For example take something labeled Zucchini Bread, because of the vegetable in the title it seems like it could be nutritious for the body. Well what if I told you a normal recipe for Zucchini Bread looked something like this...(source) What blows my mind the most is that it is from the food network channel. Just because things are shoved in our faces (in media) does not mean it is good for you and you should do it...just saying :-)
- 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3 cups sugar
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 4 eggs, beaten
- 1/3 cup water
- 2 cups grated zucchini
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
Look at how much SUGAR AND OIL are in this recipe!!!
If you take some of the pointers I mentioned in the post before this about, healthy swaps and protein replacements, we can make this recipe a whole lot healthier without missing any of the flavor.
This recipe can also be labeled as dairy free, gluten free, grain free and heck lets say meat free too ;-)
I want to first go over the swaps and then at the end I will list the recipe (incase there is confusion during the swap explanation).
1. First we have all purpose flour...If its white, get it out of your LIFE! A better substitution is almond flour, garbanzo bean flour, or if you are into the grain thing than oat flour works well (try and stick to gluten free).
2. The salt can be reduced...no need for all the extra sodium
3. Baking Soda...KEEP...we need this sucker to rise!
4. Cinnamon KEEP! I put cinnamon in EVERYTHING!!!!
5. 3 cups sugar...OMG...lets all have diabetes just from this bread alone. Some great swaps for this is to use Truvia (it is stevia but has the texture of sugar so it can help in the construction of the cake). Other nice swaps are honey, agave or banana or a combination of whichever
6. 1 cup oil!!!!!!! How about we reduce that to tablespoons...no need for all that oil to clog the arteries. Plus to keep the moisture in the bread some nice swap moisture ideas are banana, unsweetened applesauce, or cottage cheese if you are okay with dairy.
7. 4 eggs....we like eggs, even the egg yoke! Lets keep those but reduce the number, no need for extra calories....moderation people
8. Water...as silly as this sounds...even though this provides no calories to the bread it isn't even necessary. If there is ever anything that needs an extra liquid to get things moving, I will pour in some unsweetened almond milk. Adds a little flavor without adding too many calories.
9. 2 cups zucchini...YES KEEEP!!!! WE LOVE VEGETABLES!
10. Lemon Juice...optional
11. 1 cup nuts is a little excessive. I will list this as optional...but lets reduce the amount to maybe a 1/4 cup
Healthy Zucchini Bread
1 1/2 cups almond flour (or 1 cup almond flour and 1/2 cup unflavored protein powder)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup grated zucchini, water squeezed out (you can simple use a cheese grater)
2 eggs plus 2 egg whites
3 Tablespoons Truvia, Agave or Honey
1 banana, mashed
1 tablespoon coconut oil, melted
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
-Coconut Oil spray two mini bread loaf pans or muffin tins
-Combine dry ingredients in a small bowl and set aside
-Combine wet ingredients (not zucchini) and beat with hand or hand mixer for a couple minute
-Add zucchini and mix until combined
-Pour dry ingredients into wet and mix (I like to pour a little, then stir, then alternate pour and stirring until bowl is empty)
-Pour batter into pans
-Bake for 32-35 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. (muffins will take a shorter amount of time: try 15-20min)
-Remove from oven and cool
***If you would like to make this recipe chocolate then add 2 TBS Cacao Powder and replace the unflavored protein with chocolate protein)
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