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The BBB! (Best Banana Bread)

Getting Started with Banana Bread

A couple weeks ago I was talking about eating on a budget. You can check that article out here. This banana bread is my absolute favorite. It is my moms recipe and it never fails. You can add any filling or toppings you like. In this one a added dark chocolate chips on the top only. It was delicious however, I enjoy the cinnamon crumble on the top much better. The ingredients for this bread are probably already in your pantry staples. Plus those pesky bananas never get eaten before going ripe so this is the perfect opportunity to make a mouth watering desert or snack. When your living on a budget you learn a thing or two on how to make some simple ingredients into something scrumptious for your family. Lets take a look at what you need.

Banana Bread ingredients and kitchen mixer.

My Process

mashed bananas

I like to use three bowls when making this bread. The mixing bowl for the stand mixer will contain the butter and sugar mixture. Be sure to beat the butter and sugars until it is light and fluffy before adding the other ingredients.

The second bowl is for sifting the dry ingredients together.

The third is for the bananas and buttermilk.

Notes: I make my own buttermilk with 1/4 cup of milk and 2tsp of lemon juice. I just use what I have on hand at the time. It still turns out delicious!

Banana bead batter in loaf pan

Ingredients For the Banana Bread

After getting all your ingredients together preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease/flour a bread loaf pan to reduce the bread sticking during cooking.

After you have all the ingredients ready you will add the dry ingredients and the banana mixture alternately. Making sure the batter is completely combined each time.

sifting flour

After I poured the batter into the loaf pan I added a handful of dark chocolate chips on top to add another layer of flavor. You can add nuts, mini chocolate chips and cherries, or a cinnamon crumble to the top of the batter before baking it. This recipe is so versatile that almost any combination will taste amazing!

This recipe makes one loaf of banana bread however, it is easy to double or triple the recipe to make extra and freeze for later.

This bread stays fresh for about three days. Store in an air tight container or zip lock bag.

Sliced Banana Bread

Banana Bread

Serving Size:
~12
Time:
1hr 15Min
Difficulty:
Easy

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup butter/ softened
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 2tsp. vanilla
  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 tsp. baking powder
  • 1 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp. salt
  • 1 cup mashed ripe banana
  • 3 Tbsp butter milk
  • 1/2 tsp. cinnamon/save for later
  • 2 Tbsp. sugar/Save for later

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9×5” loaf pan and set aside.
  2. With a standing mixer cream the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar together until light, fluffy and smooth. Once smooth add the egg and vanilla to the mixture. Beat on medium until completely combined.
  3. In another bowl sift together the flour, salt, baking soda and powder, and cinnamon.
  4. Peel and mash the ripe bananas and mix the butter milk in. For home made butter milk check notes above.
  5. Add the dry ingredients alternately with the banana and milk mixture stirring or mixing until smooth.
  6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
  7. Combine the cinnamon and sugar and sprinkle on the top of the batter
  8. Bake at 350 for 45 mins to an hour or until the toothpick comes out clean.
  9. Cool and enjoy.
  10. Store in a zip lock bag or sealed container up to 3 days. It probably wont last that long.

Left over Chicken Green Chile Risotto.

There are so many different meals you can create with a left over rotisserie chicken. This past week I’ve been watching the food channel. We all know we usually gain weight by just watching it. Well, I do because I love to try the new recipes I see and give them a twist of my own. With the left over chicken it was the perfect time to try a risotto.

What is a risotto? Risotto is an Italian dish made with a high starch short grain rice. Such as Italian Arborio, Carnaroli, or Vialone Nano rice. This kinda rice can absorb a lot of liquid without becoming mushy. It should come out as a creamy dish. I don’t have these types of rice on hand so I used Jazmine rice. It wasn’t as creamy but still delicious!

Chicken stock, green chili sauce, and left over chicken.

You will need.

