Brown Banana Bread

I swear, I need to take it easy on the bread. But its such a comfort food for me I cant help it. I have such fond memories of banana bread. I have never tried a banana bread with brown sugar so I figured I would give this one a try. I am still on the fence about it. It's not my favorite banana bread but it ranks. 

Banana Bread

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 1/3 cups mashed overripe bananas

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.

Strawberry Orange Bread

I have been on a total bread kick lately. I have had a bunch of dehydrated strawberries that just needed to be turned into something. So this was my answer. You don't need to use dehydrated strawberries, fresh is fine as well. 

Strawberry Orange Bread

Ingredients

Bread

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1 1/8 cups vegetable oil
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cup chopped strawberries
• 1/4 cup orange juice

Optional Icing Mixture

• 3/4 cup confectioners sugar
• 1/4 cup lemon juice

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease three 8x4 inch bread pans.
2. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour, salt, baking powder, poppy seeds and 2 1/2 cups white sugar. Add the eggs, milk, oil, orange juice, vanilla and lemon extract; mix until smooth, about 1 minute. Pour batter evenly into the prepared pans.
3. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 50 to 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaves comes out clean. Cool loaves in the pans for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack.
4. If you want an icing mixture, combine lemon juice with confectioners sugar a tablespoon at a time and stir well. Pour this mixture over the loaf while it is still hot. Allow loaf to cool completely before serving.

Lemon Poppy Seed Bread

So it's been entirely too long but I have been somewhat busy. A few weeks ago a favorite and best friend of mine was in town for her birthday weekend. During her stay her family threw her a brunch to which I was invited and thought, awesome excuse to bake something delish.

So I have made this recipe a few times and I keep tweeking it. This mixture seemed to go over well. I was able to make some muffins and a loaf. Just because I like variety.

Lemon Poppy Seed Bread

Ingredients

Bread

• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 tablespoons poppy seeds
• 2 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1 1/8 cups vegetable oil
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon extract

Icing Mixture

• 3/4 cup confectioners sugar
• 1/4 cup lemon juice

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease three 8x4 inch bread pans.
2. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour, salt, baking powder, poppy seeds and 2 1/2 cups white sugar. Add the eggs, milk, oil, vanilla and lemon extract; mix until smooth, about 1 minute. Pour batter evenly into the prepared pans.
3. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 50 to 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaves comes out clean. Cool loaves in the pans for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack.
4. Combine lemon juice with confectioners sugar a tablespoon at a time and stir well. Pour this mixture over the loaf while it is still hot. Allow loaf to cool completely before serving.

I'm melting!

I'm pretty sure I broke my blow dryer making this. Hopefully not because I wasn't done.

Easy Chicken Pot Pie

Chicken pot pie brings back some special memories for me everytime I see it or eat it. I always remember being a child and asking my dad on Sunday nights what was for dinner and he would reply, "chicken pot pie and I don't care" every time. It was a Sunday night staple when I went to see my dad and I love it. Back then thought it was usually willow tree chicken pie and a side of vegetables. This recipe puts it all together as one and takes almost no time at all to prepare.

Easy Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients:

• 1 can (10 3/4 oz) condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
• 1 can (10 3/4 oz) condensed cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon of pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon of poultry seasoning
• 2 packages (16 oz each) of frozen mixed vegetables, thawed
• 1 1/2 cups cubed cooked chicken
• 1 package of jumbo biscuits

1. In a large bowl combine the soups, milk, thyme, pepper, and poultry seasoning. Stir in vegetables and chicken.
2. Transfer to a greased 13x9 greased baking dish. Top with jumbo biscuits.
3. Bake uncovered at 350degrees for 40-50 minutes or until filing is bubbly and biscuits are golden brown.

Valerian Tea

Some people forget that some of the strongest and most powerful ways to relax come from things we find in nature. Many people either don't have the time or need a quick fix. But if you can take the time to take pleasure in herbal recipes, you will find it's worth the extra time.

For my birthday this year my closest friend Katie gave me a wonderful book filled with herbal recipes and some herbs to make a valerian tea. At the time, and still now I have been going through a period in my life where I find my self extremely stressed and anxious more often than not. With no real triggers to pin point I can only assume that there is something off with my bodies balance. So I have been spending a lot of time trying to find different things to relax, hence the knit night and excessive tea habit. I have always known valerian root to be a "relaxing" herb if you will. Whenever I would go to my local herb and tea shop the owner would give her cat valeria root and the cat would almost immediately become relaxed. I've always wanted to try it but wanted to make sure I read more of the how to's in the book Katie got me before jumping in.

So I went for it and I was pleased, and relaxed.

Valerian Tea

Ingredients:

• 1/2 tsp licorice root
• 2 tsp lemon balm
• 1 tsp valerian root
• 1 1/2 cup water

1. Decoct the licorice root for 15 minutes. Do this by putting in a sauce pan with 1/2 cup cold water and heating on low till simmering.

2. Turn off the heat and add the lemon balm and valerian root. Allow to infuse for 45 minutes.

Valerian Root

Lemon Balm

Licorice Root

3. Strain and drink.

You can strain this from the pot or transfer it to a french press. My advice to you is that if you are going to use a french press, be sure to NOT use the same one you use for coffee to avoid the flavors mingling.

Freezeable?

A lot of people ask me how I cook, bake, prepare food for one person. I didn't always have a great system in place. I used to make a meal and that was all I ate all week for lunch and dinner because it's difficult to make lasagna for one. Over time I have made a system for myself of portions and freezer storage. This has, believe it or not, saved me money and time. I find myself spending most of the weekend, when I have free time, baking and cooking meals to my hearts content. I will make a different lunch and dinner each day and portion it out so I can freeze the remained into "frozen dinners" if you will. Then during the week I have an assortment of things to eat for lunch and dinner and I don't have to listen to people say, "Lasagna again?!"

When I do tell people what my system is, they usual say something like "I didn't think you could freeze that." So I recently came across this great blog article by a stay at home mom named Andrea. It was so through and really makes it easy for someone new to freezing to understand the ins and out. So instead of me posting all my tips and tricks, feel free to take a look at Freezeable Foods. You might even find a new trick or two to save your self the two thing we could all use more of: time and money.

This is the inside of my freezer.