I made delicious banana bread last night. I do not make it that often, but I should! I wait until there are a couple old bananas and use those. Well for a couple of days, I had been saving these three old bananas on my countertop. I made this recipe from allrecipes.com. You have seen this link before. I use this site A LOT for anything I need the recipe for.
It turned out pretty good. I had three small-ish bananas and assumed that would mash to the right amount. It was a little less, but I made it anyway. I think if I had the full amount it would have tasted even better.
I have no pictures because by the time I remembered to take them, the loaf was half gone and looked just like your standard banana bread, which you have all seen.
The first step was creaming together the butter and brown sugar and although the recipe did not say room temperature, IT NEEDS TO BE. I did it with butter straight out of the fridge and it did not combine well. In fact, I would go so far as to say that in any recipe that does not specifically say COLD butter, but calls for creaming, the butter needs to be at room temperature. I thought about using shortening but did not, and in retrospect, it might have been better because I would have been able to cream the ingredients much easier! As it was, I just waited about a half hour and tried it again. It was still not great, but better.
The final verdict is that it was a little dry, but I think that is because I was a little light on the mashed banana. I will definitely try this again, as it tastes great, even as it is. I know it would be 100 times better if I did it right!
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Favorite food blogs
There are so many good food blogs that it is hard to pick just a few, but there are some I read every once in a while and some I read EVERY DAY, without fail. YMMV and you may like some more than others, but these are the blogs that I love to read:
A Year of CrockPotting
http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/
She is using her crock pot every day in 2008. Most days it is for dinner, but some days are crafts (that shrinky dink idea is great!) and some days are dips in her Little Dipper.
Munchcast
http://munchcast.com/
This is one of my favorite podcasts and when I finish listening to it, I am sad that I have to WAIT for the next one...
Al Dente
http://www.aldenteblog.com/
I heard about this on the aforementioned munchcast and have been addicted to it ever since. Not the healthiest fare, but I like to think of it as food porn.
The rest are much more hit or miss, and I will tell you all about those soon!
A Year of CrockPotting
http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/
She is using her crock pot every day in 2008. Most days it is for dinner, but some days are crafts (that shrinky dink idea is great!) and some days are dips in her Little Dipper.
Munchcast
http://munchcast.com/
This is one of my favorite podcasts and when I finish listening to it, I am sad that I have to WAIT for the next one...
Al Dente
http://www.aldenteblog.com/
I heard about this on the aforementioned munchcast and have been addicted to it ever since. Not the healthiest fare, but I like to think of it as food porn.
The rest are much more hit or miss, and I will tell you all about those soon!
Beignets - A French Doughnut
Since I already had the oil out on Sunday and I had Beignet mix from I got from someone 4 years ago and had never made, I decided to try it out on Sunday night.
No picture, because they did not look great.
So I followed the directions on the box, which were 2 cups mix from the box with 7 ounces water all mixed up. I did that and they were a little sticky, but it said roll it out on a board with a lot of flour, so I thought the sticky would go away. I did that and they rolled out great. I cut them with a pizza cutter, because they are square, but they were still too sticky to pick up. So most of them were scraped up off the counter and then rolled into a ball because they were so mangled. Some were square because my oldest son used a spatula to get a few up off the counter. Some were flat circles because my middle son picked them up and when they were all mangled, he flattened them with his hands. Once they were fried, they all tasted the same. (And what isn't good fried!)
I drained them on paper towels and when they were all done (it made a LOT) we sprinkled powdered sugar on top of them. They tasted good and the kids loved them. One of them even thought it tasted like a funnel cake. I tried them and thought they were OK. They were not as good as the biscuit doughnuts I had made that morning, and they were not nearly as easy and were much messier to make. I will use up the rest of the mix, but I am not sure I will make them again. Like I said, tasted great, but if I am going to waste calories on doughnuts, they are going to ROCK MY WORLD!
Kristen also write for Kristen is Organized! and is a frequent contributor on Mom Spark.
No picture, because they did not look great.
So I followed the directions on the box, which were 2 cups mix from the box with 7 ounces water all mixed up. I did that and they were a little sticky, but it said roll it out on a board with a lot of flour, so I thought the sticky would go away. I did that and they rolled out great. I cut them with a pizza cutter, because they are square, but they were still too sticky to pick up. So most of them were scraped up off the counter and then rolled into a ball because they were so mangled. Some were square because my oldest son used a spatula to get a few up off the counter. Some were flat circles because my middle son picked them up and when they were all mangled, he flattened them with his hands. Once they were fried, they all tasted the same. (And what isn't good fried!)
I drained them on paper towels and when they were all done (it made a LOT) we sprinkled powdered sugar on top of them. They tasted good and the kids loved them. One of them even thought it tasted like a funnel cake. I tried them and thought they were OK. They were not as good as the biscuit doughnuts I had made that morning, and they were not nearly as easy and were much messier to make. I will use up the rest of the mix, but I am not sure I will make them again. Like I said, tasted great, but if I am going to waste calories on doughnuts, they are going to ROCK MY WORLD!
