Banana Bread

I love banana bread, it's such a comfort food. I have about 5 recipes for it but I think this is the easiest one. Hope everyone likes it!


3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup margarine or butter, softened
2 eggs
1 cup (2 medium) mashed ripe bananas
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup chopped nuts, if desired (I never desire them)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Heat oven to 350F. Grease bottom only of 9x5 or 8x4-inch loaf pan.
In large bowl, cream sugar and margarine until light and fluffy.
Beat in eggs; blend in bananas, milk, and vanilla.
In small bowl, combine flour, nuts, baking soda, and salt; mix well. Add to creamed mixture; stir just until dry ingredients are moistened.
Pour into prepared pan.
Bake at 350F for 50 to 60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Cool in pan 5 minutes; remove. Cool completely on wire rack. Wrap and store in refrigerator. 1 (16 slice) loaf.

High Altitude: Increase flour to 2 cups plus 1 tablespoon. Bake at 375F for 45 to 55 minutes.

I am feeling so much better

Alright, it is getting to be that time of year when everyone and their brother is getting sick. When I get sick I load up on Dayquil tablets, Nyquil, tissues, cough drops, and many different types of teas. My throat hurts and hurts, the only thing that helps is Chloraseptic cough drops and tea. 

Apricot Mango Rooibos is my tea of choice lately. It is a loose leaf tea that I bought from Past Tense in Lapeer, Michigan. The picture is of my ducky tea infuser, isn't it so cute!!! If you want a duck shaped one like this you can find them at these two websites, here and here. 


Loose leaf tea is the best because you can choose how strong you want it to be. I like my tea strong, so I put in a lot of leaves. Rooibos tea is great for you, in South Africa they use rooibos to help with alleviating allergies, asthma and dermatological problems. 
I don't know how to make loose leaf tea from scratch but I would love to learn, if I find a way, I will definitely get back to you all!! 

Lemon Lemon and More Lemon

So I love Lemon bars, lemon cake, lemon poppy seed muffins...etc. So I will share some recipes with you that I love.

Lemon Bars by Mary Hobson:
1 cup butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 cups flour

4 beaten eggs
2 cups sugar
6 TB lemon juice
4 TB flour

Mix butter, powdered sugar, and 2 cups flour. Pat into 9x15 cake pan. Bake at 300 degrees for 30 minutes.
Mix next 4 ingredients, pour over hot crust and bake at 300 degrees for 25 minutes.
Sprinkle with powdered sugar, cut when cool.

A great Lemon Poppy Seed muffin recipe I found was this one. I absolutely love lemon poppy seed muffins, every year for my birthday I make them for breakfast because it is so ridiculously hard to find them around here.

My Mom bought me a lemon cake about 2 years ago for my birthday, that's how much I love lemon. She even put a topper on it. As you can see above, Belle has always been my favorite Disney Princess. It was a great birthday.

Nutella!

So I heard the most appalling thing the other day when I went to buy the new Nutella & Go snack pack thing. A woman told me that she had -never- tried Nutella. This was truly appalling to me seeing as Nutella is soooo amazing! What's not to like about a hazelnut and chocolate spread!? So here is a recipe that you can use Nutella in, besides just eating it with cinnamon graham crackers. Strawberry Nutella Muffins are amazing, especially when you are looking for a breakfast treat with just enough chocolate-y goodness.

So what is this Nutella & Go snack pack I talked about earlier? It's amazing, that's what it is. hahaha

Nutella & Go comes with bread sticks to dip with. It is a great amount for any snack. At work, school, while on the road, anywhere. Haven't you ever found yourself eating Nutella out of the jar without noticing how much you are eating because it's too amazing to put down? Well, this little snack pack is just the right amount and will keep you filled. Up until 2 days ago these little packages have been so difficult to find but now you can get them at Walmart up near the registers. Keep your eyes peeled!!! 

Artichokes

I love artichokes. I know that most of you out there have never even tried one so here is a link with some directions on how to cook and eat an artichoke. Using that links directions they cut off the tips of each leaf which might make things easier but the real way to eat them is by pulling each leaf off and scraping the bottom with your teeth. The tip is pointed and a bit sharp so be careful, if you are not used to eating an artichoke then by all means cut the tips off but you don't actually need to. You can dip the rounded side of the artichoke in melted butter to add a bit more flavor if you would like. You can eat a steamed artichoke hot or cold, it just depends on how you like it. Don't forget to eat the artichoke heart! It's the best part. My Mom, sister, and I used to fight over it when sharing an artichoke together, that's how great they are.

There are many different recipes that call for artichokes or artichoke hearts. We make Hot Spinach and Artichoke dip, which is great for parties or even just a fun day trip. You don't have to eat it hot but it is best that way.
Ingredients:
8 oz cream cheese
1 cup mozzarella
1 cup parmesan
garlic powder
10 oz thawed, frozen chopped spinach
large can artichoke hearts (not marinated)
1/2 cup mayonnaise (not dressing)

Mix together in bowl and put in oven at 350F for 20-30 minutes, until golden on top.

Cooking Catastrophes

Everyone has had them but is too embarrassed to admit to them. That doesn't work in my family, however, because they usually happen when everyone else is around or walking through the kitchen. Here are a couple that I guess I can share with the world, even though my Mom has probably already told someone you know.

Catastrophe 1
About 6 years ago, you have to remember I was 14 at the time, my mom called as she was on her way home from work and asked me to make pasta and leave it on the stove when it was done in case she wasn't home yet. So as a good daughter, I made the pasta and left it on the stove...but did not drain the pasta before leaving it there for the next 10 minutes to just sit in the water. It turned to mush and I haven't lived it down. My mom and my sister bring it up quite often...and it is always to someone that is about to eat a dinner that I either made or had a hand in making.

Catastrophe 2
This happened about 4 days ago actually. I was trying to copy my friends frosting recipe because I hate butter cream frosting but she was able to make it taste pretty good. So I just copied from what I saw...turns out I used way too much Crisco and had to go buy more powdered sugar to make up for it...in the middle of mixing it all. So I had to go out and buy more powdered sugar while my mom tried to salvage what I had ruined. It was a disaster and it still tastes like regular gross butter cream frosting so I will pass on eating it. It is now in a huge tuber-ware in my garage fridge where no one has to see it or remember that it is there.

If you have any Cooking Catastrophes to share let me know so I don't feel like a complete failure when it comes to cooking at times hahaha =)

Easy Mexican Chicken

Alright, Sorry for the long wait, here is a recipe I heard about last night. I am actually really excited to test it out with all of you!

Okay, so you will need 1 piece of chicken per person, and half a jar of salsa per piece.

Place raw chicken with half a jar of salsa into crock pot on low heat. Cook for 8 hours on low heat.

When done, shred chicken and serve in tortillas or taco shells with toppings of your choice; cheese, lettuce, sour cream, tomatoes.

This is a great recipe for one or even for the whole family.

Now enjoy! I know I will be! =)