The Best Ever Banana Bread

My family is funny about bananas.  

My Mister and the girls love them, and I mean l.o.v.e.  

So I buy lots and lots...or rather bunches and bunches...of them.  

They will eat them every day, two or three times a day, for about 4 days.  

Then they just stop eating them.  They even stop asking for them.

And they start looking like this:

Personally, I think it is a conspiracy.  

They know that when the bananas start to look like that, the only logical thing to do with them is to make banana bread.  And, they like banana bread better than plain old bananas.

Waaaaaaaayyyyy better.

So, I am going to share with you my favorite banana bread recipe.

The thing is, I got it out of a Family Fun magazine years and years ago and I don't feel right reprinting it here on my blog.  But, I will most certainly tell you where to find it.

Unbeatable Banana Bread

Click that link.  That's where you'll find the recipe.

And, it truly is unbeatable.  This is a recipe I never have and never will attempt to change.  And, I've become very loyal to it.  There is no other banana bread recipe that will ever take its place in our home.

I follow the steps as exactly as I can:

Line the pan with wax paper...it works better than foil or parchment paper or nothing. 

I always try to get help mashing the bananas. 

                      

 

It always tastes better when they mash it.

The sour cream is the key ingredient.

People always ask me why it tastes so good and I always say, "It's the sour cream."

They either look mystified and disgusted or pleased and enlightened and they always say, "oh!" either way.

I find it best to let them cool in the pan for about 20 minutes...it's kind of hard to wait at this point, though. 

Mmmmmm, oh boy!

P.S. Three bananas = one loaf.  If I have extra bananas, I try to make 2 loaves so I can share the love, but sometimes they disappear before I can get them out of the house.  It's that good.

I'm linking this up with some of favorites!

Dehydrated Apples with Cinnamon

My sister, Erin, is a homemaking genius.  She has worked very hard to become so and I feel like she could teach me a great deal.  If she didn't live so far from me, I would go to her house daily and learn at her feet.

Her blog, The Blessed Life, is a nice place.  She has a lot to share and she makes me happy.  Check it out if you have time.  She just had a baby, so it may be a little slow there for a while, but there is still a lot of good to see!

My point is, she should probably be posting this since she is the one who introduced me to it.

Still, I'm very excited about it and I want to share my little accomplishment.

These apples were on their way out.

They weren't bad yet, but they were thinking about it.  

You know, hanging out with the wrong crowd...

So, here's what I did with them.

First, get a cold water bath ready for them and add to it a generous amount of lemon juice.

Now, peel them an core them.

Do you have one of these?  They're marvelous.  I love mine.  And, I feel super cool whenever I use it.  

That right there is a good reason to buy it, right?

Once they're peeled and cored, drop them in the cold water and let them soak a bit.

This will help keep them white instead of brown.

Next, I laid them out on my dehydrator tray and sprinkled them with cinnamon.

Mmmmm.  

I put them in the dehydrator, turned it on, and enjoyed the smell for the rest of the day!

P.S.  I have an Excaliber dehydrator...in case you were wondering.

Here's what they looked like at the end of the day.

I wish you could taste them...or at least smell them.

They're gone though.  My kids and husband (and maybe me a little) ate them all up!

I'm linking this up at these great parties!

Crockpot Grinders (Pinterest)

This week's project from Pinterest is another recipe.

My friends, Pinterest is an amazing place to find some amazing recipes.  Seriously, I'm in heaven.

This recipe, called Crockpot Grinders, links back to Big Red Kitchen.  (Click the link for the full recipe.)

Of course, I made some changes.  I didn't use any peppers.  I don't really like them and Mister doesn't mind adding his later.  Also, I used provolone, cheddar, and Swiss cheese.  In place of the peppers, I used marinated artichoke hearts.  

After assembling the sandwiches, I had some cheese left over and I just laid it on top of the bread so it could melt over the top.  

