Tasty Tuesday: Delicious Banana Bread!

Stephanie is very into baking lately, and asks me every day what we're going to make. I love the time that she and I get to spend together in the kitchen, and I have to say that she's a very good helper! She pours things into the bowl and mixes everything together for me. She is always proud of our final product and tells me that she is my star chef. 

One of our favorite baked goods is banana bread, and after trying many different recipes I finally found the perfect one. The original recipe came from SimplyRecipes.com and can be found here: Simply Recipes Banana Bread

I modified it very little because it was almost perfect the way it was. I've made it twice now, and the first time it came out a little overdone, so I shortened the baking time by 5 minutes. I added walnuts the first time, which was delicious as well. (My husband likes chocolate chips in his banana bread so I'll be adding those next time.)

Here is the recipe. Enjoy!

Banana Bread

Ingredients

3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed (I used 3 each time and let Stephanie mash them with a potato masher. It was her favorite part of the whole process.)

1/3 C melted butter

1 C sugar 

1 egg, beaten

1 teas vanilla

1 teas baking soda

pinch of salt

1 1/2 C all-purpose flour

Instructions

1) Preheat oven to 350 

2) With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas, in a large mixing bowl

3) Mix in sugar, egg and vanilla

4) Sprinkle in the baking soda and salt. Mix.

5) Pour mixture into a buttered 4/8 inch loaf pan. (I used cooking spray instead of butter)

6) Bake for 1 hour (As I stated above, I took it out 5 minutes sooner.)

7) Cool on a rack, then remove from pan. Slice to serve. (We ate this yesterday while it was still warm from the oven. SO delicious!)

*I'm linking up with my friend Candice over at The New Modern Momma today for Tasty Tuesday! Hop on over to get some other delicious recipe ideas from some amazing bloggers.

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Tasty Tuesday: Sugar Cookies!

My mom is a fabulous baker. She bakes all year long, but she truly shines at Christmas time. Each year she makes all of her friends and family members huge trays, loaded with a wide variety of different types of cookies. I will never have the patience or the love of baking to create the same kind of cookie masterpieces that she does, and I've accepted that that's just the way I am. (Even though I would love to bake like her.) However, one of her simplest and easiest recipes is, in my book, also one of the best tasting. I used to love helping her make them when I was a kid, and the recipe was one of the first I asked for when I moved out. To this day, for any occasion, I make her sugar cookie recipe.

Thanks to different cookie cutter shapes I've made sugar cookies for holidays, for my sister's baby shower, as gifts for people, and sometimes just because I feel like having them. Pretty soon I'll be making them for Valentine's Day, and I'm excited to get Stephanie in on the action this year! (They are a great cookie to make with little kids.)

Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:
~6 Tbsp butter
~6 Tbsp shortening
1 C sugar
2 eggs
1 teas vanilla
2.5 C flour
1 teas baking powder
1 teas salt

*Mix shortening, butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla
*Blend in flour, baking powder & salt. Cover and chill 1 hr (I have made the dough and chilled overnight also. It comes out fine.)

~Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees
~Roll the dough and cut out shapes.
~Decorate with sprinkles (optional)
~place shapes on un-greased baking sheet (I use parchment paper. Clean-up is much easier that way!)
~Bake 6-8 minutes at or until very light brown.

My favorite part as a kid was decorating with the sprinkles. Now for some reason I find that part tiresome, but I know Stephanie will have a blast with it. You can also add food coloring to the dough to make it different colors. (My mom always made orange at Halloween and I swear for some reason they tasted better than any other time she made them!)

Enjoy!

Linking up with The New Modern Mom today for Tasty Tuesday! 

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Tasty Tuesday: Crock-Pot Sausage & Tortellini Stew

Happy Tuesday! Today i'm linking up with my friend Candice over at The New Modern Momma for Tasty Tuesday.

I've been using my crock-pot a lot this winter because it's such an easy and quick way to get a hearty meal on the table for my family. I love being able to prepare dinner in the morning or afternoon instead of in the evening when we're all getting tired and cranky.

One of my favorite crock-pot meals is Tortellini Stew. I've been making this recipe for years, and all four of us love it. (I think I originally cut it out of Family Circle magazine.)

It's quick and simple to prepare and only takes about 15 minutes. My favorite kind of meal!

Ingredients
4 Sweet Italian Turkey Sausage links, casings removed
1 28oz can of crushed tomatoes w/basil, garlic & oregano (if I don't have a can of tomatoes that has the spices in it, I just add them myself.)
1 9oz package of frozen cut green beans
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 tsp italian seasoning
1 9oz package of frozen cheese tortellini
1 Tbsp fresh oregano

Directions

1. Crumble sausage and stir with tomatoes, green beans, onion and italian seasoning. Cover crock-pot and cook 3 hours on high or 6 hours on low.

2. When 20 minutes of cook time remain, stir in tortellini, oregano and 1 cup of water. Continue cooking. Serve immediately.

I highly recommend this recipe, it's so easy and delicious!

*If you have time, head on over to Candice's site and check out all the other linked up recipes! I find a lot of good meals through this weekly blog hop.*

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Tasty Tuesday: Chili Edition!

The air is crisp, the humidity is finally gone, and we actually had to wear sweaters yesterday morning. All of this means that FALL, my favorite time of year, is almost here.

One of my goals for the fall is to use my crock-pot once a week. For my first fall crock-pot meal yesterday, it was only right that I make chili, one of my all-time favorite meals. (And in the interest of full disclosure, I must say that I make chili all year long. But it reminds me of fall every time I make it.)

I use my mom's chili recipe, with a few tweaks here and there. Dan, Stephanie and I love it, and last night Joseph had his first taste. It was a hit with him too!

Ingredients:

2lbs ground beef 

1 Tbsp chili powder

2 tsp salt

1tsp sugar

1.5 C chopped onion (I hate onion chunks, so I use onion powder)

.5 cup minced green pepper (I use 3/4 cup because we love pepper)

2 (15oz) or 1 (29oz) can tomato sauce

1C water

1 clove garlic, crushed (I use garlic powder if i'm out of garlic(

1 pinch cumin (optional, but I always add it)

1 can small red beans, undrained (I drain them, for no particular reason.)

Cook meat in dutch oven or heavy pan until it loses redness.

Sprinkle with chili powder, salt, & sugar. Blend well through meat. 

Add onion & green pepper, cook stirring occasionally until vegetables soften.

(At this point I transfer everything to the crock-pot. The recipe calls for it to continue to cook on the stove top)

Add tomato sauce, water, garlic, cumin 

*Simmer covered 1-1.5 hours (I cook it on low in the crock-pot all day long)

Add beans, simmer uncovered .5 hour or until desired consistency (I add the beans an hour before we want to eat)

Serve with whatever side you enjoy with chili. We always have Tostitos scoops chips. If you use my recipe, be sure to let me know what you think! Enjoy! :)

*Today i'm linking up with Candice over at The New Modern Momma! Head on over to check out other tasty recipes! 

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