Raspberry Dark Chocolate Banana Bread

picture source same as recipe source

Okay....where do I start with this?  The picture I saw on pinterest hooked me in.   Everytime I would scroll through my recipe board, I would slightly pause at it.

I finally decided to give it a try.

Before baking most recipes, I read the reviews and this one was no exception.  There were a lot of problems, suggestions, and praises.  I read them all and sort of adapted the ideas/suggestions to work for me.  I crossed my fingers as it baked and in the end, it turned out perfect.  It was delicious.  The raspberries were a PERFECT addition.  The bread was moist and soft and full of flavour.

Here are the changes I made:

* I preheated the oven to 325 degrees and cooked it for an hour at that temperature.  Then I raised it up to 350, loosely laid tin foil over it (top was done perfectly at that point, but inside was not) and cooked it for about another 30ish minutes.  I also cooked it on the bottom rack in the oven.

* For the mashed bananas to equal 1 1/2 cups, it took 3 bananas.

* I used frozen raspberries, however, when I measured them out, I took a potato masher and sort of roughly mashed them up.  There were some chunks and some crumbs...I liked that combo.  I still tossed them in flour before adding to the dough.

* I did not add quite as much dark chocolate chips as suggested.

* I used a metal loaf pan

* When it was done baking, I let it sit in the pan for quite a while before removing it to the cooling rack.  Even after cutting around the edge and removing it at that point, one of the sides was very soft and wanted to break away.  I carefully got it out and let it sit on the rack.  This was the hard part.  Waiting.  I know we all want warm banana bread, but I think this one would fall apart until mostly cooled.   It needs to sort of all bind together.  The batter to extras ratio is pretty close, so lots of places for this thing to break and fall apart.

Either way....you need to figure out how it works for you.  Many reviews said it turned out just fine for them following the recipe exactly.  You have to give this one a shot.

Check out Recipe Boy for this treat of deliciousness!

Maple Yogurt Sauce

source

Okay....I dream of this.  I cannot tell a lie.  After I was done eating the waffles, I actually drank the leftovers...right from the bowl.  There is a small chance I even licked the bowl.  Oh my goodness....I'm in love.


I used the recipe on the site for waffles and they weren't a hit.  I'm not a waffle fan and so I thought they were fine, but the people I served it too thought something was off.  It could have been me and how I made them.  In the future, I'll keep searching for a perfect waffle recipe.

In the meantime...this is a must add to my breakfast sauces!

cinnamonspiceandeverythingnice rocked my world with this one..Thank you thank you thank you.

Perfectly Yummy Fruit Dip

picture source: Pinterest

The Pinterest link led me to a non existent website, so I, unfortunately, can't give out the proper credit.  On the good side, the caption with the pin was all I needed to create a deliciously yummy afternoon snack.

I'm horrible when it comes to picking up an apple and eating it.  I like apples, but it feels like without a caramel dip served beside it, I never eat them.

I saw this one on pinterest and gave it a try.  A little less guilty way for me to enjoy an afternoon snack.

Sorry...no quantities...but you don't need them!  Add as much of each until the flavour is exactly how you want it.

Greek Yogurt
Peanut Butter
Honey
Cinnamon

Mix and enjoy!

Ground Beef Gyros

picture source same as recipe source

Oh my goodness.  This was really REALLY really good.  And easy!  Oh my...it was so easy!  Quick, easy and delicious...everything I love in a meal.

The only thing that bothered me was the ground beef patties.  I followed the recipe (well...followed the ingredient part, not measurement part..I don't measure), however, when I grilled up the patties and then went to slice them, they sort of fell apart.  Next time I would just make a bunch of thin, small patties to put in the pita, not large patties and then slice them.

The cucumber sauce was beautiful.  Again...I did not measure.  I put the ingredients in my food processor and blended until smooth.  I didn't leave any chunks like the recipe suggested.

Served them up on some fresh whole wheat pitas....not the authentic thick ones, I used the flat pocket type but didn't open up the pocket...just piled them on and wrapped it, like the recipe suggested.

Thank you Passionate Homemaking for sharing this!  It'll be repeated, many times,  in our household.

Idaho Sunrise

pictures source same as recipe source

Okay, these aren't your super nutritional breakfast but they are creative and something different to serve up for your overnight guests.

My personal opinion....they weren't worth the work.

They were good, but the lazy cook in me would rather just make this skillet style.

If you're going for presentation and you want to impress...give 'er.

Instead of parsley, I went green onions....just how I roll....it paired well with the other fillings.

Check out My Fridge Food for the recipe.  Let me know if you try it and what you think.

Yogurt, Bananas & Chia Seeds

picture source: pinterest

Need a quick and easy breakfast or snack?  It is actually so good you could have it as a dessert.  The best part is...it's healthy!!

I saw the picture on pinterest and it had a caption description, but the link was a dead end, so unfortunately I can't give credit to where credit is due.  If this is yours...please let me know so I can properly link you up.

All I did was greek yogurt (plain, no fat), sliced banana, chia seeds and honey.  It was perfect with the bit of crunch from the chia.  If you're not a fan of the crunch, just let the yogurt and seeds sit for a bit and they will soften up.

I'm not well educated on chia seeds, I just know they are super healthy.  I've used both dark and light seeds.  I'm not sure if there is nutritional difference and I haven't noticed a taste difference, but I use whatever I have on hand.

Any chia seed experts out there?

None the less...I dig em.  Throw them in smoothies, oatmeal, yogurt...wherever you can.  I've pinned a few recipes with chia seeds I'm excited to try.

Candy Cane Snowballs

Okay...funny story...

So when Trace and I do our Christmas baking weekend, we each will just grab a recipe and work on it.  Sometimes we end up starting what the other finished, sometimes we work together...etc.

Well...this one was all Tracey.

She started it and part way through I hear an "oh crap!"  maybe could have even been more explicit, but I'm not sure.  The part of the recipe that says "3 cups powdered sugar, divided"....Tracey didn't read completely.  She just added 3 cups icing sugar to the mix.  Wellllllll....there's only one way to fix it.  Actually...2 ways, but who wants to throw out a bowl full of ingredients?  Her only real option....bring the rest of the ingredients up to the same amount as the icing sugar she added....yes...that is 4x the recipe.

At that point we were just hoping and praying these cookies would turn out to be the greatest thing on earth, since we were about to have enough to feed a small country.

They were pretty delicious and everyone loves them so far.  They are a melt in your mouth kind of cookie.  You might even find the recipe easy if you follow it instead of quadrupling it.

Check out Cooking During Stolen Moments for the recipe.