Is it not an act of love to cook, to bake, to mix lovingly various ingredients together?
I believe this to be so.
This of course means when we feel disconnected from our bodies and hopeless in our soul - we are far less likely to create these acts of love for ourselves. Please know, my sweet, you are so worth the effort.
Thus the invite to you, is to consider baking this banana bread as a great act of love for yourself. To nourish. To heal through the foods we choose to take into our bodies.
This recipe (from Hemsley & Hemsley): I've picked for you, given our ongoing focus on the gut.
Includes ripe banana - yes are higher in sugars, however they are also higher in soluble fibre - gut likes this. Plus this is not a refined sugar loaded cake we're talking about here! The ground almonds instead of wheat flour give the gut a rest from too much processed carbs. Everything in balance.
The variety of bacteria in your gut, enjoy different kinds of food. Another potent reason to eat a varied diet. To feed all the good gut bacteria and let the troublesome ones die off. Packet cakes and biscuits are often laced with hydrogenated fats and WAYYYY too much sugar - a gut and hormonal disaster.
Ingredients for gut friendly banana bread.
(use organic ingredients where possible)
Makes 1 bread in a 23cms x 13cms loaf tin lined with baking parchment
300g very ripe bananas, weighed without the skin on (roughly 3 medium bananas or 2 large)
3 large pasture-raised eggs
2 tablespoons of honey or maple syrup (I often use less so be guided by what suits you)
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
30g butter, melted (or coconut oil, melted if you prefer)
1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
220g ground almonds
30g ground flaxseed – also known as linseed
Preheat oven to 170 degrees C. Gas mark 5. Line loaf tin with parchment.
Mash bananas and butter in mixing bowl. Add honey, cinnamon, vanilla, eggs, bicarb of soda, lemon juice and mix well with a whisk.
Then add ground almonds and flax-seed, mix well. Stir in the LOVE!
Pour into lined loaf tin and bake for 1 to 1and a 1/4 hours. Remove and let cool a little. Serve slightly warm with butter and a cup of tea! Delicious!