Cooking with Kids

This summer I am planning on having the kids help me cook more.

This week they all three helped make strawberry ice cream.

Then we knocked off a bucket list item when friends came over to share in our soupy success. 

Homemade ice cream requires a little setting time in the freezer to get it to a more hardened consistency...and we were to anxious to enjoy and share it  

Another day Charley helped make chicken, spinach, and cheese manicotti. 

A recipe I googled by typing in cottage cheese manicotti.  Love that.

Chicken, spinach, and cheese manicotti

Everyone ate it up!

And Henry helped make our favorite :

Pesto Pizza:

(we use this whole wheat dough recipe and this pesto recipe.

Then we top it with slices of tomatoes and chunks of fresh mozzerella cheese.

Use a pan with edges since the pesto and cheese can sometimes get drippy. 

This is our families favorite pizza.  Thanks Aunt Becca and Uncle Mike for bringing it into our life.

Finished product:

Do you have a favorite dish that your kids can have fun helping you make?

What's for dinner on Wednesday - Chicken Enchiladas

A friend, Jessie, shared a new favorite recipe they have enjoyed in their house.  Last night she knew I was making it and said she was feeling the pressure since I was counting down til eat time.  I told her I had snapped pictures and hoped to blog a new favorite recipe...so yes, pressure was on.  

Ed's mom makes a recipe called Chicken Guadalupe and it tasted very similar to this.  Ed, Charley, and I all devoured it.  Henry may have been full from the giant cookie ice cream sandwich that Ed bought him late in the afternoon at the ski hill.  Syd was having an off night at the dinner table.  This will definitely be made again and again and again.  Maybe we would try adding some things to it.  Sneak in some spinach or some beans ...but really, it was delicious as is.  I served it with a good helping of steamed broccoli.  

Chicken Enchiladas

1 lb chicken breast, diced

1 medium onion, chopped  (I used a tad less)

1 tablespoon vegetable oil (I skipped)

8 flour tortillas, softened (8 inches each)

1 1/2 cups grated monterey jack cheese or 1 1/2 cups Mexican blend cheese, divided

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup flour

1 (15 ounce) can chicken broth

1 cup sour cream plain Greek yogurt ( I used one container)

1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chilies

Directions:

1.  In fry pan, cook chicken and onion together  over medium-high heat until chicken is just done.

2.  Divide cooked chicken evenly between 6 tortillas; add 1 1/2 tablespoons cheese to each tortilla.

3.  Roll enchiladas and place seam-side down in 9x13" baking dish that has been lightly sprayed with no-stick cooking spray.

4.  Melt butter in a medium saucepan; stir in flour to make a roux. (How fancy is that!)

5.   stir and cook until bubbly; gradually whisk in chicken broth then bring to boiling, stirring frequently.

6.  Remove from heat; stir in yogurt and green chilies-- pour sauce evenly over enchiladas.

7.  Top with remaining 3/4 cup cheese (baking dish may be double-wrapped and frozen at this point) and/or bake at 400F for 20 minutes until cheese is melted and sauce near edges of baking dish is bubbly.

What's for dinner Wednesday? Mustard Chicken

An easy enough chicken recipe, that requires things often found in your fridge or pantry, is this Mustard Chicken recipe that Ed's mom shared.

  Everyone in our family ate this up (well, not Syd, she isn't too into meat yet).

Mustard Chicken
8 boneless chicken breasts
1 cup yellow mustard
1 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
1 cup Parmesan cheese
2 Tablespoons butter
2 Tbsp vegetable oil (I think I used olive or coconut)

1. Cover chicken in generous amount of mustard.
2. Roll chicken in breadcrumb/Parmesan mixture
3. Let sit in fridge for 15-20 minutes.
4. Preheat oven to 375.
5. Melt butter in a greased baking dish. Add oil and chicken.
6. Bake 30-35 minutes, turning once.

Note: I did just as the recipe said when I made this. Next time, I think I will skip the oil or the butter (or even both) and just do one or the other or neither. Not sure why these are even necessary. So I will be curious what impact it has. But a similar recipe leaves out the butter, Parmesan, and oil!

   Second Note: There were leftovers and I sliced up the chicken and served it cold on top of a salad and thought it was delicious. So if I make this I will definitely make extra for this purpose.

