Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston may be ancient history, but there’s one American super-couple that isn’t going anywhere anytime soon: peanut butter and banana. Today’s recipe takes the classic sandwich and, well, turns it inside out to create a savory snack or a meal on the go.

The Ingredients: Everyone knows bananas are high in potassium, but their high fiber content and the variety of sugars they offer (glucose, fructose, and sucrose) make them ideal sources for extended energy. They are also high in iron. Besides being the one of the tastiest snacks, peanut butter is also one of the healthiest: it’s high in monosaturated (good!) fats that help prevent bad cholesterol from building up. PB also contains nutrients like niacin and calcium.

The Recipe:

3 large, very ripe (read: disgusting and brown) bananas

2 eggs

1/2 cup butter or substitute (my fave for baking is Earth Balance)

1 1/2 TBS sour cream or buttermilk

1 tsp lemon juice

1 cup sugar

1 cup natural peanut butter

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

2 cups flour

Note: For a real peanutty punch, replace 1/2 cup of flour with peanut flour

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Oh She Glows

School’s back in session and between prepping for homecoming,  attending weekend socials, and—oh yeah!–class, you probably have barely enough time to catch up on CollegeCandy (LOL JK) let alone cook! I know the routine all too well: you get into a busy cycle, mealtimes go by the wayside and soon you’re like a primitive hunter-gatherer, stuffing your face at each feeding or snacking opportunity that arises, never knowing when the next one will present itself. It’s not a pretty sight, nor is it a very healthy one.

A simple solution to this problem would be to stock up on energy bars. But even those are extremely costly and can be so high in sugar that they’re simply masquerading candy bars. So why not make your own? If you can devote just an hour or two on the weekend to whip up one of these recipes, you’ll have portable, preservative-free meal replacements for the week ahead at just a fraction of the store-bought price!

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[Jill has been dabbling in the 4 Day Diet and sharing her journey with us. See how her first week went here.]

Week Two was a lot harder for me than Week One. I lost 4 pounds in the first week, but my typical yo-yo self sees results and then thinks it’s a free for all. The Smooth and Protein Stretch modules gave me a lot more choices, more flexibility and my favorite 5 letter word: P-I-Z-Z-A. Holler. Surely any girl watching her weight would do a Kirsten Dunst in Bring It On type cheer if instructed to eat TWO pieces of pizza. But not me.

Because I knew once I started with the Pizza all hell would break loose.  And by hell I mean the inner voice inside of me who tells me that while watching TV, I should devour everything in my kitchen. She really is a biznatch, that voice. Sometimes I think that eating a little more peanut butter on a spoon with chocolate chips will shut her up. But sadly, that chick is too legit to quit, and even the recent salmonella threat won’t scare her away. Not-a-chance.

Not that I like to blame everything on that time of the month, but I think I had a harder time staying under control this week because I was so. very. PMS that even my boss noticed me crying at a commercial. True story.

By week’s end, the scale was back up the 4 pounds I was down; I’m hoping it was because of my monthly visitor, but after the amount I consumed (fresh baked banana bread, anyone?) I wouldn’t be surprised if it was just from over-doing it. Read More »