Recipe: Easy, Fluffy, and Moist Banana Pancakes

Oh wow were these a hit! Both of my sons and Keith loved these delicious pancakes!

Ingredients

• 3 3/4 C all-purpose flour
• 3 TBSP sugar
• 2 TBSP baking powder
• 1 TSP cinnamon
• 1 TSP salt (I use kosher salt)
• 3 C milk
• 1 1/2 C mashed ripe bananas
• 6 TBSP melted butter
• 3 large eggs

Directions

Stir/whisk all the dry ingredients in a bowl (flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt). In a separate bowl stir/whisk the milk, banana, melted butter, and eggs. Gently pour the wet bowl into the dry, and stir JUST until there’s no obvious chunks of flour. You want lumps, lumps equal pancake perfection.

Grease a skillet or griddle (I used butter yum) and heat over medium heat (approx 300 degrees on a griddle): pour in 1/4 cup batter for each pancake. Cook the pancakes about 3 – 4 minutes per side, I use a timer. You want these to be golden brown, not pale or burnt.

I topped with butter, Keith put peanut butter on some of his, Tristan preferred to just cram them in his mouth (baby led eating at its finest lol), and Daniel liked maple syrup (the real stuff of course!).

Try these out and let me know how you enjoy them!

Thursday Q&A {2}

Catie at Tales of A Midwestern Housewife asks:
What are your top 3 favorite things to cook or eat, and why? (bonus points for recipes!)

Oh my ULTIMATE favorite would be Mexican / Tex Mex. I can only assume it comes from my living in Arizona for my formative years! During BOTH pregnancies it was all I craved. Keith indulged me by making fajitas practically every night in the first trimester with Tristan! One of my favorite recipes would be my Pumpkin Tortilla Soup!

Most of our go-to dinner’s are along that cuisine theme. For example last night we made Chicken Fajita Rice Bowls, (shot on my iPhone), so tasty!

We have taco night often and I even make a tasty Southwestern Pasta!

I also do a lot of Italian cooking, tonight I plan on doing a roasted garlic and butternut squash risotto, hopefully it comes out tasty!

So to sum it up, my top three favorite things to cook & eat would be Mexican / Tex-Mex / Italian cuisines!

Recipe: Baked Penne w/Butternut Squash, Ricotta, Bacon, & Walnuts

This is a delicious Autumn themed meal and very filling! The walnuts add a nice flavor and crunch while the bacon… is bacon! Smokey and AWESOME!

Ingredients

• 2 LBS butternut squash, cubed and peeled
• 5 C whole-wheat penne, cooked
• 1 1/4 C milk (I used 2%)
• 2 TBSP all-purpose flour
• 1/2 C part-skim ricotta cheese
• 1/3 C Parmesan cheese, grated (I use REAL Parmesan Reggiano)
• 1/4 C walnuts, chopped and toasted
• 4 slices of thick cut bacon, cooked crisp and chopped
• 6 cloves of garlic, minced
• kosher salt to taste (the type of salt I use)
• freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 2 TSP fresh thyme leaves, chopped (you could also use dried)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375ºF. Coat a cookie (baking) sheet and a 2 1/2– to 3-quart baking dish with cooking spray.

2. Place squash on baking sheet; sprinkle salt and grind pepper over the squash and roast until tender, about 30 minutes. Place in a large bowl and mash until all the cubes are broken up but not totally smooth. I use a potato masher for this NOT a hand-mixer.

3. In a large saucepan, whisk together milk, flour, garlic, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, whisking frequently; reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring often, until thickened, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in mashed squash, chopped bacon, and the fresh thyme. Add sauce to pasta; toss to mix and coat.

4. Transfer pasta mixture to prepared baking dish; dot with spoonfuls of ricotta and then sprinkle with Parmesan and walnuts. Bake until top is lightly browned in a few spots, about 20 minutes; remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes.

Makes about 1 cup per serving and this recipe makes 8 servings. You can eliminate the bacon to make this dish vegetarian as well!

My Thanksgiving Menu

I am SO freaking excited about making Thanksgiving Dinner.

I love to cook and more importantly, I love to cook for my family! This year I am having Daniel help me out because he loves to create, cook, and I’ve always felt that baking, roasting, whatever it is, even basic prep work like cutting celery, can give one a sense of accomplishment.

