Guilt Free Desserts: Bananas Foster

This is the dessert to go along with Dustin and Becky's Fancy Pants Dinner.  Again, happy anniversary guys! 

Bananas Foster is my absolute favorite dessert.  The traditional way of making it involves a lot of butter, sugar, full fat ice cream, and rum.  While it is certainly tasty, I wanted to come up with a version that I could enjoy more than once a year and not feel guilty about.  Try out this healthier (and vegan!) version, and let me know what you think about it! 

Bananas Foster with Spiced Caramel Sauce over Soy Ice Cream

Ingredients:

• 2 ripe bananas, sliced into rounds
• 2 tbsp. vegan margarine (or butter)
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 3 tbsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. nutmeg, allspice, or pumpkin pie spice
• Seeds from one vanilla bean, or 1 tbsp. vanilla extract
• 3 tbsp. dark rum (optional)
• Soy ice cream

Directions:

1. Melt butter in skillet.  Add cinnamon, nutmeg, and brown sugar. 

2.  Stir constantly, making sure the sugar has dissolved and is no longer gritty.  Add in the vanilla bean seeds or extract and rum (optional).  If you do add rum, move the pan away from the stove while adding, unless you want to lose some eyebrows!  Cook until sauce has thickened like a caramel.  Be sure to stir constantly so it doesn't burn!

3.  Add in the sliced bananas, and stir to coat completely in the sauce. Cook for 1-2 minutes, until the bananas are soft, but not mushy.

4.  Layer in a glass with soy ice cream, or even yogurt for a delicious treat!  Enjoy!

Guilt Free Desserts: Poached Pears with Orange and Vanilla Bean Sauce

This is another easy, tasty, and light summer dessert that will satisfy your sweet tooth without sabotaging your weight loss progress!  Be sure to buy the freshest pears you can find, any variety will work.  I really hope you all enjoy this one!

Poached Pears with Orange and Vanilla Bean Sauce

 

Ingredients:

• 3 firm, fresh pears- any variety
• 1/2 cup white wine (or increase water by 1/2 cup and omit wine)
• 3 1/2 cups water
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 vanilla bean, split (or 2 tsp vanilla extract)
• 1 orange- zested and juiced
• 1/4 cup agave nectar (or honey)
• Soy or Regular vanilla bean ice cream

Directions:

1.  Using a peeler, remove all the outer skin from the pears, making sure the stems stay intact. 

2.  Turn the pears on their side, and use a small teaspoon to scrape the inside of the pears and remove the seeds.  Be careful not to remove too much of the outer fruit, so the pear stays intact when you poach it.  

3.  Add your wine, water, agave nectar, cinnamon, orange zest, orange juice, orange slices and a split and scraped vanilla bean to a medium sized sauce pot.  

4.  Add the pears to the pot and make sure they are submerged in the liquid.  If not, add a little more water until they are almost covered.  Bring mixture to a boil and then turn down to a simmer.  Simmer for 5 minutes, or until pears are tender but not falling apart.  

5.  Remove pears from the liquid and place in the refrigerator to cool while the sauce reduces.  

6.  (Sorry, I forgot the photo on this one!)  Turn the sauce back up to a boil and cook until the sauce begins to get thick, like a syrup.  This takes about 5-8 additional minutes.

7.  Place a scoop of your ice cream (or soy cream!) into a fancy glass and pour a liberal amount of your spiced syrup on top.  

8.  Place your cooled pear, stem side up, in your glass.  Garnish with an orange slice and enjoy immediately! 

Good Start Apple Streusel Bread

Let's face it- breakfast is the most important meal of the day.  Some of us love it, some of us hate it.  Fact is, this meal helps to regulate our metabolism, blood sugar, and cranky mood that hits around 10:30!  With so many sugary cereals, high fat 'healthy' muffins, and my personal desire to eliminate animal products (like bacon and eggs) from my diet, what's a girl to do for a great breakfast?  This bread is the answer!  It is low fat, high fiber, high protein, no oil, no added sugars, and vegan.  Some of you may think that equals no flavor, bland, and gross.  Trust me, give this bread a try and see how good healthy eating can be!


Good Start Apple Streusel Bread
Side note:  If you make this bread in a loaf or baking pan, it will be very thick!  A very small square is more than enough for a portion.  I would actually recommend baking this into muffins for portion control and so you can grab on the go!

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Muffins will need about 12 minutes, bread in the baking dish takes about 30 minutes.  Loaf bread will need between 30-40 minutes.  Check bread occasionally, you don't want to over bake it and make it tough!

Bread/Muffin Batter
Ingredients:

• 2 cups whole wheat flour (or all purpose flour)
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp nutmeg or pumpkin pie spice
• 1 tbsp ground flax seeds
• 1/2 cup splenda or 1/3 cup regular granulated sugar (you could also substitute agave nectar in place of the splenda or sugar.  Use 1/4 cup.)
• pinch of salt
• 1 large or 2 small gala apples, peeled and chopped finely
• 3/4 cup regular applesauce (be sure to get the natural, no sugar added kind)
• 3/4 cup soy or rice milk
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1.  Place all your dry ingredients into a bowl and stir until fully incorporated. 

2.  Add applesauce, soy milk, vanilla and stir until just together.  Add in chopped apples and stir until they are dotted throughout the batter.  Be careful not to over stir, or your muffins/bread will become tough and gummy. 

3.  Pour batter into a loaf pan, baking dish, or muffin cups.  Only fill muffins 3/4 full so there is room for the topping. 







Walnut Streusel Topping
Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped very fine (you can pulse them through a food processor or chop by hand)
• 1/2 cup regular rolled oats
• 4 tbsp whole wheat (or all purpose) flour
• 4 tbsp splenda
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp nutmeg or pumpkin pie spice
• 1 tsp ground flax seed
• 1/4 cup vegan margarine, melted

Directions:

1.  Put all dry ingredients into bowl and stir until well mixed.

2.  Add melted margarine and stir or mix by hand until a thick, crumbly topping is formed. 

3.  Sprinkle over batter, making sure all batter is covered.  Bake. 







Enjoy!

After bread has baked and cooled slightly, enjoy warm!  We made this bread yesterday and enjoyed this morning for breakfast re heated in the microwave.  I think the taste is actually better, and it is still very moist because of the applesauce!  This is a winner for sure!