Kristen also write for Kristen is Organized! and is a frequent contributor on Mom Spark.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Easy doughnuts at home
This is not quite as easy as picking up a few at a bakery, but close! And if you, like me, live out in the boonies and nowhere near a bakery, then it is even easier than picking up a few doughnuts at a bakery!
I first heard about this on an old podcast of Munchcast, which I love (you can subscribe on itunes, which I did!) This is called something like Boy Scout doughnuts because I guess they can make them while they are camping, and since I have 3 boys and 2 of them are in scouts and they are camping this next weekend, I thought that the time was perfect for trying these out. And I am so glad I did! I am sure that the pictures do not do it justice, but they tasted PERFECT!
They were made by deep frying refrigerated biscuit dough and then shaking finished doughnuts in a lunch bag with cinnamon and sugar in it.
Fortunately, I do have a deep fryer. If you don't, I am sure that any heavy pan would be fine. I ended up buying generic biscuits, because they were going to be fried anyway! I mean, everything is good fried, so why spend more for name-brand biscuits! And I had a choice between the regular and the jumbo biscuits. I ended up getting the regular ones, because there were more in the package and I did not want to get more until I knew they were good. The good thing about the regular sized ones is that they were easier to shake in the bag, I think. And they were more single-serving size!
I did document the process, but EVERYONE should try this, because they were amazing!
I first heard about this on an old podcast of Munchcast, which I love (you can subscribe on itunes, which I did!) This is called something like Boy Scout doughnuts because I guess they can make them while they are camping, and since I have 3 boys and 2 of them are in scouts and they are camping this next weekend, I thought that the time was perfect for trying these out. And I am so glad I did! I am sure that the pictures do not do it justice, but they tasted PERFECT!
They were made by deep frying refrigerated biscuit dough and then shaking finished doughnuts in a lunch bag with cinnamon and sugar in it.
Fortunately, I do have a deep fryer. If you don't, I am sure that any heavy pan would be fine. I ended up buying generic biscuits, because they were going to be fried anyway! I mean, everything is good fried, so why spend more for name-brand biscuits! And I had a choice between the regular and the jumbo biscuits. I ended up getting the regular ones, because there were more in the package and I did not want to get more until I knew they were good. The good thing about the regular sized ones is that they were easier to shake in the bag, I think. And they were more single-serving size!
I did document the process, but EVERYONE should try this, because they were amazing!
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Peanut Butter!!
We made homemade peanut butter last night! With all the cooking and baking I have done, I cannot believe I have never done this before! It turned out great and it is so much better for you than that processed stuff
I was glad I had a recipe this time too, because without it, I might have given up on the mixture before it was done.
My youngest got a book as a gift called “C is for Cooking” based on the Sesame Street characters and this one was in there. If you want simple recipes, a gift for a child, or have a child, I HIGHLY recommend this book. My youngest, who does not really know it is a cookbook, has read it a few times each day. Now he is all about finding the little flying bugs on each recipe page.
The recipe says it will last up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator. In what universe would PB ever last that long in my house? Maybe pre-kids (PK) it did, but now, never!
Since there was some left after PB&J sandwiches at lunch and I wanted to make sure I used as much as I wanted before the older two kids got home from school, because they would eat the rest, I also made PB cookies. A recipe (EASY!) came across my desk this morning and I decided to give it a try. If you want to make something super-simple, try these!
Here is my take on the cookies. I will not get rid of my existing recipe yet, but I do want to try it again with a few modifications. When I made them, they ended up being a little dry for my taste, but good, so I will try it again and add more PB to see if that helps with the moisture level.
Did I mention PB cookies are my absolute favorite cookies of all time???
I was glad I had a recipe this time too, because without it, I might have given up on the mixture before it was done.
My youngest got a book as a gift called “C is for Cooking” based on the Sesame Street characters and this one was in there. If you want simple recipes, a gift for a child, or have a child, I HIGHLY recommend this book. My youngest, who does not really know it is a cookbook, has read it a few times each day. Now he is all about finding the little flying bugs on each recipe page.
The recipe says it will last up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator. In what universe would PB ever last that long in my house? Maybe pre-kids (PK) it did, but now, never!
Since there was some left after PB&J sandwiches at lunch and I wanted to make sure I used as much as I wanted before the older two kids got home from school, because they would eat the rest, I also made PB cookies. A recipe (EASY!) came across my desk this morning and I decided to give it a try. If you want to make something super-simple, try these!
Here is my take on the cookies. I will not get rid of my existing recipe yet, but I do want to try it again with a few modifications. When I made them, they ended up being a little dry for my taste, but good, so I will try it again and add more PB to see if that helps with the moisture level.
