Banana Bread (post #2)

A long while back I posted about baking banana bread, but I didn't include a lot of details and I didn't have all of the ingredients I normally use. So, post #2!

For baking today, because I always make a giant mess and I need to leave my house this afternoon (and I'd rather do that without flour all over my new black pants!) I donned my great grandma's very long apron. It goes almost all of the way down my legs. 

That's kind of a terrible picture, but see how long it is?!

This is the recipe I use. Followed pretty exactly this time - only changes were type of milk, no nuts, and way more chocolate - an entire bag of dark chocolate chips. 

Early stages! I didn't let the butter soften as much as it should have, so it looks more crumbly than creamy...

Isn't this the most adorable measuring cup ever? Used Vanilla Almond Milk instead of dairy. I don't even notice a difference in something like this. We typically have skim, almond, and coconut milks in the house these days! The almond goes the most slowly, so I so tend to use it for baking. 

We were out of normal table salt, so I used sea salt for this loaf. 

I always think the batter looks a bit like puke. Not as chunky this time, because my bananas were super ripe and also pretty bruised up (apparently my family thinks that if they mistreat the bananas, I will bake bread sooner) so they mashed up pretty smoothly. I also put in a whole bag of dark chocolate chips, because we love chocolate. I like the flavor of the dark chips in the banana bread best out of what I've tried. 

58 minutes in the oven and it's nicely browned. I put it in for 55, but the toothpick test said it wasn't done yet. 3 more minutes and it looks perfect!

Okay. It was actually a little overdone around the bottom edges. 

But it was chocolatey and delicious anyway.

Blueberry Pie

I hadn't made a blueberry pie in years. When I wanted a summery pie I usually made peach blackberry or peach black currant. Maybe apple. 

But the grocery store had these weird 4 pound bags of blueberries, so I thought that would be a good idea. 

Since the berries were frozen, I put the right amount in the fridge to thaw overnight.

filling recipe, bake time and temp. 

filling all mixed up and getting juicy while I make the crust.

crust recipe- the numbers in the middle, ignoring all those other notes. 

SIDE TANGENT!

Leftover crust? Roll it out, spread with butter, sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar, then roll it up again! Cut in slices, not more than an inch wide. 

bake at 350 for 20ish minutes. 

I call these Snails. 

Now, back to pie!

completed pie!

The flowers allow for the steam to escape during cooking. 

I forgot to take a picture of my own piece of pie. This is my child's next day breakfast pie. 

Apple Crumble

I literally have no idea where I got this recipe from. 

I used Gala apples for this, chopped really roughly. 

The margarine goes in with the stuff 3 lines down in the instruction part.

Used up the whipping cream we had hanging out in the fridge - half a little carton and not quite 1/4 cup of sugar.

Delicious. 

Baked Pasta

Today for dinner I wanted to make something a little different. Many years ago, when we visited my brother and sister-in-law, she made us this amazing baked macaroni. I loved it. I copied down the recipe.  

I made variations on it a couple of times, but my kids really just prefer plain pasta with some grated parmesan, so I haven't made up this recipe in years. But, time to have something a little different! 

I wrote Marie's name at the top, so I could remember who I got it from. Today when we were talking she said it was her step-dad's recipe. 

Step 1: cooking the onion.

Step 2: the sauce simmers. I didn't have any tomato juice, so I used a small can of tomato sauce instead. 

Step 3: cook pasta as sauce simmers.

How cute is this spoon rest?

Step 4: drain cooked pasta and add to sauce. This is rigatoni. That's what we had. 

The recipe called for long macaroni. I had to look that up. 

It looks like little tubes.

When it was time to cook the pasta, I actually called my sister-in-law. How much comes in a box of long macaroni? Will this one bag or rigatoni be the right amount?

It was perfect. 

Step 5: add cheese and mix it up! I probably used twice as much cheese as called for. I love cheese.

Step 6: put in baking dish. More cheese!

This part would have gone faster if I'd remembered to preheat the oven. I often forget that step.

*drools*

Step 7: eat too much pasta because it tastes so good. 

-

I loved it. My youngest didn't like it. She's not a big fan of tomatoes. I kind of expected it. The rest of the family ate it.

Coffee Cake

It is wet and cold and rainy today.

The perfect kind of day to bake something warm and sweet for breakfast. I had the perfect amount of time, too - I was up about 30 minutes before anyone else in my family usually gets up.

My mom gave me this recipe - that's her handwriting and everything! No idea where she got it from, but I would guess the back of a Bisquick box.

This time I used nonstick cooking spray on the pan. It worked just fine. 

I use my local store's Baking Mix instead of Bisquick. 

I used almond milk and margarine - but I added 3 tablespoons of margarine instead of 2, because it finished off the end of the stick and I was lazy. 

This time I used a pastry knife to make the crumble (instead of squishing it by hand) and it was much simpler and way less messy.

In the oven for 22 minutes. 

Tasted a little eggy to me - but I think that may be something about the almond milk? Becuase my waffles tasted eggy as well. Maybe the almond milk doesn't cut the egg flavor like other liquids would. 

No complaints from the first child to emerge and consume their share.

Banana Bread

I baked today! 

So I didn't have either chocolate chips or nuts. Sad. I used almond milk, and I subbed in 1/2 cup of the flour with whole wheat. I used some chocolate extract as well as vanilla.

Gloppy and ready to bake. 

Ended up being 55 minutes in the oven.

It would have tasted better with some chocolate, or spread with nutella....

It did turn out well. 

Waffles

My first post was better, but I forgot to save it before checking a text and it disappeared. 

Waffles for dinner, because the kids outvoted me.

My recipes don't typically have a lot of details. 

I usually double this, and use almond milk.

Soupy and lumpy and kind of gross looking. But perfect. 

If I don't spray each time, I get scraps instead of waffles.

About this much.

Waffles. Letting them wait on a cooling tray keeps them crisper for longer. To keep even longer, set that in a warm oven.

Makes 8 as written, 16 doubled. More or less.

Chicken Curry with Chickpeas

Since we aren't going out, I've decided to post about my cooking. 

Today's dinner is curry.

I don't follow this recipe exactly. I usually use one pan, browning chicken first, then throwing onions in while I cut chicken on the cutting board.

 I have started using coconut milk for the sauce. 

I usually throw in a can of chickpeas/garbanzo beans before the simmer. 

Sometimes I just use 2 cans of beans instead of any meat. I have made it vegan, but usually don't. The kids love it with chicken.

I serve with plain white rice.