Sometimes what seems like a dessert or treat can be a breakfast! Yes I am ACTUALLY saying that! Let’s get into how this banana bowl cake came to be and why it’s so delicious and healthy for you.
It is time in my house to revamp my macros and our foods again. You might be wondering why? Well to control digestive needs, autoimmunity and auto inflammatory issues in our house we had tried a “new” way of eating for us in the last few years. We have been primarily (with an exception here and there) grain and gluten free. We are always real food and ingredients, but we really focused on getting in healthy fats, and eliminating grains and gluten.
What happens when you have restricted?
With any type of restriction in any way of eating comes changes in our body and our system that we need to pay attention to. Many of restrictive diets (whether medical or you did it yourself – which is a whole other topic), including things like AIP, are meant to be transitioned into trying foods and reintroduction again.
With that we are entering into trying some still gluten free, or alternatives to standard wheat, but safe flours into our house, and working toward balancing our macros back toward the really awesome 40-30-30.
What is 40-30-30?
This is the concept I teach my clients. NOW each person needs something a little different and it doesn’t always work for EVERY person which is why I work with people one-to-one to determine their best nutrient intake.
This is 40% of your nutrients from carbs (these should be vegetables, some less starchy potatoes, sprouted and whole grain rice, or sprouted or whole grains), 30% coming from protein and 30% from healthy fats.
Previously we were more in the 40% healthy fat, 30% in protein and healthy carbs. Sometimes even a bit more than that in the healthy fat category. This worked for us. We had control over lupus, PFAPA and digestive problems.
Why make a change?
This balance didn’t end up being something that could be permanent, for me. After about 1 year really dedicated to this (more like 2 years in terms of grains, but one of the higher fat macro) I noticed some changes in my reproductive cycle that were troubling, as well as some fat breakdown issues.
Within 2 weeks of starting to change my diet back to a slightly higher carb and lesser healthy fat my cycle started to balance back out and my troubling nausea and fat breakdown symptoms started changing.
What are we changing?
For myself especially I have moved into focusing on detoxifying fresh morning foods. This means things like smoothie bowls, with an occasional super cool banana bowl cake I am sharing today, fresh fruits, whole grains, with a smaller amount of healthy fats (so in breakfast that goes with a half avocado in my smoothie bowl!). I also changed up my snacks. I was heavily nut focused, and have decided to try fresh vegetables with things like hummus, or fruits with some seeds and nuts. I am not abandoning my favorites, but I have added more VARIETY.
This my friends is exactly what I ask my clients to do. VARIETY! When we get into repetitious eating a few things can happen to our bodies. We may start gaining (or losing) weight unintentionally, we can develop sensitivities to foods we didn’t have before, and we miss out on the GREAT nutrients in other foods that we aren’t getting – therefore we may develop symptoms and deficiencies we didn’t have before. This also keeps our gut microbiome happy and healthy when we eat a VARIETY of foods. This is good for IMMUNITY!
My lunch is still filled with a lot of fresh veggies, but lesser fats, or focused on leftovers from the night before with whole grains in them.
Dinners are similar to before. Many vegetables, a great protein source (primarily fish and seafood), but with a type of whole grain such as wild rice, quinoa.
So where is the recipe? Why is it so good?
With this new change I am learning to use cassava flour. This is actually a ROOT based flour. That means it is grain free and gluten free. This is a great flour to use if you are on AIP or have sensitivities, and Paleo. This has a higher carb count than other flours, but the benefits lie in the lack of gluten and grain.
We are also experimenting with buckwheat which is gluten free but a grain and we have had success so far. I also have used in the past, and continue to do occasionally, einkorn flour. This is more of a traditional wheat, BUT the interesting thing with einkorn is that it is an original strand of wheat that hasn’t been altered many times. The gluten strand itself is also not the same as standard whole wheat and wheat products, so some people with gluten sensitivities can tolerate this flour (which is true of my husband in our house). I reserve this flour for our treat items like cakes, but I do use it for some biscuits and muffins.
This recipe features cassava flour, and healthy sweeteners and ingredients. It has a balance of carbs, with healthy fats and a bit of protein from the egg. If you wanted to add more protein (which I recommend, as this recipe has 7.8 g of protein) add a scoop of collagen to your coffee to go with this meal. I also added an additional half a cup of mixed blueberries and bananas to go with this as they tasted delicious.
I used a glass Pyrex bowl (no lid of course) to pour the batter in and to warm it. Be sure to use a mitt to remove the cake from the microwave as it is very hot.
I will choose this banana cake for a breakfast about once a week. I am using it in a rotation of other breakfast. It’s a nice treat, and yes it has some sweetness and carb count, but it’s part of a balanced day for me, and a balanced week. Which is how it should be!
Banana Bowl Cake
Equipment
- Microwave
Ingredients
- 1 egg pasture raised
- 1 medium banana
- 3 tbsp cassava flour
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tbsp coconut milk
- 1/2 tsp baking powder aluminum free/organic
- 1/2 tsp organic pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp local organic honey optional
Instructions
- Lightly whisk the egg in the bowl.
- Cut the banana in half, and mash half of it. Set aside the other half to add as a topping to the cake.
- Added mashed banana to the egg and combine thoroughly.
- Add in all other ingredients except honey. Whisk thoroughly.
- Add mixture to a small glass bowl, or mug, that is microwave safe. Heat for 2 minutes in the microwave or until cake is set.
- Sprinkle honey over cake, serve with banana and fresh fruit.
Tell me what cassava items you love?
Milk – To Drink or Not to Drink