Banana Bread

As I was looking through cooking blogs, I found this one recipe for "One-Banana Banana Bread" and as luck would have me, the house only had 1 banana left. I love bananas. But my problem lies in that I don't ever want a WHOLE banana, I just want half and unfortunately, Gabe will often say he doesn't want any of my excess banana. So often times, I will not eat the banana for fear of wasting it.

So, today, I decided to make a loaf of banana bread. The recipe is real simple and it comes out AMAZING! http://80breakfasts.blogspot.com/2012/07/one-banana-banana-bread.html  I love nuts and so does Gabe, so I add 3/4 cup of walnuts to the mix. I think I could have doubled that and it would have been fine, but the bread-nut consistency was great!

Gabe was excited at the prospect of banana bread and was upset to find out the recipe called for a 10-minute cool down in the pan. He then asked, "How long does it say to cool down out of the pan?" I responded with "It doesn't say." Gabe: "If Commercial Paper (we are studying for AZ bar exam) has taught me anything, if it doesn't say, then it doesn't exist."

Needless to say, he was able to sneak a small piece of. All he could say is, "Oh! I think I had a religious experience." Anyway, great recipe for only sacrificing 1 banana. :-)

Food again

Sorry to only post about food. It's all I have time for right now (still in full blown bar studying mode).

Two days ago, I made beef and broccoli. We found really good ginger at Bashas' and I was super excited to be cooking with it. All in all, it was a success. It didnt follow many of the recipes, partly because we didnt have cooking sherry and oyster sauce, but we did have orange juice! It makes me so happy to cook food that is (1) edible and (2) enjoyed by Gabe! :)

Today, chicken enchiladas was on the menu. I had to do a mish-mash of recipes because some did things i didn't like (putting chicken unflavored and unseasoned in the enchilada) and some I had canned goods for already so I could skip steps. Anyway, it was a huge success. We now have a lot of red and green chicken enchiladas.

                                

The mish-mash of recipes came from: http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1939,151173-235199,00.html and http://www.marthastewart.com/318900/lighter-chicken-enchiladas. 

I am very excited about my enchiladas because the excess chicken will double as chicken tacos. I am also super excited because one of Gabe's biggest concerns about moving to the rez was the lack of mexican food. He grew up in San Diego where taco shops are in abundance. I assured him that he could get a weekly serving of good Mexican food at the flea markets in Kayenta on Wednesday. But for some reason, being able to make delicious Mexican food for him is definitely very gratifying! :)

Maybe living on the Rez will help me hone my cooking and baking skills. Fingers Crossed!

Food!

I have recently been dabbling in baking and cooking again. Gabe believes I am trying to fatten him up. I told him that it is not possible, I already married him.  


I was excited to start cooking again, especially after I found the blog SmittenKitchen. First, I started with the shortening-free snickerdoodles. The first batch of cookies received top reviews - in addition to remaining moist, they were fluffy and all things great. I must remind myself to add more cinnamon to the recipe, the first batch with less cinnamon were good, but the batch that I added a tablespoon more cinnamon to did not stand a chance. Gabe, the self-proclaimed sweet-tooth of the house, was unable to resist.


The next experiment was with Tortilla de Patatas. This recipe was found after I wanted to cook something for breakfast that could be reheated. A Spanish favorite - when my cousin saw this on the stove top yesterday, she exclaimed, "Oh! I loved when my Spanish host mom would make this!" Yay! another recipe under my belt. Gabe told me that he hates when he makes food that people remember and they always expect him to make that dish all the time. He said he won't tell me to make it, he will just expect it to be made for him now. Haha.


Since we live on the Navajo reservation, we have plan trips for getting produce accordingly. One trip to Costco had us buying a huge bag of limes. We were optimistic we would get through the bag, but our new home destroyed our limes and they started to go bad faster than we could use them. So I looked into baking more. Enter SmittenKitchen for yet again, delicious recipes! Lime Meltaways and Lime Coconut Cake, aka Angelo (Gabe decided it needed a new name).


I wish I took pictures. I can now, but they would just be of empty bowls and plates. Note: we did not eat them all; we gave away the baked goodies.