Owen's Fried Vanilla Bananas

So while this wasn't a huge hit at our house, it was still a fun idea.  We tried to make fries out of this, and it didn't really work, but we used my mother-in-law's egg batter recipe for frying, and we gave this an 8, because it really is tasty.

Owen loves bananas and vanilla, so this was his choice.  This egg batter is what my mother-in-law uses to make chile rellenos, and it is easy and delicious, so I just tweaked the recipe a little to make it a sweet egg batter, and we fried ourselves up some bananas :).  Each fried banana was around 250 calories, and here's what to do:

1 banana, halved and cut into thirds, so six banana pieces

2 eggs, separated

1 T vanilla

2 T flour

2 t sugar, divided

dash of salt

oil for frying

Heat the oil in a large pot on medium heat.  

Beat the egg whites and 1 t sugar until stiff peaks form.  Set aside.

In a bowl, beat the egg yolks, 1 t sugar, and vanilla until well blended, then whisk in the flour and salt.  This should be quite thick, if it isn't add in some more flour.  Fold in the egg whites.

Spoon some egg batter into the hot oil, place a banana slice on the batter, then top with some more batter.  Fry for about 2 minutes, flip it, then let it fry for about a minute longer.  Keep an eye on this, it goes quickly.  Serve with whipped cream.

To make the egg batter savory, just eliminate the sugar, add a little more salt, and exchange the vanilla for water.  Top with a chili stuffed with cheese rather than the banana, and you have yourself a delicious chili relleno :).  Thanks Chris!

CJ's Spiced Banana Pancakes from Flour 2

These are a great, easy breakfast that we tried one morning, and the boys and I really enjoyed them.  I found them in my Flour 2 cookbook.  The pancakes are quick to put together, and since there is so much banana in them, they are super moist, sweet and kind of healthy :).  The allspice is kind of strong, I love allspice, but maybe play around with the spices if you don't like allspice.  Noah and I gave them a 9, and Owen gave them an 8 because of the allspice.  Each pancake, for 11 pancakes, was 135 calories, and here's what to do:

1 c flour
2 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
1 1/2 t allspice
1/4 t pepper (you can use more, I didn't want very much, but the recipe called for more)
2 T packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 c milk (I used 1%)
2 T vegetable oil
4 medium ripe bananas, 3 chopped up or mushed up, 1 sliced to go on top
Syrup, butter, etc. for toppings

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, slat, allspice, pepper, and brown sugar.  In another bowl, whisk together the egg, milk and vegetable oil.  Add in the mushed up banana, then fold the wet ingredients into the dry ones.  Cook at a low heat on a griddle or pan, and brown well on both sides.  Serve with banana slices and toppings.

Yummy :)

Butterscotch Brownie Banana Muffins

Happy 4th of July!!!  Hope you are all having a great day.  We're with family having fun and celebrating.  Here is where you can find today's recipe, Butterscotch Brownie Banana Muffins.  These are easy and delicious, and a great way to use left over brownies and bananas!  I love Peabody's site, she's funny and real and has great recipes every time. 

We gave these a 9, they are so moist and who doesn't love butterscotch and brownies for breakfast?  They are 187 calories/muffin because I changed the oil to sour cream, and I used chocolate yogurt instead of vanilla because that is what I had.  Tomorrow we're trying Crispy Coconut Chicken Fingers and Stuffed Zucchini.  Have a wonderful holiday!

Banofee Pie

I made my version of Banofee Pie today.  I used a recipe from Curtis Stone and altered it and made it my own.  I had opened a can of sweetened condensed milk to make a lime drink over Father's Day, and no where could I find a recipe using only a partial can of sweetened condensed milk.  I also had leftover bananas from the pancakes earlier this week.  I needed to use them ASAP, so I decided to guesstimate the amounts and make a banofee pie.  I know banofee pie is usually made with graham crackers, but I liked the idea of chocolate crust I saw somewhere else.  Here's my recipe:

Banofee Pie

15 Oreos
5 T butter, melted
1/4 c brown sugar, packed
4 T butter
3/4 c sweetened condensed milk (approximately half the can)
3/4 c whipping cream
3/4 c bananas (mine were cooked with butter, brown sugar, and maple syrup)

Crush the oreos to little crumbs and add melted butter.  Press into bottom of pie pan or little ramekins.  Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.  Make a caramel by cooking the brown sugar in a pan over medium heat. Watch it, it will burn quickly!  Add in the butter and sweetened condensed milk and cook until caramel in color.  Spread over cookie crust.  Cool at least 1 hour in the fridge.  When ready to serve, beat the whipping cream to soft peaks, then fold in the banana mixture.  Serve with any leftover caramel (we didn't have any) or any other garnishes.  367/pie for 10 pies.

I love the layers of chocolate, caramel and bananas.  We gave this between an 8 and a 9, very easy and yummy.

Coconut Cake Pancakes

This morning we had Coconut Cake Pancakes.  These were yummy, especially the bananas.  I made 21 pancakes out of the batter, and so with that number our calories were 89 calories/pancake with bananas.  We gave the bananas a 9 and the pancakes an 8.  I like that the recipe uses whole wheat flour as well as all purpose flour, and I like that this was very easy.  Instead of using one egg white and one egg, I just used two eggs, and I used less maple syrup in the banans and added 1 T of brown sugar to the bananas.  Also, I left out the oil entirely.  These were a great Saturday morning breakfast, and we'll definitely have them again!  We're trying a carnitas pizza from the Pioneer Woman's second cookbook tonight.