It's not really a weekend unless you spend at least an hour of it at Target and/or Home Depot

Ohhhhhh, glorious weekend.

It was that perfect ratio of lazy/productive.

Like I’m sporting new pink polish on the toesies and am halfway done with my new book, but then also the toilets are scrubbed and the groceries are stocked.

My soon-to-be 3 year old is obsessed with banana bread. Asks for it nightly. No surprise then when he asked to make some on Friday night. Try explaining to a soon-to-be 3 year old that we can’t make banana bread because we don’t have any  bananas.

(Whine) “Let’s maaaaaake some banaaaaaaaaanas.”

UGH WE CAN’T.

Fortunately I had plenty of frozen blueberries on hand and he threw me a bone and was ok with that.

Now I’m calling this a pound cake, even though there’s not a lick of butter (pound cake traditionally uses a pound of butter). The Greek yogurt (!) adds density and the olive oil keeps it moist (!). Yes, using that word.

Blueberry Almond Pound Cake

½ cup unsweetened applesauce

1/3 cup olive oil

2/3 cup white sugar (plus 2 teaspoons)

2 eggs

1 cups white whole wheat flour (or whatever you’d like really)

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

1 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt

½ teaspoon almond extract

½ teaspoon vanilla

1 cup frozen or fresh blueberries

1-2 tablespoons slivered almonds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9x5 loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.

Combine applesauce,  oil, and sugar in a large bowl. Stir until combined. Beat in eggs on medium speed (stand mixer or hand mixer) for a minute. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and baking soda. With mixer running, add half to the egg mixture, followed by half the yogurt. Repeat- add remaining flour, then yogurt, and beat on low until just combined. Stir in extracts, then blueberries.

Pour batter into loaf pan. It will be thick. Top with slivered almonds and remaining 2 teaspoons of sugar. Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Makes 8 nice thick slices. Per serving: 275 calories, 45 g carbs, 15 g added sugars, 8 g protein, 9 g fat. A bit of a calorie splurge if we’re talking a snack here, buuuuuut, compare those stats with the “Blueberry Muffin with Yogurt and Honey” from Starbucks and you’re saving 105 calories, 8 grams carbs, 15 g added sugars, 7 grams fat.

This one’s a winner, for both me and the kid.