This is what I ended up with:

All I can say is, Try this!  It is so simple and sooooo amazing!  Fantastic.  

It's going on my favorites list for sure!

I'm linking up here.

Chicken and Cashew Lettuce Wraps

I posted this one on my Pinterest board a while ago.  

Lettuce wraps always look so good!  

The only other time I've tried them, I completely messed them up.  That scared me away a bit.  

But these ones...oh, they look delicious!  Chicken and cashews!  Can you really go wrong?

I decided to give it a try.  The pin links back here.

I'm usually a recipe changer and, well, I changed this one a little too.

But not much!  I just dropped the water chestnuts.  I don't like them.

The rest I left completely the same.

And they were beautiful...

And delicious.

Try 'em!  Quick!  You'll love 'em.

Whipped Potatoes...The way potatoes were meant to be eaten...take 2

*I must apologize.  Something went wrong with my pictures from the original post.  Hopefully it will work this time.*

Start with baked potatoes.

 How many you use will depend on how many people you want to feed. Each potato will make 2 whipped potatoes.

Cut the potatoes in half lengthwise, like so:

I forgot to mention that it is best to let the potatoes cool a bit so you don't burn your hands while you're handling them.

Now, scoop out their guts and put them in a bowl. A regular spoon works very well for this.

Melt a stick of butter or margarine...

and dip the empty potato shells into the butter.

 Be generous.  Make sure that whole thing is covered, dripping even, with butter.

Place the butter covered shells skin side up on a baking sheet.  (I cover mine with aluminum foil to help with clean up.)

If so desired, now is a good time to season them with a bit of salt or garlic powder or both.

Place the skins under the broiler for 5 to 10 minutes, until they are crispy enough for you.

Mmmm..... perfect.

In the meantime, take the potato guts and mash them up.

Stir in (or mash in) some sour cream--probably about a cup.  This is, once again, based on how many potatoes you use and how much you like sour cream.

Add some ranch dressing mix (I used about 2 tablespoons).

And top it all off with some cheese. 

(Stir the cheese in.  I don't know why I only took a picture of the cheese on top!)

Now, take your crispy broiled shells and fill them up with the mashed potato mixture and place those back on the baking sheet.

Top them all with a heap of cheese.  

 Don't worry if some of the cheese falls off of the potatoes and on to the baking sheet.  In fact, I even put some there on purpose.  

Because, when you bake them at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes, they come out like this:

And that wayward cheese turns into crispy little bites like this:

So good!

P.S.  I forgot to mention that this recipe is my dad's.  He's a potato genius.

*Linking up*

Putting Pinterest to Good Use

Have I mentioned that I love Pinterest?  (send me an e-mail if you want an invite!)

It stems from my love of lists..and my love of planning.  For years and years I have collected ideas and planned on doing them only to be left with a pile of ideas that I plan to do someday.

That is a part of the reason I started this blog: To give myself an excuse some motivation to finish those long anticipated projects.  

I also have been so inspired by all the craft blogs in this great blog world and this is a place to test out those tutorials I have been adding to my pile of projects to be done.  It is time for me to start my tutorial testing and my Pinterest planning.

So, at least once a week (that's the plan, anyway) I will work through at least one planned Pinterest project or one waiting to be done tutorial.*  

It's going to be so fun!

So, here's where I started.

This cake has been all over Pinterest.  It links back to the blog Made in Melissa's Kitchen.  

When I saw this, oh....I knew I was looking at my next birthday cake.  It is cake, surrounded by Kit Kats (one of my favorites for years!), and topped with M&Ms.  Seriously, could it be any better?

I made it on Sunday.  

Here is my result: 

Underneath it is a chocolate cake (of course)...

I used peanut M&Ms (because they're my favorite).

It was a hit!  It is as easy as the tutorial says it will be and so delicious....soooooooo rich (lots and lots of chocolate!).  

And here's my niece 

With the cake.

Check my Linky Parties tab to see some of the sites I've linked this to!