Snow Day Smoothie

Welcome to another winter storm day here on the East Coast! Hope you stayed warm and safe! Guess what my children wanted for a snack on this snowy afternoon? That's right, a smoothie! I guess I keep it too warm in the house! No matter, I made them a smoothie. They declared it was the best one ever.

So, what went into it to make it the best ever? I'll tell you.

Snow Day Smoothie (Blueberry Banana Smoothie) 

3/4 cup milk

2 x 100g blueberry flavored yogurt, frozen (the children give higher ratings with IOGO yogurt)

1 banana with brown spots, frozen or fresh (it must be riper than the ones in photo)

1/4 cup of frozen blueberries (wild or tame)

Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Serves 4 children nicely!

After their smoothies, the children and I went out to try to scrape our driveway. It was very frozen out there and rather impossible to move anything. When we came in, I made them all some hot chocolate with marshmallows. That seemed a little more expected. Hopefully the snow will let up soon and maybe they'll even get to school tomorrow.

Hana Banana-Nut Loaf p. 422

Bananas were on sale by the box here recently, so the ones we got last weekend are now at the "use me or freeze me" stage. So, I cracked open the Bread Bible and found this recipe. I didn't have macadamia nuts so I used pecans instead. The loaf was wonderful. It was packed with nuts and banana. It seemed greasy coming out of the pan - to the point that butter dripped off the waxed paper that was lining the pan. Once cooled, it did not seem greasy at all and it was lovely. The loaf was soft and smooth, other than the delicious crunch of the nuts. I chose not to use the coconut in the recipe that was listed as optional.

I baked this one on the regular "bake" setting on my convection oven, so the top of the loaf is even, not flopped over like so many loaves I've made in the convection oven! I baked it exactly 1 hour at 350, as the recipe said and it was perfect! Very good recipe. I'll be sure to make it again! I must be more patient when blending my sugar and butter - they need to be very well blended or else you get blobs of butter that will not incorporate into the batter. I'll do better next time!

Bite-Size Chocolate Banana Chip Muffins

Are you one of the lucky ones to get the "Milk" calendar every year? We got one in 2009, and I found this recipe that I clipped from it, just when I needed a little something for a bake sale at the school. I had all the ingredients - especially two very ripe bananas so I went for it.

I packed them 2 to a small ziplock baggie, added a pretty label to the bag and my children said they went quick, at $1 per bag. I kept enough at home to try them and they were good. Soft. Chocolately with just a hint of banana. Here's the recipe:

Bite-Size Chocolate Banana Chip Muffins

1 cup flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

2/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 egg

1 cup Milk

1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 2)

1/4  cup butter, melted

1/2 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Butter non stick miniature muffin pans or line with paper liners.

2. In a large bowl, combine flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, whisk together sugar and cocoa; whisk in egg, Milk, bananas and melted butter. Pour over dry ingredients and sprinkle with chocolate chips; stir just until moistened.

3. Spoon into prepared muffin pans, mounding as necessary to fill 24 deep or 36 shallow cups. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until tops are firm to the touch. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes. Transfer to rack to cool completely.

I would have to say I like my usual banana chocolate chip muffins banana chocolate chip muffins  better - I guess it is the oats that add some texture. But if you prefer smooth, these are the ones for you! Enjoy.

Now, I must go do some research - I have to come up with a "bowling" theme cake for my soon to be 9 year old! I was thinking a 9 x 13 slab cake, and use fondant covered candles as bowling pins and a rice krispie treat covered in fondant for a ball, with a "9" on it. Do you have any ideas?

Oatmeal Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Originally, this was a recipe for Oatmeal Banana Loaf. I just bake it for a shorter time and added the chocolate chips so my family would love them. I love that I can get my son who doesn't eat bananas at all to eat these.

Oatmeal Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 1/2 cups rolled oats

3/4 cups sugar

3 tsp. baking powder

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup chocolate chips

3 eggs

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup milk

4 medium mashed bananas

2 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Mix together first 8 dry ingredients. In a small bowl, beat eggs until frothy. Mix in oil, milk and bananas and vanilla. Pour into dry ingredients.
Stir just to moisten. Batter will be lumpy.
Fill greased or lined muffin cups 3/4 full.
Bake for 18-20 minutes, until tops spring back when pressed gently.
Yields about 18 muffins.

These are so good right out of the oven with a tall glass of milk! I feel that they are even healthy enough that we eat them as lunch! The chocolate chips make a beautiful mess of my 2 year old's face when we eat them still warm. Yum yum! They are also fantastic if you make them with raisins or walnuts (or both) instead of chocolate chips. I've even tried them with blueberries and that works too.