Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread

Nanner nanner nanner bread, warm from the oven. Stick in my tummy please! Oh there is nothing more comforting than warm banana bread in my tummy.

Does anyone else feel like that? There is just something about it that makes me feel all warm and cozy.

When I saw this fun twist on typical old banana bread I knew I had to try it. I was not disappointed!

My husband repeatedly said, "Is it done yet? Can I eat it yet? Do you need to take that many pictures?"

I felt like I had another kid. Meanwhile my actual child, Miss K, was taking a nap like a good little girl!

This was snatched up by my hubby and little brother who was over in no time at all!

Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread
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Bread
3 over-rip bananas, mashed
1/3  c. melted butter
3/4 c. sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
Dash of salt
1 1/2 c. flour

Swirl
1/3 c. sugar
1 Tbsp cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a loaf pan.

2. Mix bananas, butter, sugar, egg and vanilla together. Add soda, salt and flour. Gently stir. Do not over mix.

3. In a small bowl mix the sugar and cinnamon together.

4. Pour 1/2 of batter into pan. Sprinkle 1/3 of the cinnamon sugar mixture on top of batter. Add the rest of the banana mixture to the pan. Top with the rest of the cinnamon sugar mixture.

5. Bake for 50-60 minutes.

Recipe from: Lovin' from the Oven

This recipe may be shared on the following sites - Please give them a visit!

Weekend Potluck 
Fresh Daily Eggs
Mandy's Recipe Box 
Crazy for Crust 
Inside BruCrew Life
Semi Homemade Mom 

Apple Pull Apart Bread

I should really wrap up these apple posts and move on to some pumpkin!

Here is another gooey ooey yummy breakfast treat for fall. I love how easy it is as we all know I'm all for easy. You don't even have to peel the apples in this one!

The recipe comes from the amazing blog Six Sister's Stuff. I'm pretty much in love with them. If I try one of their recipes it's sure to turn out! They even commented on one of my posts one day and I was in heaven since they are like my idols!

Remember that I still have my 2 Year Blog Anniversary Giveaway going on for another day. Go enter before it's to late! I'm giving away a Scentsy warmer and bar. It's simply amazes me how many people have not heard of Scentsy. If you don't have one or don't know what it is please go visit the website. It's simply the most amazing stuff you've ever heard of it. It smells amazing and it's so much safer than burner candles! Plus if you REALLY love it then you can sell it and make some extra cash on the side. Trust me I've bought a lot of extra goodies for myself, like my super duper fancy camera, from selling it!

Next up is another pretty sweet giveaway from Tiny Prints! Stay tuned for that coming in the next few days!

Oh and I've moved into the current century and have Instragram now with my nifty new iPhone! Please find me at julieseatsandtreats. I'm lonely and look like I don't have any friends on there!

Oh and one last thing (I PROMISE!) please leave me comments when you think something looks good, something is fun, you try anything or you just want to say HEY! I LOVE to hear from you all otherwise I feel like I'm blabbing to no one, kind of like when I talk to my hubby! Click the little comment button at the bottom of the post and leave me some lovin'!

Apple Pull Apart Bread

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Ingredients

12 frozen dinner rolls, thawed

2 Granny Smith apples, chopped

1/3 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. walnuts, finely chopped

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 Tbsp butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x5 loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray.

2. Mix together the chopped apples, brown sugar, walnuts, and cinnamon until well combined.

3. Using a pair of kitchen scissors, but each roll into thirds. Place 12 small roll pieces on the bottom of the loaf pan. Drizzle a third of the melted butter on top of the roll pieces. Then top with third of apple mixture. Repeat layers two more times, until ingredients are used up.

4. Let rise for about an hour or until rolls have doubled in size. I actually let it raise overnight and it was pouring out over the side. I just stuck a knife into it several times and let the air out and then baked it.

5. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until tops are golden brown and the middle rolls are done.

6. You can drizzle a powdered sugar and milk glaze over the top if you want!

Recipe from: Six Sisters' Stuff

Shared on the following sites - Please give them a visit!

