Yuummm...

OK, the whole challenge of trying to eat healthy can be a little traumatic when someone tells you that you can't eat chocolate or eat the things you really enjoy! But, I'm here to say that you don't have to give those things up - it's just time to enjoy them in moderation or switch things up to make them healthier.

I just spent a weekend with friends at Lake Geneva and it was one of those weekends filled with talking, laughter, food and wine. The type of weekend that you want to repeat over and over again! We made french toast casserole, cinnamon bacon, a dinner filled with vegetables and grilled meat products, and grilled fruit sundaes. Then to top it all off, throw homemade salsa and cheese curds in for watching the Kentucky Derby! It was a blast and nobody went hungry and I mean nobody! We had so much food left over...


A couple of us are trying to watch what we eat as we are working on getting into shape or trying to shed a few pounds, but we were also on vacation! We knew we wanted to enjoy our food since most of us are the foodie-type. So we made it a bit healthier in very simple ways :) Cut the butter in the casserole and used egg beaters (it was a Paula Deen recipe, so that was easy to do), baked the bacon and the brownies for the sundaes were made with bananas.

Yes, that's right, bananas! Think of a chocolate covered banana in reverse...

Hungry yet? It turns out that bananas can be used to substitute for oil and butter in recipes just like applesauce, but they have a stronger flavor so aren't used as often in that capacity. I had a bunch of bananas on the counter and decided to be adventurous on day :) It turned out to be a good thing!

Dark Chocolate Banana Brownies

1 Pkg. Dark chocolate Brownie mix (9x13 size)
4-5 very ripe bananas
1 T Spice Mix
1/2 c caramel sauce (the fat free ice cream topping is what I used)
1/2 package dark chocolate chips

Preheat the oven according to the directions on the box. Grease a 9x13 pan. Mash up the bananas and mix everything up until the mix is completely moistened. Now put the mixture in the pan, spread it out and bake according to the directions on the box. You may need about 5 minutes less and these will be fudgy. If you want a more cake like texture, substitute one egg for one banana.

Yum!