Strawberry Banana Bread

I was looking for low sugar recipes and I came across this bread recipe. I have made it several times and it is delicious! I went to make it once and I was so bummed to discover that the strawberries I had just purchased from my local grocery store were not very "fresh" looking. Then I remembered my THRIVE strawberries! I was able to make a beloved recipe with the addition of one or two food storage items and it still tasted delicious.

It's really easy to make and literally takes 10 minutes to throw together, and an hour to bake.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups plus 3 Tbs whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 brown sugar or 1/4 agave nectar (what I usually use)
3 ripe bananas
2 eggs
1 6 oz Strawberry Banana Chobani (my grocery store only had strawberry this time and it worked just fine)
1 cup rehydrated strawberries

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 and grease a loaf pan.
Combine flour, baking powder, and salt.
In a separate bowl mash the bananas really well.
Add the sugar and eggs to banana and mix well.
Whisk in the yogurt, and try to get out as many lumps as you can.
Add your wet ingredients to your dry and mix until just combined.
Fold in your strawberries.
Distribute batter evenly into loaf pan and bake for 60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Let cool on a wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes.

I love this recipe and I hope you do too! I usually spread peanut butter on it...mmm yummy!

Breastfeeding Trial and Triumph!

So before we jump in to my recipe, there are a few things you should know about me...

1. Breastfeeding is the hardest, most rewarding thing I have EVER done.

2. I LOVE cookies. Love them!!!

3. I have a passion for natural solutions and taking charge of my own health.

4. I really love doing things the easy way...even if it means more work in the beginning.

So with that being said, let me introduce to you, my breastfeeding secret weapon!

I call them Breastmilk Boosting Breakfast cookies!

When I was working full time with an 8 week old baby and a hubby who worked longer hours than I did, these saved my life! Any mama knows that when you have a new baby...your focus is on them. However, mamas need good food too in order to make good milk! Take care of you too!! This is an easy way to do that! Let's Dive In!!!

What you are gonna need:

1 C. Butter

1 C. Sugar

1 C. Brown Sugar

4 Tbl. Water

2 Tbl. Flaxseed Meal

2 Eggs

1 tsp. Vanilla

2 C. Flour

1 tsp. Baking Soda

1 tsp. Salt

3 C. Oats, or Barley Oats

2-4 Tbl. Brewers Yeast (I use closer to 4....)

Keep in mind that this is my base recipe. I add in different item for several different variations of this cookie. I love this recipe because you can do anything with it! Some of my favorites are Cran-Choco-Almond (white and milk chocolate chips, dried cranberry, and almonds-chopped), Reese's (I add milk chocolate chips, reese's chips, and 1/2 peanut butter), Tropical Paradise (Add coconut, pineapple, white chocolate chips, and i substitute vanilla extract with coconut extract), Smores (Milk chocolate chips, mini marshmallows, graham cracker crumbs), etc! Use your imaginations! You can add anything you really love to eat.

Combine flax seeds and water. Let sit for 5 mins.

Cream together butter and sugars. Add eggs 1 at a time. Stir in flax mixture and vanilla.

Add flour, yeast, soda, and salt gradually. Stir in oats and mix-ins!

Bake @ 350* for 10-12 minutes.

I get my handy-dandy cookie scoop (my favorite kitchen utensil) and make cookie dough balls that I can freeze and keep handy. This way I can just grab 2 (or 3 if I am feeling impulsive) in the morning and pop them in the toaster oven for breakfast on the way out the door. Or you can bake them all at once, just make sure to store them in the freezer. Don't forget the milk!

These little cookies are packed with tons of great things for mommies. They will help increase breast milk supply, regulate your digestive tract, and improve your mood! All great things for new mommy on the go! These are my go-to for my new mommy friends. I take them a full recipe to stick in their freezer so they can help get their supply strong from the get-go, instead of struggling like I did.

Hope you love em!

PS.  Don't forget to check out our Giveaway that's beginning in just a couple of days.

Sugar, na na nah na nah na Awwww Honey, Honey

I love new products, and I loooove that Shelf Reliance listens to requests because the things I hear most requested from my awesome customers are the things that get added most quickly.  If you have products you'd like, you can send me an email to TiffsTreasures@gmail.com or leave a comment below and I will be sure to send it in!

Alright, so after this announcement I have my fingers crossed so so tight that we will get Peanut Butter soon. Who doesn't love a good Peanut Butter and Honey Sandwich...am I right?  Well, my husband eats one EVERY WEEKDAY so this announcement was quite exciting to me in particular.

Yay for Honey

FAQs about Honey Crystals:

Does Shelf Reliance sell Honey?
Why yes, yes we do ;)


What is the Shelf Life of Thrive Honey Crystals?
It is good for 25 years sealed in a can and 1 year once opened.

Where do you buy it?
You can buy it at My Online Shelf Reliance Discount site and it is available to be added to your Q.

Why is there refined cane sugar in the honey?
Like some products, honey is one where the flavor changes in the drying process and was needed to maintain optimal flavor and consistency.

How do you use it?
You can rehydrate it or use it in a recipe as is cup for cup as a sugar replacement.  This should be good news for those of you who prefer not to have lots of white sugar!


How do you rehydrate it?
Mix 1/2 cup of honey crystals with 2 1/2 T of very hot water.  Microwave for 20-30 seconds then stir well until all of the crystals are dissolved.  Allow to cool for 2-3 hours to thicken.  This is equivalent to 1/3 c of honey.

