brown sugar

White Chocolate Deliciousness

/ Katy / 5 Comments

I spent the night baking!  Finally!  I haven’t been in the mood to bake for so long and I definitely missed it.  I am so glad and my heart is happy that this part of me can be expressed with joy instead of sadness/heartache at remembering times of baking with others.  I love baking, baking with people and giving food to others. I made some brownies for those who watched Titanic and then I made banana bread with white chocolate and brown sugar from the States (woot! the brown sugar here is different…and you can’t get white chocolate in “chip” form here).  I included the recipe for the banana bread below since I think it’s the best and super delicious especially with white chocolate chips.  Enjoy!  Any recipes that you recommend?

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Banana Bread

5 T butter

½ cup sugar

½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1 large egg, 2 egg whites or egg replacer works fabulously!

1 t. whites

1 t. vanilla

1 ½ cup mashed bananas

1 ¾ cup flour

1 t. soda

½ t. salt

¼ t. baking powder

½ cup heavy cream or soy milk

NOTE: These are REALLY good with white chocolate and many people like them with chocolate too, but I like white chocolate.  Estimate how much you want in there.

  1. Preheat oven to 350.  Spray the bottom of the loaf pans (2 reg. or 4 small).
  2. Beat butter in a large bowl on medium speed until light and fluffy.  Add sugar and brown sugar.  Beat well.  Add egg, egg whites, and vanilla.  Beat until well blended.  Add mashed bananas.  Beat on high 30 sec.
  3. Combine flour, baking soda, salt and baking powder.  Add this flour mixture to butter mixture alternately w/cream.  End with flour mixture.
  4. Pour the batter evenly into the loaf pan.  Bake until brown, toothpick inserted in center will come out clean.  Baking times: Larger Loaf pan—1 hour 15 minutes.  Smaller Loaf pan—45 minutes.  (I don’t know if I buy these times…each oven is different and I usually find it needs more time.  Just stick a knife in it and when it comes out clean then it’s ready!!).
  5. Cool on wire rack in pan.  Remove from pan after 10 minutes.  Cool completely on wire rack.  (Nah, go ahead and eat some after the first 10 minutes…YUM!)

My Days Are Full

/ Katy / 1 Comment

Last weekend provided a much needed breath of fresh air.  The rain tends to be a downer during the week, but during the weekend the weather thus far has been absolutely gorgeous!  Today, Sunday, I woke up without an alarm kind of early, which was nice.  I knew I was going running, but then once I got dressed I decided to make it a 10k.  I ran the first 5k went great and I had a time of about 27 minutes.  Then I gave myself a bit of a break and walked for 4 minutes and then ran the rest of the 10k.  I finished under an hour–my goal!  Felt great and I ate oatmeal with brown sugar after drinking a lot of water.  Then we had planned to go on a picnic on top of the mountain at around 11:30.  So, we hiked up Everest and ate lunch and laid out in the sun.  The view was gorgeous and it was the perfect way to spend the afternoon.  To top it all off, we took a dip in one of the ponds (I miss lakes…) and now we’re going to make enchiladas for dinner!  There’s my day for you….how was yours?

love heartlove heart on top of the mountain

feetfeet!

Yum! Banana Bread

/ Katy / 2 Comments

Here is my favorite thing to make!  I love that the preparation time is long enough to enjoy, but not annoying…complicated/busy enough yet mindless too.  Perfect baking combination!  Plus, the final product is SO good it’s gone in literally a day or two…maybe three if you’re slow.  Plus, it works for any meal…breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a snack!

Banana Bread
5 T butter
½ cup sugar
½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
2 egg whites
1 t. whites
1 t. vanilla
1 ½ cup mashed bananas
1 ¾ cup flour
1 t. soda
½ t. salt
¼ t. baking powder
½ cup heavy cream (some recipes don’t include this…but I like to think it adds that something extra that makes this recipe extra good.  Though this is usually the only ingredient that needs to be planned)

NOTE: These are REALLY good with white chocolate and many people like them with chocolate too.  Estimate how much you want in there ☺

1.    Preheat oven to 350.  Spray the bottom of the loaf pans (2 reg. or 4 small).
2.    Beat butter in a large bowl on medium speed until light and fluffy.  Add sugar and brown sugar.  Beat well.  Add egg, egg whites, and vanilla.  Beat until well blended.  Add mashed bananas.  Beat on high 30 sec.
3.    Combine flour, baking soda, salt and baking powder.  Add this flour mixture to butter mixture alternately w/cream.  End with flour mixture.
4.    Pour the batter evenly into the loaf pan.  Bake until brown, toothpick inserted in center will come out clean.  Baking times: Larger Loaf pan—1 hour 15 minutes.  Smaller Loaf pan—45 minutes.  (I don’t know if I buy these times…each oven is different and I usually find it needs more time).
5.    Cool on wire rack in pan.  Remove from pan after 10 minutes.  Cool completely on wire rack.  (Nah, go ahead and eat some after the first 10 minutes…YUM!)

Cereal…yum!

/ Katy / Leave a comment

I love cereal.  I literally could eat cereal for every meal of the day.  In fact, some days I come really close.

Here are some of my favorites/recent favorites (in no particular order):

  1. Kashi Wild Blueberry
  2. Kashi GoLean Crunch
  3. Cheerios Strawberry Yogurt Bursts
  4. Honey Bunches of Oats
  5. Total Raisin Bran
  6. Life (this used to take up permanent residence in the middle console of my car in high school)
  7. Special K with Red Berries
  8. Oatmeal with Brown Sugar