Paleo Zucchini Banana Bread

When I was 11 I went a full month only eating brownies and oranges.  This was also the year I stopped growing – maybe not entirely coincidence.  At the time I clearly didn’t know much about nutrition, and wouldn’t for many years to come.  By the time I was in high school I had moved on to eating lots of white bread bagels and sugary (fat-free) yogurt, thinking those were healthy choices.  Animal crackers and skim milk were my go-to after-school snacks.  If my mom baked something, I didn’t think about what was in it, I was just happy someone was baking for me at all.  So when fresh-from-the-oven banana bread was presented to me, you better bet it was getting in my belly.

I was a vegetarian from the age of 11 to 22, thinking that avoiding meat would make me healthier (read skinnier).  My brother was a vegetarian for a second, too, subscribing to the all Oreo diet.  Obviously we were both misguided in our attempts at eating healthy and saving the animals.  I didn’t know how to cook, so I wasn’t able to make myself a vegetarian option when my family had chicken for dinner seven nights per week.  I was running on refined carbs 24/7.

Over the years, as I learned more about nutrition and how different foods made me feel, my diet made a complete 180.  I replaced bagels with vegetables and skim milk with water.  I stopped eating yogurt, except for the rare occasion when I would buy organic yogurt from grass-fed cows and flavor it myself with fruit.

During college I dabbled with cooking here and there, but with a dining hall full of food that I was already paying for, there wasn’t a lot of incentive to learn new techniques.  Once I graduated the real learning began, since I was on my own now and couldn’t just have someone at the dining hall make me an omelette anymore.

I added meat back into my diet initially due to the frustration of being a vegetarian in the ’90s when my only options at restaurants were spaghetti and salad.  I went back and forth into vegetarianism for years, both for “health” reasons and to save the animals. As I learned the deleterious effects of sugar on the body, I began to cut it out.  I slowly stopped seeing fat as the enemy, and realized how important it can be as part of a healthy diet.  I ate egg yolks again, whole grains on occasion, and a boat load of fresh produce.  If my great-grandmother wouldn’t have recognized it, it wasn’t going in my mouth.

Once I joined a CrossFit gym, I realized that there were a lot of other people on the same page.  Though CrossFitters’ diets may vary, they are full of whole foods, and they are not afraid of a little fat.  I began editing my old favorite recipes to more of a Paleo style of eating, and realized that I actually liked the new recipes better than the old ones.  They never left me feeling hungry, or worse, exhausted 30 minutes later after a crash from too many simple carbs.  Like this recipe for Best Ever Paleo Banana Pancakes.  It has completely replaced traditional pancakes in my life.

And so this recipe for Paleo Zucchini Banana Bread was born.  By replacing the white flour with almond flour, it’s much more satiating, especially when smothered with almond butter and a little real maple syrup.  It has plenty of protein, so I’m not ravenous like after eating the traditional version.  Sometimes I will have a slice for breakfast with a glass of almond milk.  Sometimes I have it for a snack.  Sometimes I eat it just because it’s delicious.

Do you make an alternative type of banana bread?  What recipe do you use?  Comment on this post and let me know!

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1. 

   Paleo Zucchini Banana Bread

   2015-05-15 15:13:33

   

   Serves 6

   A healthier version of a traditional staple

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   Prep Time

   15 min

   Cook Time

   50 min

   Prep Time

   15 min

   Cook Time

   50 min

   Ingredients

   1. 1½ cups almond flour
   2. 1½ teaspoons baking soda
   3. ½ teaspoon salt
   4. 1 teaspoon cinnamon
   5. ½ teaspoon nutmeg
   6. 2 cups grated zucchini (1 cup after water is squeezed out)
   7. 3 eggs
   8. 3 tablespoons maple syrup
   9. 1 banana, mashed
   10. 1 tablespoon coconut oil, melted
   11. ½ teaspoon coconut oil, solid, for greasing pan

   Instructions

   1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease bread loaf pan with solid coconut oil.
   2. Combine dry ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
   3. Combine wet ingredients, besides zucchini, in a large bowl and whisk together.
   4. Add zucchini to wet ingredients and mix until combined.
   5. Pour dry ingredients into wet and mix until incorporated.
   6. Pour batter into loaf pan.
   7. Bake for 45-50 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
   8. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes before removing bread from pan and transferring onto wire rack.

   By Dr. Sarah

   The Holistic Grail https://www.theholisticgrail.com/