Brown Sugar Banana Bread (and muffins)

I have been trying to base my diet on a Low-Residue Diet (LRD), this usually is a temporary thing for me and it is to help with my colitis. But lately I have been trying to find ways to be on the diet and not lose flavor. So what is a LRD?

A low-residue diet is a diet in which fiber and other foods that are harder for your body to digest are restricted. Fiber is made up of plant material that cannot be completely digested by the body. High-fiber foods include whole-grain breads and cereals, nuts, seeds, and raw or dried fruits.

Eating a low-residue/low-fiber diet goes against what nutritionists tout as a healthy way to eat because it severely limits fiber intake and other important nutrients. A low-residue/low-fiber diet usually stays away from grainy, nutty foods that are loaded with fiber.  (webmd.com)

I also stay away from dairy, heavily spiced foods, and as much red meat as possible.  It is a very limiting diet, and frankly I am glad it is usually temporary!  I try to make sure anything I eat has less than 1 gram of fiber...it is difficult.  Especially when it is so ingrained to eat whole grains, fruits and vegetables.  So I have been do some research and finding combinations that are flavorful and work well with the LRD.

The first thing I made was Brown Sugar Banana Bread out of "Eating for IBS" by Heather Van Vorous.  There are a lot of things in this cookbook that would really good but it is written for IBS not IBD, there is a difference.  Anyway, to the bread...the recipe makes two loaf but I only had one loaf pan so I mad one loaf and 12 muffins.


Brown Sugar Banana Bread
(Adapted from Heather Van Vorous)

3 1/2 cups all-purpose white flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
6 egg whites (I used egg beaters 100% egg whites)
1/3 cup canola oil (I used vegetable oil)
1 1/3 cup brown sugar (I used Splenda Brown Sugar Blend)
1 Tbsp Vanilla
3 cups mashed ripe bananas (6-8 bananas)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Sift the first four ingredients together in a large bowl.  In a seperate large bowl mix together the remaining ingredents until creamy.  (I left a few banana chunks since I like banana peices in my bread.) Pour into greased pans, bake 50-60 minutes (for loaf), only about 20-25 minutes for muffins. Cool. Extra freezes well.

*If you aren't following any special dietary restrictions...walnuts and/or chocolate chips would be really good in this! 

Enjoy!