Banana Sour Cream Bread

Story:

When I went to my friend Jamie T's house to get my hair done a few months ago, she said that she and her family had made some bread to share with my family. (Wasn't that such a sweet Jamie-like thing to do?) Well, I loved the bread. It was super good. So, you guessed it, I asked her for the recipe. She complied. She got it off of allrecipes.com - click here for the recipe off their site.

I never got around to making it until this week. You see, we've had a zillion snow days this winter here in Kentucky. Well, nine to be exact. But it's just funny, because if it snows at all, they call it a snow day and no school. Just like that. I'm not complaining. I get to sleep in and I get to spend a few more hours with my most loved ones... but it's just funny. Anyway, I had a LOAD of bananas, so I made a double batch of this yummy bread. **Note: unless you have a REALLY big bowl, do not attempt a double batch!** But I did, and I ended up with 6 (8"x4") loaves. One of the loaves made its way to our wonderful neighbors Greg and Judy. Greg and Judy's son, daughter-in-law, and new granddaughter are currently visiting them... The reason I tell you that, is because I got this email from Judy today:

Dear Colleen - there was nearly an all-out, old fashioned rumble at my house this morning over your banana bread. It's the best anyone of us has ever eaten. I had it hidden from Greg for a day, but he managed to smell it out and devour most of the rest and blame it on the dogs!!!!! Imagine that.

Anyway, at your leisure please share that recipe with me.

Thanks again, j

I laughed and laughed... and then decided to post the recipe here for the neighbors, as well as for my future reference.

Ingredients:

1/4 C white sugar

1 t ground cinnamon

3/4 C butter

3 C white sugar

3 eggs

6 very ripe bananas

1 (16 oz) container of sour cream

2 t vanilla

2 t ground cinnamon

1/2 t salt

3 t baking soda

4 1/2 C flour

(1C chopped walnuts - optional - I don't use)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Grease four 7x3 inch loaf pans.

In a small bowl, stir together the 1/4 C white sugar and 1 t cinnamon.

Dust the pans lightly with the cinnamon & sugar mixture.

In a large bowl, cream the butter and 3 C sugar. Mix in the eggs, the mashed bananas, sour cream, vanilla, and cinnamon.

Mix in the salt, baking soda, and flour.

(Then stir in the nuts if you're using them.)

Divide into the prepared pans.

Bake for 1 hour, or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

*Note: I used 3 8x4 inch pans and it had to bake longer...

Enjoy!

Skillet Lasagna

Story:

I'm in a "dinner group" with a few of my neighbors. There are 6 families all together. Each week 3 of the women prepare a meal (sometimes cooked, sometimes just all the ingredients for a specific recipe) for the other 5 families. The next week, the other 3 women prepare for all the families. We meet at a specified time every Tuesday to swap out. So every other week, I prepare a dinner for a total of 6 families (mine + the other 5), and I get 5 additional meals from my friends during those two weeks. Get it? It's really not as confusing as it sounds...

Anyway, this Skillet Lasagna recipe was the recipe that my friend Amy gave the ingredients for this week. It was super easy and really good. Megan loved it! I thought I'd post the recipe here, so I could refer to it again...

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef (or Italian sausage)

1 jar spaghetti sauce (26 oz)

3 C (uncooked) pasta - Amy used a macaroni type

2 C mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Cook pasta according to directions.

Cook ground beef in a big skillet until crumbled and cooked through. Drain off fat.

Pour the spaghetti sauce in with the meat in the skillet. Simmer 5 minutes.

Stir in the cooked noodles and 1 C of the cheese.

Then top with the remaining cheese. Cover and simmer for 5 more minutes, or until it is heated through and the cheese on top is melted.

Remove from heat and let stand for a minute or so before serving.

Easy as that! Enjoy!

Good Morning Oatmeal

Story:

No real story. I found this one somewhere when I was looking for crock pot breakfast recipes. Yes, I said crock pot breakfasts. You see, I grew up with healthy and substantial breakfasts. And while I love the idea of making a hearty breakfast for my kids, I am simply too tired and too muddle-headed in the mornings to do a very good job at it. So I went looking online for things I could do the night before...

I made this last night and Ben liked it so much that he found himself bragging about it to one of his patients at work today. He told her it was on the blog, which it wasn't, but, well, now it is. So here you go, Miss Patient-Whose-Name-I-Know-Not-Because-of-Confidentiality-Laws! Hope you like it too!!

Ingredients:

4 C milk

1/2 C brown sugar (maybe a little less, it was pretty sweet)

2 T butter, melted

1/2 t salt

1 t cinnamon

2 C regular oats

2 apples, diced

1 C raisins

Directions:

Spray nonstick cooking spray in the bottom of your slow cooker.

Then combine all ingredients and mix well.

Cook on low overnight (8-9 hours).

Stir before serving.

(Makes quite a bit... but Ben likes a big breakfast...)

EDIT:
I still like this... but it seems to burn in my crock pot every time and then I have to spend time scrubbing it out... Hmmm...