Secret Recipe Club: Avocado Banana Bread

Before I blab further, I will introduce my Secret Recipe Club blog this month: Making Miracles with Rebekah. Rebekah has lived a fantastically interesting life--enjoying her own children and family and being a surrogate mom to four other little girls. She's traveled the world and enjoys a lot of the same foods I do--quick, family friendly, and delicious. (Note: I'm also itching to try this casserole.)

I think that today's recipe perfectly showcases that. And it's barely even green. Greenness was one of my main concerns when I found this recipe. I knew that it would be my soul recipe regardless, but if it came out bright green I knew it wouldn't have a prayer with the minions. It's only just vaguely tinted, so no one was the wiser. I got my soul mate food and the kids spared me from eating the whole darn thing.

It's delicious, beautiful, healthy (if a little on the sweet side), moist, and a perfect summer breakfast. Especially if you've got those spotty summer bananas.

Avocado Banana Bread
adapted from Making Miracles
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 65 minutes
Cost: $2.05 ($2.90 with chocolate chips)
flour: .50, sugar: .15, bananas: .25, avocado: .50 (aldi price), honey: .40, oil: .15, eggs: .20, chocolate chips: .85

2 C whole wheat flour
3/4 C sugar
1 tsp baking powder
 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 C (about 2) very ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 C (about 1) avocado, mashed
1/4 C honey
1/2 C oil
2 eggs
1 Tbsp vanilla
1 C chocolate chips, optional

Preheat oven to 325. Grease a loaf pan.

Combine dry ingredients (unless you're too lazy for words, like me. Then you throw them in at the end, drag a fork through them, and hope for the best.)

Mash bananas and avocado. Then beat it to get it a little smoother. Blend in honey, oil, eggs, and vanilla.

Stir in the dry ingredients. Add chocolate chips if using.

Bake for 60-75 minutes (mine took 64 on the dot).

Allow to cool for 10 minutes or so, then turn out of the pan and allow to cool further.

PRINTABLE RECIPE

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Pumpkin Refrigerator Oatmeal

Refrigerator oatmeal is the best thing ever in the summer when it's too hot to even think about waking up and ingesting something steamy. Also, they're dumb easy and ready for your to stumble into in the morning. I love this recipe because it also packs this huge Vitamin A, beta carotene pumpkin punch.

And mixed. Not as pretty, but still delicious. 

Pumpkin Refrigerator Oatmeal
adapted from
Prep time: 3 minutes
Cost:  $.57
oatmeal: .05, yogurt: .25, pumpkin: .25, other stuff: .02

Note: The sugar will be high for this if you're used to sweet breakfasts and/or sweet yogurt. Rest assured that if you used sweetened yogurt, you'd be eating at least this much sugar.

1/2 C Greek yogurt (regular works too)
1/2 C pumpkin puree
1/4 C oatmeal
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1-2 Tbsp sugar

Combine all ingredients. Leave in refrigerator overnight. (Note: If you use quick oats, you can leave it for about 30 minutes and eat this.)

How to Make a Lot of Buttermilk from Just a Little Buttermilk

There are ways in this world to actually make buttermilk (originally it referred to the thin milk left after making butter, but that's not what the thick, acidic milk is that we now refer to as buttermilk). We're not going to mess with that. Today we just have a simple tip for making more buttermilk when yours is almost gone. Because buttermilk is much more expensive than milk. And because it's so yummy in all those baked goods.

Here's what you do:

1. When you have a few inches of buttermilk left in your jug, you pour milk in--just regular milk. (Shoot for a 1:4 or 1:5 ration. One part buttermilk for four parts milk)
2. Let it sit on your counter for 24 hours.
3. And then, magically, you have buttermilk. It's kind of sort of like making yogurt because that's kind of sort of what buttermilk is.

It's not rocket science, but you do have to trust me a little because I did just tell you to let your milk sit with your old buttermilk on the counter for 24 hours. And I would tell you that again. It works, and makes perfect buttermilk.

I usually do this two times before buying a new jug of buttermilk.