Tasty Thursday: Banana Nut Bread

I realize I haven't posted a Tasty Thursday in some time. I had a few extremely ripe bananas that needed to be used so last night I whipped up some Banana Nut Bread. The best part is I remembered to take some pictures so I could post it. I didn't get pictures of every step as I did find myself getting in a hurry, but I did get some. Most importantly I got a picture of the finished product.

I have searched high and low for a good Banana Nut Bread recipe, aside from getting my Grandma's...which can be quite challenging as she doesn't actually measure her recipes, but eyeballs them. This by far has been the best I have found.

First start by combining sour cream and baking soda. Set aside. It will become a little frothy.

In a large mixing bowl cream the butter and sugar together. Then add eggs, mashed up bananas, and the sour cream mixture. Mix well.

Then sift in the flour and baking powder and mix.

Add chopped nuts, pecans or walnuts. I prefer pecans.

Pour into a greased large loaf pan (or two smaller loaf pans). Bake for about an hour.

When a toothpick (or knife) inserted in the middle of the loaf comes out clean, then it's ready. Remove from the loaf pan and cool on a wire cooling rack.

When cool, wrap in aluminum foil and leave for several hours or overnight. Trust me this is a pretty vital step as the flavor will be so much better. The next day the bread will be ready to be devoured. YUM!

Banana Nut Bread

1/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp sour cream

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup butter at room temperature

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 cup mashed ripe bananas - about 2 (I use 3)

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 9x5 inch loaf pan. Combine sour cream and baking soda in a small bowl. Using a mixer, cream butter and sugar in a large bowl. Beat in eggs, bananas and sour cream mixture. Sift in flour and baking powder. Stir in nuts. Spoon mixture into prepared pan. Bake until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean or until loaf is golden brwon, about 1 hour. Cool 10 minutes. Put loaf on cooling rack. When cool, wrap in aluminum foil for several hours.

Tasty Thursday: Chocolate Molten Lava Cakes

This year when I was planning out what I was going to make for our Valentine's Dinner, I searched high and low for an easy recipe for a molten chocolate cake. As it turned out I found a recipe that seemed quick and easy on the Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen.

Unfortunately this recipe is a little TOO easy, as anytime I have a craving for these little yummy cakes I just whip them up. So here's how to make them. I half the recipe to help me control myself. The full recipe including the link to the Pioneer Woman's website will be at the end.

I started by preparing my custard cup by spraying them with Pam and set aside.

Then I placed a couple Baker's Semi-sweet baking chocolate squares and butter in a glass  bowl.

I place the bowl in the microwave and cook for 1 minute or until the butter and chocolate are melted.

Mix well. Technically you're supposed to be whisking, I forgot this detail...at least it turned out alright.

Then I add powdered sugar and mix.

I then added a whole egg and an egg yolk to the mixture and mix again.

Then add the flour and mix well.

Then divide the gooey batter between the custard cups.

Next place the custard cups on a cookie sheet and bake in an oven preheated 425 degrees for about 13 minutes.

While the cakes are baking, prepare the whipped cream. Making real whipped cream is so much easier than I ever imagined...and so much better than cool whip.

I pour some heavy whipping cream in a bowl and add some sugar. 

Whip/beat with a mixer until it stiffens.

After about 13 minutes remove the cakes from the oven, and let them sit for 1 minute. Allowing them to bake or sit too long can cook the cakes too much and they will not have the gooey center.

Carefully flip the cakes over onto a plate and add some whipped cream.

Enjoy!

Molten Chocolate Lava Cakes

For 4 servings

4 pieces semi-sweet baking chocolate

1/2 cup of butter

1 cup of powdered sugar

2 whole eggs

2 egg yolks

6 Tablespoons of flour

2 cups Real Whipping Cream

2 Tablespoons sugar

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Spray 4 custard cups with Pam and place on a cookie sheet.

Microwave chocolate and butter in a large bowl on high for about 1 minute, until butter is melted. Whisk until chocolate is also melted.

Stir in sugar until well blended. Whisk in eggs and egg yolks. Stir in flour.

Divide between cups.

Bake 13-14 minutes until sides are firm and center is soft. Let stand 1 minute.

Combine sugar adn heavy cream and whip until stiff.

Invert cakes on dishes and top with whipped cream.

Tasty Thursday: Oatmeal No Bake Cookies

In deciding what to do for this Tasty Thursday there were 3 recipes I was deciding between, unfortunately all 3 were sweets. Therefore I'm pretty sure they are all high in calories.

