Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Banana Bread



Before I had a child, I always thought I would be OK with being a working mama. Heck, I thought I would be running for the door. Sadly, that was not the case. In fact, my son is 14 months now and that feeling of guilt still hasn’t gone away. I feel guilty every second of every day that I am not home with my babe but believe me, I know that stay at home parents don’t have it any easier.

We all do the best we can and take it day by day because; honestly, being a parent is tough. Life is full and we need to find creative ways to maximize the time we have with our family. Evenings and weekends should be filled with kisses and cuddles but let’s face it, laundry, cleaning, shopping and shuttling all have to fall in there somewhere too! Cooking together with your family is the best way to stay connected while accomplishing a task. No matter how little your “littles” are, they can still benefit from sitting in their bouncy seat or highchair alongside you as you prep a meal. So, go ahead, use the fall weather as an excuse to spend some time indoors baking with the fam. And don’t forget to give a little time to yourself because mamas and dadas really do hold up the world.


This recipe is for my friend Danielle. She’s a stay at home mama of count ‘em, THREE BOYS! One of her sons is a huge fan of the banana bread they buy at their local Florida Farmers market.
This banana bread is a quick and easy recipe to make with the family. It's also perfect for all of those upcoming holiday bake sales.

Danielle- Here’s to hoping the kiddos approve.



Banana Bread
Serves 6-8 people


1/2 cup sour cream
1 tsp baking soda
2-3 very ripe, darkly speckled bananas
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt



1) For regular loaf pan, grease and flour bottom only; for nonstick, grease and flour bottom and sides. Preheat oven to 350.

2)- In a large bowl whisk together sour cream and baking soda. Add in mashed bananas, cooled melted butter, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla. Stir until well combined.

3)-In another medium bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon and salt.

4)- Using rubber spatula or wooden spoon, fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients until just combined. Pour into loaf pan. Bake 55 minutes until toothpick comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes, transfer to wire rack.

Enjoy!


TIP: To keep the bread extra moist, wrap it tightly in aluminum foil as soon as it is fully cool.



FUN KITCHEN RELATED FINDS


-Create a cooking kit like Cookie Mags "babysitter in a box". It's the the perfect way to have even the littlest of the bunch "help" with dinner.











-Vintage Inspired Aprons for the Whole Family (the ones for the kiddos shown below are fab!) by Jessie Steele



-Rachael Ray's Tadpole Young Cooks Cutting set is a great gift for your budding chef. Plus a portion of the proceeds the Tadpole will be donated to RR's charity Yum-o! to empower kids and their families to develop healthy relationships with food and cooking.









-Kids Central Kitchen is an awesome site that specializes in whole grain baking mixes, fun cooking utensils, baking kits and gift sets all geared towards family fun in the kitchen. Check out these cute baking sets (fun gift for a grandma to send her babies) and the super cute happy mixing spoon.




1 comment:

  1. Banana bread looks good. I have some bananas which have seen better days and have been planning to bake with them. Thanks for the good idea.

    ReplyDelete