Winning & Losing: Banana Bread Recipe

Meal Monday

We are a "Yo Gabba Gabba"—or, as Zeke calls it, Yo Dibba Dibba—household. Requests for Foofa come as often, if not more frequently, than those for Elmo.

We watch the show almost every day. But we only have four shows on DVR. The kiddos love the repetition. I reached my saturation point long ago.

But when I hit a rough patch in my kitchen, which culminated with the great Hamantaschen-making debacle of 2011, I couldn't get a particular "Yo Gabba Gabba" song out of my head.

"Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose. Either way it's OK." Those are the lyrics I couldn't shake. Considering the song is featured on two of our four episodes, I wasn't surprised that it found residence in my head. But it did seem too apropos to simply be a coincidence. While it's a great message for the trio, it's one the perfectionist in me has trouble hearing.

By Sunday morning I had taken the song to heart. I hit the kitchen to make a new banana bread recipe I'd wanted to try. It also seemed like a safe way to get back to cooking. It's generally hard to screw up a quick bread.

Technically, it was a success. The bread was moist, delicious, and the ground flaxseed added a slight nutty taste (not to mention added fiber and antioxidants). With the critics (aka the trips), it was, as usual, a mixed bag.

The Dude, after making himself gag at the very sight of mango, flat out refused a taste. Zeke's little ears perked up at the mention of "cake." And his smile widened after just one bite. Bitty loved it, too, and she and Zeke easily polished off the Dude's rejected portion.

After hearing it more times than I could possibly count, I think I finally get it. "Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose. Either way it's OK." Guess Yo Gabba Gabba is educational TV after all.

Basic Banana Bread
Adapted from Cooking Light

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups mashed ripe banana
1/3 cup plain fat-free yogurt
5 Tbsp butter, melted
2 eggs
¼ cup + 1/8 cup granulated sugar
¼ cup + 1/8 cup light brown sugar
¾ cup all-purpose flour
¾ cup white whole wheat flour
¼ cup ground flaxseed
¾ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
¾ tsp cinnamon

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine first 4 ingredients in a large bowl, and beat with a mixer at medium speed. Add sugars and beat until combined.

Combine flours and the remaining ingredients. Add flour mixture to banana mixture. Beat until just blended. Pour batter into a 9x5-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray.

Bake for 50-55 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack. Remove bread from pan and cool completely.

Note:

To explain the funky sugar measurements: The original recipe calls for ½ cup of each sugar, but I wanted to reduce the total amount in the recipe, so I cut out ¼ cup total, but didn't want to change the proportion of the two types.

 

 

Comments

[Ellen]

When are you going to put all these recipes and stories into a book? I'll be first to purchase! Love them - and love the Yo Gabba Gabba "life" lesson. :)

[Felice Vacca]

Wow what a delicious recipe,me waiting to try this bread..its Sounds simple and healthy. Keep sharing more such delicacies,Cheese is one of my fav..This sounds perfect,Nice post!!!

[Justin Bieber Shoes]

YES.i love it very much. thank you for sharing it with us.

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