I hope everyone had a fantastic Valentine's Day.
We decided to go and and have some fun this year, so I really didn't do any cooking. We wanted to go somewhere and walk around and window shop, get a bite to eat, and listen to some music. Well, big mistake to head on down to The Grove in L.A. because everyone else had the same idea, it was jam-packed.
When I say jam-packed I mean it. It took us about 15-20 minutes to find a parking spot in a 6 level structure. All the cars were fighting over the spots, people were driving crazy (not like they don't in LA already!), but we finally got lucky and found one. Then we headed down to the open air shopping/restaurant village. The music was bumping and people were gathered around. We tried to get through the crowd of sardines and somehow ended up in line for a restaurant. LOL! Kinda just got pushed into that. When we realized what was going on, we just laughed, shrugged to the people in line with us, and quickly moved on.
We ended up at a wonderful Greek restaurant, which really inspired me to start cooking more Greek style dishes. I ordered a shot of Ouzo to toast and they brought me the biggest shot (which was half a glass really!) and we toasted the night! I'll tell you I was feeling really good by the time I finished that drink and the crowds didn't seem that bad after that!
So we danced a little, shopped a little and ate a lot...then headed home for a wonderful dessert of Banana Bundt Cake, that I had whipped up earlier in the day. As I always have ripe bananas hanging around this was a great way to use them. Who doesn't love a good pound cake? Perfect for spring, and a great choice for your Easter dinner, or Mardi Gras celebration.
I know you are going to love it.
Banana Bundt Cake
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened, plus more for pan
2 overripe medium bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)
1/4 cup + 2 Tbls Splenda Sugar Blend
3/4 cup brown sugar
5 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2/3 cup buttermilk (make your own by adding 1 teaspoon lemon juice to milk and let it sit for 5 minutes)
Topping: powdered sugar - optional
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour a 12-cup fluted bundt pan.
Whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl. With
an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Stir
in mashed bananas and vanilla. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well
after each addition.
Add the flour mixture (with the mixer on low) in
two parts alternately with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with
flour. Beat just until it comes together. Do not overmix!
Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 45-55 minutes.
Once done, cool cake 10 minutes in the pan. Turn out cake onto cake platter and allow to cool completely. Sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired. Serve with vanilla ice cream.
Last Thursday was National Nutella Day!
Don't you just love this stuff? I mean peanut butter is the best and I grew up with it. But, when I discovered Nutella (chocolate and hazelnut) many years ago from a friend who brought me a jar from an ethnic grocery store I thought it was 'the bomb'!
Since Nutella Day snuck up on me and I didn't plan ahead (it happens) I made this late at night and didn't get it posted for you in time. But, who says that you can't celebrate today? or any other day for that matter? I say "Go for it!".
I always seem to have some overripe bananas hanging around so I decided to make a banana bread with a Nutella swirl. Bananas and chocolate go together really really well. My Banana Chocolate Chip Bread is always a hit, so let's mix it up a little bit. Now that Nutella is in every grocery store I always have a jar hanging around as well, so putting them together just had to happen.
The result was a luscious, decadent, quick bread that's perfect for breakfast, dessert, or a midday snack. It won't last long in your house, as it didn't in mine! I might have contributed to that though. It's kinda addicting.
Enjoy a little decadence in your life!
Nutella Swirl Banana Bread
makes: 1 loaf
Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs, beaten
1¼ cup mashed ripe bananas (about 2 medium)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup milk
1/2 cup Nutella
Instructions:
Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9-inch loaf pan with cooking spray.
In a large bowl, mix together flour, baking soda and salt.
In a medium bowl, mix together
banana, butter, sugar, vanilla, and milk until well blended. Add eggs and stir until combined. Add wet ingredients to the dry and stir just until combined. Divide 1/2 of of the batter into another bowl;
stir in Nutella until combined.
Add Nutella batter alternately with plain batter into the prepared loaf pan. Swirl batters together with a knife.
Bake 50 to 60 minutes. Cool in pan for at least 15 minutes and then remove loaf from pan and place on a wire rack to cool completely.
Sometimes comfort food just calls me.
A lot of time that food is laden with high calories and carbs. So what to do when you made a resolution to eat healthy or lose weight and you are only 1 month in and already wanting to throw it out the window?
Try this wonderful creamy pasta sauce. It's a healthier version since it doesn't use any cream! Using evaporated milk with a little added cornstarch gives it the texture and richness of cream, without all the fat. Love that!
This sauce is so easy to throw together that you can easily make it during the week to feed the whole family. To help control the carbs, use a high fiber spaghetti such as Barilla Plus, which tastes great. Trust me, everyone will love it, and no one will miss the calories.
Enjoy!
Pasta with Creamy Tomato Sauce (Healthier Version)
serves 4
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1/2 medium onion, small dice
2 cloves garlic, minced1
28-oz. can crushed tomatoes
Pinch of chili flakes
1 tsp Italian herbs
Kosher Salt
1 cup low fat evaporated milk
1/4 tsp cornstarch
1 pound Thin Spaghetti or other pasta(I used Barilla Plus)
grated Parmesan
To a large skillet over medium heat add the olive oil and diced onion. Cook about 7 minutes until transparent. Add the garlic and cook another 30 seconds. Add the crushed tomatoes, chili flakes, Italian herbs, and salt (to taste) stirring to combine. Bring the pasta sauce to a low boil and cook about 15 minutes.
Meanwhile cook pasta according to package directions, to al dente. Drain and set aside. Turn the heat to low under the skillet. In a measuring cup add evaporated milk and whisk in the cornstarch. Add to the sauce and stir to combine. Add cooked pasta to the skillet and toss to coat.
Divide pasta among four plates and top with grated Parmesan cheese. Serve immediately.