What's for dinner? ... Minnesota Chicken Wild Rice Soup

The other day I brought home a container of a local grocery store's wild rice soup for Ed and I.  We both gobbled it up and it must have stayed on Ed's mind because this weekend he searched out this recipe and offered to make it....which, since he was busy winterizing the outside stuff around our house...I felt compelled to make it for him.

Minnesota Chicken Wild Rice Soup

Makes 4 servings...so I doubled it.

3 1/2 cups chicken broth

1 cup sliced carrot

1/2 cup sliced celery

1/3 cup wild rice

1/3 cup sliced onion

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

2 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons flour

1 cup half-and-half cream

1 1/2 cups cut-up cooked chicken

Mix broth, carrots, celery, uncooked rice, onions, thyme, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

Bring to a boil; reduce heat, cover and simmer 1 hour, until the rice is tender.

Melt butter, stir in the flour, then the half-half.

Cook and stir 1 minute. Slowly add half-half mixture to the rice mixture, stirring constantly. Stir in the chicken and heat through.

THOUGHTS:  We both thought it was a GREAT soup.  Charley loved it too.  Henry wouldn't try it, but I know if WHEN he gives it a chance it will be a favorite of his (like my frozen corn off the cob, ham and corn soup, my mac and cheese, and the list goes on).  Syd made quite the mess, but liked it enough.  It did take a little time to make.  It isn't just a dump and heat soup.  But it was well worth it and I didn't think the ingredients were too tricky to work with.  I loved that you could just throw the uncooked wild rice into the pot and it cooked with the carrots and celery.  

Enjoy!

Any day that ends in y

It's Friday night and there simply isn't a better night for pizza....well, besides Thursday....because we had pizza last night.  Henry would claim that any day of the week ending in y is perfect for pizza.  It is his favorite.  

And making our own pizza is typically what we do here...unless we do the frozen pizza thing because we need something fast to feed these little starving guys.  But when the PLAN is for pizza...this is how we roll....with either Ed's grandma's or my grandma's rolling  pin, of course.

In the past we have been big fans of Pioneer Woman's recipe for pizza dough.  But, when visiting my brother and sister in law for the last 2 summers they have made pizza for us using a whole wheat crust that was spectacular.  So last night we tried that.

Making your own pizza takes about an hour and a half...you aren't busy for that hour and a half...but you need an hour for the pizza dough to rise...and about 15 minutes for the pizza to cook.  And the other 15 minutes is assembling the dough and pizza.  And Friday nights when they family is finally coming together for the weekend...making pizza together can be a great way to kick off the weekend and tick off the dinner and family activity items on your agenda.  

Last night, Sydney helped with the pizza dinner. 

So here is the crust recipe that worked perfectly, for our first time.  

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

3/4 cup warm water

2 1/4 tsp yeast

1 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp sea salt (I am sure you can use regular)

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (I am not sure I used pastry flour...)

1 cup all-purpose flour

-Put water in bowl of stand mixer. Sprinkle yeast on top and let bloom a few minutes. 

-Add sugar to water/yeast and whisk.

-Add flours and yeast and mix with a dough hook until the dough comes together and is smooth, 4-5 minutes.

-Put dough in a bowl greased with a little olive oil.

-Cover with a towel and let rise for at least 1 hour ( on the counter). 

She has also refrigerated overnight and it works fine, but I let it warm up a little before trying to roll it out.

This pizza dough recipe made one large pizza...so I double it for our family.  This crust has more of a thin crust appeal.  Not super thin but just right.  Love it.  

We added our toppings and baked at 450 until it was done...the usual pizza baking time of 10-20 minutes...depending on how loaded your pizza is, how done you like it, and how your oven bakes. 

Give this recipe a try and be proud to have added a little whole wheat dough into your family's Friday night pizza party. 

Making your own pizza is also WAY more affordable...price it out.  One other trick to making it really affordable is freezing your toppings so that you don't waste half the jar of pizza sauce, italian sausage, or other items that you may like adding to your pizza.  

I am hooking up with Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop today.

I will probably do another wrap up rambling post later today :)

More from our kitchen

On our bucket list from last year and this year was to attempt rainbow pudding pops...I can't even remember the original blog I saw them on....it was soooo long ago. But we finally conquered them.

Rainbow pudding pops...

1 lg. box of vanilla pudding

divide into bowls and let the kids add food coloring to make the colors they choose.

