Banana's

I have just been asked about a banana bread recipe .. and been given a fabulous new recipe for banana muffins(sugar free) by the lovely Cassie who makes the lovely Jewellery will try those tomorrow and let you know meanwhile here are some for you to try!

Banana Bread

Ingredients:

8oz/1 cup butter, softened
16oz/2cups sugar
7 large ripe bananas, mashed ( the blacker the skins the better!)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract 
4 eggs, slightly beaten
24 oz cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda

Directions:

Makes two loaves of banana bread.

1. Cream the butter and sugar. Blend in the bananas, vanilla and eggs.

2. Sift together the dry ingredients.

3. Add to the bread mixture and mix until just combined. Pour into two greased 9x5 inch loaf pans.

4. Bake at 350F. Check on the bread after 35 minutes (it may take up to 60 minutes). Banana bread is done when a Knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool the banana bread in the pan for 10 minutes then cool completely on a wire rack.

This is one we use a fair bit as hubby has an aversion to eating a banana that isn’t just ‘off’ green for some reason best known to himself! It is very moist tasty bread and goes down well another favourite for ripe banana’s are; (great for lucnboxes!!)

Banana Cookies

Ingredients:

8oz/1 cup sugar
8oz/1 cup mashed very ripe bananas (2 medium)
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder
8oz1 cup self raising flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped nuts

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease tray!

2. Mix banana, sugar, oil and eggs in large bowl with spoon. Stir in flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Stir in nuts.

3. Spread mixture in flat baking tray with sides... (same kinda thing you would do flapjacks in). Bake 25 to 30 minutes.

4. Cool completely. Cut into bars.

swimming...

As you will all know I started the walking last week and have quickly got it up to six miles a day. Friday I managed the six miles and also stepped over the first big hurdle and took Roo swimming in the pool .. in a swimming costume! Not a nice sight I am sure but it can only get better eh! Lets hope so!

   The first experience in this pool was quite good, its a strange pool which is sometimes deep and sometimes shallow. When we got there unfortunately the 'baby' pool was being used for children's swimming lessons, definitely a primary probably key stage one. Ruben looked fabulous in his costume once we got him in it! The changing rooms were called a 'changing village' for some reason and there were only three larger rooms that fitted in the buggy but luckily we managed to get one! As you can see from Roo's smile a pleasurable experience really! We had a lovely time, he just did his'must smile and be cute for everyone' thing and I kinda bobbed him up and down and spun him round. I would have preferred being in the 'baby' pool as it was a bit cold, so once the chin wobble repeated once too often we went to get changed!

    Still smiling but cold here, the large changing room was indeed a godsend although with Roo's powers of the backwards only crawl and roll approach to movement he almost disappeared under the cubicle much to the delight of the aforementioned primary children who thought it more than hilarious! All in all a good time was had by all, but i have invested in a baby seat for the pool so i don't have to just bob up and down i may be able to do some sort of swimming pushing or pulling him in it! =0)

mama's favourite pasta sauce ...

    Morning readers ... today again I will be in catch up mode ... Poorly baby weekend .. more about that later! Here is a recipe that is good for all, babies included! (prompted by a post from another mummy, actually one that makes Jewellery)
   This one always works for all and is dead easy so long as you don't mind chopping things!


Pasta sauce supremo


First of all i am rubbish with exact measurements but generally good at numbers ;0), this can be for either carnivores or vegetarians ... 


One large onion
One large stick of celery
Two medium carrots
One regular yellow pepper (any colour will do I just like the colour)
One medium courgette
Half a pack of closed cup mushrooms/or a whole pack if going meat free
One bulb of garlic ( well to taste really, we like a lot)
One small pack of mince
One tin of chopped tomatoes
One pack of passata(or make your own with 2lb of toms de-seeded and de-skinned and roasted and pushed through a sieve)
Three tsp Italian herbs (or a bunch of fresh ones basil/oregano/parsley/sage)
black pepper to taste
spot of olive oil
splash of Worcester sauce
a stock cube beef/veg




