Healthy Homemade Banana Bread

This past morning, the significant other and I got into a bit of a kerfuffle over whether or not my famous banana nut bread was actually a healthy snack. Her position was that since it tasted so dang good that there was no way that it could be good for you and that I should not be making it as often as I do (I just love to bake). On the other hand, I insisted that since I use only the finest, healthy ingredients and far less sugar than what the original recipe called for ( I add an extra banana instead), my tasty and delicious banana bread was much better for us than most of the other snack foods that we liked to indulge in.

Determined to prove the other one wrong, we both vowed to engage in some research in order to determine whether banana bread is a healthy snack, or really just another tasty and delicious junk food that two health conscious people have no business eating.

Here is what I found out...

While store-bought banana bread made with processed sugar, processed flour, unhealthy oils, and other additives and preservatives is about as good for you as a deep fried twinkie, homemade banana bread made from select ingredients does actually have the potential to be, well, good for you.

Here is a list of the good stuff that homemade banana bread may have in it:

Bananas: rich in dietary fiber, potassium, Vitamin C, B6 and manganese, bananas are a healthy fruit that keeps on giving when partaken in moderation. Rich in sweet natural sugars, they are the perfect alternative to that morning donut.

Whole Wheat Flour: With your daily requirements of fiber, protein, manganese and selenium, whole wheat flour can give you the fuel you need to keep your energy levels high throughout the day.

Eggs: rich in protein and essential amino acids and vitamin D the incredible edible egg can help you build muscles, grow better hair and nails and even help improve your eyesight.

Walnuts (optional): Rich in protein, fiber, vitamin B and E, as well as those super beneficial omega 3 fatty acids, walnuts can help reduce the risk of heart disease by helping lower bad cholesterol.

Pretty much the only thing in homemade banana nut bread that is not particularly good for you is the sugar, and this can be offset by using natural cane sugar or even a sugar alternative such as honey or agave nectar. As long as it is homemade or baked by a trustworthy baker, banana bread can be considered a healthy and delicious snack, provided you do not smother it in a ton of butter.

Homemade Ice Cream - Boisterous Banana

There is something about bananas that I don't really like. I can't quite put my finger on it but even though I don't mind the taste of banana I would never out of choice peel and eat a banana on its own. It is probably something to do with the texture, or the fact that there doesn't seem to be an elegant, sophisticated way of eating a banana, or the fact that I can't help thinking that people are going to snigger if they see me eating one on the way to work. Whatever the reason, a banana would not be in my top twenty all time favourite foods, probably wouldn't even make the top one hundred if truth be told.

The rest of my family love bananas however. Well no, that's not quite true. They love bananas when they see them all bright and yellow and looking fresh in the supermarket. When the bananas are unpacked from the bag and in the fruit bowl on the kitchen counter they don't seem to like them so much. I say that because of all the fruit in the fruit bowl, the banana is the one that is most likely to be left well past it's sell by date, it's skin turning from a bright yellow to a pock marked, mottled yellow spotted with patches of brown and blue.

I don't really mind the banana being left, if not quite on the shelf certainly in the bowl, because the softer the banana the easier it is to transform in to beautiful, boisteroushomemade ice cream. The odd thing is that even people who don't like bananas love this ice cream. Even my mother who has a pathological dislike of the banana, to the extent that she can't even bear to be in the same room as a banana, will happily sit down and eat a big bowl of it.

Turning bananas in to homemade ice cream is incredibly easy. The quick and easy recipe below is my personal recipe but you can add to or change to your own personal taste. Occasionally I will add chunks of dark, good quality chocolate or chocolate coated stem ginger to the ice cream maker a few minutes before the end of the churn. For a real grown up version I also have a wonderful recipe for boozy caribbean banana ice cream which includes a generous measure of dark rum.

Homemade Banana Ice Cream

4 ripe Bananas, the softer the better

Inside of half a Vanilla Pod

450 ml Double Cream

75g Brown Sugar

Scrape the seeds from half a vanilla pod and mash the bananas with the cream, sugar and vanilla until you have a creamy mixture. Pour in to an Ice Cream Maker and churn. Once it is ready transfer to a freezable bowl and freeze. As with all homemade ice cream it should be eaten within one week.

