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Move over regular banana bread, things just got a little tastier!
I was in desperate need of comfort food so I decided to take my ordinary banana bread to a whole new level. I was NOT disappointed.
Why exactly did I need comfort food? Here it goes…
Let me start off by saying that I am simply sharing this story with you all in hopes that someone else will decide to take care of themselves, put themselves first and get themselves checked.
I don’t have the best genes. Let me rephrase that.
I have my mother’s love of cooking and sense of humor and my father’s passion and smile. But along with those great qualities, I have some not-so-great ones.
My mom died at the very young age of 43. As I approach that tender age myself, I am beginning to reflect on many things, one of them being my health.
I am a busy mom of 3 very busy boys. I am always worrying about their health, feelings, what time to pick them up, making sure they eat (mostly) healthy foods each day.
I try to think of everything. Did I wash the baseball uniforms? Yup. Well, most days at least.
Did I RSVP to the birthday party? Yup.
Did I remember to pick my kids up from school? Yup.
You know what I don’t think of a lot of times? Myself.
Don’t get me wrong, I am really good at scheduling in exercise 4-5 times a week and meeting friends socially. But what I often forget is to actually take care of my health.
I have had a few health scares in the past (part of the not so good genes) which often lead to my reflection about my own mortality. It’s not easy approaching the same age that your mother was when she died.
I’m feeling sad, terrified, a little guilty and an overall just plain old weird. See, when I was a little girl when my mom died, I actually thought she was OLD!
Yes! I thought my beautiful, strong, courageous 43 year old mother was old.
And now, I realize that she was so young and probably scared out of her mind. Needless to say, this upcoming birthday in November will not be my favorite.
I am a fairly intelligent, rational person, but it almost feels like this is the end for me. I know it’s not, but it’s scary.
So then there’s my dad, whom I look at much differently as well. He was only 42 when he lost the love of his life and raised my brother and myself on his own.
He struggled at times but I respect the hell out of him and all that he did for us. He’s loving and has a generous heart and I love when his face lights up around my kids.
My father currently has prostrate cancer and has had many melanomas (skin cancers) removed. My dad and his wife were recently visiting us and my father naggingly kept asking me to get my skin checked.
I know he means well but doesn’t he realize I work and have three very busy kids?? I promised him I’d visit the dermatologist while the kids were still in school (and didn’t need to get a sitter) and I followed his wishes.
They removed one small mole from my stomach (damn bikinis 20 years ago!) and I thought nothing of it. Until I got the dreaded phone call that I now have melanoma too.
My first thought? I don’t have time for this! The end of the school year is so busy.
My youngest is already on half days until the end of the week. My second thought? Crap, this just got real.
And absolutely terrifying.
Today I go in for my surgery to get all of the melanoma removed and hopefully they get it all out in one shot. I thank goodness that my dad was a good enough father to keep nagging me to go to the doctor, because I don’t like to think about what might have happened if I blew it off (like so many other things!)
According to www.skincancer.org, “An estimated 73,870 new cases of invasive melanoma will be diagnosed in the US in 2015. An estimated 9,940 people will die of melanoma in 2015.
Melanoma accounts for less than two percent of skin cancer cases, but the vast majority of skin cancer deaths.” Scary.
I will be fine and I will continue to take care of myself and schedule my appointments. It really is important and this has been a huge wake up call for me.
So thank you Dad for bugging me enough that I went to the doctor. Now I will bug all of you to make sure you that you keep up with all of your appointments, including the dermatologist.
Let’s lighten the mood a bit….with this bread!
It seriously doesn’t get better than this combination of flavors. And since I am stressed, I am allowed to eat it all.
Ok, maybe I will share some with my kids. And I guess my dad deserves his own loaf, right?
It’s the least I could do for him.
I decided to take my go-to gluten-free banana bread recipe from The Everything Wheat-Free Cookbook and jazz it up a little. That will make me feel better and cooking/baking is usually like therapy for me.
And most of you that know me know that peanut butter and chocolate is my favorite comfort food.
I don’t know if you noticed, but I might have gotten a little excited and accidentally stuck my fist in the center of this bread before it cooled off. Shrug. It still tastes great.
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 1 ⁄4 cup butter softened
- 2 ⁄3 cup unrefined sugar
- 2 eggs
- 3 tablespoons plain Greek yogurt
- 1/2 cup natural creamy peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 teaspoon gluten-free vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons ground flax seed
- 2 cups brown rice flour
- 1 teaspoon gluten-free baking powder
- 1 ⁄2 teaspoon gluten-free baking soda
- 1 ⁄2 teaspoon salt
- 1 ⁄2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 cup mashed ripe banana approximately 3 large bananas
- 1 ⁄3 cup mini chocolate chips
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 350°F.
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In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar until creamy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. add peanut butter and mix until combined.
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Stir in yogurt, water, and vanilla and mix well.
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In a separate bowl combine the flax seed, rice flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Add this mixture to the butter mixture.
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Stir in the bananas and mix well. Add chocolate chips and stir to combine.
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Spoon the mixture into two or three greased mini loaf pans (51⁄2” × 3") or one large loaf pan (5" × 10").
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Bake 50–55 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean.
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Cool in the pans for 2 minutes, then turn out and cool completely.
Thanks for listening to my story. I hope it inspires some of you to make some doctor appointments and schedule your check ups!
And if you are feeling stressed, angry, bored, happy or whatever, you need to make this bread!
