No-Cook Recipes: Healthy Breakfast Banana Split

This is a fun spin on your typical fruit and yogurt dish morphed in to a mock banana split that's perfect for breakfast or dessert!

Healthy Breakfast Banana Split

Don't you just love no-cook recipes?  With busy holiday coming up a recipe that you just assemble is high on my list of things to make.  Here's a fun modification of a banana spilt turned healthy.  I found this weight watchers recipe that I just had to try and modified it just a bit.  With just a 6 ingredients you can have a healthy breakfast or dessert that tastes amazing!  

The banana is the star with toppings of sliced strawberries, a drizzle of yogurt and honey, along with a sprinkling of granola and sliced almonds.   This mock banana split is so delicious and healthy, but don't take my word for it, make it today!

Enjoy!

What Ingredients do I need?

• banana - you will need 1 banana per serving

• strawberries - buy nice ripe strawberries, or use frozen

• Greek yogurt - or your favorite yogurt

• honey 

• granola

• sliced almonds

Substitutions and Variations

• Use any type of berries you want

• Drizzle on some warmed peanut or almond butter for added protein

• Use vanilla yogurt for more flavor

• Flavored granolas will give variety

Kitchen Tips and Notes

• You can serve this in a banana split bowl or a longer plate as I did to accommodate the full size of the banana.

• Ready in 10 minutes.

• Play around with flavors and make this your own.

• This recipe is a weight watcher recipe that I modified.  WW points 4-9.

• Serve has a fun dessert or breakfast!

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Healthy Breakfast Banana Split

serves 1
WW points: 4-9

1 medium banana, halved lengthwise
2 Tablespoons Greek yogurt
drizzle of honey
3-4 sliced strawberries
1 Tablespoon granola
sprinkle of sliced almonds

Place the banana on a plate.  Scatter strawberries over and around the banana.  Using a spoon, drizzle or place drops of yogurt over the banana and strawberries.  Drizzle with honey.  Sprinkle with granola and sliced almonds. 

Fall Flavors: Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pumpkin Pancakes

Light and airy Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pumpkin Pancakes have that perfect fall flavor and are guaranteed to melt in your mouth!

Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pumpkin Pancakes 

Pancakes are one of my all time breakfast items, and when fall hits I want to get a taste of that in my breakfast so I break out the pumpkin puree and spices.  These pancakes are a little healthier with the addition of some whole wheat flour.  The key to keeping these fluffy is with a 50/50 ratio of all purpose and whole wheat flours.  The pancakes turn out really fluffy that way.  I also like to use buttermilk in these which keeps the pancakes tender.  Add a little pumpkin pie spice and you have a pancake worthy of fall.

So fluffy and light and spice just right, these pancakes will be one you will make over and over this fall.  Easy enough to whip up on the weekend this recipe makes make a large batch that you can cook up and freeze the leftovers so you'll have these anytime you want during the week.

Enjoy!

What Ingredients do I need?

• baking powder
• baking soda
• all purpose flour
• whole wheat flour
• sugar
• pumpkin pie spice
• eggs
• buttermilk
• pumpkin puree
• butter

Substitutions and Variations

• Use all regular all purpose flour or all whole wheat flour if you choose.

Pancake Toppings

• Butter
• Hot maple syrup with cinnamon mixed in
• Honey
• Chocolate chips (how cute would it be to make a pumpkin face!)
• Chopped nuts
• Nutella
• Cinnamon & Sugar
• Whipped Cream and cranberries or blueberries

Kitchen Tips and Notes

• Do not overmix the batter - Over-mixing pancake batter develops gluten which will make your pancakes rubbery and tough. You want to mix just until you don't see any large flour streaks in the batter.

• It's a great idea to whisk the dry ingredients in a large bowl before adding any wet ingredients. This allows the baking powder and soda to be evenly distributed so the pancakes turn out perfect.

