Thursday, July 8, 2010

3 basic "Go-To" recipes

Here's three, fairly easy recipes that I use on a quite regular basis.  Let's start with Banana Bread Pie...

No, it's not healthy.  Let's be clear about that right upfront.
It includes only 6 ingredients:


THE INGREDIENTS
2 or 3 bananas: very ripe, sliced
1/2 c. baking mix (Bisquick)
2 lg. eggs
14 oz. sweetened condensed milk
1 Tbl. butter: melted
1 tsp vanilla


I always make 2 ~ if I made only 1, we might have a mutiny on our hands around here!
One of my pie pans is glass, one is aluminum (?), one is a bit larger....basically, you'll have to do a bit of trial-n-error to learn exactly how long to bake your pies.

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Spray your 9" pie pan(s)
Beat bananas w/ mixer on low until smooth - about 1 minute.
Add all the other ingredients - beat on low until well-blended.
Scrape into pie pan(s)
Bake 25-30 minutes (depends on your oven)
**I always bake mine longer, about 35 min. or so**


Here's a slice, from my smaller pie pan, cut into 8 slices (that's a dessert plate).
You have to let the pie sit & cool about 30 minutes before trying to slice it.
It about killed my kiddos to smell this tonight ~ since I baked it for breakfast TOMORROW!



And yes, it's a bit of a cross between pie & bread - so it has a "custard-y" consistency.
That's the thing with the baking time - I've under-cooked it a few times (and that's just gross).
So I always cook it a bit longer, just to be sure!


And now, onto Peanut Butter Granola...

Still hot in the pan ~ and it smells oh-so yummy!
This is really easy as well.  We eat it plain, with milk for breakfast, over yogurt....
It's also fairly versatile ~ with/without nuts, with/without raisins, with/without chocolate....
And again, I *always* double my recipe!


THE INGREDIENTS
2 Tbl. butter
1/3 c. peanut butter (natural or regular)
1/3 c. honey
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt
3 c. rolled oats (I use old fashioned)
1/2 c. raisins, nuts, chocolate chips, whatever you fancy



~Yum-O~

DIRECTIONS
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
Melt the PB & butter in a large pot.
Add in the honey, vanilla & salt.
Stir until smooth & hot.
Take off heat, then add in oats - stir to coat.
**I always add in sliced almonds at this point - I like the toasted taste they have being baked in the oven WITH the granola, rather than added later.  Totally your preference.**
Spread the granola evenly onto an un-greased 9X13 pan.
**Um, I ALWAYS spray my pan....I think I did this ONCE without spraying first and it was a HUGE mistake!  So the recipe says un-greased....I say, grease it up, baby!!**
Bake the granola for 10 minutes - until brown & crispy (but not burnt).
Let the granola cool in the pan, then break it up into pieces & add nuts, raisins, chocolate, whatever....store in an air tight container.



And lastly, Amazing White Bread....
(except Dean & I aren't eating bread right now, so I haven't made it in a few days....that's another post....)

If you click on this pic, it will take you to the King Arthur blog site, specifically - this recipe!
It's amazing sandwich bread!
Yes, I know it "white", not whole wheat or oat bread or some other healthy version...
But sometimes you just need a good ol' white bread for grilled cheese, or PB&J!  
This is that bread ~ and I do it in my bread machine (although you don't have to).
Oh, I also make 2 loaves out of this recipe, even though it says one.  I tried one loaf & it was HUGE!!  It just works better for the lil' ones to have smaller slices....smaller portions, easier to slice, and it just lasts longer that way!

I'm too tired to type it all out (although it's a pretty simple recipe) but please, go to that site and check it out.
They have FANTASTIC recipes that are tried-n-true!!  Luv it~



So there ya go ~ three easy-peasy recipes that get me through my days feeding 5 HUNGRY children!  I wonder how long it will be until I need to start TRIPLE-ing my recipes..........???

5 comments:

Brooke said...

Looks good Lori!
I just pulled a HUGE loaf of that bread out of the machine yesterday. That is the bread I make quite frequently around here. That or honey whole wheat. Yummmmmmm.

Unknown said...

I found an awesome sounding recipe for cantaloupe bread done in the machine! I cant remember, do you have some in your garden? I cant wait for mine to fruit so I can try this recipe. I also have a yummy zucchini cream pie that you might love! It never lasts!

Unknown said...

BTW, I am Ken's friend Jessica:)

Tina said...

Gonna need to make that granola! Yummy.

Unknown said...

I don't have cantaloupe or zucchini in my garden - although, I hope to expand it next year, so I'll think about adding one of those in perhaps?!?

I'll have to give it a try ~ I saw that Kenni gave one of those breads (?) a very good review!! I've never had either one....sounds interesting!

Hope you have a great day ~ Nice to "see" ya on facebook!