One quart of stock (beef, chicken, or veggie)

1/2 cup green chile sauce

1/2 cup diced onion

3 tablespoons butter divided

1 1/2 cups rice

Left over rotisserie chicken

1/2 cup cheese

Start by cooking the onions with 1 tablespoon of butter in your sauce pan. In a smaller pan heat up the broth and green chili sauce. Keep it on low so that the broth will stay hot but not boil over. Once the onions are soft add in the rice and toast it for a couple minutes in the butter. Then start adding the broth to the rice.

Looking good.

This dish requires a lot of your attention. Stir the broth and rice every couple of mins while adding in more broth as needed then add the chopped up chicken and spices of your choice.

1/4 teaspoon paprika and chili powder, salt pepper to taste, 1/2 teaspoon parsley and oregano. Fresh would be amazing!

It may not have been exactly a risotto in the traditional sense. However, it was fun and easy to make. Pair it with some yummy cheesy bread sticks and you have a nice chicken and rice dinner for 6.

Feeding a family of 5 on a budget has its challenges. However, getting creative and having fun with the ingredients you have on hand makes it less stressful. Plus creating is so much fun! Have a great week! Let me know if you try this recipe and what you think.

Easiest Homemade Cheesecake

In our family cheesecake is the celebration dessert! My husband and I even had a cheese cake made as our wedding cake. I make a cheese cake for thanksgiving, Christmas, birthdays, any holiday really! I’ve come to love making it and I have the easiest never fail recipe for it! This time I made it without the crust however, I will put the crust recipe on here as well!

Everything you need!

Crust! You can use your favorite cookies or gram crackers or cereal! All you do is put desired amount into a food processor and crush them until they are fine crumbs. Then add 2 tablespoons of melted butter and stir it in. Form it at the bottom of your spring form pan and bake at 350 degrees for 10 mins. Then let cool while you whip up the yummy filling!

Filling:

Two 8 ounce packages of cream cheese.

Chef note: I like the name brand cream cheeses. However, this time I used the store brand and it tasted good!

1 egg (room temperature)

1 cup granulated sugar ( I used half a cup so it wasn’t so sweet)

Teaspoon vanilla

Add sugar and cream cheese into the mixer and mix until combined. Add the egg and vanilla. Mix until combined. Then simply pour in your crust. With the oven set to 350 degrees bake for 35-40 mins. Or until the center is set. (Doesn’t move around).

Placing the spring form pan in a cookie sheet with water will help the cake to bake evenly!

Bake at 350 for 35-40 mins.

For this cake I made a fresh cherry topping. Cheese cake is always best served cold! 😁

Let me know how you like this recipe in the comments below.

Taco Tuesday Dinner

We have a tradition in our house. Taco Tuesday! It has become so regular that if we have tacos on a Wednesday my son says “we can’t have tacos! It isn’t Tuesday!” So I decided to show you how we make tacos. Of course it isn’t a hard meal to make and you most likely make it the same as I but this Tuesday we tried something new, something BOLD!

The bold kit by old El Paso 😋

We had never tried it before. It came with the seasoning and a sauce in the package so all I really needed was the ground beef! Easy peasy taco dinner. I usually use the soft corn tortillas and heat them in the oven. This was a nice treat.

I like onions in my tacos so I cut up an onion and put some olive oil in a pot to heat up and start sweating.

Sweaty selfie! 😂

Then I added two pounds of ground beef.

Steak tar tar mmmm

I browned the meat (drain off any excess grease) and added the sauce and the seasoning that came with the package of taco shells. Mmmm good enough to eat!

With the sauce and seasoning.

Tastes amazing! I always taste to make sure it is seasoned just right. Also a second taste to be sure! 😁 now time to get those shells in the oven to make them nice and crispy crunchy!

325 degrees for 5-8 min or whatever the package says.

Almost finished. I had some left over beans so I also made retried beans as a side. You make them by processing the beans in a food processor until smooth. Put some hot sauce in and BAM! Best beans ever!

Finishing touches. Build your tacos and enjoy!

Messy is best! Delish!

You don’t really need a recipe for tacos. Choose your protein and your shells and the sky is the limit. A good taco is made with love and some fun. Thank you for reading. Stay tuned for the next food post. It’s gonna be a cheesy one!