Our Delightful Home
 Semi Homemade Mom
Weekend Potluck
Couponing & Cooking
Flour Me With Love 

Apple Struesel Bread

Things that get better with time. Gotta love them don't you?

Take me for example. I'm a firm believer that I'm getting better with time and age. Oh sure when I was graduating high school I thought I had it ALL figured out, like most kids. Yes I say kid because that is exactly what I was. Trying to make all these huge life decisions and thinking that everything was going to work our magically.

You know what? It all did. There's nothing I would change.

Did it work out how I had expected it to at that time? Heck no! Far from it. It worked out even better. I'm blessed and truly happy, but at that point in my life I was dreaming of far different things.

What was my dream? I'll share it with ya! I was going to go to school for a bachelor's degree in Hotel/Restaurant Management, mission accomplished on that one. I have the piece of paper to prove it! Then I was going to go off to some huge city, preferably New York City (of course!), and be a big wig CEO. Along with this dream was a amazing hubby (mission accomplished on this too details to follow), matching BMW's (black preferably), high powered CEO of a major hotel, pencil skirts, suits, etc. Nice Huh?

My reality as it is now - Married to an amazing hubby, one beautiful and precious daughter, living in rural Minnesota (my hometown), driving a truck (Gasp!), working at a telecommunications company as a Service Coordinator, wearing sweats as often as possible (possibly decorated with spit up more often than not) etc. For the record I did live in a city for a few months, I hated it, I did manage a hotel for a few years, I disliked it, but I was good at it and sometimes I miss it.

You know what? I'm happy. I've aged, I've grown, and I've gotten better. I have everything I want, sure I wish for things, but I have what I need. I love living by family (most of the time, love you guys!), knowing the majority of the people I encounter on a daily basis and living in my little community. Things change, people grow and age.

This apple bread is way better the day after you make it! My hubby even commented after he had a piece after it cooled that it was way better. If he notices it must be true!

Apple Struesel Bread
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Ingredients
1/2 c. butter, softened
1 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 Tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp vanilla
2 c. apple, peeled and diced
2 c. flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Topping
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp flour
2 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 Tbsp butter
1 tsp cinnamon

1. Beat butter, sugar and eggs until creamy. Beat in lemon juice and vanilla.

2. In a separate bowl mix together flour, baking soda and salt.

3. Gradually stir flour mixture into butter mixture until just moistened. Mix in apples until combined.

4. In small food processor add topping ingredients and pulse until crumbly.

5. Spread half of apple batter into a greased loaf pan. Sprinkle half of struesel topping over batter. Repeat layers for 2nd half of batter and ending with the rest of the topping.

6. Bake at 350 degrees for 60 minutes. Let cool completely before slicing. Remember better with age!

Recipe from:  Semi Homemade Mom

Shared on the following sites - Please give them a visit!

Newlyweds
Weekend Potluck
Flour Me With Love
Our Delightful Home

Olive Garden Breadsticks

I LOVE Olive Garden. It's a good thing that I live two hours from the closet one or I would have gained about 50 lbs and spent mucho dinero at that place by now. I can't say I'm in love with any particular pasta dish. It's the breadsticks and salad that do me in.

Now I've found the perfect recipe to cure my breadstick craving when it comes to Olive Garden. I'm just going to have to find the dressing recipe for Olive Garden now!

I think the key ingredient in these breadsticks is the sea salt so this is your warning if you don't have sea salt go buy some!

These are super simple to make. Remember I'm scared of yeast! They do take a while to prepare as they have to rise etc. so please plan ample time. This is your warning because one night I was in a hurry and attempted these and it backfired. Good thing I gave them a second chance when I had more time! Also, the recipe makes quite a few breadsticks, so I halved the recipe.

Olive Garden Breadsticks
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Ingredients

Dough
1 1/2 c. warm water
2 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp year
1 Tbsp salt
2 Tbsp butter, softened
4 c. flour

Topping
3 Tbsp butter, Melted & Divided
Sea salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder

1. For the dough, pour the water into a stand mixer with the sugar and yeast, let that sit and froth for about 10 minutes.

2. Add salt, butter, and 2 cups of flour. Mix the dough on low. Add the rest of the flour a half cup at a time, until dough scrapes the sides of the bowl clean. Mix the dough about 5 minutes on medium speed, until its soft and easy to work with.