So this year we will be making the following from scratch:

• Roast Turkey (20lbs!) with roasted garlic, white wine, fresh thyme, and butter
• Gravy made from the turkey drippings
• Creamy Mashed Potatoes
• Cranberry Sauce
• Baby Carrots with Brown Sugar and Butter
• Pumpkin Dinner Rolls
• Hot Spinach Dip
• Sausage, Apple, and Mushroom Cornbread Stuffing
• Angel Biscuits
• Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies
• Apple Pie
• Pumpkin Pie
• Double Pumpkin Bread Pudding

Am I forgetting any “classic” side dish or dessert? What are you cooking for Thanksgiving this year? If you’re not cooking, what are your plans?

Recipe: Snickerdoodles

Such a soft and tasty cookie! My family LOVES these and as long as you have room-temperature butter on the counter, they are SUPER fast to make.

Ingredients:

• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 2 sticks of unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1 1/2 C granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Cinnamon-Sugar Mixture

• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 TBSP granulated sugar

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. My oven sucks and is like 40 years old so I did 375 degrees.
2. Stir together the flour, baking powder, salt, and freshly grated nutmeg.
3. In a separate bowl, cream the sugar and butter until pale and fluffy. I use a hand-mixer because I am not fancy enough to afford a Kitchen Aid stand mixer. Add your eggs and vanilla and mix until well incorporated.
4. Now carefully mix in your flour mixture. Start at a low speed and work to the highest speed so you don’t get flour all over the kitchen or on yourself!
5. In a small bowl, mix up the cinnamon sugar mixture, this is to roll the dough in for tasty goodness.
6. I used a 1 1/2 inch ice cream scoop so I had even cookies (mostly even!) or you can just make about 20 balls. So grab some dough, shape into a ball, and roll around in the cinnamon sugar mixture until its totally coated.
7. Space about 3 – 4 inches apart on a parchment paper (LOVE PARCHMENT PAPER OMG) lined cookie tray.
8. Bake 14 – 16 minutes, until the edges are golden. Let cool for about 5 min on the tray and then move to wire racks to finish cooling.

I normally make a double batch because they go so fast, they make awesome gifts, and I make my husband share them at work! I actually plan on mailing a container of these out to a friend tomorrow (if I can summon up the courage to deal with the post office), so hopefully they ship well.

Are you baking lately? Share your recipes!

Recipe: Maple Sugar Cookies

My husband and older son thought they were amazing! The little one tried to sneak off with them so I think he liked them too!

Ingredients

• 3 C all-purpose unbleached flour
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 2 sticks of unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 C granulated sugar
• 1/2 C light brown sugar, packed
• 1 large egg yolk
• 3/4 C good quality REAL maple syrup

Cookie Topping Ingredients

• 1/2 C good quality REAL maple syrup
• White sanding sugar (decorative sugar crystals)

Directions

1. Stir the flour and salt in a bowl.
2. Cream the butter, granulated sugar, and light brown sugar in a separate bowl until pale and fluffy. Add your egg yolk and maple syrup.
3. Add in your flour mixture and mix until combined. Shape into two disks and keep the fridge for about 2 hours to rest.
4. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. My oven is evil so I did 350 degrees.
5. Roll out one disk of dough and using whatever awesome cookie cutter you have, cut out as many cookies as possible and place on a baking sheet that’s lined with parchment paper, about 1 inch apart. Re-roll scraps and repeat until you have no room on the baking sheet.
6. Bake 15 – 17 minutes until edges are golden. Let cool for about 5 minutes and then brush with the maple syrup and sprinkle with the sanding sugar.

It’s a very pretty cookie overall and a different take on the more standard sugar cookie!

Grocery Shopping Woes

I just got home from the grocery store and again, I am dismayed at how EXPENSIVE it is!

Those berries? On sale! Blackberries for a pint container were $1, the strawberries for a 1lb container $2.50, and the pint of blueberries was $2.00. Considering how we ALL love fruit around here, I thought that was a great deal, especially in the winter.

However, the overall bill was AGAIN over $150 and I don’t understand it. The only meat I purchased was chicken breasts (on sale) and a rotisserie chicken for chicken salad for my lunches this week.