Did I mention PB cookies are my absolute favorite cookies of all time???
Chocolate-covered bananas
I made dessert again Sunday night and it was SO good! I made chocolate-covered frozen bananas, but did not use a recipe, which was probably not the best idea. In retrospect, I wish I had used one because I could blame someone else if they did not turn out great. Do not get me wrong, they tasted amazing, but they did not look like what I had hoped.
I saw an episode of Healthy Cooking with Ellie Kreiger on the food network on Saturday. I know by the contents of this blog, you would never know it but most of the time, we do eat pretty healthy, so this is one of our favorite shows. Even DH and the kids watched the show! Anyway, she made these and they looked good, healthy, and easy. I should have gone out to the website to get the recipe. But I thought I knew better and could just do it.
I went to the store to get bananas and chocolate. I wanted to melt dark chocolate to make it as healthy as possible. My store did not have anything in dark chocolate besides the baking squares in the baking aisle. I looked. For a long time. So I ended up back in the candy aisle and got a chocolate bar there.
I cut each banana in half, stuck in a stick (I had sewers at home, so I chopped them in half and used the pointy side of those. The episode I saw called for popsickle sticks). I froze the cut bananas with a stick in them. Those would have probably been pretty good as is!
After they were frozen, I melted to chocolate bar in a bowl over a small pot of boiling water. I do have a real double boiler, but I think I can get by without it and this worked great. I added a little, very little, corn syrup. This is the point at which I was wishing I had a real recipe. It was way too thick. I am assuming I should have had more corn syrup or something, but the melted chocolate looked and tasted great.
I put the chocolate in a cup to make it easier to dip the bananas. I got the frozen bananas out of the freezer and dipped them in the chocolate. It was WAY too thick! The first banana had full coverage, but the chocolate was maybe twice as much as I wanted to use. The second banana had most of it covered, but it was very splotchy (the technical term!). After only two bananas, the chocolate in the cup was getting hard again, so I put the whole cup in the microwave to melt it again. It melted, but did not stick well to the remaining banana halves. FYI: There were 6 banana halves to feed my family of five.
I will do these again, because they tasted amazing, but next time, I want the chocolate more “runny” and will follow a recipe to get that.
Kristen also writes for Kristen is Organized! and loves to organize her own kitchen, herself and others.
I saw an episode of Healthy Cooking with Ellie Kreiger on the food network on Saturday. I know by the contents of this blog, you would never know it but most of the time, we do eat pretty healthy, so this is one of our favorite shows. Even DH and the kids watched the show! Anyway, she made these and they looked good, healthy, and easy. I should have gone out to the website to get the recipe. But I thought I knew better and could just do it.
I went to the store to get bananas and chocolate. I wanted to melt dark chocolate to make it as healthy as possible. My store did not have anything in dark chocolate besides the baking squares in the baking aisle. I looked. For a long time. So I ended up back in the candy aisle and got a chocolate bar there.
I cut each banana in half, stuck in a stick (I had sewers at home, so I chopped them in half and used the pointy side of those. The episode I saw called for popsickle sticks). I froze the cut bananas with a stick in them. Those would have probably been pretty good as is!
After they were frozen, I melted to chocolate bar in a bowl over a small pot of boiling water. I do have a real double boiler, but I think I can get by without it and this worked great. I added a little, very little, corn syrup. This is the point at which I was wishing I had a real recipe. It was way too thick. I am assuming I should have had more corn syrup or something, but the melted chocolate looked and tasted great.
I put the chocolate in a cup to make it easier to dip the bananas. I got the frozen bananas out of the freezer and dipped them in the chocolate. It was WAY too thick! The first banana had full coverage, but the chocolate was maybe twice as much as I wanted to use. The second banana had most of it covered, but it was very splotchy (the technical term!). After only two bananas, the chocolate in the cup was getting hard again, so I put the whole cup in the microwave to melt it again. It melted, but did not stick well to the remaining banana halves. FYI: There were 6 banana halves to feed my family of five.
I will do these again, because they tasted amazing, but next time, I want the chocolate more “runny” and will follow a recipe to get that.
Kristen also writes for Kristen is Organized! and loves to organize her own kitchen, herself and others.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Lego Brick Cake icing
See the last post about the cake itself.
But the icing was SO blue that when anyone eats it, including me, the lips, tongue, and teeth all turn blue. And I gave some to the youngest, who is still learning to use the potty and needs some help with wiping and his poop is BLIGHT BLUE. That is so not natural! If ever there was a good reason to have different color icing, that is it!
But the icing was SO blue that when anyone eats it, including me, the lips, tongue, and teeth all turn blue. And I gave some to the youngest, who is still learning to use the potty and needs some help with wiping and his poop is BLIGHT BLUE. That is so not natural! If ever there was a good reason to have different color icing, that is it!
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