Thursday, January 26, 2012

Banana Bread



I have been staying at my parents house in Miami for the past 3 weeks because the hubby is in San Diego,Ca going to Recruiter's school. The little man and me sure miss him!! I hope the next couple of weeks fly by!! Well since I am staying at my parents house my brother has been making some requests. I have never made banana bread but he asked so I said why not I will give it a try!! When the banana bread came out of the oven I was so happy that they looked great. 




Ingredients:

  • 7 or 8 Ripe Bananas, Smashed
  • 2/3 Cup of melted Butter
  • 2 Cups of Sugar
  • 2 Eggs, Lightly Beaten
  • 2 Teaspoons of Vanilla extract
  • 2 Teaspoons of Baking soda
  • A pinch of Salt
  • 3 Cups of All-purpose flour





Preheat oven 350 degrees. In a large bowl mash all of the bananas.





Mix in melted butter.







Mix in sugar, eggs and the vanilla extract.






Add in baking soda, Salt and flour mix until well combined.





Pour mixture into 2 well greased 4x8 loaf pans. Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes.








Remove loafs from oven and place on a cooling rack to cool completely. Remove the loafs from the pans and slice to serve.





Enjoy!!


With Love,
Jen
 


Friday, January 20, 2012

Brownie Chocolate Chip Cookies



My best friend sent me a picture a couple of weeks ago of some cookies she saw with brownie pieces in them. I thought what a great idea to put together a chocolate chip cookie and a brownie so I had to make them. I made a normal chocolate chip cookie dough and added tiny pieces of brownies. When I took them out the oven and I took a bite I was in love!!





Ingredients:

  • 2 1/4 Cups of All-purpose flour
  • 1 Teaspoon of Baking Soda
  • 1 Teaspoon of Salt
  • 2 Sticks of Butter
  • 1 Cup of Sugar
  • 1/2 Cup of Brown sugar
  • 2 Eggs
  • 2 Teaspoons of Vanilla extract
  • 1 Cup of Chocolate chips
  • 1/2 Cup of Brownie, cut into tiny pieces
  • 1/2 Cup of Walnuts (Optional)

- Preheat oven 375 degrees.
- Combine Flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
- In a mixing bowl beat butter,sugar and brown sugar until well combined.
- Add eggs and vanilla extract to butter mixture and mix until well combined.
- Add flour mixture and mix.
- Once dough forms add chocolate chips and walnuts.
- With a Small ice cream scoop, scoop dough on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Once the dough is on the cookie sheet press in the tiny pieces of brownie into the cookie dough.
- Place cookies in oven for 11 minutes or until golden brown.
- Remove cookies from oven and place them on a cooling racking rack to cool completely.








Enjoy!!

With Love,
Jen

Friday, January 13, 2012

Jambalaya (Slow Cooker)



Ok so I have never really tried jambalaya before I made this recipe, but if this is what jambalaya tastes like boy have I been missing out. The best part of this recipe is that you can stick almost everything in the slow cooker in the morning. The first time I made this my brother loved it so much that he keeps asking me to make some for him. So I finally made some more and he ate two huge plate fulls.




Ingredients:

  • 1 Pound of sausage, cut into 1 1/2 inch slices
  • 1/2 Pound Of boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into cubes
  • 1  14 1/2 oz Can of Beef broth
  • 1  14 1/2 oz Can of Diced tomatoes, undrianed
  • 2 Celery ribs, Chopped
  • 1/2 Cup of Tomato paste
  • 4 Garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 Tablespoon of Dried Parsley flakes
  • 1 1/2 Teaspoons of Dried Basil
  • 1 Teaspoon of Cayenne Pepper
  • 1/2 Teaspoon of Salt
  • 1/2 Teaspoon of Dried Oregano
  • 1 Pound of cooked medium Shrimp
  • 4 Cups of cooked white Rice





In a 5 quart slow cooker, combine the first 12 ingredients. With a spoon mix everything together. Cover the slow cooker and cook on low for 6 to 7 hours.






Stir in shrimp and rice. Cover the slow cooker and cook for 15 minutes.





Enjoy!!


With Love,
Jen

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Cake Mix Oatmeal Raisin Cookies



Oatmeal Raisin cookies are one of my favorite cookies. I found this recipe in a baking book that I got for christmas about 6 years ago. I have never made oatmeal raisin cookies before.These were super easy to make and they taste super yummy.




Ingredients:

  • 1 Package of Yellow cake mix
  • 1 Teaspoon of Baking powder
  • 3/4 Cups of Vegetable oil
  • 2 Eggs
  • 1 Teaspoon of Vanilla extract
  • 1 Cup of uncooked Old-fashioned oats
  • 3/4 Cup of Raisins




Preheat oven 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl add cake mix and baking powder.






Add oil, eggs and vanilla extract. Mix until well blended.







Stir in oats and raisins.






With a small ice cream scoop, scoop dough on to a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.






Bake cookies for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Remove cookies from the oven and let them sit on the cookie sheet for about 5 minutes.








Remove cookies from the cookie sheet and place on a cooling rack until cookies have completely cooled.

Enjoy!!


With Love,
Jen

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Brown Coffee Filter Wreath



How cool is this wreath??? I love the fact that when people see it they can't believe that it is made with coffee filters. I am not going to lie and say that it is super easy and you can get it done in no time. It took me two days to finish. It might have something to do with the fact that I have a nine month old to chase around. What I will tell you is that the finish product is so worth it.





Supplies you will need:

  •  Foam Wreath
  • Floral pins
  • Brown Coffee Filters ( I used about 700)
  • Ribbon





Fold the coffee filter in half and then fold again until you get a triangle.






If you are using floral pins stick three filters into the floral pin and start pushing them into the wreath.






Place the coffee filters all the way around the wreath until you completely cover the front and sides of the wreath.




Use the ribbon to hang your beautiful wreath!! Happy Crafting!!



With Love,
Jen