Banana Granola Bars

Healthy lifestyle is must and everyone should follow and who so ever is reading this and has started laughing after seeing all my full fat cake posts please pause. Few years back when my mother in law was diagnosed with diabetes, our focus towards diet and sugar management was bound to be natural. In comes to my rescue my partner in mischief’s elder sister. Debjani gupta is not only a dietician/ nutritionist but she is an example in herself. I was laughing away when Shohini told me the first time that Didi actually eats in order to stay lean and fit. She will not make you starve, instead she will make sure you eat, burn, eat, burn. Soon after consulting for my mil, few of my friends got in touch with her and result she has literally whipped up some of them fit. So here is one of her munching treat that she had advised actually almost a year back but me being lazy me took time. Kindly excuse the addition of chocolate chips again, you see twinkle toes needs her motivation.

Preparation time-10 min
Cooking time – 20 min
Yields- 10 bars

Ingredients

3 cup museli
3 banana
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp baking powder
10 tbsp seed mix
8 tbsp coconut oil
5 tbsp honey
chopped walnuts – 1/2 cup
salt pinch
chocolate chips 2 tbsp optional

Method

Preheat oven at 180. Mix all dry ingredients in separate bowl except baking powder. Mix all wet ingredients along with mashed banana in separate bowl, add the dry ingredients along with baking powder, mix. In the lined tray layer and flatten it out evenly. Bake for 20 min. Allow it to sit in the tray till it cools. Then refrigerate it for 2 hours before cutting it into squares. Before cutting carefully lift out the slab from the parchment paper, then cut. Wrap them in foil and refrigerate if making during summer/monsoon season.

Pear and Orange Jam

As we grow older we gather our own set of memories, and the sense and nostalgia of those can be invoked by any simple things, taste, smell, place or just talks. My mother-in law’s eldest sister spent a lot of her days in Madhya Pradesh during the early 80’s and 90’s. Those days when Chambal was famous for dacoits, thick dense forests. During this stay she got a taste of central India’s vegetation, fruits, cuisines and people. Soon amongst her favorite things list were chanderi saree, govind bhog rice and Pear / Babugosha. She simply loves pear, so much that since her relocation back to Purulia she hasn’t been able to enjoy her favorite fruit. So during one such journey to Purulia during Pujo we packed pears for her, her eyes simply gleamed and with stories of Tikamgarh and the experiences she relished those pears. Memories of all those stories were doing rounds while I was preparing pears for the jam.
Summer list of jam got one more addition, Pear and Orange Jam.

Preparation time- 10 min
Cooking Time- 50 min

Ingredients

Pear- 1 kg
Fresh Orange Juice – 1 ltr
Grated Ginger – 1 tbsp
Juice of 1 lemon
Sugar- 1 kg

Method

In a heavy pan, cut, remove seeds and hard stem, chop the pears. Add sugar, cover for at least 6 hours. Add fresh orange juice, juice of lemon, grated ginger and put the pan on simmer.
Meanwhile sterilize the jam jars. Place them in boiling water for 10 minutes, drain, dry and keep aside. Place a plate in the freezer. Once the mixture starts boiling remove the froth, keep on stirring occasionally.
After 10 minutes blend the mixture with hand blender, after this stage if you wish to keep it as jelly you can remove it from flame and add 3 tsp of gelatin powder. If you wish for thick jam as I have here, allow it to simmer for 45-50 minutes. Do the freezer plate test, if it sets remove the jam from flame. Pour it in the jars, seal, turn them upside down. Refrigerate after opening. Enjoy

Papaya and Mango Jam

Lazy person, Mornings and Breakfast, a disastrous combination and yes that’s me😅. I’m not a morning person, so you see my Coffee and toast has been my staple breakfast for years now. Jam is although my weakness, I’m not a fan of over-sweet jam, so store bought jam’s are usually opened under “NO homemade Jam” emergency only. Summer is the best season for Jamming up the jars and with ease in lockdown supply of fresh fruits keeps getting better. Spicy mango jam version I’ve already shared, this time wanted a twist to papaya. Tried combining papaya with many other fruits however this version is really quick and fuss free. Twinkle toes has no interest in this jam but I’m sure ill sneak it on her toast just under the Nutella spread🤫.

Preparation time – 4-6 hours
Cooking time- 20 minutes

Ingredients

Papaya- 650 g
Mango- 450g
Sugar – 500g
Juice of 2 lemon

Method

Peel, remove seeds of papaya ,chop. Peel and chop mango. Add the chopped fruits in heavy bottom pan, add sugar. Keep in away in cool place covered for minimum 2 hours and if possible 4 hours.
Meanwhile sterilize the jam jars. Place them in boiling water for 10 minutes, drain, dry and keep aside. Place a plate in the freezer.
Sugar would have reduced mango to almost pulp, stir and place the pan on low flame, add lemon juice. Stir for 5 minutes. Blend the fruits to a puree. Let it come to a boil and simmer away for at least 10 minutes. Take the plate out of freezer, drop some of the jam on the plate. If the consistency holds then the jam is done, else simmer it for 5-7 minutes more. Take the pan off the flame, pour the jam in the jars, let them cool a bit. Close the lid and turn them upside down. Store in cool place and refrigerate once opened. Enjoy the spread on your toast.

Banana and Walnut loaf

Father’s day around the corner, twinkle toes still trying to decide why is it called father’s day…is it daddy’s birthday.. Nevertheless she made sure there is a gift for him and Mumma will bake cake was her order. With her online classes and no respite on Saturday’s also fancy cake please no no, our humble banana loaf came to my rescue. Banana is his all time favorite, so safe and easy here but what about my chocolate devotee girl. Its summer right, ICE CREAM….whilst helping me in whisking the batter and patiently waiting outside kitchen for oven to do Ding Dong my cherry was super happy to get her slice with a big dollop of chocolate Ice Cream❤️. Daddy dear, he was happy with his gift and a slice with his cuppa. Happy Father’s Day to all.

Preparation Time – 5 min
Cooking Time- 1 hour

Ingredients

Butter – 100g
Castor Sugar – 145 g
Eggs- 2
Flour – 175g
Vanilla essence
Baking powder – 2 tsp
Milk- 50ml
Chopped Walnuts – 50g
Ripe banana – 3

Method

Preheat oven at 180°, whisk butter and sugar, add 1 egg at a time and whisk till fluffy. Mash the bananas and keep aside. Add vanilla essence to liquid batter, sift in flour with baking powder, mix, add mashed banana and chopped walnuts. Pour in lined loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour or till the skewer comes out clean. Let it cool out of the oven for 10 min, slice and serve. Enjoy