Banana Bread

My three day weekend is coming to an end and I'm trying to deal with the fact that right around the corner is another work day. I ended up with a random three day weekend due to the fact that I never got a "New Years" Holiday earlier this month and took the day off on Friday for that. I'm not sure it was much of a day "off". As usually I was busy busy...my wonderful husband thought of the fact I would have all this extra time on Friday and made sure to get a bunch of wood work to stain for the basement. I'm glad to say it really wasn't all that much and it's done! He varnished it so it really wasn't that much for me to do. I added a bunch of cleaning and laundry around the house and had a full day. Saturday we went to Alex in the morning to meet a guy that was buying Jason's snowplow for a 4-wheeler. We also of course went to Menards since we can't really go to Alex and not go there! Proud to say that all the money we got for the plow was spent at Menards. Honestly that place is worse than Target!!!! Someday I hope we don't have a "project" at home :) I've also been dealing with a serious case of cabin fever this week. I'm not sure why it's so bad but I'm about ready to ditch this state and go somewhere! But I know...I'm not that exciting and wouldn't think of randomly going somewhere without a lot of "pre-planning" so that will just wait...and I'll dream of a summer vacation. I'm thinking camping somewhere so if anyone has any ideas and a wonderful place to do this at let me know! Ok on to this recipe. I know that many of you already have a banana bread recipe as it seems to be a staple but if you haven't found "THE" banana bread recipe then try this one...it's AMAZING...and it's from my mom and mom's always make wonderful yummy things! Before it was gone Jason was already asking me if I could make it again. Of course I said yes...but I haven't yet! Try it...you won't be dissappointed. Oh and it's super duper easy which I mean is even more wonderful!

Banana Bread
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Ingredients

1 C. Sugar
1/2 c. Butter or Margarine (I use butter)
2 Eggs
4 Bananas
2 C. Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Salt

1. Cream sugar and butter

2. Add eggs and bananas

3. Add the rest of the ingredients

4. Pour into a greased loaf pan

5. Bake at 350 for 1 hour - I usually end up baking it longer as my oven takes a bit longer to get the middle to set.

ENJOY!

Sugar Cookie Bars

BRRRR!!!!!! This seems to be a reoccuring opening theme to my blog posts. Sometime I promise I'll be complaining about it being hot since we are never happy are we?! Works been slow this week to not that I can imagine why. I mean doesn't everyone want to come and buy a car in subzero temperatures? My co-worker and I came up with the brilliant idea the other week that we should all take a leave of absense through the winter months and re-open in the spring. To bad the boss man did not agree with that. On the high note we haven't had to broom cars this week so I've been able to hide inside with my heater on under my desk. I'm a much happier person when I can be warm! Now for this recipe I'm going to share with you. When you think of sugar cookies do you shiver and dread the thought of rolling and cutting, rolling and cutting and doing it somemore? I know I do, but they are so so good when they melt in your mouth that sometimes it's just worth all of the work of making them. Well this recipe lets you enjoy sugar cookies with all that fuss. In fact Jason just asked me what I was blogging about and called them nummy bars. They sure were a hit at work that's for sure! Don't mind the missing corner in the finished picture of the bars...a "mouse" got into them because he decided he need to try them before and after frosting to compare them!

Sugar Cookie Bars
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Ingredients

Cookies

1 1/2 C. Sugar
1 C Butter, softened
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 Egg
1/2 t. almond extract
1 t. vanilla
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
2 1/2 c. Flour

Frosting

1/4 c. butter, softened
2 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 c. powdered sugar
2-3 T Milk
1/2 t. vanilla
Food Coloring

1. First beat the butter, cream cheese, sugar and egg until nice and frothy. This will take about 4 min.

2. Add vanilla and almond extract. Beat about 1 min.

3. Add flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Beat about 2 min. It will be light and fluffy.

4. Press dough into greased jelly roll pan. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20-25 minutes. Cool completely.

5. Frosting - Combine butter and cream cheese. Beat about 2 min. Add the powdered sugar, milk, vanilla and food coloring. Mix 1-2 min until smooth. Frost! Eat! Enjoy!

