Banana Nut Bread

Banana Nut Bread


1 Cup Butter Flavored Crisco
2 Cups Sugar
4 Eggs
4 Cups Flour
1 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
6 Small Very Ripe Bananas, mashed
4 Teaspoons Vanilla
1 Cup Chopped Nuts (I use pecans)



Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cream Crisco and sugar together in a large bowl.


Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each egg. Sift flour, baking soda and salt together. Add bananas and flour mixture to mixing bowl. Add vanilla. Mix well. Fold in nuts.




Spray 3 large loaf pans with vegetable oil cooking spray. (I didn't have 3 large loaf pans so I used 1 loaf and a bundt pan.) Pour mix into pans.

Bake for about an hour.



It's extra delicious served warm with butter. Mmmm!

Pumpkin Spice Whoopies

Yep...I said whoopies!
These are SUPER delicious and very easy.


Pumpkin Spice Whoopies


for the cookies:
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/3 cup butter, softened
1 package spice cake mix
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk

for the marshmallow spice filling:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 8-oz. package cream cheese, softened
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
half of a 7-oz. jar marshmallow cream
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg

1. Preheat oven to 375. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or foil (grease foil, if using).

2. In a large mixing bowl, beat pumpkin and butter on medium until smooth. Add cake mix, eggs, and milk; beat on low speed until combined, and then on medium speed for one minute.



3. By the heaping tablespoon (I used my Pampered Chef cookie dough scoop), drop mounds of batter on cookie sheet; keep remaining batter chilled. Bake 15 minutes (check them at 12 minutes) or until set and lightly browned around edges. Carefully remove from parchment or foil; cool on wire rack. Repeat with remaining batter, using new parchment paper for each batch.



If desired, place cookies in a covered storage container with waxed paper between layers to prevent sticking. Store cookies at room temperature for 24 hours. Prepare marshmallow spice filling up to 2 hours before serving.

4. To make marshmallow spice filling, beat 1/2 cup softened butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add powdered sugar, marshmallow cream, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Beat until well combined.





5. Spread about 2 1/2 tablespoons filling on flat side of one cookie; top with a second cookie. Serve immediately or cover and chill up to 2 hours.

Makes 18 whoopies.

Slow-Cooker Pumpkin Apple Dessert

This was seriously easy. I was skeptical about a 'cake' in the crock pot, but it actually worked! I found the recipe here.



1 can (21 ounces) apple pie filling
2 cups Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
3/4 cup fat-free cholesterol-free egg product (I didn't have egg product. I used 3 eggs)
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
Ice cream, if desired




1. Spray 3 1/2- to 6-quart slow cooker with cooking spray. Spoon pie filling into cooker; spread evenly.





2. Beat remaining ingredients except ice cream with electric mixer on low speed 1 minute, scraping bowl constantly. Beat on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Pour batter over pie filling.




3. Cover and cook on High heat setting 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Serve with ice cream.

Mexican Couscous

1 C. Vegetable Broth
1 T. Butter
1 C. Couscous

2 T. Canola Oil
1 Teaspoon Minced Garlic (or 2 cloves fresh)
1/2 C. Chopped Bell Pepper
1/2 C. Chopped Onion
Ground Cumin
Black Pepper
1/3 C. Vegetable Broth
1 C. Black Beans, rinsed and drained
1 C. Corn (I use frozen. Thaw under running cool water. Drain well.)

Prepare couscous by bringing broth with butter to a boil. Add couscous, stir, cover and remove from heat.

Heat canola oil in skillet. Add bell pepper, onion and garlic. Sprinkle with ground cumin and black pepper. Cook just until onion softens. Add broth and stir. Stir in cooked couscous, black beans and corn. Heat through.
I didn't add any salt because the broth had enough salt for me. Add it if you need to.

Today I served this couscous with fish tacos.

Fish Tacos With Mango and Cucumber Salsa

Fish:
4 Tilapia Fillets
Olive Oil
Cilantro
3 T. Lime Juice
Season Salt
Pepper

Place tilapia in shallow dish. Drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro, lime juice, salt and pepper. Let marinate 30 minutes, turning over after 15 minutes.



Pan fry fish in skillet with canola oil, turning over when edges start to whiten. (Fillets are thin and don't take long to cook.)

Tortillas:
Flour tortillas can be used, but I fry corn tortillas in canola oil.



Salsa:
1 C. Chopped Mango (I use frozen. Thaw under cool running water in a strainer. Drain well.)
1 C. Chopped Cucumber (You can seed it if you want. I'm too lazy.)
1 Finely Chopped Jalapeno. (I take most of the seeds out. Depends on how hot you want your salsa.)
Chopped Cilantro
2 T. Lime Juice


Comine all ingredients in bowl. (That was easy, huh?)



I top the fish tacos with lettuce and the salsa.
Today I served them with my version of Mexican Couscous.