I am no longer actively blogging here at "Taking Time To Create", but I'd love for you to join me at my new blog: "Taking Time In The City". I hope to see you soon!

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Recipe Thursday {Good Ol' Banana Bread & Our Latest Favorites}

I know, know...I posted a banana bread recipe last week. :-) I didn't have an actual recipe to share with you today, but when I picked up my little guy after work yesterday, my sister surprised me with a loaf of banana bread. I decided it was too pretty and yummy not to share.


She used the recipe that I started with for the Peanut Butter Banana Muffins. It is the best banana bread you will ever taste! Our dog was even hoping for a bite when I was taking the picture outside.
This is Beau (who needs a haircut!)
Here's the recipe:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees

Ingredients:
  • 2 sticks (1 cup) margarine or butter
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 TBSP lemon juice
  • 3 large mashed (in a food processor) bananas
Blend margarine, eggs and sugar. Add bananas; mix. Sift together dry ingredients. Add together with vanilla and lemon juice. Grease and flour 2 loaf pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Bread is finished when a toothpick or knife comes out clean (like with a cake).


I also thought I'd share some recipes we've tried lately and have become some of our favorites. I tend to look for meals that we can do in the slow cooker, or I can get mostly ready for my husband to just pop them in the oven since I work in the afternoon and don't get home until dinner time. These are some of our favorites:



This Pizza Spaghetti Bake from The Kitchen is My Playground is soooo good! My husband said this is how we should always eat spaghetti. I cut the recipe in half and it's the perfect size for our little family. you can get it all put together in the afternoon/late morning, put it in the fridge, and then take it out and bake it when it's time to get dinner ready. Super easy.





We still like regular spaghetti though, and this slow cooker recipe from Six Sisters Stuff makes me think that I may never buy sauce for regular spaghetti again. It's so easy to make and so, so delicious.

A quick tip when making something with tomato sauce: Try putting a little baking soda (like 1/8 of a tsp) in the sauce when you're cooking it. It helps to neutralize the acid in the tomatoes. This works great for my husband who loves things with tomatoes, but the tomatoes sometimes make his tongue swell up a little. We add the baking soda, and he doesn't have a problem. :-) 












I made these French Toast Kabobs from Crumbs and Chaos for our monthly family birthday party the other day since we were doing it for breakfast. They must have been a hit as there weren't any left! I didn't think about the weapon possibility of the skewers, though, so be aware of that. :-)

These Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Breakfast Cups from Adventures of our Fami-ly were another thing I made for the family party. They were super yummy and would be great for an "on the go" breakfast.

If you'd like more recipe ideas, check out my For the Kitchen & Recipes board on Pinterest. I think that's the board that I pin to the most, so there are lots and lots of pins to check out. :-)

I'm having a blast at these lovely linking parties.

2 comments:

  1. Firstly, I love the banana bread. Banana bread is one of the first recipes I remember making with my mom (she let me mash the bananas.) So thank you for posting about it! Secondly, I'm SUPER excited about that Pizza spaghetti bake. Hubby and I make Baked ziti and freeze it (day of, Pop it frozen into the oven for 2 hours) and I wonder if this recipe would work that way too! If you get a second, I'd LOVE for you to share this at Sweet Sharing Monday http://saynotsweetanne.com/2012/sweet-sharing-monday-2/

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you so much for sharing this post on Dare to Share. We LOVE banana bread in our house. My kids ask for it every time I buy bananas. :)

    Pam
    http://pamspartyplanning.blogspot.com/2012/04/dare-to-share-5.html

    ReplyDelete

I am no longer actively blogging here at Taking Time To Create, so if you have a specific question, please email me at takingtimeinthecity@gmail.com. Thanks so much for stopping by!