Three Ways With Mushy Banana’s

The shelf life of bananas can be detrimentally short, especially if your kids are the only ones in the house that eat them, or in my case my toddler. I also found that my local farm stand offers the slightly mushy bananas for 25¢ a pound, which is a steal if I am in the mood to make cookies or bread. So, here are two cookie and one bread recipe to keep the mushy bananas in your life from venturing to the trash can.

Non-Fat Banana Bread                              

(recipe courtesy of my family heirloom cookbook)

1/2 c. non-fat Miracle Whip                         2 1/2 c. flour

1 1/4 c. sugar                                              1 t. baking powder

3 egg whites                                                1/2 t. salt

2 mashed bananas                                       1 t. baking soda

1 t. vanilla

Beat together the Miracle Whip, sugar, egg whites, bananas and vanilla. Mix together the dry ingredients and add to the banana mixture. Mix well. Bake in greased and floured loaf pan or muffin cups at 350° for 30-40 minutes.                                     

Banana Oatmeal Drops

(recipe courtesy of 500 Best Cookies, Bars & Squares)

1 1/2 c. flour                                 3/4 c. shortening

1 3/4 c. quick-cooking oats         1 c. brown sugar, firmly packed

1 t. salt                                          1 egg

1 t. ground cinnamon                    1 c. mashed bananas

1/2 t. baking soda                         1/2 chopped nuts (I used chopped dried apricots instead)

1/4 t. ground nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350° and grease you cookie sheet and set aside. Mix together flour, oats, salt, cinnamon, baking soda, and nutmeg and set aside. In another bowl, cream together shortening and sugar. Add egg and bananas and mix well. Fold in nuts or dried fruit. Drop by spoonfuls on to your baking sheet and bake for 12 to 15 minutes.

Cinnamon Raisin Banana Cookies

(recipe courtesy of 500 Best Cookies, Bars & Squares)

2 c. flour                            1/2 c. softened butter or margarine

1/4 t. salt                          1 c. sugar

1 t. ground cinnamon        2 eggs

1 c. raisins                         1 c. mashed bananas

1/2 c. chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350° and lightly grease your cookie sheet. In a medium bowl, mix together flour, salt, cinnamon, raisins and nuts. In another bowl, cream sugar and butter together. Add eggs, one at a time, until well incorporated. Stir in bananas. Add flour mixture and mix well. Drop by spoonfuls on to your prepared cookie sheet and bake for 8 to 10 minutes.

Enjoy!

Spicy Shrimp Pasta

The theme of tonight’s dinner was quick and easy. My husband is home on Monday’s, so they tend to feel like Saturday’s even though I still have to work. I tend to forget about dinner while we loll the day away, much like we did today. How can you not get caught up when the sunshine is out and Spring has finally arrived? However, the dinner hour did approach and I found hungry eyes staring back at me around 4:30 pm. I had not taken anything out of the freezer, knowing there was pre-cooked shrimp up there. So, I put a pot of water on to boil and took out a zucchini, a jar of capers, a container of pesto, the frozen pre-cooked shrimp and some shredded Mozzerella cheese out of the refrigerator and set to work.

I set a pan with some olive oil on the stove to heat up on medium while I chopped up the zucchini. I threw that in the pan, then turned to the shrimp. These had their tails on, so I dumped a bunch in a bowl and started pulling the tails off. I dusted them with Jamaican Jerk Seasoning and let them sit.

I salted the now boiling water and threw in some whole wheat angel hair (Barilla). Turning back to the saute pan, I tossed in the shrimp, capers (without the brine), a scoop of pesto (a little goes a long way) and gave it a toss.

After about seven minutes, you are ready to go. Put a little pasta in your bowl, top with the shrimp and zucchini mixture, and sprinkle on a little shredded Mozzerella.

This went over well with my family, big and little members alike, in fact they didn’t even realize they were eating whole wheat pasta. Of course, like most of the dinners I post, this can be changed according to tastes and what’s in your kitchen. The point is to use whole wheat pasta, a source of protein and bold flavors so you can skip the heavy, fattening sauce.

Thanks for having Dinner at The Hampton’s and we’ll see you around the table next time!