I love frozen bananas. I mean who doesn't? Well, those who don't actually like bananas in general but they're just sick and twisted so I pretend they don't exist. Which makes being married to my husband and having a Grumpers hard because they loathe bananas. There is something just not right about that but atleast Bear and 4ft love bananas as much as I do, so I'm not alone in my love affair. But now that I think of it, I kind of wish I was because when I make this snack, I'd get to eat them all myself instead of having to share with my munchkins. It's a good thing they're cute and I love them.
These are a great snack on a hot day (who am I kidding? Any day). You get all the health benefits of a banana, protein from the peanut butter, crunch from the pretzel, and sweet from the dark chocolate -- which actually has health benefits. So, it's like dieting when you eat these. Okay, it's really not but don't you love how I justify some of the treats that I make.
And really they're so good at being filling and silencing the sweet cravings, it's not a problem to share a banana with the kids because I can only eat a couple anyway. And if you need another excuse, other than they're splendiferously delicious, to make these -- it's just fun! My kids love making these with me. They dip their banana slices in chocolate and then add sprinkles -- candy, pretzels, nuts, sea salt, granola, grape nuts, rice crispies, (the list is as long as your imagination).
You had to have seen this coming, right? I'm on a total strawberry kick and what better way to cool down on a summer day (it's supposedly spring but you couldn't tell by the 90 degree temps we're having). This is the Hulk of Strawberry Shortcake (like it took steroids). Perfect for breakfast or an after workout snack. Oh heck, I'd replace this for any meal in a heartbeat. For reals.
You could totally make it a little less filling and a little more healthy by omitting the almond protein shortcake crumble in the center and it, but what's the fun in that? Am I right? Of course I am.
Protein Parfaits are our favorite after school snack right now. I love the mouth feel of them the best. You have smooth yogurt, sweet fruit, chewy almond shortcake, and crunchy granola -- it's a mouth-gasm waiting to happen. And how could you ever get bored by parfaits? Switch up the yogurt, switch up the fruit, and it's a whole different snack. I love it!
Picky Eaters' Seal of Approval: 2 thumbs up, way up... and a cartwheel.
I love baking. 4ft loves baking. So when we bake together we usually do quick breads. There are a lot of things to measure, which 4ft loves, and mix, which I love. And quick breads are one of my favorite things to bake because they're so versatile. You can eat them at breakfast, have them for a snack, and they work for dessert too. It's a three-in-one-delicious food. How could it get any better than that? It can't and your brain will explode if you try to come up with something. So stop trying.
Quick breads are also very good for experimenting because as long as you have a couple of key ingredients -- flours of some sort and lifters -- they're very forgiving and the results are usually splendiferous. Which would be the case with this bread. It's seriously delicious and my new favorite and 4ft's too.
This bread was the brainchild of trying not to waste food. I had some ricotta cheese in the fridge that was going to go bad if it didn't get used and I didn't have enough for like a lasagna or something. So I tossed the 3/4 cup I had left into my basic quick bread recipe and then threw in some cranberries too -- because hey, they're delicious and why not. 4ft was a little apprehensive putting cheese into a bread meant to be sweet but I explained that cheesecake was made with cream cheese and that was pretty good so why not give it a shot. So he agreed. We did. And the rest is taste bud history. It's absolutely splendiferous.
Yesterday was the Superbowl. Well actually there was nothing really super about it. Should've been called the Boringbowl instead. It wasn't so much the Broncos lost (as they were who I was rooting for -- I heart me some Peyton Manning) but that the rest of the team didn't even bother to show up for the game. Poor guy couldn't catch a break and it was heart wrenching to watch. So I didn't -- I did laundry instead. LAUNDRY! That's how bad it was.
However, when I had high hopes and dreams to watch a great game, no matter who the winner was, I made some Superbowl treats because it's like required or something. I made homemade 5-Layer dip (which is super easy: a layer of low fat refried black beans, a mashed avocado with salt and pepper, salsa, light sour cream, and 2% Four Cheese Mexican Blend) and I served it with baked whole grain pita chips (seriously delicious people), a salami and cheese tray with reduced fat Wheat Thins, veggies and ranch dip, apple slices, and the piece de la resistance Jalapeno Poppers. I made so much food you'd have thought we were having a party instead of the five of us sitting down to watch the game. And while the game was just awful the food couldn't be beat especially the poppers! They were a real crowd pleaser and because I roasted the jalapenos before I filled them and roasted them again to make them hot and melty (yes it's a word), they had a lot of flavor but not a lot of heat. They were wonderful and I enjoyed every bite (and my tummy did too).
