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the best banana muffins
February 25, 2009 – 11:19 am
Recently I posted a recipe for chocolate chip banana muffins. I found a banana bread recipe from Martha Stewart while web surfing that was touted as being extra special, so I decided to give it a try because I had these bananas that were on their last legs.
Here’s the recipe with the slight changes I made. Makes about 18 muffins.
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, at room temperature [I used 1/4 c. butter.]
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cups unbleached flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup mashed very ripe bananas [I added some apple butter.]
- 1/2 cup sour cream [I used light sour cream.]
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans [I omitted these.]
- I added 1/2 c. mini chocolate chips.
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Line muffin tins with paper liners.
Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs, beating well.
Sift the dry ingredients together and combine with butter mixture, mixing well.
Mash the bananas, then add them, the sour cream, and vanilla and mix well.
Stir in the nuts and/or mini chocolate chips.
After mashing the bananas, I didn’t have quite the cup required, so I added some apple butter to make up the difference.
The batter looked like this when done.
Pour batter into muffin tins.
I took the crumb topping from this recipe for Banana Crumb Muffins.
- 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon butter
Mix together the brown sugar, the flour and cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle topping on muffins. I put about one and a half teaspoons on each muffin.
Bake 350* for 18-20 minutes.
Allow to cool for about 15 minutes before removing paper liners.
Delicious! This is now my favorite banana muffin recipe.
After a day or two, the flavor is enhanced by warming them in the microwave for 15 seconds or so.
~~Rhonda 🙂
flatbread pizza
February 24, 2009 – 1:04 pm
Timing for supper was off a bit as DD had volleyball practice and DH got home sooner than I thought he would. So we waited to eat until after practice. I had planned to make pizza dough, but decided to use the last of the flatbread for pizzas, instead. These make quick and easy pizzas. DH said he prefers them over commercial pizzas (i.e., Dominoes, Caseys, Pizza Hut…the ones available in our town). And they are way cheaper to make than pizza is to order!
Preheat oven to 425*. Begin by placing the flatbread on a cookie sheet lined with no-stick foil. Or spray regular foil with vegetable spray. Or use a pizza stone. Or set them on parchment paper (I’m out…it’s on the grocery list). Bake the flatbread for four or five minutes. Prebaking the crust helps keep it crisp while baking the finished pizza.
While the flatbread is baking, spray a pan with vegetable spray and saute any veggies or cooked meat you want on your pizza. I used what we had on hand: lean ham, grape tomatoes, and fresh spinach. I’ve used green onions, zucchini, yellow squash, mushrooms, bacon bits, and cooked hamburger before, to mention of few. Go with anything that sounds good to you. Sauteing the veggies/meat before baking the pizza keeps the baking time short.
After the meat and tomatoes had seared a bit, I added 2 cloves of minced garlic and sauted for another minute or so. Then I added diced spinach leaves. Use about twice what you think you will need as it wilts by a lot while cooking. Toss the spinach with the other ingredients until well mixed, then remove from the heat. Set aside until needed.
Remove the flatbread from the oven and spread it with spaghetti or pizza sauce. I used leftover spaghetti sauce I had in the freezer. Sprinkle the sauce with some basil and oregano, if you like. I do, so I did.
Sprinkle the pizzas with some freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Spread the sauted toppings over the pizzas. DD likes cheese pizza, so I left one plain.
Top with shredded mozzarella or other cheeses of your choosing. Amount depends on your personal preferences.
Bake at 425* for about 8 minutes, until cheese just begins to brown. Let cool slightly, cut and serve. I had four flatbreads so I made four pizzas. Worked out fine, though one pizza per person is plenty, unless you’re feeding growing boys.
Very good, quick and easy. And for those of you counting Weight Watcher points, this is an easy meal to customize for a low point lunch or supper. It’s a fun meal for children, too, as they can make their own versions with available ingredients. Flour tortillas can be used in place of flatbread.
One tip, do line the cookie sheet or the shredded cheese will be hard to clean off the pan.
~~Rhonda
birthday bears
February 24, 2009 – 8:47 am
Last night, DH spent a little time with a new slide scanner. He scanned several and one of them was this picture of our older son’s 6th birthday in 1985.
I used the same pan (and a cat cake pan that is just as old) for his twins’ first birthday last year.
DD#3 wanted it for her birthday just a few weeks ago.
I also have a star. That’s the extent of my themed cake pans. They’ve been well used over the years. Worth every penny. 🙂
~~Rhonda
menu plan monday ~ february 23, 2009
February 22, 2009 – 10:42 pm
I’m hoping for sunshine this week, though the forecast does not look promising. So I’m staying indoors, looking out. I feel like Happy looks…I need a cozy spot to curl up until spring comes.
The menu has to accommodate a couple of busy nights this week. And we didn’t get to the Bisquik chicken fingers last week, so have it planned again. DD asked for it particularly, so I’ll try to get it done this time.
Monday
pizza with homemade crust
Tuesday
grilled cheese sandwiches
tomato soup
Wednesday
Bisquick chicken fingers
honey mustard dipping sauce
oven fried potato wedges
carrot/celery sticks
Thursday
leftovers
Friday
pasta with walnut sauce
Ceasar salad
Saturday
crock pot beef stew
Sunday
crock pot chicken cordon bleu
spinach salad with strawberries
broccoli
corn
mixed berry clafouti
More menu and recipes ideas can be found at Menu Plan Monday.