1 1/2 crystals + 1/2 c water = 1 cup of rehydrated honey

What are some other new product announcements?
Instant Brown Rice was just released and there are 2 others that will be coming out this month.

What do you hope for next?



Now doesn't this recipe look fabulous?

Is Your Sweet Tooth Calling?

As you probably already know, Shelf Reliance hired on an exclusive chef, Chef Todd, who is an AMAZING cook.  He gets paid to mess around with Shelf Reliance food and behind-the-scene product all day.  How cool is that?

Well, if you haven't already noticed, the sales this month are over all things delicious.

I guess that's every month.

Hm.... it's on all things mouth watering and tempting... but you know you have to eat your veggies first or you have to go to bed early.  (Do you remember that one as a kid?  Do you use it on your kids? Yeh, me too :)

To get any of these awesome recipes simply click on the picture to be take there.

Ok, so it's all about desserts.  As if the brownie mix couldn't get any better, he turned it into this:

Easy Brownie Parfait

And thanks to our new Egg White Powder, he created this Heavenly dessert:

Yes, that pun was intended, thank you for the pity smile.

Angel Food Cake

Too fluffy for you?  Try the ultra filling Palmer Oatmeal Cake:

Palmer Oatmeal Cake

Chocolate you say? Need more chocolate?  How about 4 types of chocolate?

Quad Chocolate Chip Cookies

And finally, what's dessert without a little cheesecake, also made possible thanks to our Egg Powder.  I'm telling you, it's a must have!

Strawberry Cheesecake

There you have it folks.  Chef Todd must've been told he was losing too much weight from how healthy our food was.  He has to keep up with appearances and all.  Hope you click on at least one of these recipes and love it.  Though I love chocolate, the Cheesecake is just screaming out to me.  If I hadn't just packed up all of my food for moving this week, I would be making this RIGHT NOW!

To view the whole flyer of sales for this month, click here.

September Monthly Specials

Tell me, what's your favorite dessert?  What do you hope Chef Todd makes food storage friendly next?

If you like this post, you may also like:
   Chef Todd's Creamy Chicken and Rice using our newly released Instant Brown Rice
  Steal of a Deal: Meat Sale

Tiffany's Fruit Granola Recipe

Shelf Reliance has an awesome granola recipe that we can serve at parties.  Although it is good as is, I made a few alterations to it myself which people keep asking for!  I will just share it on here so everyone will have it available to them.


To print 3x5 or 4x6 Recipe
To print Full Page Recipe

Tiffany’s Coconut Almond Fruit Granola

Yield 7 Cups

2 ½ c Oats                                     ¼ t nutmeg               1/3 c THRIVE Pears

½ c almonds, sliced                     ¼ t cloves                  1/3 c THRIVE Blueberries

½ c coconut                                  1 ¾ t cinnamon        1/3 c THRIVE Raspberries

½ c walnuts                                   2 T honey

½ c brown sugar                           ¼ c butter, unsalted (½ stick)

                                   

Preheat oven to 300°F. Mix first 8 ingredients in a large bowl. Melt butter and honey in a small saucepan over low heat. Pour butter mixture over oat mixture and toss well.  Line cookie sheet with foil and spread out mixture on lined sheet.  Bake 20-25 minutes stirring occasionally.  Cool on the baking sheet.  Toss with Freeze Dried fruit mixture (or one of your choice).  Store airtight at room temperature for 1-2 weeks.  Can be served as topping for yogurt, eaten as a cereal with milk or as a snack on its own.


I just have to give a shout out for our brown sugar which is good sealed in a can for 10 years!  Have you ever opened up a bag of hardened brown sugar when you were wanting to bake some cookies... never again!


To order any of these DELICIOUS ingredients for the cheapest price available, just go to www.shelfreliancemom.shelfreliance.com .

Classic Banana Bread Recipe

We were asked to bring recipes to exchange at the Ignite Convention being held in Salt Lake, so I decided I would bring a Banana Bread Recipe.  I don't know if most of you are like me, but I love adding bananas to muffins, pancakes, breads and many other things. They allow for sweetness that you don't have to feel guilty about!  What would food storage be without a banana bread recipe?  I'm so happy that THRIVE has wonderful reyhydratable bananas which I know hold up to my standards for baking :)  This recipe was adapted from the Cooking Light website, but I just had to make it THRIVE friendly.

Classic Banana Bread

3 c warm water                      1 c sugar

1 ¾ c THRIVE banana slices ¼ c THRIVE butter powder

2 c all-purpose flour              2 ½ T THRIVE egg powder

3/4 t baking soda                   1/3 c yogurt or sour cream

1/2 t salt                                  1 t vanilla

Cooking spray                         2-3 T brown sugar

Place banana slices and warm water in a bowl as set aside.  Once bananas are rehydrated, save the liquid as you drain them.  Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt, stirring with a whisk. Place sugar, butter, egg powder and ½ c of reserved water in a large bowl and beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 2 minutes). Add banana, yogurt, and vanilla; beat until blended. Add flour mixture; beat at low speed just until moist. Spoon batter into an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle brown sugar on top. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

Note: I haven’t made this with THRIVE powder sour cream yet, but I can’t wait to try it out!  I would also recommend the chocolate swirl recipe.

To order any of the above ingredients, just go to www.shelfreliancemom.shelfreliance.com . Thanks!