3. Roll the dough out into a long log, cut the dough into 12-14 pieces. Roll those pieces into about 6 inch long snakes. Spray 2 large cookie sheets with cooking spray, and lay the breadsticks out leaving about 2 inches between each one. Place them in the oven with the temperature turned to 170 degrees. Let them rise for about 20 minutes, or until doubled in size.

4. Once risen, brush them with the 1 1/2 T of melted butter and sprinkle them with salt.

5. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and bake them for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. While they are baking combine the rest of the melted butter with 1/4 t garlic powder. When the breadsticks are golden brown, remove them from the oven and brush them with the butter/garlic mixture.

Recipe From: Readable Eatables

Shared on the following sites - Please give them a visit! 

Flour Me With Love

Newlyweds

English Muffin Bread

When I found this recipe on Pinterest I was immediately dying to try it. Bread usually scares me because it calls for a certain temperature of liquids and the yeast just makes me nervous, but this one looked so simple I knew I could handle it and so can you!

I made this recipe on Friday and took a couple loaves out to my mom's for coffee the next morning since I had to steal her loaf pans to make it as I needed four and only have two. I'll be investing in two more trust me!

My brother's girlfriend was at mom's and we were all sitting at the kitchen table sipping our coffee and eating toast...sounds like the perfect little family on the farm doesn't it? Don't worry there was tons of good natured ribbing going on around the table too! Anyways back to the bro's girlfriend. She looks at me and her eyes light up and she exclaims you so found this on Pinterest didn't you? I started giggling and said yup you must have found my pin. So glad someone else can join me in my pinterest addiction!

This bread is so simple and easy plus it makes your home smell like a million bucks. It makes wonderful toast especially smothered with my mom's homemade Strawberry Rhubarb jam. The hubby is waiting to make some eggs and sausage with it. He was super excited about this prospect!

English Muffin Bread
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Ingredients
5 1/2 cups warm water
3 packages yeast
2 Tablespoons salt
3 Tablespoons sugar
11 cups all-purpose flour
Butter, melted

1. Mix all the ingredients together. Don't over mix. There will be some lumps and the dough will be sticky. This is ok! Then spoon into 4 well greased loaf pans.

2. Let the dough rise in the pans until it reaches the top of the pan. This will take about a hour.

3. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Ten minutes before the bread is done take it out of the oven and brush melted butter on the top of the loaves. Bake the remaining 10 minutes until it's golden brown on top.

4. Allow to cool completely before cutting. If you don't you'll have a crumbly mess!

Recipe from: One Good Thing

Shared on the following sites - Please give them a visit!

The Country Cook 
Flour Me With Love 

Cinnamon Sugar Bread

I'm all about the cravings lately. I've been craving Banana Bread lately. I didn't have any bananas thawed out or sitting on the counter so instead I whipped this bread up.

It was delicious. It didn't replace my craving but I may have found a new craving! I'm still going to have to make the banana bread sometime soon because the crave just is not leaving me.

This bread is super easy to mix up and stick in the oven. The worst part is waiting the 45 minutes for it to bake! The hubby loved this slathered in butter. It's a bit crumbly if you eat it right away but the next day it's nice and firm and easy to cut. I'm not going to lie. I'll take crumbly so I can eat it straight out of the oven!

Cinnamon Sugar Bread
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Ingredients
1/3 c. white sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 c. all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 c. white sugar
1 egg
1 c. milk
1/3 c. vegetable oil
Extra cinnamon and sugar for top


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9x5 loaf pan.

2. In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt and 1 c. sugar. Add egg, milk and oil to flour mixture. Mix until just moistened.

3. Pour half of batter into pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon and 1/3 c. sugar. Cover with remaining batter. Sprinkle with a little more cinnamon and sugar.

4. Bake for 45 minutes or until it tests done. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes and then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Pumpkin Bread

I'm staring at the the screen not sure what to write tonight. I hate when that happens. Sometimes words just flow off of my fingers and I have a great story to tell with the treat I'm sharing with you. Tonight is not one of those nights.

