June 28, 2013

Banana Bread {Dairy Free}



I'm weird about bananas-I will only eat them when they are green or bright yellow.  If they get even a little brown mark, I won't touch them.  I'll use ripened ones for smoothies and then, when they get ugly, they are worthy of banana bread!

I use this recipe right now because I'm a heifer nursing mama and this thing has a dairy allergy:(  I'm pretty sure 75% of American foods have dairy in them- arrghhhh.  But, she's worth it.





Recipe:

5 large "rotten" bananas
1 1/4 C. sugar
2 eggs
1/2 C. oil
1 tsp Vanilla
2 C. Flour
1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
3/4 tsp Baking Soda
3/4 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Salt

*Put the bananas in a Kitchen Aid with the paddle attachment and let it run for about a minute.  Add the sugar and let it mix another minute.  Add the remaining wet ingredients and make sure everything is well combined.  In a separate bowl, mix dry ingredients together with a whisk.  Add to the banana mixture and mix until the flour is almost combined.  Turn off the kitchen aid and finish mixing with a spatula, scraping down the sides and bottom.  Spray and flour 3-4 mini bread pans.  Bake for 40-45 minutes at 350 degrees.  Run a knife along the sides of the pan to release the bread, move to a wire rack and let cool for 5-10 minutes before cutting.


Tips:
  • The uglier your bananas are, the better your bread will taste.  Don't let them mold, but let them get nice and brownish/black.  
  • Throw them in the Kitchen Aid with the paddle attachment and let it mix for one minute.  This does the mashing for you.  I don't measure smashed bananas cause it's messy and.......... messy.  Use 5 bananas and you'll be fine.
  • I don't own a sifter, so a whisk is as good as it gets.  With breads like this, I always find that the flour needs to be broken up so it's less likely to clump when you add it to the wet mixture.  You don't want to see any flour-make sure it's all mixed in, but careful not to over mix.
  • DON'T over bake- I start checking mine at 38 minutes and take them out when a knife comes out clean.




Smother with butter (since I can't) and enjoy!

June 6, 2013

Party Favor



So my first post isn't a recipe-HA!  But I went to a Girls Night Out on Tuesday and they sent us home with these adorable gift boxes!  They were so fun, I had to make a post for them.

 I took mine apart to see how it was folded since I couldn't find the pattern online.  I'm not the best at explaining paper origami, so follow the pictures:)  Grab a 12" scrapbook sheet of paper-







 Make a mark 5" in on both sides, fold and crease well.  It should look like this when you're done.  With the small strip laying horizontal, make a mark 3" in on both sides of the paper-fold and crease.




 It should now look like this: (sorry, I rotated my picture-don't let that throw you off)



Keep the small center strip laying horizontal.  That skinny rectangle has four corners on the perimeter of the paper- take one corner and bend the paper so it will lay flat against the 3" crease line. 




Crease the fold line down.  Do this three more times with the other corners.




If you unfold everything, it should look like this.  Now get your glue stick out.








There are four trapezoids-you'll glue those to the large squares.  Then glue the triangles down on top.  If this doesn't make any sense, then you're doing great!  Just follow the pictures!








Pull the tops together and make a mark at 2" & 4"-use a hole punch to make the holes.


The top is just regular weight scrapbook paper.  Cut it into a 3"X6" rectangle.  Fold in half and line the middle to the top of the box and make a mark where the holes go.  Punch away. 


Take a 17" piece of ribbon and thread it through the top piece first, then the tops of the box, then the top piece again to pull everything together.  
There you have it!  Fill it with candy or lotion and it becomes a perfect, very inexpensive gift.  




June 4, 2013

My Sous Chefs

I love being in the kitchen.  When I was six, I would sneak to the kitchen when no one was around and make some concoction, all the while talking as if someone was videotaping me like I was on t.v. (I secretly still do that for fun every now and then!)  So my love for cooking goes way back.  It wasn't until I was married that I really got comfortable at cooking, and now, I am always on the search for delectable dishes.

That being said, my sisters (and I have four of them) know that when they come to visit, dinner is the highlight of the day.  I let them pick the meal on one condition-they have to be my sous chefs.

Now that they're grown up and have "kitchen duty", they often call to ask for those recipes and how to make them.  This blog is dedicated to them so they can still be my sous chefs from a distance!