banana bread | Eating 4 Balance

Hope you all are having a wonderful week! It’s Wednesday so you know what that means… WIAW with the lovely Jenn from Peas and Crayons!

The theme is still “Fall into good habits” so I am going to first talk about how I have been doing with my goals.

1. Limit my intake of fruit. I just eat way too much! I think yesterday I consumed 4 or 5 bananas? Totally unnecessary. Instead, I am going to try to snack on more vegetables. This has been so-so. I’ve been eating less bananas, which is great. But I’ve also been eating more pears and grapes. A lot more pears and grapes. I think I am still eating less than I was before though, so this habit is a WORK-IN-PROGRESS.

2. I am going to go on walks just “to go on walks.” Not for any classes, and not because I am going to a dining hall. I am going to walk just for fun. For me and my health. Hmmm… last week I called this an EPIC FAIL. Well, it still is an epic fail, so today I am going to make conscious effort to walk for 15 minutes for no-reason-at-all. Baby steps.

I’m also going to add a third and fourth habit to this list that I recently have been struggling with:

3. I need to get more sleep. Every morning I wake up at 6:00 or 6:30 and have not been going to bed at an appropriate hour. Unless I am studying or doing homework for a class, my goal is to get 8 hours of sleep most nights.

4. I am going to stop snacking so close to bed-time. The general rule is 2-3 hours before bed, you consume no food at all. For me this would equate 7:00 or 8:00.

So, with that out-of-the-way, here is what I ate. It will be a combination of food I made over the weekend, pictures from when I was home, and food that I have been eating at school.

Breakfast

I made a microwave banana protein pancake inspired by the Fitnessista’s gluten-free, high-protein pancakes.

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Hi everyone! I hope you had an amazing weekend!

This post is going to be short, but I made an amazing recipe over the weekend that I am just too excited to share with you all!

It’s BANANA BREAD!

Being one of my favorite snacks growing up with a grandma for a baker, I was seriously upset when I realized that my allergies wouldn’t allow me to indulge in its sweet goodness anymore. It had been quite awhile since I baked anything “real” in the kitchen, and I was prepared for an epic failure.

This was quite far from a failure though, just EPIC.

Gluten-free, vegan, oil-free, nut-free, sugar-free…. This has ~~it all~~ none of the common allergens. Feel free to substitute anything where necessary, and let me know if you try it (and what changes you made)!

Banana Bread

Gluten-free, vegan, nut-free, oil-free, sugar-free, high fiber

Ingredients:

3 tbsp chia seeds, ground into powder (36 grams)
3/4 cup water
3 bananas, mashed (350 grams)
1 cup brown rice flour
1/3 cup brown rice protein powder (30 grams)* or 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder (sodium free and corn-free)
1 tsp baking soda
10 packets stevia (equal to 20 tsp of sugar… or around 1/2 cup sugar)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a loaf pan with wax paper (8×5).

2. Grind the 3 tbsp of chia seeds into a powder. In a small bowl mix the chia seed powder with the 3/4 cup of water. Let set for a few minutes to turn into a gel.

3. In a medium sized bowl mash the bananas until chunky, then add the chia seed gel and stevia.

4. Add the brown rice flour, protein powder, baking powder and baking soda to the banana-chia mixture. Stir just until combined.

5. Pour mixture into loaf pan and even out with a spoon.

6. Bake for 40-60 minutes until brown.

*Time depends on your oven and desired texture. I baked mine for 40 minutes. To test for done-ness, you can pierce it with a fork/toothpick. I also tap mine with a fork, and if it sounds solid then it is done.

7. Let cool for a few minutes, remove from wax paper and enjoy!

Also, be careful when removing the bread from the pan. It stays together pretty well for having no egg, but if you are easily side-tracked (like me) then your bread may decide to break on you when you are busy taking pictures…