I menu plan AND write out a specific grocery list. I don’t buy extras. I do know I buy a LOT of produce and I am not willing to give that up in favor of processed junk.

The cashier even made a comment to me that she’s never seen me spend less than $100 a week on groceries. I don’t know if I should be offended or not.

I feel like either I will spend a ton of money on healthy GOOD food, or spend barely any money on food that will be slowly killing us over time. The second of which is simply not an option.

Do you have any tricks, tips, suggestions on how to help cut down the grocery bill in the winter without sacrificing healthy produce?

Recipe: Penne with Shrimp, Peas, and Pesto

This is so lovely and tasty! I created this since I wanted the FLAVOR of risotto but didn’t have any arborio rice to MAKE risotto.

Ingredients:

• 5 C whole wheat penne — cooked
• 3 cloves garlic — minced
• 2 medium shallots — minced
• 1/2 C white wine
• 1 TBSP butter
• 1/2 C reserved pasta water
• 1 C frozen peas
• 12oz frozen shrimp — peeled and deveined
• 1/4 C prepared jarred pesto
• 2 1/2oz Parmesan cheese — weighed THEN grated
• Kosher Salt
• Freshly Ground Black Pepper
• cooking spray

Directions:

1. In a large pot that’s been sprayed with cooking spray on medium heat, add your shallots and cook until soft, about 2 – 3 minutes. Stir often as we don’t want BURNED shallots!
2. Add your garlic and the white wine. Reduce the wine for about 4 – 5 minutes.
3. Add in your peas, shrimp, a bit of the cooking water from the pasta, and the pesto.
4. Cook for about 8 minutes, until the peas and shrimp are heated through. Add in your Parmesan cheese, butter, salt, and pepper to taste. Toss with the whole wheat penne.
5. This recipe makes 6 servings. Each serving is 1C.

Everyone, especially my husband LOVED this pasta dish. It’s really so simple to make as long as you have everything on hand.

Recipe: Four Cheese Macaroni and Cheese

This is a super delicious macaroni and very creamy! If you have leftovers, you can toss in some frozen peas, chopped fresh basil, and a chopped tomato to bulk it up the next day!

Ingredients

• 1 TBSP butter (granted I use a can’t believe it’s not butter)
• 1 TBSP all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 C low-fat milk (I use 2%)
• 2 C onion, finely chopped
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 dried bay leaves
• 12 oz dried whole-wheat macaroni
• 3 1/2 oz Wisconsin Buttermilk Blue Cheese
• 2 1/2 oz Parmigiano Reggiano, grated
• 4 oz 2% cheddar, shredded
• 4 oz extra sharp cheddar, shredded
• kosher salt to taste
• freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Coat a 9x13 casserole dish with cooking spray. Cook your macaroni in a LOTTTTT of boiling, super salty water for 7 minutes. No more than that or you will end up with mushy macaroni in your final dish.
2. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Slowly add flour, stirring constantly with a whisk, cook for about 3 minutes. That’s our roux which will thicken the sauce. Slowly whisk in milk to thoroughly incorporate flour mixture. Stir in onion, garlic, and bay leaves. Simmer for 15 minutes, stirring frequently; remove from heat.
3. Combine blue cheese with about two-thirds of both types of cheddar cheese in saucepan and season to taste with salt and pepper; stir in macaroni. Pour macaroni mixture into prepared dish and sprinkle with remaining cheddar cheeses and the parmesan.
4. Bake for 25 minutes. Let stand for about 10 minutes before slicing into 8 pieces. Yields 1 piece / cup per serving.

So freaking delicious, filling, and overall it was fairly quick to make. Everyone loved it, even Sir Nummies!

Recipe: Banana Strawberry Popsicles

This is SO easy, delicious, and healthy! Everyone loved them (especially my husband)!

This recipe makes four servings of a pretty good sized Popsicle!

Ingredients

• 1 — medium sized ripe banana
• 1/2 C frozen whole strawberries, softened
• 1 tsp agave nectar
• pinch of kosher salt

Combine all ingredients in a food processor (or mash in a bowl) and blend until smooth. Add to your Popsicle molds and freeze until firm.

I use our Zoku to make them, it’s freaking awesome!