Recipe: Cantaloupe Bread and Cantaloupe Smoothie

My son is a huge fan of cantaloupe, but we inevitably have too much of it on hand. And if you don't eat it quickly, it goes bad - really bad!

So here are two great recipes that we tried this morning, with a bit of commentary included.

Cantaloupe Smoothie

1.5 cups of chopped cantaloupe
1 banana
5 ice cubes
1 teaspoon sugar (optional)

Put everything in the blender and puree until smooth. Add more ice and or sugar to taste. Makes about two servings.

Cantaloupe Bread

This recipe idea came originally from AllRecipes at http://bread.allrecipes.com/az/CntlpBrdwithPrlinGlz.asp.

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup apple sauce
  
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup Splenda
  
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups cantaloupe - peeled, seeded and pureed
• 1.5 cups all-purpose flour
• 1.5 cups whole wheat flour
  
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
  

ECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Lightly grease and flour two 9x5 inch loaf pans.
2. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, vegetable oil, apple sauce, sugar, Splenda, vanilla and cantaloupe. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and ginger. Stir flour mixture into cantaloupe mixture; stir to combine. Stir in the nuts. Pour batter into prepared pans.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour, until a toothpick inserted into center of a loaf comes out clean.
   

Substituted one cup of whole wheat for one cup of flour, one cup of Splenda for one cup of sugar, and 1/2 cup of applesauce for 1/2 cup of the oil. Skipped the topping. Came out nice, but would add 1 cup of chopped walnuts next time. Can't taste the cantaloupe though, more like a banana bread (that's what the kids thought it was)