Banana Oat Bars

What do you do with all those bananas that are too ripe and soft to just eat on their own? There's always banana bread, but it's usually loaded with fat and sugar, and simple carbs, and takes a long time to cook. I wanted to be able to make a quick and simple, healthy snack for my boys. These Banana oat bars fit the bill. My boys love them, and they make a great breakfast-on-the-run, or an after school snack. They make a great anytime snack really. These are also egg- and dairy-free which is great for those with food allergies. If you used gluten free oats, they would also be gluten free.

The other great thing about this recipe is that it's so forgiving. Add a little more oats if it seems too wet, try adding nuts, or seeds for more crunch. If you don't have ground flax seed/linseed, then you can use an egg. If you don't like raisins, add chopped dates or apricots instead, or just leave them out. Try different things. You'll find that after a few times, you won't even need to measure the ingredients out, just mix things together, spread it out on a pan, and bake! I doubled my recipe today, and baked it in a large baking tray with 1" sides.

 Banana Oat Bars

2 Medium very ripe bananas
1 Tbs ground flax seed/linseed
3 Tbs water
1 tsp vanilla
1 Tbs honey or other sweetener (optional)
2 cups rolled or quick oats
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch salt
1/4 cup ground almonds (or more ground flax seed)
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup dessicated coconut (optional)

Pre-heat oven to 350 F and grease a 9 x 13 pan, or small baking sheet. In a small bowl mix the ground flax seed with the water and set aside. In a large bowl, mash the bananas then add the vanilla and honey. When the flax seed mixture is similar in consistency to a beaten egg, add it to the banana, and mix. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix until combined. Spread the mixture evenly on prepared baking dish and bake for about 25-30 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. Let cool, then cut into squares and enjoy.

Banana Oatmeal Raisin Cookies (Dairy Free, Egg Free)

My youngest son has a mild allergy to cow's milk and is eczema seems to flare up with eggs as well. Since discovering this, I have been using soy milk in all my baking, and have tried several dairy free and even egg free recipes and techniques. One idea I found was to use ground linseed as a binder in place of egg. Now that I have finally invested in a spice grinder, I have been experimenting with this idea with mixed results (the pancakes didn't turn out so well). After a couple of attempts, though, I have developed a recipe for banana oat cookies that are healthy enough to eat for breakfast, or any time of day. They aren't like the normal cookies that you would make with all the butter and sugar, but they are sweet, soft and chewy. Between me and my boys, the last batch I made lasted one day.

You will need a spice grinder, or some other way of grinding the linseed into a powder first. If you don't have one, you could try using one egg in it's place. I haven't tried this yet, so I don't know how it would change the recipe, but I'm sure it would work.

Banana Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

1 Tbs ground linseed
3 Tbs water
2 medium sized, ripe bananas, mashed (about 3/4 cup)
1 tsp vanilla
1 Tbs honey
2 cups oats (I used porridge oats, similar to quick oats)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
generous pinch of salt
1/4 cup soy flour (or all purpose/plain flour)
1/4 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F/170 C fan assisted. Line baking sheets with baking/parchment paper, or grease them. In a small bowl combine the ground linseed and water, stir and set aside. In a medium bowl combine mashed bananas, vanilla and honey. In a larger bowl combine the remaining (dry) ingredients. Test the linseed mixture, it should be kind of gloopy (like the consistency of a beaten egg).  If it's ready, add it to the wet ingredients and mix to combine.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry mixture, and stir until combined.

Using a round tablespoon (or small ice-cream scoop), scoop up the cookie mixture pressing it against the side of the bowl, then tap the spoon onto the tray to release the dough. It may be useful to grease the spoon with a little oil. Using the back of the spoon, gently press the ball down in the middle to flatten the ball.

Bake in a preheated oven for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges are turning brown. Cool on a cooling rack, and enjoy!

Here is a video showing how I get the shape for my cookie. I made it originally for my coconut macaroon cookies that I haven't posted yet, but the technique is still the same.

Snack Time: Popcorn

Popcorn is one of the easiest and healthiest snacks to make. It also provides entertainment for a good block of time. You don't even need an air popper or any other fancy contraption to make your own popcorn. All you need is some oil, popcorn kernel and this:

A large pot with a lid, and a stove to cook it on. My boys love to stand on stools and watch the popcorn pop (a glass lid is good for this). After the popcorn is done, I'll pour it into a large bowl, and then we have fun finding shapes in the popcorn. Some popular ones are an octopus, a hedgehog, dogs, and rabbits. We've also found one that looks like an octopod, a flower fountain, and an elephant riding a bicycle.

