Banana Cake

ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup ripe mashed bananas
1/2 cup buttermilk (i just put 1/2 cup regular milk mixed with 1/2 T vinegar let sit for 5 min)
1/2 cup shortening(i used 1/2 cup butter)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt....add bananas, buttermilk, shortening, eggs, and vanilla....beat on low til combined than beat on medium for 3 minutes
Bake 30-35 minutes in greased pan or in two round pans at 350 degrees.  I just used a white frosting with butter, milk, vanilla and powder sugar...but i'm sure it'd be good with a cream cheese frosting too.

meat loaf

from my friend Gina Larson

2 lbs ground beef
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup grated carrot
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup barbecue sauce
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. thyme
1 tsp. sage

combine all ingredients, mix well. Place in 9x6 pan or 8 inch square.
Bake at 350 for 1 hour.
Remove from oven, pour off excess juices. Spoon enough meatloaf sauce to cover top. Reserve additional sauce for passing. Return to oven and bake for 20 more minutes or until done.
(sometimes I add a chopped up green or red pepper, if I have one)


meatloaf Sauce:
2 cups ketchup
1 cup brown sugar

mix and heat in microwave.

*and you have to serve meatloaf with green beans and a backed potato! yummy.

power smoothie

Julia was a little skeptical of the spinach smoothie, but she ended up wanting seconds!
Recipe by Our Best Bites

1 cup orange juice (preferably the good stuff, like the not-from-concentrate orange juice)
3 tablespoons oat groats or 2 tablespoons steel cut oats (optional…kind of…)*
3/4 cup fat-free vanilla Greek yogurt (make sure it’s Greek and not Greek-style)
1 1/2 cups frozen blueberries
3 cups baby spinach leaves
1 1/2 cups crushed ice

*To help your blender out, you can soak the oak groats in the orange juice overnight (either in the jar of your blender or in in a glass). This will make it easier to blend and will also eliminate a lot of the grittiness from the oats.

Combine ingredients in the jar of your blender and blend. You may (read: probably will) need to run it through twice. Serve immediately. Makes 1 giant smoothie, 2 smaller smoothies, or 3 snack-sized smoothies.

Pigs in a Blanket

Mix Together:

2 cups flour

1 T sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp soda

1/2 tsp salt

Then add:

4 T butter cut in pieces mix til cumbly

Then stir in:

1/2 cup grated cheese

make a well then pour in:

3/4 cup buttermilk (i use regular milk w/ almost 1T vinegar added to make buttermilk)

Let sit for 3 minutes then roll out and cut in triangles. Wrap around hot dog (we cut the hot dogs in half to make a better meat/bun ratio:)

Bake on cookie sheet at 400 degrees for 12-13 minutes. It is a really yummy dough recipe.

BBQ Chicken pizza

Pizza crust:
1 package dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
2 1/2 to 3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons honey
3/4 cup cold water

dissolve yeast in warm water and let stand for 10 min. in mixing bowl, combine flour, salt, olive oil, honey and cold water. Add yeast mixture knead with dough hook (or by hand) for 5 min. form into a ball and place in oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise about 1 hour.

Roll out dough and put on a cookie sheet. Prebake crust for 10 min at 450 degrees before adding toppings. After topping pizza back again for 10 to 12 min.

BBQ pizza:
1 pizza crust
3 chicken breasts
2 or 3 cups cups barbecue sauce, divided
6 oz provolone cheese grated
6 oz Gouda cheese (or mozzarella) grated
1/4 a red onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

In a ziploc bag, combine chicken and 2/3 cup of barbecue sauce. Marinate in fridge for 4 hours or overnight.

To cook, place chicken and marinade in small baking dish and bake for 30 min at 325 degrees. let chicken cool, then slice into thin pieces.

Sprinkle half of the grated cheese over crust, Spoon barbecue sauce over cheese; cover with chicken and onion. Sprinkle on remaining cheese. Bake for 10 to 12 min at 450 degrees. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.

Cabbage salad

2 chicken breasts cooked and sliced
1/2 head of cabbage
1/2 cup slivered almonds
4 green onions chopped
1 pkg. chicken Ramen noodles (broken in small pieces)
1 cup frozen peas

Dressing:
2 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons vinegar
1/2 cup oil
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 pkg. Top Ramen seasoning mix

yummy!

Graham Crackers and Milk

These two little girls love graham crackers and milk as a bedtime snake, especially Ruby. She's always asking for graham crackers and milk. It reminds me of when I was little and would eat graham crackers with milk at the kitchen table.