Since my previous post was about breastfeeding I decided to go ahead and go with the Oatmeal No Bake Cookies. Oatmeal helps increase milk production in breastfeeding women. Over the past 6 months I have constantly craved these cookies and since they are fairly simple to make I have frequently made them. I'm sure after making and eating these I'm due for a couple clogged ducts!

So here's the step by step. The full recipe is at the end.

In a medium sauce pan add 2 1/2 cups of sugar, 1/4 cup of cocoa, and 1/2 cup of milk.

Stir until blended.

Heat mixture to a roiling boil and boil for about 2 minutes.

Remove from heat and add 1 stick (1/2 cup) of butter. Allow the butter to melt, then add 1/4 cup peanut butter.

Stir until smooth.

Add 2 cups or more of old fashioned oats and mix.

Drop by spoonfuls onto wax paper. Allow the cookies to cool and they are ready to eat.

Enjoy!

Oatmeal No Bake Cookies
1/4 cup cocoa
2 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup of butter
1/4 cup peanut butter
2 cups oats.

Mix cocoa, milk and sugar together in medium sauce pan. Bring to a roiling boil for 2 1/2 minutes (you can check to see if ready by using the water in the cup method). Add butter and let it melt. Add peanut butter and mix; then add oats. Spoon on wax paper. Let cool. Makes about 1 1/2 dozen cookies depending on the size. I only managed to get about a dozen.

Tasty Thursday: Chocolate Chip Cookies

I'm very particular about my chocolate chip cookies. I really don't like them to have very many chocolate chips. Yea, yea, who doesn't like chocolate chip cookies loaded up with chocolate chips...me! So I prefer to make my own so that I have control over the amount of chocolate chips. It's not that I don't like chocolate but I like it in moderation, with the exception of Dove Milk Chocolate.

As long as I can remember my mom had made these chocolate chips cookies from the Betty Crocker Cookbook. Unfortunately I don't have step by step photos, just a picture of the finished product...isn't that the most important anyway?

Here's the recipe as found on Betty Crocker's website:

Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies

3/4 cup granulate sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup butter, softened

1 egg

2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup coarsely chopped nuts

1 package (12 oz) semisweet chocolate chips (about 2 cups)

Heat oven to 375 degrees F.

Mix sugars, butter and egg in large bowl. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt (dough will be stiff). Stir in nuts and chocolate chips.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light brown (centers will be soft). Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet. Cool on wire rack.

I have found that the nuts are optional. If I have them I'll put them in, if not they just have chocolate chips. I will note that the raw dough it pretty tasty. Another variation that my mom does is add chopped up Heath bar into them, very tasty.

Tasty Thursday: Chicken and Dumplings

One of the meals I remember my Mom always making while I was growing up was Chicken and Dumplings. It definitely set a high standard of Chicken and Dumplings for me. One day a couple weeks ago I had a craving to make it, so I did. I'm sure I have tweeked it a little from her recipe, but Nic and I really enjoy it.

I started with 4 chicken breasts and placed them in a pot. However, my mom always used a whole chicken if I remember correctly.

I sliced up the vegetables and added the onions to the pot to cook with the chicken.  

I filled the pot with half water and half chicken broth until the chicken was covered, and cook until the chicken is done.

While the chicken is cooking I made the dough for the dumplings. (See the recipe at the end.)

I will note it's not a good idea to measure out the baking powder then pour it in the tub of shortening...like I did!

Mix the dough until it's sticky and set aside.

When the chicken is finished cooking, remove from the pot and set aside to cool. Keep the heat on the stove and add the vegetables and cook until tender, which is probably about 10 minutes.

While the vegetables are cooking tear the chicken into bite sizes pieces.

Bryce's entertainment while Mommy is cooking. He loves his jumperoo!

When the vegetables are tender, drop spoonfuls of the dough into the boiling broth and cook for 5 more minutes.

Add a little pepper and it's ready to serve. Here is the finished product. Yum!

Dumplings

1/3 cup shortening

1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup milk

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Drop dumplings by the spoonful into boiling broth.

Tasty Thursday: Lemon Pepper Shrimp Skewers

My goodness this week has flown by! I'll do a quick Tasty Thursday then I'll post some on my favorite subject: Bryce.

Last Friday during my lunch I visited our friend that works in the meat department at the Food Pyramid just a mile or so from my office. There I purchased 2 lbs of large shrimp for Friday night and a couple of Ribeye steaks for Saturday night, and of course some other things.

