Going bananas.....

I'm feeling a bit bloaty. Either I'm finally going to start menstruating again or it's the bananas. See, yesterday I was at the local organic grocery store. It's a family run store and though it's a wee bit on the pricey side, the woman who runs it, Jennifer, is so nice and so sweet to the Boodge that I go out of my way to spend my money there. Yesterday I was buying some of her overripe bananas. "I give to you," she said, and she asked me if I could use any more because she probably wouldn't sell them. I said, sure, I could use more and before I knew it she was putting 20 of them into my stroller.

Sitting in his high chair at dinner, looking at the pile, the Boodge learned to say "Na na." or was that "Night night?" or "No no?" No, clearly distinguishable. Clearly banana.

I consulted my friend the internet and found some recipes. So far I've baked a big pan of banana bread pudding, 12 banana chocolate chip muffins and 1 loaf of banana bread. I've banana blessed my property manager and his wife, Jennifer and her husband, and some friends and their babies. These bananas are just spreading love all over town.

The bread pudding is super easy to make. I'm afraid to admit how much of it I've eaten in 24 hours. I adapted this recipe. I used 2% milk instead of the "fat-free half and half" (um, what's that?) and I used 4 bananas. I think it could even take 5, and some chocolate chips would not hurt it at all. I also threw in some cinnamon and nutmeg and put a little less sugar, and used whatever bread I had going stale (some sourdough buns, some sliced bread. Here's how it looks.



The Banana Bread is one of my favorite recipes, because I can convince myself it's healthy even though I substitute chocolate chips for the dates. I use an extra banana and leave out the oil. Also, I just buy flax seed meal and use 3/4 cup of that, rather than the part whole/part ground seeds. Unground flax seed is not as good for you. The seed just passes through unscathed, if you know what I mean.

I felt like things were getting a bit serious for the Mama Being so it was time to go a bit bananas and post something light. Hope you enjoy!