Showing posts with label chocolate banana cake with cocoa glaze. Show all posts
Showing posts with label chocolate banana cake with cocoa glaze. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Sad News:(

Hi guys. I'm gonna make this a quick post. I just got some sad news - my old college roommate's dad passed away, so I'm a bit distracted. Here's a rundown of the day...

Breakfast was 1/2 c. TJ's Nonfat Greek Plain Yogurt (I don't like plain, but I added a bit of Splenda and it was great), 1/2 c. Kashi Go Lean Crunch and 1 c. sliced strawberries for 3 POINTS. This took me a while to eat and held me over for hours...


I went out to lunch with Mom and Gram at a local diner. I ordered a salad with chicken, bacon, mandarin oranges, red onion with a raspberry viniagrette (I used the "dip fork" method). It was a small serving (well, an appropriate serving!) so I estimate it at 5 POINTS...

Afternoon snack was a Bluebran Vitatop and grapes for 2 POINTS...
I tried an interesting recipe tonight involving this...


I got the inspiration from this old Weight Watchers cookbook that I picked up at the Used Book Sale last weekend...


I reworked the recipe so much that I guess I can call it my own now! It was Polenta with Smoked Gouda and Mushroom Sauce....


It was 8 POINTS and out of this world good! I have leftovers, so I will be eating this again. I'll post the recipe the next time for you all :)
For dessert, another serving of Chocolate Banana Cake with Cocoa Glaze...


One word of advice about this "cake"- don't overbake it! Mine was cooked a little too long and it's more on the dry side. If you try it, start to check for doneness around 18-20 minutes. It doesn't take that long to set up and it's definitely better when it's moist! Dry cake sucks :P
Sorry to rush through this. See you tomorrow =)

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Sunshine, Shopping And Sweets

I am diggin' this weather. Something about the warm sunshine really makes me happy! I planned on getting out for a walk this morning, but since I had to do a catch up post, I didn't make it out. I did a weighted treadmill walk instead. I tried to get my heart rate going by really pumping my arms. Boy, that works!

After my workout, I had a Weight Watchers Petite Bagel with 1 tbsp. homemade almond butter and a side of cantaloupe for 4 POINTS...




For lunch, I went with a yummy tofu scramble. This mix was 3 oz. tofu, red onion, mushrooms, spinach, roasted peppers, salsa and 2% cheese. Mmm.. my mouth is watering just writing about it! Seriously, it's that good! I had side of Triscuits for a salty crunch. A super filling 7 POINT lunch...


I went out to do a little shopping after lunch. I am in need of some summer clothes, mainly shirts. I tried on a few things and am still in amazement at the fact that I now wear a size M shirt. Comfortably. I can even get away with a Small here and there. In my mind, I still see myself as that 2x girl! Note to self: work on body image, girl!

When the daughters came home from school, I had a snack of lite string cheese, pretzel rod and clementine for 2 POINTS...

I felt like having something sweet after that. The munchies were gearing up for a visit. I decided to break out some armor...Arizona Pomegranate Green Iced Tea...



This tea comes in individual tubs that you mix with water. Each tub makes 2 Quarts. It is sugar free but, sweetened with Splenda. It is really good and helped kick the sweet munchies to the curb...


Dinner was low key tonight. The husband was traveling, so the daughters had free choice for dinner. They chose mac n chreeze (it's made with nutritional yeast instead of cheese), paninis and fruit. I decided on a panini and this new soup I picked up at my second home...

Sorry for the blurry pic! One cup serving is 1 POINT. This is a bit high in the sodium department, but has a ton of potassium!

I have to say that this soup is yuck -e. I think it is basically V-8 juice in a carton. I hate V-8 juice. Badly. Eeew. Gross. Okay, sorry. However, if you are a V-8 fan what is wrong with you? , you will definitely like this =)

Thankfully, my panini was the redeeming part of my meal. I made a ham and smoked gouda panini using 2 slices Trader Joe's Sprouted Flourless Wheatberry Bread, 2 oz. ham, 1/2 oz. lite smoked gouda, baby spinach and dijonnaise. A good 4 POINT dinner ( minus yucky soup)...


I had plenty of room for dessert and decided to conjure up a cake recipe using some overripe bananas that I had. I came up with a Chocolate Banana Cake with Cocoa Glaze. Basically, I used my whole grain Banana Bread recipe replacing the chocolate chips with unsweetened cocoa. When the "cake" was cooled, I drizzled it with a glaze made with 1 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa, 2 tbsp. powdered sugar, 1/4 tsp. instant espresso powder and 1 tbsp. water. Here's the result...


I played around with the amounts of the ingredients so as to keep it to 2 POINTS per serving(I run everything through my Weight Watchers Etools Recipe Builder). Even with the glaze, I was able to accomplish that. Here's the recipe, if you'd like to give it a try...

Chocolate Banana Cake with Cocoa Glaze
(8 servings)
  • 1 1/2 c. whole wheat pastry flour
  • 1/4 c. sugar
  • 1/4 c. Splenda
  • 1/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder (such as Hershey's)
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp. baking powder
  • 4 tbsp. unsweetened applesauce
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 2 medium bananas, very ripe, mashed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix mashed bananas, applesauce, vanilla and egg in a large bowl. In another bowl, combine dry ingredients. Gradually add dry ingredients into wet ingredients until well combined. Spread batter into a 8" square baking pan sprayed well with nonstick spray. Bake for 20 -25 minutes. Let cool completely before adding glaze.

For the Cocoa Glaze, whisk together 1 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder, 2 tbsp. powdered sugar, 1/4 tsp. instant espresso powder and 1 tbsp. water. Drizzle over cooled cake.

You can have your cake and eat it, too - even with a little lite whip ...

Have a sweet night ;)