Lowfat Banana Bread

Last week, on one of Cameron's favorite TV shows, Sid the Science Kid, they made banana bread. Cameron asked if we could make some, and we happened to have some really ripe bananas in the freezer, just waiting to be made into banana bread.

I used a recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks, The All New Good Housekeeping Cookbook. We made a few small changes, but not many. I usually use the traditional Banana Bread recipe out of this cookbook, but decided to try to Lowfat Banana Bread recipe instead this time.

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup mashed very ripe bananas (we used 3 small bananas)
1 4oz cup unsweetened applesauce
2 large egg whites
1 large egg
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Here's my little helper, hard at work.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9" x 5" metal loaf pan. In large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In medium bowl, with fork, mix bananas, applesauce, egg whites, egg, and cinnamon until well blended. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture until just blended. Do not over stir!

Pour batter into pan. Bake until toothpick inserted into center comes out nearly clean, about 40 minutes. Enjoy!

Ready to go in the oven

Fresh out of the oven!

Cameronisms

Hi Everyone!

I have a few things Cameron has said recently that I wanted to write down before I lost them!

The other day, we were eating lunch after school, and we were talking about his teachers. He said "Those teachers sure know a lot of stuff.....But Miss Colleen doesn't know as much. Miss Kateen is smarter than Miss Colleen." I have no idea why he thought one teacher was smarter than the other...

Two nights ago, Cameron and I were sitting in the rocking chair in his room. We'd read a story, and said our prayer, and were just chatting about our day. Then he said to me "Oh! One more thing!" And then he clasped his little hands together and said "Lord, I know we already finished our prayer, but I have one more thing. Lord, please help everyone in the whole wide world to have a good sleep tonight." (And he brought his hands up to his ear and rested his head on them, imitating sleeping) "In Jesus' name we pray, Amen."  It was the sweetest thing I think I've ever heard from him. He was so sincere, and thought of it all on his own. I had tears in my eyes. Man, I love that boy more than words....

Pan-Roasted Porterhouse with Mushrooms and Rosemary Butter

Hi Everyone!

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving weekend. I know I did. Full of family, food and friends. It was lovely. I even had some time to go through some of my magazine pile (that seems to be ever-growing)....and I came accross this recipe for Pan-Roasted Porterhouse for Two with Mushrooms and Rosemary Butter in House Beautiful's September 2011 issue.  Unfortunately, they don't have this recipe on their website, and I can't find it anywhere online, so I'm going to post it here...sans the gorgeous photos in the mag. :(

For the Rosemary Butter:
1 head of garlic, cut in half crosswise (not peeled)
4 tablespoons coarsely chopped rosemary, divided
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
salt and freshly ground pepper
4 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the garlic and half the rosemary in the center of a square of aluminum foil. Drizzle with a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Fold the foil around the garlic and seal the edges.

2. Roast the garlic for 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let stand until cool enough to handle. Squeeze the garlic into a small bowl, add the butter and another drizzle of olive oil, and stir to blend well. Chill covered for at least 30 minutes.

For the Steak & Mushrooms:
1 32-ounce porterhouse steak, about 2 1/2 inches thick
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 pound assorted fresh mushrooms, cleaned and split lengthwise
2 large shallots, quartered (not peeled)

1. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Season the steak on both sides with salt and pepper.

2. In a large cast-iron skillet or roasting pan, drizzle some more olive oil. Place the pan on the stove top over high heat. Once the oil is shimmering, place the steak in the middle of the pan. Sear the steak for five to seven minutes on each side.

3. Arrange the mushrooms and shallots in the pan around the steak and garnish with the remaining rosemary. Cook for another two to three minutes on the stove top. Place the pan uncovered in the oven and roast for 10 to 12 minutes, or until an internal temperature of 130 degrees (for rare) is reached.

4. Let the steak rest (tented with aluminum foil) for five minutes before slicing. Serve the steak with the mushrooms and topped with the butter.

After typing this all up, my mouth is watering! I think this will be on our menu soon...If I do make it, I'll be sure to take some photos and post them. :)

A Quick Recipe Drop Off...

On Monday after school, I was trying to find something to do to keep Cameron occupied, since it was rainy and gross outside. I remembered I had this recipe saved in my favorites, and decided it was time to give it a try.

Cameron LOVES granola bars, and loves mini chocolate chips, so I thought these would be a hit.

{via}

As it turns out, they're SUPER quick and easy to make, and he loved helping AND eating! The hardest part is waiting 2 hours for them to set before you can cut into them and eat. I've kept them in an airtight container in my fridge and have enjoyed picking at them for the past few days.

You can view the recipe by clicking on the 'via' link under the photo. Where it calls for '2 total cups of coconut flakes...', I used 1/2 cup dried cranberries, 1/2 cup dark raisins, and 1 cup chopped marcona almonds, because this is what I had in my pantry. I think it worked nicely, though I may increase the dried fruit next time. Give it a try, and let me know what you think! Enjoy!

Homemade Guacamole

I don't know about you, but I LOVE homemade guac. I could seriously eat it for every meal. Seriously, one of my favorites.

I make mine pretty simply. No recipe, I just kind of wing it as I go. I dice up ripe avocado and mash it up in a bowl. I add in lime juice, s&p, garlic powder, onion powder, and a bit of cilantro, if I have it. The flavors meld well, and usually taste better the next day...IF there's any left!