Cooking healthy food at home doesn’t have to be hard. It also doesn’t require complicated ingredients or expensive tools. Contrary to what we see on advertisements or Instagram, preparing healthy food for our families can be quick, easy, and sustainable.

I’m not a fancy person, and I have little tolerance for the suggestion that maintaining a healthy lifestyle requires considerable time and effort. In my experience, it merely requires quality information, intention, and mindfulness. A little time spent on the front end (cooking at home) saves me a lot more time and money on the back end — keeping me healthy and my budget balanced.

Here’s my favorite banana bread recipe. Instead of using all-purpose flour, I grind up rolled oats (or quick oats) in my blender. This makes a naturally gluten-free flour for about half the cost of the store-bought variety. Using oats also preserves the fluffy texture that I love in baked goods, which is often missing in other types of gluten-free recipes.

[Note: My favorite combo is 1 cup all-purpose flour + 1.5 cups oats. I measure the oats whole, then blend]

Banana Bread

2-1/2 cups flour (or ground up rolled oats)

1/2 cup sugar

3-1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon oil (or melted butter)

3/4 cup plain yogurt

1 egg

2-3 mashed bananas

1 teaspoon vanilla or cinnamon (optional)

1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a loaf pan. Measure all ingredients into a large mixer bowl; beat on medium speed for 30 seconds, scraping side and bottom of bowl constantly.

Pour batter into pans. Bake 50-55 minutes or until wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from pan, and cool thoroughly before slicing.

Optional: stir in 1 cup of chopped walnuts before baking