Making the Good Better

In college, I was the RA on 4West.  My job was to get to know the girls on the floor, plan activities for them, listen to them, laugh with them, cry with them, mentor them, etc.  I didn't feel right about knocking on a door and asking to interrupt someone's homework, just to come in and talk, especially at the beginning of the year when I hadn't built relationships with these girls yet.  And so I invented Banana Bread Mondays.  Every Monday I would bake a loaf of banana bread and cut it into about 25-30 slices, enough for each girl on the floor to have a piece.  Then, I would take my freshly baked banana bread from room to room and offer the girls a treat while they were studying.  Some times they said no thank you, but more often than not, we did more than have a late night snack together.  We would share our hearts as we talked about our classes, the boys we liked, the plans we thought God had for us, and everything else in between.  For two years, I made banana bread every Monday.

When I moved to Haiti, I continued to make banana bread quite often.  I would share it with the boys and girls in the children's homes.  Eventually, I had cooking classes with them and taught them how to bake the banana bread themselves.  I wonder if they still make it now that I am long gone?

Now, that I am all grown up -- a wife and mother of 2 small girls -- I still make banana bread on a regular basis.  My three-year-old Coralyn LOVES to help me bake and then deliver whatever goodies we have made to our neighbors.  Many times we have whipped up a batch of the "famous" banana bread.

That's what we did today, in fact.  Only now that we are primarily gluten-free in our home, we had to make a separate loaf of bread for our family to enjoy.  I thought I would share how we have made the good better.

My "Old" Recipe:
3-4 ripe bananas
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup oil
1 1/4 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon

The New and Improved Recipe we used today:
3-4 ripe bananas
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 APPLESAUCE
3/4 cup BROWN RICE FLOUR
3/4 cup MILLET FLOUR (it's the other gf flour I had on hand)
1-2 tsp XANTHUM GUM
1/2 cup HONEY
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon

It's so easy and quick to make.  Here's what we did:

Note: I put all the bananas for both batches of bread in the blender at one time.  For one loaf, you just need 3-4 ripe bananas!

Put the bananas, eggs, applesauce, and vanilla in the blender.

Push the MIX button, which Coralyn so expertly did today.

Cover your ears while it is blending, due to the very loud noise :)

Mix all the dry ingredients and honey together.

Stir it all up.  Spray your loaf pan.  Pour the batter in and bake at 350 for about 45 minutes to an hour.

Lick the spoon and bowl while you wait for your bread to bake.

Enjoy a smoothie after all your hard work!  Coralyn didn't know it, but she just got 4 servings of fruits and veggies since I added a scoop of greens to the smoothie!  All she said was, "Yummy!  This is delicious!"