I've actually had this recipe for awhile but I have never tried it. It was my grandma's and I stole it out of my mom's recipe cards. Don't worry I copied it and left her a copy! I need another recipe for my Scentsy party the other week and I figured this was a good fall treat to try. Since it was grandma's I figured it was a pretty sure bet.

If you are looking for another fall treat to add to your recipes here is one for you. If you want I'm sure you could add some chocolate chips and sweeten things up a bit!

Pumpkin Bread
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Ingredients
2/3 c. shortening
3 c. sugar
4 eggs
1 can pumpkin
2/3 c. water
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
3 1/3 c. flour
1 tsp cinnamon

1. Cream shortening. Add sugar, eggs, pumpkin, water and dry ingredients.

2. Pour into 2 greased 9 x 5 in pans

3. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour

Strawberry Bread - Secret Recipe Club

This last month I joined the "Secret Recipe Club". It's a group of us bloggers that have established a fun little thing and each month you are assigned someones blog and then you get to pick a recipe from that blog to try out and post about on a given day. Neat-o huh? None of us know who has your blog until the "reveal date". I love trying recipes and am always looking for a new one on someones blog so this was right up my ally.

This month I was assigned Mele Cotte's blog. It's got tons of recipes to look at and try. Now I'm going to tell you she's a bit more "daring" with her recipes than I am. Mine tend to reflect my Midwestern heritage and use the simple ingredients but her recipes definitely have a bit more flare involved so if you are looking for some flare definitely go to her blog and check it out after all who can't use flare in their lives?!

I picked out the Strawberry Bread to try out for my post because the hubby loves love loves strawberries. The bread was moist and wonderful. The only thing I would change next time is to leave out the cardamom spice and try cinnamon and/or nutmeg. I'm not a big fan of cardamom and was a little hesitant on it when I saw it but figured I would try it exactly as the recipe calls for it. I think it leaves a weird aftertaste but that's just my opinion! Enjoy!

Strawberry Bread
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1 cup (2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 ½ cup sugar
6 large eggs
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups all-purpose flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
2 tsp ground cardamom
1 cup sour cream
3 cups chopped fresh strawberries
1 cup sliced almonds (I omitted these for the hubby BUT I would love them in the bread)

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and line two 9 x 5 inch loaf pan with parchment paper hanging over the long sides for easy removal.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and ground cardamom; set aside. With the paddle attachment of an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well and scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Add the vanilla extract. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture and sour cream alternately, starting and ending with the flour. Mix until just combined. Gently fold in the chopped strawberries and half the almonds.

3. Divide the batter between the prepared pan and sprinkle with the remaining almonds. Bake about hour, or until the bread is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out almost clean.
Place on a wire rack to cool and then remove the bread from the pan. Serve warm or at room temperature. This bread can be frozen. Yields two 9 x 5 inch loaf.

Fresh Blueberry Coffee Cake

Is it bad that I am enjoying the fact that my husband is out of town for work tonight? I've gotten so much accomplished and it's been so nice and peaceful. I think I might be an awful wife for thinking this thought. Please...oh please....tell me I'm not.

I'm a rather independent person and I have to admit getting married was quite the adjustment for me. We are coming up on our one year anniversary and I can't say there haven't been a few bumps in the road. I love my husband dearly but sometimes two people just have differences. I'm hoping a few of you can relate to this. I lived alone for three years before getting married. We did not live together before we got married. I'm not on a soapbox about this subject but we just decided we were not going to. I'm glad we didn't because we were excited about this aspect and it was truely a treat to get married and be able to live together. Well a treat most of the time that is. I had a big adjustment factor. I was used to coming home and the house was clean, just as I had left it. The cupboards were stocked, just as I had stocked them. The bathroom was neat and tidy, just as I had left it. Boy was my world rocked when I came home and nothing was as I had left it. There were a few, or a lot, of not so pretty moments as I learned to try to relax, something I admit I'm not great it, and let the small things slide. We've come a long ways but I'll admit sometimes I need some me time to relax and get things accomplished.

