Awesome Banana Cake

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 Tbsp baking soda

1 pinch salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1 cup white sugar

3/4 cup light brown sugar

2 eggs

4 ripe banana's, mashed (or 3 large)

2/3 cup buttermilk (or sour cream)

1/2 chopped nuts (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Grease & flour two 8 inch pans (or 9 x 13 pan).

3. In small bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.

4. In a large bowl, cream butter, white sugar and brown sugar until light & fluffy.

5. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Mix in the bananas.

6. Add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk (or sour cream). Stir in nuts (optional). Pour batter into prepared pans.

7. Bake in preheated oven for about 30 minutes.

My Notes:

This cake is awesome... very moist and wonderful! I used my 9 x 13 pan and frosted half of it with store-bought cream cheese frosting (the other half I left unfrosted for my kids who said they wanted it plain!) I didn't put nuts in mine and I used sour cream instead of buttermilk. I also only had 4 Tbsp. of unsalted butter so the other 4 Tbsp. I used margarine. Overall it was quite delicious, so I hope you try this recipe next time you find you have some overly ripe bananas! :)

Meatloaf

1 packet/envelope of Lipton onion soup mix

2 pounds of ground beef

3/4 cup of dry bread crumbs

2 eggs

3/4 cup of water

1/3 cup of ketchup

Optional:

2/3 cup chopped green and/or red bell pepper

1/3 cup ketchup for topping

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a large bowl combine all ingredients with spoon or with hands.

3. In a 9 x13 inch pan, shape into loaf.

(Spread optional 1/3 cup ketchup over the top of the meatloaf.)

5. Bake 1 hour and let rest 15 minutes before slicing. Enjoy!

My Notes:

I easily cut this recipe in half when making it for just Chris and I. I just use 1 lb. of ground beef and half a packet of onion soup mix, and so on. It turns out great and is done in less than an hour (approx. 45 min. or so!)

Easy Chocolate Banana Bread

Easy Chocolate Banana Bread

1 1/3 cups mashed very large bananas

(2 large or 3 small/med)

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup milk

3 Tbsp veg. oil

1/2 tsp. vanilla

3 eggs

2 2/3 cup Bisquick

1/2 cup cocoa

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottom of loaf pan.

Stir together bananas, sugar, milk, vegetable oil, vanilla, and eggs in large bowl.

Stir in Bisquick, cocoa and chocolate chips. Pour into pan.

Bake 50 - 60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean; cool 10 mins.

Remove from pan. Cool completely before slicing.

Wrap tightly and store are room temperature up to 4 days; refrigerate up to 10 days.

My Notes:

This was originally a Bisquick recipe. I always use Heart-Smart Bisquick which is a little bit healthier. I changed up the recipe by adding cocoa to it. I think the bread turned out a bit dryer than usual because of the addition of the cocoa, so next time I may decrease the Bisquick to an even 2 cups, instead of 2 2/3 cups, or perhaps just increase the milk or oil? I would do whatever you think is best. :) I also used mini chocolate chips and sprinkled a few on top. If you're a big chocolate lover, you could add more cocoa, as the 1/2 cup of cocoa gives it a good flavor, but doesn't make the bread super-duper chocolatey. Also, the recipe says to use one 9 x 5 x3 inch pan, but I split the batter between my regular loaf pan and my mini loaf pan. For the mini loaf, I usually leave it in the oven about 20-25 minutes and the larger loaf (in my oven) takes about 40-45 minutes. I hope you enjoy trying this recipe!