Spoon layers of pudding into paper cups and stick a Popsicle stick half way down.

Stick into freezer until they are frozen.

LESSON:  We used normal sized paper cups...next time I would definitely use Dixie cups!  These were WAY too big!  

from my kitchen...and a little rambling...

Yesterday I put a little more effort into my kitchen tasks.
I made my one of our favorite soups...a favorite because...

a.  I don't make many soups - a new goal for fall to make more!
b.  the kids eat it, most of the time
c.  it is easy

But I kicked it up a notch by making homemade soup bread bowls too!  The boys were pretty pumped.
They were small but they turned out!  I will make them again.

For the bread bowls I just used my french bread recipe and just made small balls instead of the large loaf.


Corn and Ham Chowder

1 1/2 cups of milk
1/2 cup of diced ham ( I usually use a little more)
16 oz. corn (I use the corn off the cob typically frozen in my freezer or like last night I cut it off)
1 can of cream of celery soup
green onions on top  (I don't usually have these on hand so I skip)

Put it all in a pan and heat it up to boil and then reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes!  Reheats and freezes really good too.

I usually make a double batch.

_______________________________________________________________________

So the reality in our household is....

Sydney is at the typical 19 month old crazy stage.  She is continuously trying to conquer new daring tasks.  She is scaling couches, finding ways to be on top of the kitchen table (I swear 5 times in a 20 minute making breakfast period).  If the gate to the stairs is left open she is upstairs and on Henry's lower bunk in her glory.  She knows where the snacks are and tries to climb the shelves to reach them. She really isn't happy with what I offer and wants what the rest of us are eating...daddy gave her tortilla chips at Chili's this past weekend and cashews.  Nice. haha. :)

All of this means that I can't really let her out of my sight.  It means that it is pretty near impossible to get anything done or finished.  It means that her hour and half nap, yes, that is all she is giving me these days, is soooooo precious.  It means that even the boys are going a little nuts because she gets into their way or stuff too.  It means that when I got home from a night away this weekend I could tell daddy was not too sad to hand her over and go mow the lawn.

She is just a tad different from the boys.  Or maybe my to do lists are longer these days so it just seems she is more busy.

  I no longer can get lost in my Word's with Friend's game, Facebook checking in, or emailing someone back quick.  I leave my phone on the counter and am realizing, it isn't a bad thing.  BUT, it does mean that I feel less productive during the day.  And it means I feel more out of touch with friends and family.  And have had less time for blogging, taking pictures, and everything else.

But it is a stage.  It is precious.  It slows me down...because walking out to throw away our compost becomes a 15 minute adventure where we stop and pick cherry tomatoes in the garden...which she devours immediately (sadly, daddy doesn't know we have cherry tomatoes growing back there by the handful). It means that if the neighbors across the street are out she high tails it across the street saying "Dottie", I swear she can say their dog's name clearly!

But amazingly, all of this is kind of making me more efficient.  So I am embracing this chaos.

We are in the final chapters of summer.  We are trying to fit more and more in.  More friends, more travel, more pool time, more boring moments at home that inspire plain old creative fun.  We are trying to do all the reading and writing and learning that I had planned to do with the boys all summer...in these last two weeks.  We are battling through mama's sneezes because having the windows open and hearing the kids playing outside is what being a mama of three in the summer is about.   We are in it.  Both feet!

What's new with you?  Are you still out there?

meals for our week...and a few rambling thoughts.

Sunday evening I whipped up Thai Peanut Noodles from the Best Bites cookbook I got for Christmas. I accidentally put too much (Tablespoons instead of teaspoons) of the Sriracha chili sauce in so it was a tad too spicy. But Ed and I both gobbled it up. If it hadn't been spicy I think the boys would have eaten it.

I have to say that I actually took the time to buy fresh ginger, green onions, and cilantro...oh and limes! And those flavors really made the difference. I'm learning.  In the past I would have skipped some of those.  But I am using ginger, green onions, and cilantro in other recipes this week!  One of the things I love about this cookbook is how it leads you to recipes with rollover ingredients that you buy but don't use up in one recipe.

The rest of the week we will roll over a few of those ingredients and have...

Honey-Ginger Glazed Tilapia with veggies and brown rice.

Easy Veggie Stir Fry with fruit salad

Black beans and rice with Chicken and apple salsa.

