Banana Cake

I had bananas and they needed to be used!!!  Of course, I could have made banana bread or our favorite banana drop cookies, but I decided to try something new, Banana Cake.  I found this recipe through Pinterest, of course, which led me to keyingredient.com.  It was a huge hit at our house!

Banana Cake

3/4 cup butter
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups flour
1-1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1-1/2 cups buttermilk
2 tsp lemon juice
1-1/2 cups mashed bananas

Frosting:
1/2 cup butter, softened
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
3-1/2 cups confectioners sugar (powdered)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 275 degrees.  Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan.  In a small bowl, mix mashed bananas with lemon juice, set aside. 
In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in the eggs one at a time then stir in vanilla.  Add in baking soda and salt.  Alternately mix in flour and buttermilk.  Stir in banana mixture and pour into prepared pan.
Bake for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.  Remove from oven and place directly into freezer for 45 minutes.  This will make the cake very moist.
Frosting:  Cream butter and cream cheese until smooth.  Beat in vanilla then add powdered sugar until combined.  Beat on high until frosting is smooth.  Spread on cooled cake.

Spaghetti Casserole

This is a family favorite!  Definitely a comfort food...a recipe from John's sisters that I've modified just a bit:

Spaghetti Casserole
1 pound ground beef or Italian sausage
1 large jar spaghetti sauce
16-24 oz. spaghetti noodles
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup mozzarella cheese, grated

Brown ground beef or sausage then drain.  Add cream of mushroom soup and spaghetti sauce and mix well.  Simmer.  Boil noodles.  Pour cooked noodles into a 9x13 pan, top with meat/sauce mixture then sprinkle with cheese.  Bake at 325 degrees for about 25 minutes.

Berry Vanilla Pecan Oatmeal

It's been a chilly spring so far... I woke up the other morning and just wanted something warm.  As I was going through my memory banks trying to think of something good for breakfast, it hit me - oatmeal!  It couldn't be just plain oatmeal though, it had to be exciting or I'd get the eye roll from Taylor for sure!  I started to dig through my pantry and fridge...moldy strawberries (bummer), pecans, almonds, dried apricots, craisins, frozen berries.  Hmmm...I've got it!  So here's my version of oatmeal:

Berry Vanilla Pecan Oatmeal
1-3/4 cup water
1-3/4 cup milk
dash of salt
2 cups quick oats
1 cup Kirkland frozen berry mix
1/4 cup pecans, coarsely chopped
1 tsp vanilla
brown sugar

Boil water, milk and salt.  Add berries and bring back to a boil.  Add oats and pecans, cook for about 5-8 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.  Dish into bowls and top with brown sugar.  This was enough for 4 good size servings.

Edna Mae's Sour Cream Pancakes (taken from The Pioneer Woman)

This recipe was taken from The Pioneer Woman.  I made these for breakfast one weekday morning.  I specify weekday because they were so simple and delicious that it wasn't a "chore" to make breakfast.  It made enough that me and each of the girls had 3 pancakes each - it was the perfect amount!  I highly recommend trying these!  One thing I might do next time I make them is add some ground flax seed.  Enjoy!!

Edna Mae’s Sour Cream Pancakes

Prep Time:  10 Minutes

Cook Time:  10 Minutes

Difficulty:  Easy

Servings:  2

Ingredients

• 1 cup Sour Cream
• 7 Tablespoons All-purpose Flour
• 2 Tablespoons Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 2 whole Large Eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• Butter, For Frying And Serving
• Warm Syrup, For Serving

Preparation Instructions

In a small bowl, whisk together eggs and vanilla. Set aside.
In a separate small bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt.
In a medium bowl, stir together the sour cream with the dry ingredients until just barely combined (don't overmix.) Whisk in the egg mixture until just combined.
Heat a griddle over medium-low heat and melt some butter in the pan. Drop batter by 1/4 cup servings onto the griddle. Cook on the first side until bubbles start to form on the surface and edges are starting to brown. Flip to the other side and cook for another minute. (Pancakes will be a little on the soft side.)
Serve with softened butter and syrup.

 

Please note:  Taking pictures of food is NOT as easy as it may seem.

Enchurritos & Spanish Rice

We have some really good friends that invited us over for a Super Bowl party earlier this year.  We enjoyed Enchurritos and rice while watching football.  They were amazing!  We've talked about them ever since, so I decided it was time to make our own.  Taylor keeps referring to them as Bob-urritos, so call them what you like, but they were delicious!!

Enchurritos Bob-urritos
2 lbs ground beef
1 tsp garlic salt
2 tsp chipotle seasoning
1 tsp onion powder (or 1/2 cup finely chopped onion)
1/2 cup tomato sauce
12 flour tortillas
1 can refried beans
1 large can red enchilada sauce
1 cup shredded medium cheddar cheese (pepper jack would be good too)
sour cream, optional

Place ground beef in skillet and season with garlic salt, chipotle and onion powder.  Brown.  Drain any excess grease off meat.  Add tomato sauce and mix well.  Lay out flour tortillas, top with about 1 tablespoon of refried beans, hamburger meat and shredded cheese. 

Roll tortillas burritos style and place in 9x13 baking pan (sprayed with cooking spray).  Pour enchilada sauce over the top of the burritos and then top with more shredded cheese.

Spanish Rice
2 cups brown rice
1/4 cup oil
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1 tsp salt
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups water, warm
1 tsp chicken bouillon
2 tsp cumin

Heat oil in frying pan on medium heat.  Add rice and cook until golden brown.  Add bouillon to water.  When rice is brown, add tomato sauce, salt, garlic, cumin, cilantro and water to pan.  Stir and cover, simmer for 45-60 minutes.
This recipe was modified from Spanish Rice on Lil' Luna.

Watergate Salad

We recently had this salad at a family gathering.  My family absolutely loved it!  So, I got on Pinterest, searched and found it:

Watergate Salad

 

1 can (20 oz.) crushed pineapple in juice, undrained

1 pkg. (3.4 oz.) JELL-O Pistachio Flavor Instant Pudding

1/2 cup JET-PUFFED Miniature Marshmallows

1-1/2 cups thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping

1/2 cup chopped pecans, optional

Mix all ingredients together and refrigerate for 1 hour.

This was on Kraft Foods web site.  They also had a "light" version.  We didn't add the pecans, but I think it would be good with them.

 

 

Banana, Coconut and Chocolate Chip Muffins

We love, Love, LOVE muffins for breakfast, lunch, dinner or snack at our house!  This is a recipe I found through Pinterest originally, but I have modified it just a bit from the original:

Banana, Coconut and Chocolate Chip Muffins
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
3 overripe bananas
1 tsp vanilla
1-1/2 cups white flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup sweetened coconut flakes, divided
1/2 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray muffin pay with cooking spray or line.  In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until creamy.  Add the eggs, bananas and vanilla then continue beating until well combined.  Add baking soda and salt to egg mixture, then add flours until just combined.  Add 3/4 cup of coconut and most of the chocolate chips, mix gently.  Spoon batter evenly into muffin cups.  Sprinkle remaining coconut and chocolate chips on the tops of each muffin. This recipe usually makes 18 muffins.
Bake for about 20 minutes until golden brown.

**My picture is very blurry, but it'll give you an idea at least.