Catie: Recipe - Fried Bananas and Whipped Cream with Cinnamon Mandarin Sauce - um, hello? Yum.

Okay, so we've cut back on sugar even more and I was doing fine with it until I decided to cut wheat out almost completely.  I kept reading that of all the grains in the world, wheat is probably the worst ever, so I decided to experiment.  I've now been off it for.. I don't know, maybe a week?  I didn't notice anything at all different, so yesterday I decided to eat a piece of toast -- whole wheat toast, one piece -- and about 1/2 an hour later I thought I was going to die a slow and awful death.  It was weird.  Sort of like the last time I ate ice cream after being off sugar for a couple weeks and it made my whole body itch like a plague of.. itching fire.  Anyway.  Gross.  Sorry.  Moving on.

So, cutting out wheat has made my sugar craving SKY ROCKET.  Your body basically ferments wheat into sugar as soon as it begins digesting.  I read somewhere it's such a quick transition that if you hold a piece of bread in your mouth for just a few seconds and let your saliva work on it, it will start to taste sweet.  So, obviously, it was giving me some sort of sugar.. thingie.  And, obviously, it wasn't a good.. thingie, judging by yesterday's breakfast.  Still, in the interest of staying sane, I HAVE to eat something that tastes sweet SOME of the time.

Thankfully, my standards for sweetness have gone down a lot (in that I don't require a whole hot fudge sundae to be able to breathe) and fruit usually works great (especially these mandarins... I am telling you, they are the fruit of the gods).  So, I went through my trusty new Nourishing Traditions cookbook and found this Fried Banana recipe.  I tweaked it a little to  leave out even more of the honey (Ben found some raw honey at the market -- amazingly -- so I would've used that, but I'm trying to save it for when Ben's allergies kick in later this spring, plus.. it just didn't need it), to make enough for just two of us, and because it called for creme fraiche (or piima cream), which we didn't have on hand.  It was still super yum.

If you like bananas.  And whipped cream:  You will like this.

Also, I know I'm all weird and creepy now (I creep myself out with all the "Real Food".. ness.), but whipped cream really isn't bad for you.  It's best raw, straight from the cow, and ultra-pasteurized is basically useless, but... the fat is really good for you.  It's natural fat, so it burns quickly, keeps you full a long time and is full of calcium your body can actually absorb.  Plus, it has butterfat, a rich source of vitamins A and D, two vitamins that are real hard to come by naturally in anything but egg yolks and butter, and the sun, but that's minimal.

So now you know.  You probably don't care, but I do, because it means I get to eat whipped cream.  So there.

Fried Bananas and Whipped Cream with Cinnamon Mandarin Sauce

2 very ripe bananas, large

2-3 T. butter

juice of two mandarin oranges

1/4 - 1/2 t. cinnamon

1/4 c. heavy whipping cream, whipped with vanilla and about a teaspoon of honey




Peel bananas and slice lengthwise (we sliced widthwise because I didn't read the directions).  Saute in butter and transfer to a pyrex dish (or.. glass lock-n-lock..as the case may be).  In a small bowl, mix mandarin juice and cinnamon.  Pour over bananas and bake at 300F for about 15 minutes (we baked it about 20, just.. know your oven).  Serve in bowls with a dollop of whipped cream.

I wish I had pictures, but I didn't think of it until... we'd eaten all of it.

It's a little rich, so keep that in mind.  I shouldn't have eaten a full bananas worth, it made me a little ill.

Ill in a good way.  You know.

- catie