And Now I am a Mom (Plus Healthyish Banana Bread)

I took a blogging break. Again. And now I am a mom. Quite a break; I know!

The good news is that I still eat a lot of salad and plan to continue doing so. Most salads these days involve quinoa. One day, I might even write about these salads. For now, I want to write about being a mom. I don't plan to change the name of the blog because, frankly, I don't have many (any?) followers. As I mentioned in my first post over two years ago, I hoped this blog would encourage me to exercise my writing muscles. I no longer have much free time on my hands, but I have more going on in my head than ever before. Motherhood has been an incredible, positive life change, and sometimes, it feels all-consuming. Instead of thinking and rethinking about being a mommy, I decided to put pen to the paper and finger to the keyboard and share some of those thoughts. I'm not sure if anyone will ever read these thoughts besides my husband, but that is okay.

This blog is about my experience with motherhood (and some recipes--I can't help myself). I do not intend any of my posts to be preachy, but you should read at your own risk. I learned early on not to judge how other people parent. As long as children are safe and healthy, it's not my business. If any posts seem judgmental, just know that it is not my aim. I've learned a lot from reading other parents' blogs, and I love reading and hearing birth stories (more on this in a future post). With the encouragement of my husband, I am making some of my experiences with pregnancy and motherhood publicish (the ish because beyond sharing a link on Facebook, I don't know how anyone would find my blog).

If you have read this far, I salute you and reward you with a recipe for banana bread. My family has a delicious but not all that healthy recipe for banana bread. Being postpartum and hoping to lose a few pounds, I attempted to make the recipe a little healthier but still delicious. My recipe edits made for a denser bread (okay, cake), which makes a hearty snack.


Healthyish Banana Bread

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup oats (I used quick oats because that is what I had in the house)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup fat free Greek yogurt
• 1/4 cup apple sauce
• 1 cup ripe mashed bananas (about 2 medium bananas)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Optional crumb topping:

• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 cup oats
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 Tbs butter (I used Smart Balance)
• 1/4 cup apple sauce
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix ingredients for banana bread. If you want to be fancy, you can cream the butter and sugar, add eggs, add other wet ingredients and then add dry ingredients, which should be premixed in another bowl. Chocolate chips go in last. Pour the batter into a loaf pan. If you want to make a lightened-up crumb topping, mix flour, oats and brown sugar. Than add the butter or butter substitute and apple sauce and mix together with a fork or your hands. Sprinkle the topping on top of the batter and sprinkle the chocolate chips on top of the crumb topping.

Bake for approximately 40 minutes and you get this:

Enjoy the banana bread plain or warmed up with a schmear of peanut or almond butter.