Bananas

I live in a house with runners, so bananas are always on the grocery list. But they also were the source of a kitchen mystery.  No matter how many bananas I bring home there are ALWAYS three left.  I started only buying four at a time and still three were left to get over ripe. I was sooo confused. I finally just ask my husband what was going on. His reply…doesn’t it take three bananas to make banana bread?

Mystery solved.

Yummy Banana Muffins

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup canola oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 medium ripe bananas, mashed
• 1 cup flaked coconut
• 1 can (8 ounces) crushed pineapple, drained
• 1 cup sliced almonds

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, combine the eggs, oil and vanilla. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in the bananas, coconut and pineapple.
2. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Sprinkle with nuts. Bake at 375° for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks. (Or you can make the yummiest loaf of banana bread by using a greased loaf pan. You will need to increase baking time!)
3. Freeze option: Freeze cooled muffins in resealable plastic freezer bags. To use, thaw at room temperature or, if desired, microwave each muffin on high for 20-30 seconds or until heated through. Yield: 2 dozen.

Cherries

My husband has been working out of town a lot recently, which means he’s eating out all week long. In an effort to remain a somewhat healthy diet, he keeps healthier snacks in his hotel room. At the end of the week he packs everything up and brings it home. Right now he is on a cherry kick…which means…we have lots  have lots of cherries at my house and since I hate to throw out food I needed to find something to do with them beside just popping them in my mouth.

The first thing I found out is that there are two types of cherries- tart & sweet. The tart cherries are less common and are suppose to offer health benefits like easing arthritis and gout pain. Sweet cherries are just good! They don’t offer any particular health benefits that I could find but you know they have to have some vitamins and fiber- they’re definitely better for you than a candy bar. The kind I have are sweet.

The one draw back with cherries for me is the pit. I haven’t used many cherries in the past, so I don’t have a cherry pitter. But I found a cool pitting technique  where you use a  thick plastic straw to push the pit through the cherry. I used one that came with a travel cup. It is time consuming…and messy, but way better that biting down on a cherry pit. It is recommended to soak your cherries in ice water before pitting to firm them up. I didn’t do that but if you have trouble pitting your cherries it may help.

Next project..recipes!