banana bread

I know I have been absent lately from here…just been so overwhelmed and stressed! So, sorry for being slack!

I recently had a few bananas that were going bad so I thought I HAD to make banana bread with them! I hadn’t made banana bread before so I searched for a recipe that looked quick and easy. Thank the good Lord for the Internet because I found exactly what I was looking for!! The Fresh Loaf had a 10 minute banana bread that sounded super easy and obviously quick!

I thought that it might not turn out that great since it was so easy but I was very happy to see a fabulous looking loaf once baked and then when we ate it I was even more excited to find out that it was DELICIOUS!!

I have a few bananas that are ready to make this bread again. I am going to make a few loaves and freeze them…perfect for a quick breakfast when I’m running late (which is every day!)

Banana Bread
Makes 1 full-sized loaf or 2 small loaves

Preheat the oven to 350.

In one bowl, combine:

1/2 stick (4-5 tablespoons) butter, softened
2 eggs
2 or 3 very ripe bananas
2/3 cup sugar

Use a potato masher, fork, or spoon to squish the banana and mix the ingredients together. It is alright for there to be small (1 centimeter) chunks of banana in the batter, but you want most of the banana to be reduced to mush.

In another bowl, combine:

1 1/3 cup all-purpose unbleached flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

Combine the wet and dry ingredients and mix until the ingredients are blended together.

If you like, stir in additional ingredients here, such as chopped walnuts or pecans, dried cherries or apricots, or chocolate chips. A handful (about a half a cup) is about right.

Pour the dough into greased baking pans and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Small loaves take around 30 minutes, a normal-sized loaf takes around 50 minutes.

Remove from the oven.

After cooled for 5 or 10 minutes the loaves can be removed from the pan to cool. Once they are cool they can be individually wrapped and frozen.

Great warm or cold! Whatever works for you :)

ENJOY!

xoxo.
manda

Super Easy Blueberry Muffins

Before I tell you about my muffin (hahaha) I must show you what Bradley woke me up for at 6:30 this morning. (He has to be at work at 7...I have to be at work at 9...I think I'm the lucky one in this situation.)

What a pretty sunrise!! It made me smile. I then I went back to sleep. :)

Okay, so about my muffin. A blueberry one. It's what I had for breakfast.

I love having muffins ready for breakfast on the go. They are quick and easy and since I like to sleep until the very last second of the morning- quick and easy is what I need! I don’t love blueberries BUT I do love blueberry muffins. Make sense? Not really. But I’m sure you get my drift.

This recipe was called “to die for blueberry muffins”. I wouldn’t say that they are TO DIE FOR but they are pretty delicious and moist and all that stuff you want when eating a muffin. Next time, though, I think I’ll add oats to the topping. :)

So, instead of calling them “to die for blueberry muffins” I’m going to go with super easy blueberry muffins!

Super Easy Blueberry Muffins
source: allrecipes

What you need.

For the muffins-
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
1 cup fresh blueberries

For the topping-
1/2 cup white sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup butter, cubed
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

What you do.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease muffin cups or use muffin liners.
Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.

To Make Crumb Topping:

Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.

It's that easy! Enjoy!

Crepes!

crepe: a very thin small pancake, often stuffed and rolled up.

so, i had never had a very thin, small pancake stuffed and rolled up. why you ask? good question- i had NO idea what i was missing out on! easy, quick, delish breakfast!

with all my blog surfing i saw this recipe for a basic crepes. i was excited to see that it doesn't take many ingredients to make and the combinations are endless!

what you need:

1 cup all-purpose flour
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter, melted

what you do:

in a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour and the eggs. gradually add in the milk and water, stirring to combine. add the salt and butter; beat until smooth.

heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each crepe. tilt the pan with a circular motion so that the batter coats the surface evenly.

cook the crepe for about 2 minutes, until the bottom is light brown. loosen with a spatula, turn and cook the other side. cook until other side is light brown. serve hot.

what to put on/in your crepes:

the one that brad and i made was what we like to call "a southwest crepe" we filled the inside with scrambled eggs, salsa, tomatoes, hot sauce, cilantro, and cheese. it was SO good!

you could go simple and just do cinnamon and sugar. sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on the inside. roll the crepe up and sprinkle with more cinnamon and sugar.

you could top with whipped cream and strawberries OR you could get really crazy and fill with whipped cream, roll it up, and top with more whipped cream and fresh strawberries...or any other fruit! peaches, bananas, apples, blueberries…whatever tickles your fancy!

the combinations are endless!

YAY for crepes! they take no time to make and they are yummmmmmy!

yogurt coffee cake muffins

We are lacking on good in the kitchen right now. I just don’t feel like going to the grocery store. Don’t judge :) Even though we really have nothing I was still looking for breakfast recipes and came across these coffee cake yogurt muffins. I was overly excited that I actually had everything needed to make them. I immediately went to the kitchen and started baking. They were so easy to make! I was a little nervous when I put them in the oven because they looked horrible but 25 minutes later they were beautiful, delicious muffins!! We had them for dessert last night and I brought one to work this morning. They tasted simply fabulous both times…it’s like dessert for breakfast! Give them a try…you will be happy you did!!

yogurt coffee cake muffins.
source: cooks.com

filling-

1/4 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. cinnamon
1/4 c. chopped pecans

Mix thoroughly ingredients for filling.

batter-

1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 c. plain yogurt
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda

what you do-

Cream butter, sugar. Beat in eggs, yogurt and vanilla. Mix dry ingredients and add.
Spoon 1 tablespoon batter into each greased or lined muffin cup. Sprinkle with one teaspoon filling. Top with batter and sprinkle each muffin with filling. Bake 25 minutes at 375 degrees.

Yields: 12 muffins.