Brownie Ice Cream Cake

Another winter night...are they ever going to end? I'm starting to seriously doubt my decision to not plan a tropical vacation this winter. I decided that the money I had saved for our tropical trip this year would be better spent on a garage that we could build this summer. I'm not sure I support my decision anymore. What I wouldn't do to get out of the sub zero temperatures for a week! The sad part is it is only January and we could have a long road ahead of us but my mom informed me this week that January is always the worst month and after that you're on a downhill slide till spring. I'm praying and crossing my fingers that she is right! The recipe that I'm going to post tonight is one I made for a dessert at my mom's for the Wiese Christmas. It is out of the cookbook I got from the Koehl grab. My older brother was sitting next to me when I got this gift and he "helped" me look at it and pick out all the wonderful things I could make him. Let me tell you there were a LOT that he picked out so here I go chipping away at his recipes for him. He sure enjoyed this one!

Brownie Ice Cream Cake
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Ingredients

1 box (1 lb 2.4 oz) Betty Crocker Original Supreme Brownie Mix
Water, Vegetable Oil and egg called for on brownie mix box
1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream, slightly softened
1 cup hot fudge topping, warmed if desired
1 Tablespoons candy sprinkles
16 red maraschino cherries with stems, drained

1. Heat over to 350 degrees. Grease 2 (9 in) round cake pans. Make sure that you do this! I didn't my first round and had to send Jason running to the grocery store to get another box of brownie mix. He had a good laugh! Good thing I got a husband that finds my baking mistakes humorous! I personally used a 9 x 13 pan and it turned out great.

2. Make brownie mix as directed on box, using pouch of chocolate syrup, water, oil and egg. Divide batter evenly between pans if using the 2 round cake pans.

3. Bake 22 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted 2 inches from side of pan comes out almost clean. Cool completely in pans, about 1 hour.

4. Spread slightly softened ice cream evenly on brownies in pans. I mixed with egg beaters to make it easier to spread. Freeze at least 2 hours or until ice cream is firm.

5. Cut brownies and put on serving plates. Drizzle each wedge with hot fudge topping. Decorate with candy sprinkles and cherries. Store covered in freezer.

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Gooseberry Patch

Cheesy Bacon Potato Soup

This is going to be a short post tonight! Someone requested this recipe so I thought I would share it with all of you. Excuse the lack of pictures as I was in a hurry trying to impress the in-laws and didn't take any :) I think we can all imagine what a cheesy potato soup looks like though!  I made this soup Christmas Eve for the Evink Christmas. I was daring and tried out a new recipe for the in-laws. This could have really backfired but I lucked out and it turned out marvelous! I made an addition to it and that was the bacon. The original recipe does not call for this but Jason loved this change and so did the rest of us also! If you are looking for a "light" recipe this isn't the recipe for you...it has THREE sticks of butter...but it's a good treat once in a while! I hope everyone's week is off to a good start...don't get buried under all this snow again :)

Cheesy Bacon Potato Soup

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Ingredients

6 Large Potatoes

1 Large Onion (I used dried onion, as we are not big fans of onion!)

7 Large Carrots (I skimped on this as Jason doesn't love these either!)

12 C HOT Water

12 Bullion Cubes

3 Sticks Butter

1 1/2 C Flour

1 16 oz jar Cheese Whiz

1 (3oz) Package Real Bacon Bits by Oscar Mayer

1. Peel and chop the vegetables. Place them in a large pot filled with water. Bring to a boil and cook until crisp tender. When they are done pour them into a strainer to get rid of the water.

2. In a separate LARGE soup pot melt the butter over medium heat. Make sure it's large as it makes a TON of soup!

3. When the butter has melted, add your flour. Stir it in really well with a whisk. It will make a silky smooth mixture.

4. Add your 12 cups hot water. I just use my hottest tap water, you don't need it to be boiling.

5. Add the bullion cubes.

6. Stir the mixture until it starts to thicken up. It shouldn't take long. Adding hot water helps cut down on the thickening time.

7. When the soup has thickened add the jar of cheese whiz. Stir to incorporate.

8. Add your cooked veggies. (Do not add any of the water you used to cook them in.)  That's it! Enjoy!


Recipe: Jamie Cooks It Up!

