Thank Bananas it's Friday

I'm Banana's about Bananas!!!!  So decided to challenge myself to see how many dairy free vegetarian recipes I could make using them as an ingredient.  

It's been a really strange week, after all my bad luck last week things were finally going my way.    

- Tuesday:  Doctor impressed with my progress, that has allowed me to return to work.  Opticians told me my my eyesight was improving and I had become less Short sighted in my left eye.

- Wednesday:  Lucked out and got an early Dental Hospital appointment to repair my fixed dental brace.  So did not need to take time of work, which was great since Iv only been there 5 weeks.

It's been a welcome break from fused cookers and smoking clothes iron.  


First Recipe:

Banana Flapjacks

Flapjacks for me are the original breakfast bar.  My shifts at work mean I am only eating  2 meals a day, so I like to have a snack to eat both on the way to work and back home.  That way I am not aggravating my IBS, by making sure I always have food in my stomach.  

The average commuter will eat pre-wrapped snack food.  You should see the looks I get when I bring out my own home versions.  

By making my own I know my snacks are okay for my IBS, plus it's also cheaper.  

Banana Flapjacks seemed the perfect idea for a emergency snack I could travel with.  I decided the make them as individual cookies, instead of baking in pan and cutting once cool.  

For a sugar Free version try this recipe I found on Mumsnet.

Instead of using straight porridge oats, I used muesli and some unsweetened dessicated coconut.   My mix turned out a little wet, as I forgot to account for the weight of the dried fruit and nuts in the muesli.  

If you want to try using muesli, increase the weight by 50 grams.  Or add 50 grams of dessicated coconut to the recipe, which is what I plan to do next time.

These turned out really moreish, I have to defrost them 1 at a time to stop myself binging on them.  The banana works great in this recipe and don't know why I have not tried this before.....

Second Recipe: 

Peanut banana Hummus

To find more unusual savoury banana recipes, I have been adding banana to my search for my favourite foods.   One of which is hummus, a lovely creamy high protein food.  Perfect if your on a limited diet.  

I could find Banana Hummus  and Peanut butter hummus recipes, but couldn't find any that merged the 2 together.  I chose peanut butter since I thought it would make be a perfect substitute for tahini paste.  It's also something I always have in my cupboards, so saved me going out and buying tahini paste.

Finally found this recipe Nigella.com that I could modify.  I swapped the 5 tbsp of greek yogurt with 1 large mashed banana, to make the recipe dairy free.  I also left out the garlic, I love garlic, but it doesn't love me.

It surprisingly worked better than expected, the banana lends a sweetness to the contrast with the savoury ingredients.  It also adds extra vitamins to your hummus.   The hummus will darken after a few hours when the banana's oxadice. To avoid this, you could roast your banana first before adding to the chickpeas.  

For a sweeter version to spread on your toast at breakfast, try this recipe on Yankee Kitchen Ninja. 

Peanut butter is a great way of adding protein to your diet.  It can be a challenge when you are on a limited diet.  Protein also keeps you fuller longer, so helps stop snacking.  

Never thought I would be worried about my protein intake!!!!!