The hubby is actually building a cabin about an hour away and will be gone during the week for the next month for sure and I'm thinking it might be good to have time to miss each other and look forward to seeing each other just like we used to when we lived an hour apart. It might be like dating again. I think when we get married we lose a little bit of something special. I miss that excitement and thrill of looking forward to seeing each other and spending time together. The hubby being gone a bit just might be a positive thing in our relationship...I'm going to say that I miss my hubby already even though I did get a lot done. There's no one here to give me that hug when I get frustrated or tease me about something stupid I did (not that it happens often at all!).

Whoa...I think I got off on a tangent there! Now for the recipe I'm going to share with you. It's blueberry season and I had to pick up a few cartons of blueberries when they were on sale at the grocery store. The hubby isn't a blueberry fan so the coworkers got treated to this recipe. It's a very delicous coffee cake and I would describedthe texture more like a pound cake than light and fluffy. The hubby did try a piece and he said it was pretty good for being blueberry. He thought that maybe I could subsitute strawberries because he really liked the plain part of the cake. The coworkers were dashing into the kitchen to grab a piece after I let them know it was in there. One even emailed me while she was eating it to tell me how good it was! Enjoy!

Fresh Blueberry Coffee Cake
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Ingredients
1 1/4 c. fresh blueberries
1 1/3 c. white sugar, divided
2 Tbsp cornstarch
1/2 c. butter, softened
2 eggs
2 c. flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 c. sour cream
1 tsp vanilla or almond extract
1/2 c. pecans (optional)

Glaze
3/4 c. powdered sugar
1 Tbsp warm water
1 tsp vanilla or almond extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease tube pan.

2. In a small saucepan, combine blueberries, 1/3 cup sugar and cornstarch. Cook over medium heat 2-3 minutes, or until thick. Stir constantly and set aside.

3. Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each.

4. Combine flour, salt and baking powder. Add to creamed mixture alternately with sour cream. Add flavoring.

5. Spoon half of mixture into prepared pan. Spoon half of blueberry mixture into pan. Add remaining batter, then blueberries. Swirl with a knife gently. Sprinkle with pecans, if using.

6. Bake 50 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before removing from pan. Place on a serving dish.

7. Prepare glaze: Mix glaze ingredients well. Drizzle over top of cake.

Recipe From: Recipe Girl

Zucchini Bread

The hubby has been begging for this recipe for a good two months now. I finally remembered to look for zucchini at the grocery store and he was ecstatic when he walked in the door and there was fresh zucchini bread! This recipe comes from my Aunt Cheryl and it is moist, easy and tastes amazing. I remember making this for one of my cooking classes in college. We had to prepare a meal for 40 people during this class and it was my night to be "manager" which included coming up with a seven course meal and I included this for my bread. I had several classmates question me about "zucchini bread"??? I said don't knock it until you try it! After the meal was done and we were doing out taste testing and review my classmates single heartedly agreed that the recipe was all I had talked it up to be. Luckily this recipe turned out last night because I have been on a roll of things not going so great. For examps - As the hubby was tossing out a half pan of bars that didn't turn out he yelled from the kitchen "Julie you sure are striking out on this cooking thing lately." Then added, "Want to take a picture of me throwing away your bars?" How helpful of him! Supper tonight looks like it's redeeming me also, well it smells like it is so hopefully it will. Can't wait to share it with you! Enjoy!

Zucchini Bread
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Ingredients
1 c. oil
2 c. sugar
3 eggs
2 c. zucchini
1/2 c. milk
3 c. flour
3 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 c. raisins (optional

Toppings
1 c. sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

1. Mix oil, sugar, eggs (one at a time), and zucchini

2. Mix in a different bowl; flour, cinnamon, soda, baking powder and salt.

3. Add second mixture to first alternating with milk.

4. Put in two greased loaf pans.

5. Mix topping ingredients together and sprinkle on top of bread. You can half the topping as it makes a lot if you wish!

6. Bake for 1 hr at 325 degrees.

Dinner Rolls

Happy Memorial Day! It's been a great day. We started the day at a Memorial Day service that really reminded me why we celebrate Memorial Day and brought me back to the real meaning of the day. Sometimes it seems we get caught in the hustle and bustle of life and forget how much we really have to be thankful for in our country. If any of you are serving the armed forces or have served, lost a family member or have someone overseas I would like to personally thank you and your family for all of the sacrifices that you have made for our country.

