Magnolia's Banana Pudding

This was my first time making banana pudding.  I made it for the Super Bowl and it was a huge success!! I always love to buy some at Magnolia Bakery or Buttercup Bakeshop in NYC.  I'm not going to tell you that it was exactly the same texture and all, however the taste was definitely there!  I'm going to try again soon.  Here's the recipe I used, it can be found online here as well.

Banana Pudding

2 boxes Instant vanilla Jell-O pudding mix (you'll need 2/3 a cup of it, about 1 and 1/2 packages), 

1 can sweetened condensed milk (14 oz)

1 1/2 cups water

3 cups heavy cream

1 box of Nilla wafers (I used reduced fat)

4 ripe bananas, sliced

• In a small bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat together the sweetened condensed milk and water until well combined, about 1 minute. Add the pudding mix and beat well, about 2 minutes more. Cover and refrigerate for 3-4 hours or overnight, before continuing. It is very important to allow the proper amount of time for the pudding mixture to set.
• In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, whip the heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the pudding mixture into the whipped cream until well blended and no streaks of pudding remain.
• To assemble the dessert, select a large, wide bowl (preferably glass) with a 4-5-quart capacity. Arrange one-third of the wafers to cover the bottom of the bowl, overlapping if necessary, then one-third of the bananas and one-third of the pudding. Repeat the layering twice more, garnishing with additional wafers or wafer crumbs on the top layer of the pudding. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and allow to chill in the refrigerator for 4 hours - or up to 8 hours, but no longer! - before serving.

Almond Date Breakfast Smoothie

So, I've literally had this breakfast smoothie almost every morning since the new year began.  It's amazingly delicious and healthy!  You get protein, calcium, vitamins, and a little sweetness too!

Almond Date Breakfast Smoothie
(makes 1 large glass)

1 cup skim milk or vanilla soy milk
1 tablespoon smooth almond butter
1 banana
5-6 pitted dates
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste (optional)
6-8 ice cubes
*For added protein I sometimes add a scoop of protein powder, usually vanilla flavored.

Place all ingredients in the blender and blend until smooth!  Pour into your glass and enjoy for breakfast or anytime of the day!!

Banana Bread

This recipe was adapted from Cooking Light magazine, the October issue.  I changed and added a few things and it came out great and pretty healthy too!  I brought most of the banana bread to my friend's house the other day but I've been eating the other half for breakfast with my morning coffee! It's also a great afternoon snack, if you can contain yourself to eat only 1 slice, that is!!

Cooking Light says that if you the loaf yields 16 slices each one has 167 calories and 29g of protein.  I'm thinking my version is probably around 240 calories (don't quote me on that) and probably has a little more protein because of the Greek yogurt.  I was only able to slice my loaf into 12 slices so my calculations are for a loaf that yields 12 slices instead of 16.

Banana Bread
(makes 1 loaf)

3 mashed ripe bananas
1 container (6-oz) Plain Greek Yogurt
5 tablespoons butter, melted
2 large eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup vanilla flavored protein powder (I used whey protein.)
1/4 flaxseed meal, or whole ground flaxseed
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine first 4 ingredients in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed.  Add both sugars, beat until combined.
Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl.  Add flour mixture to the banana mixture, beat just until blended.  Pour batter into a greased loaf pan and bake for 55 minutes or until a wooden tester inserted comes out clean.  Remove from oven and let cool completely.

Balls or truffles, either way it tastes amazing!

Today I worked on something I've been wanting to do ever since I took a bite of Momofuku's birthday cake truffles.  I started to research how to make cake balls, and found out (thanks to Bakerella) that it requires some sort of cake and then icing.  You basically mix them together and you form balls and then either roll them in some sort of nut or cookie crumb mixture or place a popsicle stick in it and make them into lollipops.  Be sure to dip the pops into some sort of chocolate mixture.  And even after they have been dipped you can roll them in cookie crumbs or nuts!

So today I got a final product and I created my own concoction.  I call it Peanut Butter Banana Balls.  I made some rolled in crushed graham crackers and kept them as balls or truffles.  And then the rest I made into pops, to be dipped in chocolate tomorrow..  I'll freeze those for the next time I entertain at my apartment.  I also reserved some of the batter to make mini banana bread muffins and kept the extra icing in a plastic ziploc baggie to ice the cupcakes at a later time and date this week.  

Meanwhile here are some photos to get your mouth watering....If you are wondering who took these marvelous pictures, I'll have to give the credit to my friend Anny, those are her little fingers helping me cut the kebab sticks (that's all I had at home).  Also pay close attention to the action shot of the graham crumbs getting sprinkled on top of one of the balls to ensure a nice even coating of grahams!  Gorgeous! Enjoy!

Green Tea & Banana Smoothie

Green Tea & Banana Smoothie

1 banana (100 calories)

1 scoop vanilla protein powder (110 calories)

1 cup skim milk (110 calories)

1/4 cup matcha green tea powder

2 Splenda packets

5-6 ice cubes

Blend all ingredients together in a blender and enjoy!

It's very refreshing and light, and with the added protein powder it's also a good start to your morning breakfast! Add a fat-free yogurt later in the morning and you're good to go!

An Elia Pancake

Regular Oatmeal with 2 egg whites, 2 Splenda, and 1 mashed banana.

The Elia Pancake after the flip, see how brown it is???

Voila! The final product that was so enjoyed by me!

I started making these pancakes, now dubbed the "Elia pancake," when I was in Aruba over winter break. They are super healthy and low in calories and ridiculously easy.

Here's what you need to make Elia Pancakes:

1 package of instant oatmeal (any flavor, I use regular flavor and add 2 splenda, total of 100 calories)

2 egg whites (about 40 calories, 6 grams of protein)

*(A Large egg can be substituted for the 2 egg whites, that's 70 calories and 7 grams of protein.)

Mix together in a bowl, spray a small pan with Pam spray, and pour batter in. Let cook on each side for about 2-3 minutes till golden brown. Put on a plate and enjoy plain (since you put the splenda in it, it's already sweet) or with syrup, agave nectar, or I sometimes eat it with peanut butter. Make sure to measure out the peanut butter, I think 1 tablespoon is the perfect amount (90 calories).

So to recap, this whole breakfast is just 220 calories, if you do it my way. I tried adding a mashed banana into the batter and it was even more yummy than the plain one (total calories would be 320)! This breakfast leaves you with another 100-200 calories for a mid-morning snack at like around 10 or 11am. This is when I'll eat a fruit or a greek yogurt to boost up the protein count for breakfast. If you put a banana in the pancake don't eat another fruit for your mid-morning snack, stick with the yogurt!

The only negative thing is that these pancakes are best eaten right off the pan. You can make them ahead and keep in the fridge for a couple of days. I have tried reheating in the microwave and they are fine, just not as soft as they were when they were fresh. The same issue arises when you toast them. So stick to eating them fresh, they literally take 5-8 minutes to prepare and make!