"Why do you have so many frozen bananas"?!?!?!

This has been a long time joke between me and some friends. It all started one night when they were helping me and my boyfriend move. I opened the freezer to expose about half of the space being home to dark ice covered bananas...and then began the laughter and multiple jokes of why Miss D has so many frozen bananas...

I'm not sure why this became somewhat of an addiction for me, but I guess I just always remembered there being frozen bananas in our fridge growing up. I didn't know why there were there or what was done with them, but you were pretty much guaranteed to see a few up there. As I grew older, I realized what delicious bread comes from these scary looking fruits in the freezer...and so began my addiction. Every time I bought bananas, it seemed as though one or two towards the end would end up calling the freezer home. And so now, without further ado.....here is what Miss D does with all her frozen bananas....

Cranberry Banana Oat Bread

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (preferably whole wheat)

1 cup whole oats

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs (be kind, get cage free/free range when possible, happy animals/produce taste better)

1 1/4 cups mashed ripe bananas (frozen only need to thaw for 30-45 minutes, I used about 3 bananas, extra is ok!)

2 tablespoons sour cream (use whole not fat free/low fat varieties)

1/3 cup melted butter (whole butter, please do not use margarine)

1/2 cup white sugar (raw organic sugar if possible)

3/4 cup dried cranberries

Ground flaxseed (optional)

Sliced almonds (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 2 1/2 x 8 1/2-inch loaf pan with butter. Whisk the flour, oats, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl; set aside.
2. Whisk the eggs in a mixing bowl until smooth. Beat in the bananas, sour cream, and melted butter. Add the sugar, cranberries, and flax/almonds (optional); beat until evenly blended. Fold into the oat mixture until no dry lumps remain. Pour into the prepared loaf pan.
3. Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.

Nutrition Info:

Recipe = 10 servings

Calories = 258

Carbs = 38

Fat = 7

Protein = 6

AMAZING is all I can say, I found the original recipe on www.allrecipes.com, but made some small changes of my own. This works great as a breakfast food. Next time, I am going to make these as muffins instead of bread. Great with coffee or tea!

Nutrition Tip:
Why add flaxseed?? Ever hear of omega-3 fats? Well that is one of the main perks to eating flax, nearly double the amount of omega-3's from fish oil.  Also good source of fiber (which everyone needs more of in their diet!). Other benefits include:

Anti-cancer effects (especially with breast cancer)

Decrease risk of heart disease

Helps lower cholesterol

In order to reap the benefits of flaxseed though, you have to buy it pre-ground or grind it yourself at home. I use a coffee grinder to grind mine at home. Eating the seeds whole does not give you as much of these benefits as it is hard for the body to digest the whole seed. The recommended daily intake is 1-2 TBSP daily (ground). Best part, it is easy to throw into many dishes, and it is tasty with a nice nutty flavor.