  Take all of the vegetables (the first five to start with) and dice them, all small and regular as you can in size, this basically keeps the cooking time for all similar. Carrots will take longer to cook through but this dish takes long enough to get them to the right state!
  Plop a little olive oil in a heavy pan (large one), and pile in your diced veg on a medium heat, make sure you stir them now and then. basically you need the onions to become almost see through before adding anything else. The pan should not be sizzling .. i believe the term is 'sweating' but that always makes me feel a bit ew!
  Next in are the mushrooms, which i slice thinly, this is the point at which you decide on the option of meat or not, without meat you add the whole pack, with meat just half. Stir those in and start them cooking.
  Peel and crush/chop your garlic .. i crush , hubby chops ... we don't mention the war ;0) it is best to add less then add to it garlic can be added right up to the end so its all down to personal taste and strength of garlic on the day!
   Carnivores now add meat, Worcester and cook through  (veggies ignore this one)
   Next in are the toms tin and then passatta (making your own tastes good but the packs are ok) This will also have to be down to eye as it depends how runny you like your sauce (ooo er!) 
    It is at this point that vegetarians should add all of their herbs and pepper and stock cube and leave to cook through (to bolster it up I add spinach sometimes right before eating) Your vegi sauce will be ready as soon as the carrots are in that case.
     Carnivores i would advise cooking this on a low heat for about half an hour, beef mince is better the longer it is cooked. Sometimes I cook for half an hour then leave covered and cool and reheat when hubby returns from the salt mines.


Et Voila! lovely pasta sauce to spread over your paste (In Roo's case over his whole body!) A scrape of cheese on top is beaut!


Usually i blend a bit with my hand blender for Roo and chop some spaghetti and mix, he likes some spaghetti on his high chair tray to play with too. This goes down really well and makes small people and veg haters eat 
their veg ;0)


 Go on give it a go!!
  

and now a sig ..

I think this might work just checking .. ahhhh i do like faeries =0)

Header ..

Done! Phew that was hard work remembering!
   I think this job may take a while ;0) ... In other news today Roo is really quite poorly unsure why but calpol and super mummy juice seem to be working thankfully! He must be feeling off colour he refused real food today at lunch time. Which reminds me, after my initial brush with Plum Organic last week I bought more of their products to try out. The most popular choice being 'Spelt fingers' with pomegranate;

The spelt fingers come in packs of two, perfect size for tiny hands and mouths as you can see below. The texture and taste is great and Roo absolutely loves them. The only downside I could see was the slime they leave behind, but as with any other rusk/biscuit type product, it is an occupational hazard unfortunately! Bring on the slime free rusk is what I say! i am always shocked at just how hard the aftermath is to remove from skin, hair and fabric! Again Plum have hit the jackpot here with a guilt free yummy treat well done! 

As you can see above, sock gloop!

Customising my blog ..

I could be some time ...
Have decided to try customising this thing, Its something I have done before, however it was some time ago and I am now very old .....
Wish me luck!

Conkers...

Hello people back again after a weekend with my older lovelies ...
   I have decided to begin the 'great fitness revival' for my own and others(those that have to look at me) benefit. Having a baby, at what ever age, smashes your brain and body for a little while. Sometimes a long while in my case!
   We have gym membership, and have had for the whole of my time being pregnant, silly I know but seemingly more hassle to alter than to keep paying. Anyway I digress, I have been telling myself to get organised for at least ummmmm six months, but having Roo has been enough to organise without thinking or myself. We all know how things end up when we have small people bounce back into or indeed come into our lives.
    The preparation for the gym has begun, well yesterday it did and I intend to go when I leave the keyboard and have fed the young one his lunch. I have decided as a kind of preliminary warm up to throwing myself back onto the treadmill I will be taking a long walk daily. with the help of a pedometer and google maps I worked out yesterday that I managed 4.8 miles. Which I thought was a great start and I felt good about it, it works on two levels you get to feel fitter and you don't want to eat! Bonus!
    Now Conkers, I managed yesterday to walk under around forty Horse Chestnut tree's on the way out of the village and down my chosen path, they were everywhere I looked. I just couldn't resist picking them up, they shone out of the grass and on the wayside like some glowing prize calling out individually for salvation from someone's shoe or horror of horrors the wheel of a car! What is it about them i find so attractive? They just feel so good and look so amazing far to good to pass by. They bring back memories of when my oldies were young, going off on a Sunday with a carrier bag with Nathan to get as many as possible so that he could show them off to his friends and play conkers with them. Now I do realise Roo is still far to young for this but it seems I am not!
     Now what to do with them? answers on a postcard please! ..... they are jolly good moth and spider repellents so I may have a go at making them look nice and hanging them around the house. They are just so pretty and tactile, I do hope I haven't disappointed too many children by taking them!