As the weekend winds down it's nice to think that I only have four days of work this week and then off to our first camping adventure of the year. Lots to get ready before then including cleaning out that camper. I'm really looking forward to a relaxing weekend at the lake with family and friends. The weather looks gorgeous for the weekend so I'm hoping mother nature cooperates with us and it holds out for that long. Speaking of weather wow was it a hot and windy one today. We tried to turn our central air on tonight and unfortunately my hubby is sitting on the couch quite defeated because we can't get it to kick in so it looks like we are calling to get it serviced tomorrow. It's only a few years old so hopefully it's nothing major but it could be a toasty one tonight in our house! The recipe that I'm sharing with you tonight was a first for me. I stole my mom's bread maker because she never used it. I remember she got it for some kind of present when I was probably around 10 and it's collected dust ever since one attempt at bread that didn't go to well. Looking back it was one of those presents dad bought for her because he wanted homemade bread. Heads up to the men out there this is not a great idea and it will probably backfire! I'm afraid after she gets a taste of these dinner rolls she might reclaim her bread maker because they were divine. I'm hoping not. I brought them to dinner today at my in-laws and a young gentleman told me they rivaled his grandma's but in case I ever met her I was suppose to keep this on the down low because she might take offense to that! These make wonderful buns for sandwiches or burgers too. Enjoy!

Dinner Rolls
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Ingredients

1 c. warm water (80-90 degrees)
2 Tablespoons butter
1 egg
3 1/4 c. flour
1/4 c. sugar
1 tsp salt
3 tsp bread machine yeast or quick-acting active dry yeast

1. Put ingredients in your bread machine in the order listed. Put yeast in on top without letting it touch the wet ingredients. I made a little dent in the top and put the yeast in there.

2. Set your machine on the dough setting then start it. Go have a glass of wine, run errands or take a nap this cycle takes about a hour.

3. When dough is ready, lay it out on a floured smooth surface. Make into a rectangular shape. Cut rolls with a pizza cutter. You should get 15-18 rolls. It really all depends on how big you want your dinner rolls. Pinch rolls into nice shape and brush with melted butter. Cover with clean towel and let rolls rise 30 minutes. They should double in size.

4. Bake at 375 degrees for 12-15 minutes.

Recipe from: Spruce Hill

Buttermilk Rhubarb Bread

Another weekend has came and went. Can you believe it? I think someone should invent a new work week. We work two days and have five off. Why hasn't this been done yet? It seems like it would be a lot more enjoyable! Today was a rather laid back day but we also got some different things accomplished. We started by going to church with my mom and I read in church and Jason helped my little brother usher. After we were done with that it was off to Mom's for some of her famous Monkey Bread. It was oh so yummy. In between that and church Jason got roped into putting Brent's new door on his house. It's amazing how my wonderful hubby is always in such demand. It seems like someone always needs his expertise that's for sure! I helped mom get her patio furniture out of storage so she could enjoy some time on it this week. It sounds like it suppose to be an absolutely gorgeous week. I think we definitely deserve it that's for sure after the cruddy weather we've been having. When we got home it was on to cleaning out our trucks. I've been waiting to tackle this but the weather doesn't seem to want to cooperate, so today was the day. I bought my truck in December and this is the first official cleaning I've gave it. Let's just say it was long over due! This week should be a fairly relaxed one. We get carpet tomorrow and that's the only thing on the agenda. Oh wait I have my first softball practice Wednesday too...look it's already filling up! Typical right? The recipe I'm sharing with you is a new recipe that I tried. Mom told me she had some rhubarb ready and I was stilling trying to get rid of my extra buttermilk so I goggled rhubarb and buttermilk and this what I came up with! It is very, very good. Jason even said it was pretty good and has been nibbling on it and he doesn't even like rhubarb! It is moist and has the most wonderful topping on it. Enjoy!

