Who doesn't love banana bread? Well, if you're one of the millionth of a percentile who doesn't, you can stop reading and go back to your sad life. For the rest of us, let's get back to discussing a truly lovely thing: banana bread. From what I've learned from my family, there are only two kinds of banana bread: with nuts and without. I'm here to open up some new possibilities in both realms.
I started off by calling my sister-in-law, Emily, for her recipe for basic banana bread. I'd seen her two and four year olds devour hers day after day until it was gone and sampled it myself.
Then, I added my need to funk things up by figuring out what I could use instead of boring old lemon juice.
Lastly, I took the batter from its' traditional large loaf pan to mini loaf pans because they're just so cute! Now, who's ready for a delectable treat?
Banana Bread
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- pinch of salt
- 1 egg
- 1 cup banana, mashed
- 1/4-1/2 cup grapefruit, diced (or 1 tsp lemon juice)
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup oil
- 1/4-2/3 cup pecans, chopped (optional)
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350. Grease one regular loaf pan or 7-8 mini loaf pans and dust with cinnamon and sugar.
- In small bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.
- In large bowl, mix eggs, bananas, grapefruit, sugar, oil and pecans. Add flour mixture and mix very well.
- Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and sprinkle top with cinnamon and sugar.
- Bake 15-30 minutes for mini loaves and 50 minutes for regular loaf.
Tips:
- use any other fruit in place of grapefruit.
- use whatever nuts you prefer instead of pecans.
- if you really don't want to, you don't have to sprinkle the pan and top of loaves with cinnamon and sugar.
- use some sort of chocolate chips instead of nuts
With Grapefruit
With Mango
I'll get right to it--the reason I wanted to eat at Belly's Pizza on 550 West Crossville Road in Roswell, GA was my little brother's nickname is Belly. So here we go.
There are a lot of things to choose from on the menu, from Nachotaliano and Gluten Free Pizzas to Strombolis and Subs to Pasta and Wings. Dave chose the "Buffalo Chicken Calzone, stuffed with mozzarella, crumbled feta and grilled chicken tossed in signature hot sauce and a side ranch for $11.95." I chose the "Jerk Chicken Cuban, filled with grilled jerk chicken, sliced ham, melted provolone, fresh cilantro, habañero and serrano peppers topped with lettuce, onion, tomato, sour cream and fresh lime juice for $7.50."
The sub was actually really good. It wasn't spicy like I was expecting, but still good. I've had slightly better bread, but this wasn't actually bad. The calzone could've been good, but I was literally choking on the cheese. I like cheese more than the average person, but not when it's clogging my air-and-food-ways. It was also a little bland because they were relying on so much cheese to make up for lack of seasoning. The crust was good, though. I wish there was a bigger selection of sodas. Most restaurants increase their selection of alcohol, but being a non-drinker, I'm usually disappointed in the very small selections of soda. The restaurant was clean, though. It had an open feeling bordering on empty, but we went at a weird time, so we were really the only ones there.
Verdict: I'll try it again, though I might not get another calzone. I really do want to try a pizza and the Nachotaliano.