Thanks for stopping by!
I love banana bread. I will have to make this for my niece who is GF.
I hope she liked it Melissa!
I’ll keep you in my prayers, Lauren. I’m so glad you listened to your dad. xoxo
Thank you Liz!
Thinking of you today Lauren! I keep telling myself I need to get a few moles checked out too. Maybe this is my wakeup call. Also thinking about your dad – My dad is a survivor of prostate cancer, so I know that worry well. HUGS!!!
I love that your dad is a survivor Holly! No go call for your check up! 🙂
Oh Lauren. I can imagine that this birthday will be tough for you. I’m so sorry!
SO glad your dad cares enough to keep bugging you to get checked out!
Thank you Stephanie! He’s a good dad, I am very lucky 🙂
SO happy you listened to your dad! If you even need help with the kids please call me!!
xx
Thank you so much Hillary! XO
Girl! I am so sorry! I just had a friend get diagnosed with the same thing! Makes me want to go in a get checked out too, scary stuff! I will definitely be praying for you and your fam through this whole thing!
In the mean time I will be scarfing down on this bread, cuz, whoazer it looks good!
I’m so sorry to hear this. So so scary!! My mom got diagnosed with melanoma a year and a half ago. They took a little “chunk” out of her leg. Boy is that “cancer” word scary. She’s fine now though! I know you’ll be fine 🙂 I know for a fact that banana bread can make anything better.
First off, I’m thinking and praying for you Lauren. Thank god for nagging Dads who know what is best for you. Please stay strong and know we are all thinking of you! Secondly, this bread looks fabulous. My kids beg for banana bread almost on a weekly basis. I made zucchini bread this week and they asked where the banana bread was instead!
Thank you Ally!!
I can’t wait to try this!
Thanks so much for sharing your experience and I truly believe it will rremind others to make time for this important skin check…and any other medical appointment that needs to be scheduled. My husband had melanoma and it’s so important to treat it early! Sending up lots of prayers!
Thanks Marjory!
I’m so glad you got checked and are taking care of this business. Fingers crossed they got it all! Thank you for sharing your story, it reminds me that it’s time for me to go get checked myself. Keep being proactive and taking the time for your health, and thanks for trusting us all enough to tell us, you never know who else you’re going to help along the way. 🙂
Also – THIS looks utterly delicious and comforting. Perfect for trying times like this.
Thank you Megan! 🙂
I don’t have the best genes, either, and I’m terrified. I’m 31 and already a mess so I’m really trying to take care of myself, but it’s hard! And I don’t even have kids. Thank goodness your dad urged you to get checked! I’m so happy that they caught it early and that you decided to share your story in hopes of helping others.
Also, I had to laugh at you sticking your fist into the bread. It just sounds so funny. 😀
Ha! Thank you Erin! It’s totally normal to stick your fist into a bread, right?
Thank you for sharing! Hoping all goes well for you Lauren! (And this bread…looks incredible!)
I had a melanoma removed in 1999. Still remember how scary it was when I first heard that diagnosis. However, I’ve never a recurrence and am so thankful for that! Hope you’re recovery is going well and you never have to think about it again, either!
This bread sounds like just the thing for a little comfort when you’re stressed! Trying it out this weekend.
I hope your surgery went well – you are in my thoughts. It’s so true that often we set our own health needs aside when we are busy taking care of others. But this is such a good reminder that we can’t truly care for our loved ones unless we care for ourselves first.
Banana bread is one of my favorites, and adding chocolate and peanut butter sounds like a fantastic idea!
Thank you Dara!
Good for you for taking care of yourself. My doctors try to help me not feel guilty for that by reminding me that if I dont take of me, I cant take care of anyone else. Praying they got it all….and be sure to listen and NOT lift anything. My husband didnt listen when he had his melanoma removed and now has one nasty looking scar.
Thank you Kristen! Please know I am praying for you too!
Praying for an easy and quick healing! I had my melanoma on my stomach as well. We can compare battle scars 🙂 Take care of yourself and make sure to keep up with the check-ups!
No way Kristen! I am sorry to hear that. Have you had any more since that one? Thanks so much for stopping by!
No more melanomas, but a whole lot of excisions for suspicious looking ones. I go every 6 months for full body checks. I’m not going to lie, it is super scary, but being on top of it is the best thing you can do! And make sure to keep an eye on the kids – I’m constantly scanning them for new or irregular moles. Hoping all the margins are cleared for you and this is your first and last! I love following you and testing out new recipes 🙂
Thank you so much Kristen! I hope you are doing well!
Me too Lauren = I do not have longevity on either side of my family. Get this – my great grandmother died at 72, my grandmother died at 72, my father died at 72, my mother died at 72. My younger brother and I have kidded around about we need to watch out for 72. Last year at 62, he said “no worries, I have ten more years”; but he too avoided going to the doctor when he should have and he had an infection that went into his blood stream and attacked his organs and I lost him needlessly….it still hurts.
Oh Linda, thank you for sharing this with me. Yes, it can be scary but it really should just make us more grateful for every day we have here. I am so sorry about your loss. Thank you again for dropping by!!
I am so sorry for your diagnosis but it sounds like you got it in time. Keep fighting!
I was wondering if I could sub in gluten free all purpose flour for the brown rice flour. I am not a big fan of brown rice flour..
Thanks so much Laura! Yes, I bet you can use the AP flour, please let me know how it comes out? Thank you!