Pear scones: higher fiber, no added sugar

I like to take a traditional recipe with sugar and refined flour and revamp it into a healthier one. 

The recipe below for pear scones is my new baking experiment. 

It was a success. I could not believe how sweet it tasted without added sugar! One explanation is the the pears were ripe and sweet.

Pear scones

Ingredients
2.5 cups of whole wheat flour
4 tsp baking powder
3 ripe bananas (mashed)
1 tsp cinnamon
2 eggs
10 Tbsp butter at room temperature
3 ripe pears (not peeled, chopped into small pieces)
4-oz cup of unsweetened apple sauce

Directions
Preheat oven to 375°F. Combine the flour, baking powder, and cinnamon. Add the butter and mix with hands until the mixture resembles crumbs. Mash the bananas and add the eggs and apple sauce to them. Combine the flour and banana mixtures. Finally, add the pears and mix. Divide the dough into two batches and transfer each batch onto a greased cookie sheet. Shape into a circle with clean, wet hands. Press down to thickness of ¾ inches. Bake for about 20 minutes. Slice each circle into eight scones until warm. The recipe yields 16 scones.

My retreat in an ocean of daily grind

Considering the longest lived members of my family, I have maximum of 30 years more to live. In three decades, I will be a pile of bones or a handful of ashes. I doubt that I have three decades to live since even now I am already feeling decrepit and tired despite my healthy diet, regular walks and normal weight.

The only direction in my life right now is to support my child through college. Therefore, the only purpose of my existence is to keep my salary coming for three years and seven months. It may sound sacrilegious to compare myself to a prisoner of war, but I just watched an episode of the British show Love Your Garden (available on YouTube) and the person, whom the new garden was dedicated to, was a World War II POW. He was enslaved by the Japanese for three years and seven months. He did survive the cruelty of the Japanese soldiers and lived a long and fruitful life. Many other POWs working along with him died.

I never dared to have major goals, inspirations, or a grand plan in life. It simply does not work to plan on a big scale, at least for me. I can plan my work lunches or my visit abroad to visit my family. This is the extent of the planning I have done. In general, I do prepare for the worst and hope for the best. Similar to our former POW, I do have my mental escapes in gardens and art. Another great escape are the books. However, these days, I am so busy at work that I need to do additional hours of work at home, rather than read for pleasure.

Yesterday, I finally allowed myself to get a few books from the library. It felt like an indulgence. Along with the books, I discovered that one of my favorite series of mystery books, the Agatha Raisin Mysteries by M.C. Beaton, have been made into British TV episodes and some are available on YouTube. It was a great pleasure to watch a strikingly beautiful Agatha solve murder cases on the background of a quirky and gorgeous British countryside. Not a mental-gymnastics time, but a few entertaining hours.

This weekend, I also tried a new cookie recipe that reminds me of some banana breakfast bars I have baked in the past. The recipe, Super Healthy Grab and Go Banana Breakfast Cookies, is available from https://thecookspyjamas.com/grab-and-go-breakfast-cookies/. I did a few changes in the amount of the ingredients and the prep.

Ingredients
4 very ripe, medium bananas (you can freeze whole bananas and use these for any baking recipes)
2 cups old fashioned oats
1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup shredded coconut (I found only sweetened in the supermarket)
1/2 cup raisins*
2 Tbsp chia seeds
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
*the recipe called for currants, I used raisins

Instructions  
Combine the mashed bananas with the oats and chia seeds. Cover tight and keep overnight in the refrigerator. This allows for the oats and chia seeds to absorb the moisture from the bananas. In the morning, preheat the oven to 350°F. Add all other ingredients to the banana-oat mix. Distribute portions of 1/4 cup each on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Press to thickness of half an inch. Bake for 20-25 minutes. The original recipe recommends that the cookies are kept for up to two days in an airtight container. Alternatively, these could be frozen. 

The result? The cookies were amazing! I will bake a double batch for Thanksgiving and probably Christmas! There is nothing better to indulge a bit your taste buds and know that the cookies are healthy. Thank you to Tania from The Cook's Pyjamas.

