Walnut Banana Bread

This is a favorite of the boys' to use up over-ripe bananas.

Walnut Banana Bread

2-3 bananas, mashed
1 c. sugar
½ c. vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
juice of half a lemon
1¾ c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. baking soda
¾ c. chopped walnuts, lightly toasted (optional)

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease 9x5 loaf pan.  In a large bowl, whisk together first 6 ingredients.  In a separate bowl, blend next four dry ingredients.  Stir into wet ingredients just until combined.  Stir in walnuts.  Pour batter into loaf pan.  Bake for 1 hour or until toothpick in center comes out clean and the top is golden brown.

Cool in pan for 10 minutes.  Turn out onto wire rack and let cool completely, if you can wait that long.

Source:  Paula Deen's Southern Cooking Bible

Cabbage Casserole II

I have declared this my year to cook ONLY from my cookbooks and not from the internet.  I've unsubscribed to all of my favorite food blogs...including the Pioneer Woman's...to avoid the temptation of cooking that one really good recipe.  I have no less than 30 cookbooks (one of which is Pioneer Woman's!) that are collecting dust if I don't do this.  And it has been really fun to read through them again.

I did want to post this recipe for those of you still cooking from the internet.  ;-)  It really is more convenient, I'm just having to be a little rebellious.

I've posted another Cabbage Casserole before, but this has become the new go-to recipe.  For some reason my other never turned out as good as this one always does.

Cabbage Casserole

1 small head cabbage
1 stick butter
1 onion, chopped
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 c. mayo
1 sleeve Ritz crackers
salt and pepper to taste

Chop cabbage and place in 11x14 greased baking dish. In skillet, melt half stick of butter and cook onion until tender. Stir in soup and mayo until well incorporated. Add salt and pepper to taste. Spread over chopped cabbage. Layer crushed crackers over top and drizzle with remaining melted butter. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

Cheesy Mexican Skillet Rice

I have been looking for a recipe for Mexican rice for quite some time now.  It seems that each one I tried was just a little too dry for my taste.  Until now!  I have finally found one that I like.  It's moist, it's cheesy, it's good!

Cheesy Mexican Skillet Rice

2 Tbsp. olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, finely chopped
1 c. long grain white rice
2 Tbsp. tomato paste
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. smoked paprika
salt and pepper, to taste
2 c. chicken stock
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 c. grated cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 375.  In a large ovenproof skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat.  Once hot, add the onions and garlic and sauté until soft.  Stir in the rice and cook, while stirring, to toast.  Add the tomato paste, chili powder, smoked paprika, salt and pepper, and stir until it's well blended with the rice.  Add the chicken stock and black beans and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to a simmer, cover with lid and cook on low until the rice is tender and the chicken stock is absorbed, about 15 minutes.  Turn off the heat and let the rice steam, covered, for 5 minutes.

Fluff rice with fork and sprinkle with cheese.  Bake until cheese melts, about 10 minutes.

**To skip the oven step, just simply stir in the cheese until melted, which is what I did.

New Favorite Sloppy Joe's

This is my new favorite.  Definitely more flavorful than my original recipe that I have used all these years. And packed with veggies...

1 lb. lean ground beef
1 Tbsp. steak seasoning
1 carrot, shredded
1 medium onion, shredded
1 red bell pepper, shredded
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 (15 oz.) can tomato sauce
2 Tbsp. tomato paste

Using a food processor, shred carrot, onion and red pepper.  In a large skillet, combine ground beef, shredded veggies, garlic and steak seasoning.  Cook until meat is browned.  Drain excess fat, if necessary.  Stir in red wine vinegar and Worcestershire sauce.  Cook for 5 minutes.  Add tomato sauce and tomato paste and stir to combine, stirring until thickened.

Grandmama's BBQ Sauce

If you know my family, you know we are pretty famous for our rib cookouts.  Well, my Granddaddy is famous for his ribs and Grandmama is famous for her sauce.  I went on and on about it before The Jason ever met my family.  I think he didn't believe me that they are really so good!  Until he had them...then he was a believer.  This is my Grandmama's BBQ Sauce.

Grandmama's BBQ Sauce

2 lemon slices
1 c. water
1/2 c. vinegar
1 stick butter
Scant Tbsp. Salt
5 Tbsp. sugar
4 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbsp. mustard
1/2 tsp. pepper

In a saucepan, heat all ingredients on medium high heat for 15 minutes, stirring frequently.  Add 1 c. ketchup and stir until smooth.  Simmer 5 more minutes or until sauce is thickened.

Boston Butt Dry Rub

This is our favorite dry rub for smoking a Boston butt.  We had a BBQ lunch for Baby Pea's birthday this past weekend.  We also had, for those of you asking about recipes:

Grandmama's BBQ Sauce
Clear BBQ Sauce
Corn Salad
Red Velvet Cake
Cake Batter Ice Cream
Spinach Dip

It was a great day!

Boston Butt Dry Rub

1/4 c. packed brown sugar
1 Tbsp. paprika
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. celery salt
2 tsp. chili powder
2 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. garlic salt
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
1/4 tsp. ground red pepper

Southern Praline Pecan Cake

I made this cake for my mom's birthday this week.  She says it is definitely a hit.  It was SUPER easy to make.

Southern Praline Pecan Cake

1 box butter pecan cake mix
1 (16 oz.) container coconut pecan frosting
4 eggs
3/4 c. vegetable oil
1 c. water
1 c. chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350.  Spray bundt pan with non-stick cooking spray.  Mix first 5 ingredients until well combined.  Stir in 1/2 of pecans.  Sprinkle remaining pecans into bottom of bundt pan.  Pour in cake batter.  Bake for 50 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.