Best Banana Bread

One of my friends from high school is now a Dietitian and just started her own healthy eating blog. I love it! I always feel like we should be eating healthier, but then I look into what 'healthy eaters' consider a normal diet and it's full of hard to find ingredients, expensive products and lots of time consuming cooking. So instead I go heat up a corn dog and carry on with my day. (ok, we don't actually have corn dogs in the house THAT often, but I think you get my point)

I'm loving Erin's site 'cause it's real. Real budget, real food and realistic recipes. If you want to find some good ideas you should check it out- thehealthyapron.com .

We haven't tried a ton of the recipes yet, but so far my favorite is the banana bread. I've tried a lot of banana bread recipes out there searching for that perfect moist texture and this is seriously one of the best. (ok, so the recipe I have that calls for over a cup of butter for one loaf tastes a little better... but I never feel like I can actually make that recipe so it hardly counts. And this recipe is second only to the butter recipe) It's still definitely a treat, but is much better for you than any other recipe I've tried. Here's the link of you want to her see post- http://thehealthyapron.com/2010/02/06/lowfat-oatmeal-banana-nut-bread.aspx

Oatmeal Banana Nut Bread

From The Healthy Apron

1 1/4 c. All-Purpose Flour

1/2 c. packed brown sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

3 tsp canola oil

1 large egg, beaten

2 medium egg whites, beaten

4 medium overripe bananas

1 c. uncooked Old Fashioned Oats

1/3 c. chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven 350 degrees and spray 1 loaf pan with cooking spray. Combine all dry ingredients including the oats and cinnamon. Mash bananas in a separate bowl, adding the oil and 1 whole egg. Mix thoroughly. Add the wet ingredients into the dry flour mixture. Mix well, forms a thick batter. With a hand mixer, beat the egg whites until medium stiff peaks form. Fold the whites into the batter in three separate additions. Fold in chopped walnuts last. Pour into prepared loaf pan and bake 45-50 mins. Allow to cool 5 minutes and then flip out onto a wire rack.

Nutritional information per slice (10 slices per loaf): 221 calories, 5.4 grams fat (0.8 grams saturated fat), 44.8 grams carbs, 3.5 g fiber, 5.3 grams protein