I have been slacking on meals.  If the "you are what you eat" were true....we would be a family of pancakes.  But my sister who is home on maternity leave juggling the transition to two kiddos has been making fun recipes.  And my friend Jessie who could easily succumb to kid food every night because her husband works late has things thrown in the crock pot all the time.  So thanks to Raina and Jessie for inspiring me to get my arse in gear in the kitchen.  Results from the gym will more likely happen if I am more thoughtful at our dinner table.  So here's to the first week of April being the kick off to better dinner, whether daddy works late or not. 

Today:
-It is good to be home and getting back to the routine.
-Hit the gym already and am ready for my cup of coffee.
-Charley heads off to school.
-Sydney is still sleeping (7:45) so I think it will be a one nap day for her.  Which means after the coffee and a brisk walk to get Charley to school...we will hit the library or the driveway...because look who is about to master walking.

And I want to share some blue eyes too.  I am trying to do the one post a day thing...but I have more and I have such little restraint.  So we'll see what pops up on here today.  These are from a train ride at the zoo with Grandpa.

It's Monday!
And it is going to be a great day!  I can feel it.

What's your plan?

What's for dinner? - Soup and Pasta we love!

I am always confused about how recipe sharing works on blogs.  I mean, I could post a recipe making it looked like I had created this masterpiece in my kitchen.  When really, recipes just seem to evolve and change a tiny bit but many are very similar from cookbook to cookbook or cooking blog to cooking blog.  So for Christmas I got the Best Bites Cookbook.  All of the recipes are online and someone asked me if this bugged me...and my thing is...I like cookbooks.  I like being able to open it on my counter, mark it up, spill on it, and ponder it without technology.  So I LOVE it.  I also love that when at Target if I forget the recipe I can bring up the recipes online.  The cookbook has a feature that shares a rollover ingredient ...like for the pasta recipe...cream cheese is the roll over ingredient.  So I can look in the index for other recipes that would use up the cream cheese.  What a great feature.  Anyways, these two recipes have been great for us this week. 

But we have also enjoyed the Overnight Sausage and Egg bake.

So here are my thoughts on two of the recipes I tried this week.

Baked Chicken, Artichoke and Bacon Penne
Ed said three times last night that dinner was great...and he ate later than us ...reheated.  I also enjoyed this dish and so did Charley - he gobbled.  The alfredo sauce is interesting and my cookbook actually talks about being able to freeze it.  It does require a blender and mine is broken so I used my food processor and that was a tad messy.  This was a great meal!  And boy does it sound fancy when you tell people you made Bacon Artichoke Chicken Pasta! 

Baked Potato Soup
This was delicious and yummy. EVERYONE liked it. Henry isn't a big soup eater so he only had a tiny bit. But Charley shovelled it like a champ.

What's for dinner? - French Silk Pie

Before we had kids I made 8 of these for Ed so he could share them with his coworkers.

Let me repeat, before we had kids.

I have had a number of people write and ask me for this recipe recently. 

So I told Ed that I thought I better make one so I can snap a picture.

He didn't argue.  He even took the boys outside to play in the snow so I could get to work. 

It is his favorite and it makes me soooo happy to have something that I know he loves.

Enjoy!

French Silk Pie

Ingredients:

pastry for one pie crust ( I use the refrigerated store brand - my grandma swore by them)

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

3 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate, melted and cooled

3/4 cup fat-free cholesterol-free egg product

1 1/2 cups sweetened Whipped Cream (I use plain old cool whip)

Chocolate curls, peppermint crumbs, or mini chocolate chips for topping if desired

Directions:

1.  Bake pastry and let cool

2.  Beat sugar and butter in medium bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy.

3.  Beat in vanilla and chocolate

4.  Gradually beat in egg product on high speed until light and fluffy (at least 3 minutes) - I make sure to do this long and hard so that the sugar granules dissolve. 

5.  Pour in pie crust and refrigerate until set, at least 2 hours but not longer than 24.

6.  Finally, spread the whipped topping and garnish with chocolate curls or peppermint schnibbles :)

 

What's for dinner? - Easy Pizza Rolls

This was the second pan and I smashed them in.  If you leave more space they pop out much easier.

