Taste of Tuesday -- Baking with agave nectar

We have swimming lessons tonight, so the dinner spinner came out! (It's just in my head, really, but if I were awesome I would make a cute printable for you. Maybe next year.) We're having . . . wait for it . . . Spaghettio soup and banana bread made with agave nectar instead of sugar! Now, I know that Spaghettio soup sounds kind of ghetto, and it is. It's one of those recipes that got handed down from a generation or two ago on someone's side of the family. Not mine, because I never had Spaghettios growing up. It comes from the side that had Spam casserole for dinner. There's no shame in it. Anyway, Spaghettio soup (besides being hard to type) is basically a mild chili with lots of veggies. The kids kinda like it. I use ground turkey instead of beef. I'm trying it tonight to see if it is a recipe we still like, or if it's one that should go the way of other dinners I never cook anymore, like tuna casserole (which kind of sounds good, actually).

On the side we're having banana bread and maybe an easy vegetable like frozen peas. I have been trying for a week or so now to get some overripe bananas to make banana bread. My family (mostly Kate) just goes through them too quickly, though, and so it's been a challenge. I had a beautiful one saved up, along with two questionable halves, and then Kyle (who thought he was being helpful by eating the most ripe banana) had it for breakfast. So I made do with a just ripe banana and the two questionable ones.

The recipe I'm sharing with you today, however, comes from momcooks.net and is for pumpkin bread with agave nectar. So far I've had success with quick breads, and and absolute FAIL with agave brownies. If you'd like to try a recipe with agave nectar instead of sugar, here's one that my family liked. My substitutions are in italics.

Pumpkin Bread (from momcooks.net)

Yields 2 medium loaves

Oven 350°

INGREDIENTS:

3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (I used white whole wheat -- can't take too many chances)
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 15-ounce can pumpkin (unsweetened)
1 1/2 cups light agave (I wouldn’t use more than ¾ C. It was plenty sweet.)
3/4 cup vegetable oil (I used 1/4 C oil and 1/2 C plain Greek yogurt.)
3 eggs (I used an egg white substitute.)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Grease 2 medium loaf pans. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl combine dry ingredients. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl beat together pumpkin, agave, oil, eggs, and
vanilla. Slowly mix in dry ingredients.
4. Pour batter into prepared pans.
5. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until knife comes out clean.
6. Allow bread to cool in pans before removing.

There you go, easy peasy. 15 days into my experiment and I have lost two pounds. Two more to go and I will be a happy lady (without love handles, I hope). But really I'd like to get past the point where I crave sugar and chocolate every day. Honestly, I am not there yet. I am going to take a break next Thursday, Friday, and Saturday and then jump right back in on Sunday. After I reach my goal weight and maintain it for a few days I will evaluate my eating habits. I will say that I have a lot more energy and food just tastes better. So there you have it!