Well, last week I bought 18 bananas for $.50. I know, a bit excessive. But it was such a good deal...ones of those 'last chance' produce bag deals...
I don't actually like plain old bananas, although James and Mark both love them, but I thought I'd bake some of them into some treats. So I set out to try out a few new banana recipes. First, I tried out these Banana Chip Muffins. I really liked them and they didn't have oil or butter!
Then I ran across this idea for frozen banana bites. You could top them with nuts or sprinkles for something different. We all loved them. I thought they were the perfect consistency after freezing for one hour. If any longer, I'd let them sit out a few minutes before biting into them. They really taste like ice cream inside!!
Then we ended up having friends over Saturday night to play games. I didn't have time to whip up banana bars or cake like I had hoped so we picked up all the fixings for banana splits! I'd never eaten one before, but they were yummy! To top our banana slices, we had chocolate and vanilla ice cream, hot fudge and caramel, whipped cream, maraschino cherries, and salted nuts!
After three desserts, I decided I should make something a tad more healthy....I tried this banana bread recipe because it required 4 bananas, included whole wheat flour and very little fat. It's good, too, but I haven't had Mark or James try it yet...
After all those goodies (and the boys eating several by themselves) we're down to just two bananas left!
Hope you don't mind another slide show of photos. We've just had so much going on that I can't keep up with posting pictures individually! These are pictures from the past two weeks, some from the 4th of July brunch at my parents' house and some from visiting Mark's parents over two different weekends!
I have been trying my pregnant best to get out and around with James these past few weeks. I know that next summer it won't be quite so easy and I want to really relish this time with 'just James'. Last week we had beautiful weather so we took full advantage and had THREE outings! Exhausting, for sure, but we had fun! James asked me out of the blue one morning, "Farm?", referring to the local free petting zoo 'farm'. So I took him up on it. Here are a few pictures from our morning. Goats, playgrounds, and tractors. What more could a little boy want?
I'm sorry to say I don't have photos to lure you into these recipes. I have tried four brunch/breakfast recipes in the past week that have all turned out really great! I'd recommend tucking these away for future use!
Poppy Seed Fruit Salad - This is really all about the 'dressing', a fresh citrus-y-sweet mix of limeade concentrate, honey and poppy seeds. The poppy seeds look pretty, and it would be great on any combination of fruit. I used fresh pineapple, white peaches, bananas, and strawberries. Here is the recipe.
Overnight Cinnamon Rolls - Seriously yummy rolls!! I've not had a lot of luck making cinnamon rolls in the past. These were delicious. And the 'overnight' part of them just makes sense, right? I liked waking up, setting them on the counter for a while and then just baking them! So much easier! I did make a recipe and a half of the icing to make sure they got good and covered. They were a hit! Here is the recipe with great details and photos.
Southwestern Egg Casserole - Definitely NOT low-calorie, this one has cottage cheese and one pound of cheese! But it was also an overnight recipe, which was a plus when we were having company. And it was really tasty. And I liked that it doesn't call for cooked sausage or bacon (which I usually love, but this made it quicker to throw together). Here's the recipe.
Blueberry Tea Scones - I was browsing recipes one night and started to get a serious craving for some sort of baked good. I started rummaging around for a recipe to try that would only require ingredients I had on hand. This one fit the bill and it only took one hour from the moment I started making a mess to the moment I was eating one! I honestly didn't have very high expectations because I've had very hit-or-miss luck with scones. But these are really good-very moist! I've decided I like making scones because it's a nice quick bread that doesn't require a muffin paper liner! Something I'm always out of, it seems. This recipe is from "The Cream of the Crop", a blueberry cookbook my mom just gave me last week.
2 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. sugar
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
5 1/2 T butter, chilled
1 c. fresh or frozen blueberries (I used frozen--didn't thaw, don't need to)
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1/3 to 1/2 c. milk
1 t. grated lemon rind (could omit easily but I happened to have some...)
1 egg white
sugar
Stir together flour, 1/2 c. sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut in butter with pastry cutter or 2 knives til mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in blueberries. Blend egg, egg yolk (save the 1 egg white for later!), 1/3 c. milk and lemon rind. Add to flour mixture, stirring until flour is moistened. Add more milk to make a soft dough.
Turn dough onto lightly floured surface and knead gently for 30 seconds (so as not to squish blueberries too much). Roll or pat dough into one big circle, about 1/2 to 1 inch thick. Cut circle into 8 wedges and place each wedge on an ungreased cookie sheet. (the recipe actually called to cut the dough into lots of tiny circles, but I like nice big scone wedges!) Beat egg whites with a fork til frothy and brush evenly over unbaked scones. Sprinkle lighly with sugar. Bake in preheated 425 oven til golden, about 15 minutes. Allow to cool 5-10 minutes. They're great warm but can be reheated a few seconds in the microwave, too! Enjoy!
I also have a couple of crockpot recipes to share sometime soon...maybe I'll wait til I have a third one....
While we've made ZERO headway on setting up our daughter's nursery (the sump pump project is finished, though-yay!), I have a few fun girly things to share!
An up-close shot of the quilting....the color/lighting is really off in this picture!
And hair things! I've been really obsessed with the idea of making fabric flowers and pretty hair clips/barrettes for headbands and such. I've been skimming craft blogs for ideas and found some of these ideas. The headbands above belong to Andrea...she came over last week and we made a couple of the above-pictured barrettes. The one below I whipped up a couple nights later...I've even worn it on a dress once! 
So many more to come...I plan on making several more in the next few days, some with coordinating outfits!
