Banana

Chocolate and peanut butter? Yes! Now we’re talking. Not only will your kids be singing your praises when you throw together this breakfast in mere minutes, you’ll be feeling like you’re cheating with each decadent bite!

Chocolate and peanut butter? Yes! Now we’re talking. Not only will your kids be singing your praises when you throw together this breakfast in mere minutes, you’ll be feeling like you’re cheating with each decadent bite!

Anyone who knows me knows that although I’ve maintained a fifty-five-pound weight loss for close to twenty years, I proudly eat chocolate every day. Here’s a great example of how I can face my chocolate craving head-on, even at breakfast!

This sandwich was actually the brainchild of my trainer, Brian, who eats it all the time. Make it for your kids before school, or for yourself when you want to add a little decadence to your morning. Heck, it’s not only super tasty, it’s trainer-approved.

My weakness for ice cream is well known, and the name of this drink says it all.

Gina: These delicious waffles are crispy, full of flavor, and loaded with crunchy pecans. You can serve them the traditional way, with syrup and butter, or jazz them up with sautéed bananas and/or fresh strawberry sauce. Either way, it’s an unforgettable way to begin the day.

Pat: French toast is one of my greatest loves. I like mine made with thick slices of white bread and a rich egg-and-milk batter with a kiss of cinnamon, and topped with lots of maple syrup. I also love to have a couple of over-easy eggs alongside. Gina is always saying to me, “Why you gotta fry eggs? There are eggs in the batter!” Gina: I’m not sure if the French were the ones who made this toast famous, but I’m sure they would love what I’ve done to it: turned it into a sandwich! Everyone knows two pieces of French toast are better than one, and the only thing better than two pieces of French toast is two pieces with something sweet sandwiched in between! How about bananas? Then you take the whole thing and cook it on a panini press. The hot grill makes for an irresistibly crispy version of a morning classic, and it creates grooves that collect plenty of butter and maple syrup. You love peanut butter? Consider making a peanut-butter-banana French-toast sandwich. (Peanut butter was my protein staple during both my pregnancies.) The possibilities, girl, are endless. Bread that is a day or two old works best for this recipe, because it holds up better on the grill.

Gina: A muffin for the chocolate lover in all of us. They’re great for festive brunches and holiday breakfasts, or with a cup for tea for an afternoon pick-me-up. Pat’s been known to sneak them in the middle of the night, too, to eat with his ice cream (he thinks I’m not watchin’, but, girlfriend, you know we are always watchin’ . . .).

Pat: There was a time after college when my brother Gaelin lived with Momma Daisy, and I think he moved in just so he could enjoy this dessert on a regular basis. I can’t blame him: Momma Daisy’s Banana Pudding is a Neely family favorite. In her recipe, homemade vanilla pudding is layered with sliced bananas and vanilla-wafer cookies (the store-bought kind) and finished with whipped cream, to create a creamy, comforting Southern classic. Once you prepare the pudding, it can be layered with the other ingredients and chilled for up to 4 hours in advance. Then all you need to do is garnish it with the whipped cream and crumbled wafers just before serving. We like to use fresh whipped cream, but Momma Daisy used a store bought “French vanilla” whipped topping (you can also use Cool Whip).

We love the dark, rich flavors of the classic dessert bananas Foster. One time when we had an overabundance of bananas we decided that creating a bread featuring these flavors would be ideal. We used muscovado sugar, an intensely flavored sweetener, to help mimic the caramelized notes of the original dish. We combined baking powder and baking soda to maximize our leavening and ensure a light, tender bread. It’s darned good all on its own, but we’ve also used it for French toast and bread pudding with fabulous results. Leftover bread can be toasted or grilled and slathered with butter for an excellent breakfast or snack.

This is made in the same way as in the last recipe, only it has a layer of sliced bananas at the top.

This is something we used to make in Egypt. Use a moist variety of dried dates.

For this delicately scented fruit salad, have a mix of fruit chosen from three or four of the following: peaches, nectarines, apricots, bananas, plums, grapes, apples, pears, strawberries, mangoes, melon, pineapple, dates, pomegranate seeds.

Some days, I need little more than this or the following refreshing smoothie for lunch. My younger son wanted readers to know that he came up with the mango and pear combination at the age of seven. It’s unbelievably good—thanks, Evan!

Making parfaits is easy, and they are such a healthful, elegant dessert or snack. Make sure to use lush, ripe fruit and a good, creamy low-fat yogurt. I prefer vanilla, but if you’d like, experiment with lemon- or orange-flavored yogurts. I also like to use two different fruits for the visual appeal, but if you’d like to stick with one, that works as well. Try your own fruit combinations in addition to the ones given here.

I don’t know a man, woman, or child who doesn’t love a fluffy stack of pancakes. You can substitute anything for the pecans and the banana: strawberry and almond, blueberry and orange, honey and ricotta.

Cooked bananas are a relative rarity, the New Orleans classic Bananas Foster being one exception. The caramel sauce is simple to make by just boiling the sugar and the sauce can be made hours in advance. The bananas are best served hot from the oven. If macadamia nuts are a bit rich for you, just leave them out, although they are a great embellishment.

Whenever bananas get a bit too ripe, I bake banana nut bread and keep a few loaves in the freezer. Whole wheat flour enhances the nuttiness of the loaves. Baking time in the convection oven is reduced by 10 to 15 minutes for either size loaf.