Have a great weekend! 

Yogurt fruit dessert

This is the real deal, no-added sugar dessert! The sugar comes from the fruit only; however, along with this natural sugar comes the fruit fiber. Therefore, after you enjoy this cool dessert, your blood sugar will not spike. Here it is:

Yogurt fruit dessert
Ingredients:
2 bananas, mashed
1 1/2 cups of plain yogurt (low fat is best)
2-3 Tbsp chia seeds
2-3 nectarines, peaches and/or plums (or any other fruit of choice such as quince, pear, apple)
1-2 Tbsp of your favorite cognac or rum (skip, if serving to children)
Optional: raisins, nuts, coconut, cinnamon, or natural unsweetened cocoa powder

Directions:
First, prepare the fruit mixture. Thinly cut the fruit of choice (peaches, nectarines, and plums work best). Steep the fruit and raisins in ½ cup of water under cover to desired softness. This will take very little time (a couple of minutes, but it depends on the type of fruit). Add 1-2 Tbsp rum (skip, if serving to children), mix gently. Cool the fruit prior to serving the dessert.

For the yogurt mixture, mash the bananas with a fork, add the yogurt and chia seeds. Leave in the refrigerator overnight. Before serving, you could freeze the yogurt mixture for one or more hours. Serve with the fruit mixture on top. Decorate with nuts, coconut or cocoa powder.

Marcus Aurelius and an Oat Banana Baked French Toast

Hello, everyone!

I have two good things to share today.

The first one is a great lecture on Marcus Aurelius, and the second is a recipe for an oat banana baked toast that I found on Pinterest.

I listened to the “Best Lecture on Stoicism" yesterday. I have previously liked the brief video on stoicism, STOICISM - MEDITATIONS BY MARCUS AURELIUS ANIMATED BOOK REVIEW by FightMediocrity, so I decided to watch more on the Roman emperor. I was not disappointed. The lecture was dynamic, well presented, without a whiff of stale academics. And of course, it was relevant, especially today, when we have a crisis in leadership at all levels. There were several highlights in the talk; for example, one was the thought of why it is pointless to be mean to each other – after all we all will die. But as it is with any great piece of art (or in this case, a great philosophy), I am sure that when you listen to the lecture, you will find your own “best moments” to appreciate and think about.
 

Oat Banana Baked French Toast: added sugar-free version

So much for the food for the soul. Now about the food that keeps the body engine going. I found the recipe for an oat-banana baked French toast on Pinterest; however, it was a bit decadent for my taste (with nut butter, maple syrup, etc.). So, I skipped these and instead of any bread, I used double fiber bread, added two eggs for protein and five tablespoons of cream of wheat (I need the iron). I also scaled up the recipe to six servings to be prepared in a single baking pan. By the way, the author of the original recipe is Amanda @ Running with Spoons. Thank you, Amanda! Here is my modified version:

Ingredients (for six servings):
· 3 bananas, mashed
· 1.5 (or more) cups unsweetened almond milk (found in any supermarket, even ours!)
· 2 Tbsp ground cinnamon
· 2 Tbsp vanilla
· 6 slices of Double Fiber bread, cubed
· 1.5 cups oats
· 2 eggs
· 5 Tbsp cream of wheat (optional)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375F, prepare a pan with a non-stick spray.
2. Mix the eggs, milk, mashed bananas, and cream of wheat. Add the cinnamon and vanilla. Soak the bread cubes and oats in the mixture, stir.
3. Transfer the mixture to the pan.
4. Bake for 45 minutes. I baked mine in a toaster-oven and used a clean knife to test for readiness (if the knife comes out clean, the toast is ready).

The verdict?  The “toast” was edible, with a very mild taste; however, if you are not used to low- or no-sugar food, it would take some adjustment of your palate. If you have a sweet tooth, I suggest to start the recipe with a tablespoon or two of maple syrup, and then wean yourself to no additional sugar (other than the sugar from the banana). You could add a few walnuts and raisins, which would make the taste more interesting. Overall, it is a thumbs-up recipe and I am planning on perfecting it further this holiday season!