Banana Blueberry Quick Bread

29 CommentsFriday • September 4, 2009 • by Ari

Over the past couple weeks many of you have emailed me asking one of two questions: Have you found out whether the baby is a boy or a girl? And, is pregnancy affecting your kitchen habits? The answers are: yes and yes.

To answer question one: last week we discovered that we’re having a baby boy! We were thrilled as can be and I was so glad we didn’t wait until delivery day since a boy means a bris and who wants to deal with that in the wee hours after giving birth? I joke with my husband that I knew all along because I did, after all, buy lots of powder blue and forest green yarn when I started knitting again. But then he reminds me that I also bought pink yarn, so there goes my psychic maternal powers theory.

As for the second question, I’m surprised to say that I haven’t had many pregnancy cravings so far. (I’m not counting that one time I sent my husband all over the city because I wanted a Willy Wonka Bar before we went to see G.I. Joe at the movie theatre. Movie food doesn’t count!) The biggest change has been that I’ve started adjusting how I bake so that the treats I do make for myself include more healthful goodness. This is probably a good way to approach baking in general and something I should have done all the time (instead of some of the time) before, but eh, what can you do.

A perfect example of this shift is the Banana Blueberry Quick Bread you see here. I took the traditional banana bread equation and replaced butter with olive oil, supplemented all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour and wheat germ, reduced the sour cream and added plain yogurt. I also added antioxidant-rich blueberries to the mix, resulting in a relatively healthy (and super delicious) banana blueberry bread that, frankly, made my morning every day this week.

Up next, an easy work-lunch option that I like so much I Twittered about it before even heading to the office on Wednesday – that’s how much I was looking forward to eating it. And sadly no, I can’t blame obsessing about upcoming meals hours in advance on pregnancy. I’ve been like that for years – and I’m OK with that.

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