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Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pumpkin Pancakes 

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 Tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
2 large eggs
2 cups buttermilk
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
2 Tablespoons butter, melted

in a medium bowl, whisk together the salt, baking powder, baking soda, both flours, sugar, and pumpkin pie spice.  In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk and pumpkin puree.  Add in the melted butter and stir until combined.   

Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients in the well.   Gently stir until just combined (the large flour streaks are gone, but don't over stir). The batter should be thick and slightly lumpy.

Preheat a griddle or a large skillet over medium heat.

Scoop 1/3 cup of batter and cook until bubbles begin to form, flip and cook until golden.  Keep cooked pancakes warm in a 250 degree oven until all pancakes are cooked.

Serve immediately with syrup or favorite toppings.

Fall Flavors: Harvest Spinach Salad

My Harvest Spinach Salad is loaded with fall favorites like butternut squash, chopped apples, pecans, cranberries and couscous.  It's the perfect side salad this fall.

Harvest Spinach Salad

I have the perfect side salad that's easy to make and has all the fall flavors.  It has no fuss ingredients you crave:  chopped apples, pecans, dried cranberries, roasted butternut squash, couscous, and spinach.  Plus it's all doused with with an apple cider vinaigrette.  

Here are some occasions that this salad would be perfect for:

• Side Salad with weekday dinners
• fall picnic
• entertaining friends
• Friendsgiving 
• Thanksgiving 

There is a little prep work to roast the butternut squash and cooking the couscous,  however, you can use leftovers if you have them, or cook them on the weekend and store them until ready to use during the week.  The salad has it all going on, flavors, crunch, savory, and sweet.  This is one heck of a salad!

What Ingredients do I need?

Produce
Butternut squash 
Apples

Baby spinach

Nuts and Dried Fruit
Pecans
Dried Cranberries

Grains

Israeli couscous

Pantry Items

Olive Oil

Apple Cider Vinegar

Dijon Mustard

Garlic cloves

Substitutions and Variations

• Change up the salad greens:  Use any dark leafy green such as kale, red leaf lettuce, arugula, or swiss chard

• Try a different squash: Use roasted acorn or kabocha squash. Or go with roasted sweet potatoes

• Change up the fruit:  Pears would be a great substitute

• Any nut will work:  Think pepitas or pumpkin seeds, walnuts, almonds - or go nut free

• Change up the dried fruit:  go with raisins, golden raisins, dried cherries, or even apricots

• Try a different grain:  bulgur, farro, or quinoa would all be great choices

Kitchen Tips and Notes

• Butternut squash can be bought pre-cut in to cubes in the produce section

• Apples come in many varieties:  try Gala, Jazz, or Golden Delicious

• Israeli couscous aka pearl couscous are the larger balls of semolina.  Moroccan and North African dishes contain the more popular small couscous.  This is actually a pasta and not a grain. 

• Make Ahead:  batch cook your couscous and roast your butternut squash on the weekend and then refrigerate until you make the salad during the week.

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Harvest Spinach Salad

serves 2

4 cups fresh baby spinach, chopped
1 1/2 cups cooked Israeli couscous, cooked according to package directions (1/2 cup dry couscous)
1 - 1 1/2 cups butternut squash, chopped
1 medium apple, cored and chopped
1/3 cup pecans
3 Tablespoons dried cranberries

Vinaigrette

1/4 olive oil

2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 tsp garlic, minced

pinch of salt & pepper to taste

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.  Add your chopped and cubed butternut squash to a baking sheet and drizzle with some olive oil.  Bake about 30 minutes until golden brown and soft.  Remove from the oven and set aside.

Meanwhile cook your Israeli couscous according to the package directions in a pot on the stove.  Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Make dressing:  in a small bowl or mason jar add all the vinaigrette ingredients and whisk or shake vigoursly until well combined.

To assemble salad:  In a medium bowl add spinach, apple, butternut squash, couscous, pecans, and cranberries.  Drizzle with salad dressing and toss to coat.  Serve.