Home-made stove-top popcorn

1-2 tsp oil (one with a high smoke point like veg oil or coconut oil, enough to cover the bottom of the pot)

1/2 cup popping corn

Heat the oil in a large pot on the highest heat until the oil just starts to smoke. Pour the popcorn in, and cover the pot. Immediately start shaking the pan back and forth, or in circles across the burner and quickly as possible. The object is to keep the kernels and popcorn moving so they don't burn on the bottom of the pan. Keep shaking the pan until the popcorn is nearly finished popping (you'll hear a couple of kernels popping every couple of seconds). Remove from heat, and immediately pour popcorn into a large serving bowl.

You can add different toppings to the popcorn at this point, like melted butter or salt. However, we just eat it plain.

Enjoy! If you make some popcorn too, let me know what fun shapes you found.

Snack Time: Fruit Ice Lollies

With my older boy in school now, finding healthy and tasty after school snacks has never been more important. Many parents bring snacks for their children to eat straight after nursery, and N would often stare longingly at the treats they were given. Usually it’s sweets (gummy, boiled, etc), chocolate, biscuits/cookies, crisps, and ice cream from the ice cream van. My favourite are the gummy sweets in the shapes of teeth and toothbrushes, very ironic. Anyway, I have the challenge to have healthier snacks that are appealing enough to the boys to keep them from demanding what the other children have. The next few blogs are going to be some of our favourite healthier snacks.

I often just bring some crackers, maybe some squares of cheese and fruit. Once in a while I pack some chocolate buttons (small circles of chocolate about equivalent to a chocolate chip). Four is enough to make them happy, and then they’ll eat their crackers or other healthier snack I packed with it.

I always try to have homemade ice lollies on hand, for when they start asking for ice cream. To make homemade ice lollies, you need good ice lolly molds, and the best I’ve found are the ones from IKEA. I’m sure you could find similar ones elsewhere, but they have all the important components: basically, the individual molds sit in a stand. This way, you can make a whole batch, and then use one or two at a time. The molds where they are all attached are no good.

To make fruit ice lollies (Popsicles), I make a fruit smoothie with either fresh or frozen fruit, then pour the smoothie into the molds. My smoothies vary depending on what I have in the house, but usually consists of fruit (bananas, mango, blueberries and strawberries all work well), some natural/plain yogurt, and milk. If I have it on hand, I also like to use some silken tofu (gives it a real smooth texture and adds protein). The quantities of each are really to taste. Just add what you think is good, blend it all together (I use a stick blender), and then taste, and add anything accordingly. The consistency needs to be runny enough to pour easily into the molds.

I’ve also made chocolate ice lollies, which my boys (especially the younger one) love. For that one, I use a bunch of bananas, a bit of yogurt, milk and cocoa powder. If it’s not quite sweet enough, you can use a bit of powdered chocolate milk mix as well.

These are so much better than regular ice-cream, and my boys love them.

Cold Snacks

Finding healthy snacks for my boys is proving more difficult the older they get. Now that they know how tasty junk food can be, it's a challenge finding healthier alternatives that they are happy with. It is possible though, and we have some sure fire snacks that I can count on. So even when they see all the other children with their treats from the ice cream van, they are happy with the cold treats I make for them.

My boys love frozen fruit. Nearly any soft fruit that freezes well will do: mango, strawberries, grapes, bananas.

Frozen bananas was a snack I had growing up, and have passed the love onto my boys. They are so easy to make. Just peel ripe bananas and break in half if larger. Roll around in lemon juice (diluted if you like) to keep them from browning. Then wrap each one in plastic wrap. Store in a freezer bag in the freezer. When ready to eat, remove plastic wrap, and wrap the bottom of the banana with a small piece of paper towel to hold the banana while eating. You could stick a Popsicle stick in each one before freezing, but it's not necessary.

Frozen Fruit Pieces. With fruit like grapes, raspberries and blueberries, just rinse them. With larger fruits like mango and strawberries, cut into bite size pieces. Then spread the fruit onto a baking tray that will fit into your freezer, making sure that they aren't touching. I like to put my fruit on parchment paper or wax paper. Freeze for a couple of hours, then remove from the tray and put in a freezer bag. This way, you have nice bite-sized pieces of frozen fruit you can pull out as needed for snacks.