Banana Bread Recipe

Ingredients: 

• 1 Cup of Granulated Sugar

• 2 Cups of All Purporse Flour

• 3 Large Eggs

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) Butter

• 4 Ripe Bananas

• 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda

• 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

• 1/2 Teaspoon Cinnamon 

• 1/2 Teaspoon salt

• Optional: 1 cup of chopped nuts or chocolate chips 

Prep Time:  15 min
Cook time:  50 min 
Total Time:  1 hour 5 min

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease pan with butter and set aside.

2. In a bowl, heat butter until its melted (I put it in the microwave).

3. Either in the same bowl or in a mixer, add the bananas and mash.

4. Add in the vanilla extract and eggs to the same bowl, stir until no yellow streaks of egg remain. 

5. In a seperate bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. 

6. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingrediets and mix together. I do this in a mixer, I slowly add the dry ingredients so that I dont get clumps. You can also do it by hand and a spatula. 

7. Pour the batter into prepared load pan and bake for 45-55 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean. 

8. Enjoy! 

Anyone else bored at home and started baking more?! Because I sure have. Maybe its new mom life, maternity leave, quarentine, or a combo of it all. But whatever it is, Martha Stewart would be proud of my skills ;)

Alright, here is my recipe for my favorite banana bread. Feel free to substitue the ingredients for what fits your lifestyle, mine may not be the healthiest for some:

Elderberry Syrup

With the holiday parties, traveling and all the shopping thats happening in the next few weeks, I try my best to keep my immune system as strong as possible. That means eating a whole foods diet, drinking lots of water, and increasing my antioxidant intake. 
We've spent a few weeks talking about different ways to get antioxidants like pomegranates and wolfberries. Now lets talk about Elderberry! 

What is Elderberry?
Elderberries are the fruit of the Sambucus tree. The most common type is the Sambucus nigra.

Benefits:

• High in dietary fiber: Elderberries contain 7 grams of fiber per 100 grams of fresh berries, which is over one-quarter of the recommended daily intake

• Rich in anthocyanins: These compounds give the fruit its characteristic dark black-purple color and are a strong antioxidant with anti-inflammatory effects

• A good source of flavonols: Elderberry contains the antioxidant flavonols quercetin, kaempferol and isorhamnetin. The flowers contain up to 10 times more flavonols than the berries

• High in vitamin C: There are 6–35 mg of vitamin C per 100 grams of fruit, which accounts for up to 60% of the recommended daily intake

• A good source of phenolic acids: These compounds are powerful antioxidants that can help reduce damage from oxidative stress in the body

100 grams of fresh berries contain 73 calories, 18.4 grams of carbs and less than 1 gram each of fat and protein. Do not eat raw elderberries, as they can cause nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. It is also worth noting that elderberry syrup often contains high levels of sugar.

Recipe: 

• Organic dried elderberry (1/2 cup): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01AGMMLU8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

• Water (3.5 cups)

• Cinnamon sticks (1 stick): https://www.amazon.com/McCormick-Gourmet-Fancy-Stick-Cinnamon/dp/B0005YWD1U/ref=sr_1_11?crid=1UE98PAPC16FT&keywords=cinnamon+sticks&qid=1576438033&s=grocery&sprefix=cinnamon+%2Cgrocery%2C170&sr=1-11

• Ginger (few small pieces)

• Raw honey

• Cheese cloth/nut milk bag: https://www.amazon.com/Home-Premium-Food-Grade-Almond/dp/B00158U8DU/ref=sr_1_8?crid=1AIAIU3PTXUIF&keywords=nut+milk+bag&qid=1576438184&s=grocery&sprefix=nut+milk%2Cgrocery%2C192&sr=1-8

Direction:

• In a pressure cooker, add dried elderberries, water, cinnamon stick, ginger and water. 

• I use the soup setting and set it for 20 minutes. 

• Once done, remove and drain, seperate syrup from ingredients. 

• Use the cheese cloth to pour in ingredients and squeeze the remainder of the syrup out.

• Let the syrup cool down for 5-7 minutes.

• Mix in honey. (do not add in honey for children under the age of 1)

• Pour into container (mason jar is what I used) and store in the fridge. 

Usage:

Prevention Dosing:

• 6 months to 1 year: Elderberry syrup without honey 5 drops twice a day

  • Please note that it would be appropriate to treat this as a new food for the youngest infants i.e. try one dose and wait 3-5 days to ensure no reaction before starting another new food and/or starting a daily regimen.

• One year and older:

  •  20 lbs to 30 lbs: Elderberry syrup 1/2 tsp twice a day

  • 30 lbs to 90 lbs: Elderberry syrup 1 tsp twice a day

• Adults including pregnant and breastfeeding mothers:

  • Elderberry syrup 1 to 2 tsp twice a day

Treatment Dosing: (as soon as a child appears to be starting a cold):

• 6 months to 1 year: Elderberry syrup without honey 10 drops every 4 hours

  • As above, please note that it would be appropriate to treat this as a new food for the youngest infants i.e. try one dose and wait 3-5 days to ensure no reaction before starting another new food and/or starting a daily regimen.

• One year and older:

  •  20 lbs to 30 lbs: Elderberry syrup 1/2 tsp every 4 hours

  • 30 lbs to 90 lbs: Elderberry syrup 1 tsp every 4 hours

• Adults including pregnant and breastfeeding mothers:

  • Elderberry syrup 1 to 2 tsp every 4 hours

Youtube video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjTOUFT6A-c&feature=youtu.be