Get in Alignment Banana Bread

A couple of months ago (yes, that’s how long it’s taken me to write this blog post - see yesterday’s post) I woke up in a grump. Peter was fussy. I couldn’t put him down for even a minute without him screaming desperately to be picked up. I was exhausted and stressed out by the time it was 9am. It felt like it was going to be a horrible, no-good, rotten, bad day.And with that story in my head, it easily could have been.But I remembered Alex Franzen’s line “Today is not over yet” (I mean, obviously, it was 9am but you get where I’m going).

So I strapped Peter in the sling, put on some music, and started baking a loaf of banana bread. Soon my house smelled delicious and I was drinking a hot cup of tea along alongside a warm, chocolatey slice.Peter’s mood shifted. My mood shifted. And we went on to have a really fun, beautiful day.Baking or cooking are an easy “alignment activity” for me. They’re meditative, engage all of my senses, help me feel productive when the day has felt like a crapshoot, and results in something pleasurable and delicious.

Banana bread is particularly forgiving so I can even make it one handed with a baby on the hip. I make this recipe once or twice most weeks.

Get in Alignment Banana Bread

4 overripe bananas
1/2 cup coconut sugar
80ml milk of choice
80g coconut oil, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups flour1 bar of dark chocolate, coarsely chopped (optional - I guess)

1. Preheat oven to 180C and grease a loaf pan.

2. Mash your bananas and then stir in sugar, milk, coconut oil, and vanilla.

3. Stir in cinnamon and baking powder.

4. Mix in flour until fully combined.

5. Stir in your chocolate.

6. Bake for 30 minutes until golden brown.

Enjoy! I hope baking a loaf will help your day flow a bit better too.