BIG HIT last week were these pizza rolls.  The recipe calls for thawed loaf of frozen bread dough.  I used some of my homemade pizza dough.   All the boys in the house ate them up.  We had only two leftover and just like she mentions in her cookbook, you can freeze or serve them cold in a school lunch.  We reheated and they tasted yummy the next day.  I doubled the recipe but my pizza dough makes enough for two pizzas - so I didn't double that. 

Easy Pizza Rolls

1 loaf frozen bread dough, thawed

4 ounces cream cheese, softened

pizza sauce

2 tsp. dried oregano

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1 cup chopped pepperoni (I just laid pieces on in rows, each row about 2 inches apart)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Coat baking dish with cooking spray (I used 9 x 13 dish and a 8x8 dish).

Roll out dough into a rectangle, making it thin.

Spread cream cheese evenly over the dough.

spread pizza sauce, lightly, over the cream cheese.

Lay pepperoni and top with cheese and spices.

Roll up jelly-roll style (like you are making Cinnamon rolls) and slice.

Lay cut side down in pan with some space between because they do expand. 

Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown!

What's for dinner? - Chicken Pot Pie

A friend (Laura from ECFE) shared this chicken pot pie recipe and we had it last night.  EVERYONE loved it.  It was really easy and all things you could potentially have on hand!  It went together fast, especially if you skipped cooking up your own veggie mix.  The pie looked beautiful - my camera was dead.  THIS IS DEFINITELY one of my new favorite standard recipes (meaning, we'll be having this once every two weeks...and after Thanksgiving maybe we'll make it with turkey instead!)

Chicken Pot Pie

1 16oz. can mixed vegetables (I sauteed some carrots, celery, and corn...my boys don't like peas and I am not a fan of mixed frozen or canned veggies)

2 cups cooked and cubed chicken

1/2 cup milk

1 egg

2 cans cream of potato soup

2 read made pie crusts

Mix all the ingredients and spoon into pie crust.

Top with second pie crust.

Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes.

What's for dinner? -- Apple dip

I recently had this dip and knew I had to make it.  'Tis the season for yummy apple treats.  And this dip is a wee bit more healthy than caramel.  I have served it twice and everyone liked it.  Unfortunately, my boys aren't fans of dipping fruit.  So I guess I will have to wait for friends to join us to make it...otherwise, I am the only one enjoying it.  And eating the whole bowl myself is not healthier than a little serving of caramel.

Yummy Apple Dip

1 8 oz. package of cream cheese

3/4 cup of brown sugar

cinnamon to taste

Let cream cheese come to room temperature. 

Whip the cream cheese, brown sugar and cinnamon.

Serve in a dish, surrounded by sliced apples!

Before serving make sure to stir it so it is gooey like a caramel dip.

I have seen a similar recipe on the Weelicious website and instead of cinnamon they use vanilla and then provide many different kinds of fruits!

Pesto like the Pio*neer Woman

The Pio*neer Woman and I have something in common. Yesterday she posted about a staple in our house...

PESTO!

Pretty proud that my picture looks almost exactly like Ree's!


And on Sunday Ed had bought out the farmer's market of all their basil.  He worked hard on prepping the leaves.  And yesterday while the boys played outside, windows were open so I could hear them having fun with the neighbors, I finished the task. 
My recipe I got from my friend Molly's mom.  She actually took an afternoon, a few years ago, and showed me her ways.  It requires some of this...

And a bit of this...

Along with this stuff...

Ingredients:

2 cups packed fresh basil
1/4 cup pine nuts ( I use walnuts)
3/4 cup Parmesan or Romano cheese..I use Parmesan
1/2 cup virgin olive oil
3-4 fresh garlic cloves for 1 pound of pasta
1/4 teaspoon of salt

Process all ingredients in your food processor until well combined.  Refrigerate if not used immediately.  When serving, bring to room temperature or slightly heat.  Add to 1-2 pounds of pasta.  Serve with additional cheese. 

Now our family LOVES this meal.  I make a batch and actual split it up into four ounce little containers and freeze them.  So our pasta is only lightly covered in the pesto.  Since a single batch makes a few small containers for our family.  My boys prefer pesto covered pasta to red sauce. 

I also will freeze batches in ice cube trays, pop them out and keep them in zip bags in the freezer.  Then when I want to add it to a sauce like alfredo (the best!) or mayo for a sandwich spread, I have smaller quantities to deal with. 