Tips and Natural Homemade Recipes - How to Repair Dry and Mature Skin

So what can you to repair and nourish mature skin? Dry and mature skins need to replenish the loss of sebum on the skins surface with equalising moisture reserves to address the signs of visible aging. Homemade anti-aging skin care products do not contain preservative chemicals and you will not have an adverse reaction to ingredients, and most ingredients are inexpensive to buy.

Tip 1- To repair dry and sensitive skin, you need; to replace any commercial soap with a gentle Ph-balanced handmade soap and moisturise frequently with a rich beauty oil. This will help to relieve quickly tightness

Tip 2- Protect your skin. Minimise exposure to the sun and wind, air-conditioning, hot water, harsh chemical and detergents as much as possible.

Tip 3- Use warm, rather than hot, water. Hot water will strip all the natural oils away.

- Recipe; Dry & Mature skin treatment oil - This will help improve your skin's appearance and it smells divine!

Instructions: Mix in a dark glass bottle;

15ml avocado oil- is rich in vitamins, essential fatty acids, and dry and mature skins respond to this lush oil as it penetrates deeply and softens skin.
10ml Wheat germ oil - An important antioxidant that helps protect fatty cell membranes from becoming oxidized (rancid) through the action of free radicals.
15ml Macadamia oil - Attracts moisture and forms a barrier to prevent a loss of moisture while allowing the skin to breath and function normally.
3 drops Palmarosa Essential oil- Excellent hydrating properties. Helps with the elasticity of skin. A mature skin superstar oil!!!
3 drops Sandalwood Essential oil - Balances the skin and helps strengthen connective tissue Repair scars.
2 drops lavender essential oil : soothes skin and accelerates generation of new skin cells

Here a few face packs which is really great to nourish and plum up dry and mature skin.

- Recipe Gentle Scrub for Mature Skin - A scrumptious scrub for sensitive skins. You will see the dead skin come off and your skin will feel great.

Instructions: Mix a tablespoon of almond powder and add honey and make a paste and apply it on the skin. Leave it for at least 20 minutes. Remove scrubbing gently the skin. Wash off with lukewarm water.

Recipe Repairing Beauty Mask for Mature skin- This pack makes the skin smooth and supple and reduces the dryness and can be used all over the body before you take a bath.

Instruction; Take wheat flour and add milk cream to it. Make a paste and apply it on the skin. Leave on the skin for 10 minutes and rinse with warm water. Apply the Tonic Vinegar Toner and follow with the Dry & mature skin treatment oil.

*Fruit face packs, made of fruits rich in vitamins and water have a good effect on the dry and mature skin. Some of the fruits that can be used are papaya, peach, watermelon and banana mash it and add some thickened cream or if desired use honey and mix together and apply.

Mashed avocado can also be applied to the skin for a glowing effect.

Take a ripe banana, mash it and add to it rose water. Apply this paste allover the face and neck; wash off after half an hour.

Tonic Vinegar Skin Toner Recipe: a "must" for Mature skin is more efficient when an organic apple cider vinegar is used. It will cleanse and restore the skin, restrict the dilated pores, and improve the circulation making sure the whole skin receives nutrients it needs.

Ingredients;

1 small bunch of Rosemary
1 or 2 peppercorns
1/2 teaspoon of Ginger grated
1 or 2 clove heads
1 cup of Cider vinegar

Instructions; Place the rosemary, ginger, gloves and pepper in a ceramic or glass bowl.

Bring the vinegar to a boil. Pour the vinegar over the herbal mixture in the bowl.

Cover and let the mixture stand for two days. Strain the mixture and decant into a sterilized bottle. Mix 1/2 of distilled water with 1/2 herbal vinegar in a dark glass bottle with a spray.

The question is, why does skin wrinkle? As you grow older, your body produces fewer of the hormones that keep skin healthy and supplies less oil, protein and natural moisturizing factors which attract and hold water in the skin. This process tends to make the skin drier, you need to keep your skin well moisturized in order to be soft and elastic. The skin needs to be more elastic to have less the chances of it stretching, distorting and breaking underlying fibres.

Happy Natural skin care Making! Marlene Daniels