Something sweet and no guilt!

Like most people I've been watching my weight this January. Thing is, I quit smoking last year, which is, of course, a great thing, but which also gave those kilograms an excuse to pile on. I'm not really on a strict diet or anything, since I want a lifestyle change rather than the yo-yo effect. I'm trying to make healthy choices and what I'm doing is similar to WeightWatcher's Core program so I've been known to frequent their message boards looking for inspiration. One of the things that people are doing is replacing flour with polenta or semolina and eggs with apple sauce or crushed fruit. It makes for some interesting results - and I admire them for all their creative recipes that must have required some time experimenting in the kitchen. Anyway, I thought this was a specificity of the WeightWatchers out there - so imagine my surprise when I saw this recipe for a Date, Banana and Rum Loaf in the last BBC Good Food magazine! I had to make it, I just had to! I wasn't sure about it at the beginning but I've been having it for breakfast this week and I must say that's growing on me. It's moist and full of flavour and, although it's not a chocolate fudge brownie, it tastes good and is a welcome change from yogurt and cereal! I'll definitely make it again - but I might do some experimenting of my own, maybe substitute some apple sauce for part of the dates. We'll see!

This is my entry (my first ever event!!) into Sweetnicks' ARF 5-A-Day Tuesday event - take a look at the delicious recipes submitted this week, I honestly don't know what to try first!

By the way, the BBC Good Food website is worth checking out. I still buy the magazine but the site is also great!

Date, banana and rum loaf
(from BBC Good Food magazine)
10 servings

250g stoned ready-to-eat dates
1 large banana (the recipe said 140g but i used more)
100g pecans, chopped (I used mixed chopped nuts)
200g raisins (I didn't use these, I don't like raisins!)
200g sultanas (I didn't use these either, I added some dried cranberries instead)
100g fine polenta
2 tsp mixed spice (I used pumpkin pie spice and added extra cinnamon)
2 tsp baking powder
3 tbsp dark rum
2 egg whites

1. Heat oven to 180C (I'm sure mine was at 200C but I have an oven with a mind of its own!). Grease a loaf tin. Put the dates in small pan with 200ml boiling water and simmer for 5 minutes. Drain the liquid into a jug and put the dates into a food processor. Add the banana(s) and 100ml of the date liquid and whizz until smooth (I didn't have any liquid, I took my eye off the dates for literally a minuye and they absorbed it all!)

2. Mix the nuts, dried fruit, polenta, spice and baking powder in a bowl, then add the date puree and rum and stir until combined.

3. Whisk the egg whites to soft peaks and fold into the cake mix. Tip into the tin - the recipe said it would be quite full, mine was only half-full. Bake 1 hour until golden and crusty and a skewer comes out clean. Cool completely before cutting into slices.