decides to follow me. Altogether this project is to help keep me sane from home life, school, and work. I'll post something new every week.

I truly hope you enjoy my page and if you have any question/comments please don't hesitate to ask! <3