Sweetie's Kitchen Adventures

Hmmmm... What can I do with this one lonely banana??? I need two for banana bread and three for banana cake... Oh, I know!! Banana pancakes!! Yummmm! They are so good, and easily made with stuff you probably already have! Now you can cook these on a non stick pan or griddle (this is what I usually do), but for a really heavenly treat, melt a tablespoon of butter in the pan before you pour your batter and then sprinkle chopped pecans over the uncooked batter and finally top with pure maple syrup. I swear, it taste like butter pecan ice cream. Now, let's get cookin. First you'll need one of these little helpers. They are invaluable for mashing bananas, stirring eggs and pouring things! Ingredients 1 cup all purpose flour 2 tbsp sugar 1 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/4 tsp salt 1 cup buttermilk 1 ripe banana, mashed 1 egg 2 tbsp butter, melted 1/4 cup pecans (optional) Directions Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add wet ingredients and beat with a wire...

I love to make goodies for my kids. I just imagine how excited their little faces will be when they see the assorted sweets and treats. So I had pretzel rods, marshmallow and chocolate, and this really cute idea... but things don't always work out the way you imagine them. The original idea was doomed from the get go... A stressful trip to the store where we forgot the dipping components... an unsuccessful attempt putting more than one sticky marshmallows on a pretzel and a crying toddler... put them all together and I had a recipe for disaster. I should have just stopped while I was ahead, but I didn't... and I'm glad! The end result of toasted marshmallow covered in sweet chocolate and a touch of graham crackers were oh so tasty, borderline addictive... and surprisingly not very messy!! Ingredients Pretzel Rods Large Marshmallows Dipping Chocolate (almond bark, candy melts, etc.) Graham Crackers, crushed Directions Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. B...

This week's theme at IHCC is Going Green... So my first though, of course, was how am I going to make green chocolate??? Well... just leave it to Nigella to have a recipe for Chocolate Lime Cheesecake!! You cant get any greener than a lime, right? Thank you Nigella!! Ingredients 7 ounces chocolate wafer cookies 1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted 1 1/2 pound cream cheese (recommended: Philadelphia) 1 cup sugar 4 whole eggs 2 egg yolks 4 limes, juiced or 3/4 cup Special equipment: spring form pan Directions Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place a large overlapping piece of aluminum foil over the bottom of the springform pan, and then insert pan ring over it. Fold the foil extra foil up and around the pan and place the whole thing on a second piece of foil, also folding it and pressing it securely around the pan, having a water tight covering. In a food processor, process cookies until they are crumb-like, add melted butter and continue to process. Pour crumb mixtu...

I'm so excited to finally get to participate in IHCC this week! It has been crazy busy around here, and I haven't had a chance to find a recipe, get to the store and make stuff in quite a while. The theme this week "Tea Time" and while I dont drink hot tea this recipe goes equally well with a good cup of coffee. I chose Nigella's Chocolate Croissants because well... I love chocolate... and I already had everything I needed. Ingredients 1 package butter puff pastry chocolate chips 1 egg beaten Directions Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Open the sheet of pastry and then cut it into 6 squares. Cut each square diagonally to give 2 triangles. Put the triangle with the wider part facing you and the point away from you. Sprinkle about half a teaspoon of chocolate chips on each triangle. Then carefully roll from that chocolate loaded end towards the point of the triangle. You should now have something resembling a straight croissant, seal it slig...

I have a full time job and an hour commute each way so with what little time I have left in my day I love to cook recipes like this! (not to mention that it's good) I mean is there anything better after a long day than coming home to a home cooked meal. It has a combination of hamburger, italian sausage, cute little peperoni and noodles cooked in the sauce rather than water which makes them extra flavorful. Oh yeah, it has mushrooms too... which are totally gross... fungus... yuck, but my sweetie loves them so there they are... for his enjoyment. 1 lbs ground beef 1 lb italian sausage 1/2 6oz pkg sliced pepperoni 1 cup chopped onions 2 cloves minced garlic 1 15 oz can tomato sauce 1 8 oz can tomato sauce 2 tsp italian seasoning 2 tsp salt 1 tsp black pepper 1/2 lb sliced fresh mushrooms 4.5 cups tomato juice 24 oz dry spaghetti broken into 4-5 inch pieces grated Parmesan cheese Directions 1....

This is a spouse pleasin, kid pleasin, pan filling simply good lasagna recipe, and anything that is good enough for my picky little kids to clean their plates must be shared with the masses. Thanks for the recipe Jen!! Ingredients 1 1/2 lbs ground beef 1 26 oz can spaghetti sauce (I used Hunts traditional) 1 15 oz container ricotta cheese 1 24 oz container cottage cheese 2 cups mozzarella (Jen uses Monterey Jack which melts beautifully) 12 lasagna noodles Garlic Salt Italian Seasoning Salt Pepper Directions Preheat oven to 350. Boil noodles per package directions. Brown ground beef, drain fat, add sauce and season to taste. Mix ricotta, cottage cheese, 1/2 cup of mozzarella and season again to taste. Put just a little of the meat sauce down in a greased 9x13 pan. Place four lasagna noodles in the bottom of the pan, overlapping each noodle a little. Next, cover with 1/3 of the cheese mixture, then 1/3 of the meat sauce. Noodles, cheese, sauce, noodles, cheese, sauce and f...

From time to time I send some of the goodies I make to work with my darling husband. One of his co-workers asked if I had ever made a peanut butter pie... and, up until now I had'nt. Believe it or not, with three kids under the age of 12 in the house we do not eat a lot of peanut butter so it is not a recipe that I would even consider. But I came across this recipe on Homesick Texan and thought I'd give it a try. Peanut Butter Pie Filling ingredients: 2 egg yolks, beaten slightly 1 1/2 cups of milk 3/4 cups of sugar 5 tablespoons of flour 1/4 teaspoon of salt 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla ¾ cup of peanut butter 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon 1/8 teaspoon cayenne Meringue ingredients: 2 egg whites 1/8 teaspoon of salt 4 tablespoons of sugar Your favorite pie crust. Directions: In a pot, whisk together the eggs, milk, sugar, flour and salt. While stirring, cook on medium heat until it bubbles and thickens, about five to 10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the v...

Did you know that banana pudding is not made from a box??? Because I didn't, for the first 24 years of my existence. Then one day at work (a long time ago) we had a baby shower and someone brought banana pudding... Oh, I was in love. I had to know how to make it, I had to make it so that I could eat it... any time I wanted to. I can't believe I never knew about this!?!? To answer your question... yes, I must have been living under a rock. This is not a quick recipe. You have to stand and stir but it is worth the effort, I promise! The results are amazing! Banana Pudding Ingredients Pudding 1 cup sugar 3 eggs, beaten 1 dash salt 2 tbsp cornstarch 2 cups milk 1 tsp vanilla 3-4 bananas, sliced Vanilla Wafers Sweetened Whipped Cream 1 cup whipping cream 1/4 cup sugar 1 tsp vanilla Directions Mix sugar and eggs in a saucepan, then add cornstarch, salt and milk and wisk until well combined. Bring mix to a boil over med-high heat stirring constantly until thick...