Buttermilk Rhubarb Bread
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Ingredients

3/4 c. Brown Sugar
1/3 c. Vegetable Oil
1 Egg
1/2 c. Buttermilk
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Vanilla
1 1/2 c. Flour
1 c. Rhubarb, diced
1/3 c. Chopped Pecans, Roasted (I skipped this!)
1/2 c. White Chocolate Chips

Topping
2 Tbsp Sugar
1 tsp Butter, melted
1/4 tsp Cinnamon

1. Mix all bread ingredients together.

2. Generously grease a bread pan. Pour batter into pan.

3. In a small bowl combine topping ingredients. Sprinkle over batter.

4. Bake at 325 degrees for 55-65 minutes or until it test done.

5. Allow to cool before tipping out of pan. If you don't it will come out in pieces. This is your warning! :)

Adapted from: Eating Out Loud

Garlic Cheddar Biscuits

Here's the recipe I've tempted you with already! If you love the biscuits at Red Lobster you will love these too. The best part about them they are a lighter version of Red Lobster's biscuit so you don't even have to feel guilty about it. Each biscuit is about 95 calories. Can you believe it's already Wednesday? Well actually I can, but maybe if I say that it will seem like the week flew by. I'm on my last few days at Valu Ford. It's seems a bit surreal but I guess next week it will seem real when I start the new job. Totally not ready for the learning curve that's involved. Wishing I could skip forward about a month. I always hate that feeling of not thinking you'll ever get the hang of things then looking back and wondering why you felt that way. Jason's currently downstairs working on mudding the bedroom walls. The basement is nearing completion. I've set a goal of being done by Mother's Day because I'm hoping to host it for my family. I figure that I'm the only one that isn't a mother so I should probably have it. So if any of my family members are reading this it's your heads up! Jason said this is competely possible but he also said the basement was going to be done to host Super Bowl Sunday. It's a good thing he didn't specify which year! Enjoy the biscuits. I promise you won't be dissappointed!

Garlic Cheddar Biscuits
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Ingredients

2 Tbsp light butter, melted
2-4 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbsp fresh chopped parsely
2 c. Heart Smart Bisquick
1 c. Shredded Fat-Free Cheddar Cheese
2/3 c. Milk

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Grease cookie sheet.

3. In a large bowl combine biscuit mix, cheddar cheese and two cloves garlic. Stir in milk and mix.

4. Drop batter by heaping spoonfuls onto cookie sheet. Should make about 12 biscuits. Bake 10 minutes.

5. Meanwhile melt butter in frying pan and add the rest of the garlic and saute on low heat about one minutes. Remove from heat and add parsely. Brush biscuits with melted butter mixture and bake five minutes longer or until gold brown on bottom.

Enjoy!!! I can't wait to make them again :)

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!

Cranberry Bread

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I wish you all a wonderful day and safe travels. This recipe is awesome for this time of year when cranberries seem to be popular. It also has a hint of orange in it. Another hit with my dad...and mom and I thought it was pretty good also! In fact...I shouldn't have left the entire loaf at their house. Well I have taco pie in the oven and have to be to church in a hour so I this is going to be a short post. Have a happy thanksgiving!

Cranberry Bread
Printer Friendly Version

Ingredients

2 c. all-purpose flour
3/4 c. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 c. cold butter
1 Egg
3/4 c. orange juice
2 tsp. grated orange peel
1 c. chopped fresh or frozen cranberries
1/2 c. golden raisins

Streusel:
1/3 c. packed brown sugar
2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp. cold butter

Glaze:
1/2 c. confectioners' sugar
2 tsp. orange juice

1. In a large bowl, combine the first five ingredients; cut in butter until crumbly.

2. In a small bowl, whisk the egg, orange juice and peel.  I use my little hand grater for the orange peel and it works wonderfully! Sir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in cranberries and raisins.

3. Transfer to greased 8 in x 4 in loaf pan.

4. Combine brown sugar and flour; cut in butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over batter.

5. Bake at 350 degrees for 55-65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

6. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan.

7. For glaze, combine confectioners' sugar and orange juice until smooth. Drizzle over bread. I waited until it had cooled off almost completely.

 

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Everyday Mom's Meals: Church Supper