Our farmers market is loaded with fresh basil right now and they sell it in large bunches for a dollar.  I have found that it is cheaper for me to just buy it rather than starting it from a small plant.  The cheapest way would be to of course start it from the seed.  But I just haven't gone that far yet. 

Pesto is a favorite...and now we are stocked for the winter.  We have 17 meals of it in our freezer.  And if I can swing it I will will do another batch.  Because when I am stumped on what to make for  dinner...I love hitting up our stash of pesto for an easy and healthy-ish meal. 

Yummy Banana Boats...

Today we took some overly ripe bananas.

Some chocolate chips.

Some marshmallows.

And some tinfoil.

I cut a flap in the banana and scooped out a bit of the banana.

The boys filled them up with the chocolate chips and marshmallows.

We covered them with the banana skin.

Wrapped them in tinfoil and baked them at 350 degrees for about 12-15 minutes.  Or you could put them on the grill or the bonfire. 

And BAM!  A yummy treat on a Wednesday afternoon.

All three of us enjoyed this yummy treat!

This post is linked to Works for Me Wednesday at We are That Family.

What's for dinner? Meatloaf

Last week I wrote the shortest post ever about making meatloaf - and I think I got more comments in the least amount of time than most posts.  Cracked me up.  It was my first attempt at meatloaf.  We had a few run ins last week at dinner...Charley would come to the table and see the main dish and make a yucky comment.  Which would send Henry into a fit - which would cause me to flip.  Charley spent at least two evenings in his room for the first 15 minutes of dinner.  And Henry went to bed hungry.

Charley now knows that if he makes a comment like that he will be in his room for the rest of the night.  It is so frustrating when little brother, who is already a picky eater and who copies everything big brother does, refuses dinner because of a comment Charley made.  Charley is such a good eater and usually he comes back to the table tries it and loves it...but Henry refuses the entire meal. 

So on Thursday I made meatloaf.  And when they came to the table I could see the fear in their eyes.  But I was so pumped that they didn't say a peep.  Both tried it and loved it.  This recipe makes two small meatloaves...Ed was running late so we polished off one and he actually almost ate the entire second one.  THAT GOOD.  Later he asked me what was in it.  He really liked it.  Yipee!  Like most men, at least that is what I tell myself, he doesn't make too many comments about recipes I try.  I think he is afraid to tell me he doesn't like something and he just appreciates coming home to a balanced meal. 

So here is the winning recipe.  WE ALL LOVED IT!  It was easy.  I am curious how it turns out next time - which will be in the near future.

The recipe is from Trisha Yearwood's cookbook.  My mom gave it to me for a birthday gift. 

MEATLOAF

Ingredients:

2 lb. lean ground beef

20 saltine crackers, crumbled

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1/4 cup ketchup

1 Tablespoon yellow mustard

1 tsp. salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 medium onion, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Gently mix the beef, cracker crumbs, egg, ketchup, mustard, salt, pepper, and onion until blended.  I used my kitchen aid mixer.  Shape the mixture into two loaves and place side by side crosswise in a 9 x 13 pan.  I sprayed my pan a little bit.  Bake loaves for 1 hour, or until they are browned.  1 hour was perfect for us. 

Transfer immediately to a platter to cool for a bit.  (If you don't transfer the loaves will soak up the grease -ick)

I served with salad and mashed potatoes! 

What's for dinner? - banana bread

When we are graced with the presence of a few of these lovely over ripe treats...we BAKE!  We bake some amazing Banana Bread.  I may have posted this recipe before but I don't have it listed on my recipes and I have friends ask for it..so here ya go.  I have tried many recipes but when I got this one from my friend Sherry I knew there was no other choice.  I have also experimented after hearing that we, Americans, over sugar all our food.  So I cut the sugar to 1 cup and changed the oil to applesauce and it still tasted AMAZING!

Banana Bread

1 1/2 cups sugar (I cut this to 1 cup)

1/2 tsp. cloves

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

3/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 2/3 cups flour

1/2 cup oil (I substitute with applesauce if I have it on hand)

1/2 cup water

2 eggs

1 cup bananas ( I use 2 bananas)

I grease my bread pan.  Mix the ingredients up.  And then...

Bake 1 1/2 hours at 300 degrees - start checking at 1 hour and 15 minutes.  Ready when knife comes out clean.  Let cool long enough so it pops out of the pan without breaking.