~~Rhonda 🙂
drapes in the guest room
February 22, 2009 – 3:12 pm
Redecorating the guest room, which was such a priority just before the holidays, has slowed way down. Thank goodness! I have been enjoying some time off from that project. I was just in there, though, sitting in the comfy chair, pondering some rearranging. I realized I hadn’t shown you the drapes! Laurie, my very sweet and dear friend, volunteered to make the drapery panels for the room.
Laurie saw this idea in a decorating magazine. So cute! And it leaves the beveled glass door panes free of covering, which I like a lot. Here, they are pulled to the left.
They can stand at both sides of the door.
Or be pulled shut when privacy is wanted. I have the panels for the window on the left wall in this picture. Laurie is working on the ones for the opposite larger window. For the holidays, we repurposed sheer panels that came from the master bedroom, which got new panels this year. These look perfect in this room and I plan to leave them up, under the drapes.
I *love* them. Exactly what I had in mind. BTW, I also love, love, love the darker blue ceiling! This room has 8′ ceilings and I was worried the dark color would not work. But it looks great and gets a lot of compliments when visitors see the room.
~~Rhonda
farm-country multi grain bread
February 20, 2009 – 8:44 pm
This afternoon I tried the recipe for Farm-Country Multi Grain Bread. Delicious!
2 cups milk
1 cup old fashioned oats
2/3 cup brown sugar
5 tablespoons butter, softened
2 teaspoons salt
2 eggs
2 tablespoons active dry yeast
1/2 cup wheat germ (or substitute whole wheat flour)
3 cups whole wheat flour
3 cups all purpose flour, plus more if needed
Heat the milk to about 115*. Pour the milk into the bowl of a standing mixer. Add the oats, sugar, butter and salt, and mix well, using the dough hook.
Add the eggs and mix well. Add the yeast, wheat germ and whole wheat flour. Mix well. Add the remaining flour until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Knead for about five minutes.
Pour a little oil into the bottom of the bowl and turn the dough to coat well. Cover with a dish towel and let the dough rise until doubled in bulk, for about an hour.
Punch down and let rest for a few minutes.
Cut in half and form two loaves.
Place the loaves into greased loaf pans and let rise for about an hour, until doubled in bulk.
Bake at 350* for 55-60 minutes.
Turn out onto a cooling rack and cover with a dish towel to cool. My bread turned out darker than the original recipe because I added milled flax seed in place of wheat germ.
Everyone loved the bread. I’ll make this again. Soon. 🙂 ~~Rhonda
blokus
February 20, 2009 – 5:27 pm
A birthday gift, Blokus has proven to be lots of fun. It is easy to play, at any skill level, and can be used by 2-4 players. We broke it out this afternoon and gave it a try. Fun!
~~Rhonda
cold and windy today, but yesterday smelled like spring
February 18, 2009 – 2:44 pm
Yesterday, as I drove to school to pick up DD, the air smelled like spring. It’s on its way! We went out to do some yard work today, but, even though the thermometer said 50, the 16 mph wind said 40. Too chilly for me.
We put down one load of mulch and picked up quite a few bundled Christmas tree lights that were still sitting under the red bud trees. DH is cutting up the apple tree that fell over last summer. I took a few pictures and then came in to warm up. I’ll wait for a sunnier and warmer day to be outside.
The first crocus of the year popped up today.
The daffodils are working their way skyward, as well.
There are a few buds showing. A promising sign of spring!
The garden sorrel is poking its way through the winter debris.
Can’t stop spring when the time is right. ~~Rhonda 🙂
better cheesy potato / sausage soup
February 17, 2009 – 11:46 am
Recently I posted a cheesy potato soup recipe, which was pretty good, but I have a better one now. 🙂 I have a tried and true recipe for a potato sausage casserole that I often take to church dinners. I modified that to make soup for a church dinner and made it again last weekend for an easy lunch that could sit and wait till we were ready.
2 1/2 pounds white potatoes, diced (can be peeled or not)
1 pound Kielbasa sausage, diced and browned
8 oz. jar Cheez Whiz [I used half a 16 oz. jar, as that’s what I had on hand]
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 envelope Ranch dressing mix
1 T. dried parsley flakes
salt and pepper to taste
milk, cream, and/or half and half
Dice the potatoes, cover with water and boil until just tender.
As the potatoes boil, dice the sausage and brown it in a skillet. Drain well.
[Update…I now broil the sausage on a foil-lined cookie sheet instead of browning it in a pan. Much easier clean up.]
When the potatoes are fork tender, drain and return to the pot. Add the sausage and other ingredients, except for the milk. Stir to blend well.
Pour enough milk (may use half ‘n half and/or cream, as well) to cover the contents of the pan. Heat to simmer and serve.
To make the original recipe as a casserole, follow above, but leave out the milk. Pour into a greased casserole dish and bake, covered, in a 350* oven for an hour. Remove the lid/cover and bake 10 minutes longer.
I like to double the recipe (leaving out the milk) and put it into a greased crock pot. Cook on high for 3-4 hours and you have a great take-along dish for a potluck dinner or even a wiener roast. It always gets rave reviews.
~~Rhonda 🙂