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

So hard to believe another weekend is coming to an end. They always seem to go way to fast and the week drags on forever. I probably didn't help that I worked Saturday. I was getting a little bit spoiled having three Saturdays off in a row due to the holidays. Now it's back to reality and working every other Saturday, which is a lot better than before. I was working three in a row, then one off so I'm thankful for every other Saturday! Jason went to Sioux Falls on Saturday to help his sister move into the condo she just bought. So happy for her just wish I could have got to see it too! He was there all day and didn't get back until late on Saturday night (long after I was in bed!). So on Saturday night I treated myself to a girls night alone with a glass of wine and hogging the TV :) Well that was in between doing dishes and laundry. You just can't ever seem to get a night totally to yourself! Today we went to Alex and bought a snow blower and of course a few other things. Jason sold his beloved 4-wheeler on Friday night and so he bought a snow blower. I still am in shock that he actually sold it and hasn't complained yet. I'm sure that will come especially in the summer! I kept asking him repeatedly if he was ok with selling it. He finally looked at me and said "Stop asking me!!! I'm fine not be quiet!" so I guess he's ok with it! Ok on to the Enchiladas. These are marvelous. Even my mom likes them and she usually hates Enchiladas. Enjoy!

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients

4 oz cream cheese, softened
1 Tablespoon water
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
2 1/2 C diced cooked chicken
10 Flour tortillas (6 inches) room temperature
1 can (10 3/4 oz) cream of chicken soup
1 C sour cream
1/2 C milk
1 can (4 oz) chopped green chilies
1 C shredded cheddar cheese

1. In  a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, water, onion powder, cumin, salt and pepper until smooth. Stir in chicken.

2. Place 1/4 cup down the center of each tortilla. Roll up and place seam side down in a greased 13 in x 9 in baking dish.

3. In a bowl, combine the soup, sour cream, milk and chilies, pour over enchiladas.

4. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until heated through. Sprinkle with cheddar cheese, bake 5 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.

Strawberry Cheesecake Bites

Welcome to 2011! Now that we have all survived the holidays and our pants are a little tighter we can sit back and relax. We are doing exactly that right now. Sitting on the couch and watching one last Vikings game for the year. Jason got into a fight with his snow plow on the four-wheeler again this morning and it's now listed on Craig's list along with his topper that he just HAD to have when he bought his truck last fall. After he gets these to things sold I think I might cut him off from that website. It's not bad he sells this stuff...but he always has to replace it with something else! Luckily he seems to have good luck at this as he already has a call on his topper, which is being sold because he now has a trailer for the business that needs a fifth wheel. Anyways about this wonderful dessert I'm going to give you the recipe for. I got a new cookbook at the Koehl Christmas grab and it's a Betty Crocker cookbook and all the recipes have a cake mix, brownie mix, cookie mix etc in all the dessert recipes. This make the recipes super easy and what can I say. I LOVE THAT! I had the duty of bringing the dessert to the Wiese Christmas last night at Mom and Dad's and I made this and a brownie ice cream cake I'll post later.

Strawberry Cheesecake Bites
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Ingredients

1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix
1/3 c. Butter or Margarine
2 T Flour
3 Eggs
2 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
3/4 c. sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 c strawberry spreadable fruit

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray bottom only of 13x9 in pan with cooking spray.

2. In medium bowl, stir cookie mix, butter, flour, and 1 eggs until soft dough forms. Press evenly in pan.

3. Bake 15 - 18 minutes or until light golden brown (Watch this closely the bottom of the cookies get really done if you over bake!). Cool 15 minutes. Meanwhile, in large bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and remaining 2 eggs with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Spread evenly over crust in pan.

4. Place spreadable fruit in small resealable food-storage plastic bag; seal bag. Cut off tiny corner of bag. Squeeze spreadable fruit in 3 lines the length of the pan. Use knife to pull spread from side to side through cream cheese mixture at 1 in intervals.

5. Bake 25 - 30 minutes or longer until filling is set. Refrigerate until chilled, about 2 hours.

Recipe from Fix with a Mix Desserts, Betty Crocker