Friday evening as soon as I got off work, I loaded up my groceries and went to pickup Bryce and Fara (the dog) from my Mom's. Forty minutes later we're at the lake in our travel trailer preparing our Shrimp Skewers. I don't really have a recipe its just something I throw together.

First I began by soaking a handful of bamboo skewers in water. Doing this keeps the wooden skewers from burning and/or catching fire. At this time Nic was also busy getting the grill fired up. We use good ol' Kingsford charcoal, no propane grill here!

While the skewers soaked, I cut up a couple yellow squash, a zuchini, and an onion. While I was cutting the veggies, Nic was busy peeling the 2 lbs of shrimp. Since Bryce was born, dinner has became a teamwork effort.

Once the shrimp was peeled, I tossed them in some extra virgin olive oil until well coated. Then I sprinkled some lemon pepper over the shrimp and tossed again.

I then began loading up our skewers in no particular order, I did try to atleast have a piece of onion next to every shrimp. Once the skewers were loaded I did one more sprinkle of lemon pepper before we placed them over a hot grill.

Unfortunately I was in a hurry so I didn't take the time to take many pictures. But here is a picture of the skewers just shortly after they were placed on the grill.

Nic tended to the grill, turning and rotating the skewers to make sure they were all cooking evenly. The total cook time was probably around 15 minutes. It probably wouldn't have taken so long if Nic had realized we were going to need the full 'surface' of the grill and had put charcoal accordingly (rather than just on one side, hence the need to rotate).

Here's the finished product.

Despite being 2 lbs of shrimp, the two of us (with Bryce eyeballing us) devoured every bit of it!

Tasty Thursday: Donna's Chicken Divine

As much as I love to constantly post about Bryce, I fear it can be a little monotonous to some (of course not me). So in addition to Monday Memory I'm going to try to do another 'feature'...I can't guarantee it will be every week, but it will be on Thursday. Therefore Tasty Thursday is born.

Before I start on the recipe, I do want to mention that Bryce did much better sleeping last night than the previous night. He's still not sleeping until 3:30 or 4am like he was before, but I was able to atleast sleep 3 hours straight.

So on to the food.

I REALLY, REALLY enjoy food, which is why you will probably never catch me doing a full fledged diet. If I get a craving for something I HAVE to have it. So naturally I enjoy cooking whether it's for a party we're hosting, for meals, or just baking. I have many favorite recipes but I'm always finding and trying new recipes. So most weeks I'm going to attempt to feature some type of food I made during the week.

This first recipe I made this evening for dinner. It's a recipe my Mom found and introduced me to, she made this for us after we brought Bryce home from the hospital. So every time I have it I reflect on those first few days of his life. Oh nostalgia! It's easy to put together but requires about an hour of cooking time. You can click below for the actual recipe. As with any recipes I'm sure it can be modified to be lower in fat.

Donna's Chicken Divine.

We just add one addition to this recipe. You'll see what it is.

Please bear with me as I learn to take better photos of food.

I start by placing my chicken in the middle of the dish. I prefer to have 4 smaller breasts or even tenders instead of 3 larger breasts, but this is what I had.

This is what Bryce did while I was cutting up the potatoes. I can do most anything holding him, but cutting up vegetables with a knife is definitely not one of them. Thank goodness he loves his walker, it has freed up my arms many times.

I prefer red potatoes, so I cut up probably 8 or 9 small red potatoes about 1/2 to 1 inch in size. Now place the potatoes on one side of the chicken.



Then take a can of WHOLE green beans (juice and all) and pour into the other side of the dish.

The uncooked dish looks like this.

Melt a 1/2 cup or 1 stick of butter.

To the melted butter I added dry Italian dressing mix and mixed them together. Then I poured it over the potatoes, chicken, and green beans, using a rubber spatula to scrape any remaining dressing mix and butter.

Here comes the special ingredient my mother and I add. Head Country Seasoning. I love this stuff and use it in a lot of other recipes. We sprinkle it over the entire dish.

Here's what it looked like just before I covered it with aluminum foil and place it in the oven.

Cover with aluminum foil and place in the oven, which was preheated to 350 degrees.

So while the dish was baking in the oven Nic, Bryce and I all went outside so we could pull weeds in the garden. Here's Bryce on a blanket next to the garden...of course Sophie is in his hands and mouth.

About an hour later the dish came out of the oven and looks like this. Be careful not to get burned by the steam when removing the foil.

Tonight we're going to grill some shrimp and vegetable skewers. Hopefully I'll be able to share that next week.