Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

I want to start off by saying welcome to all of the new followers!  I'm so excited to have you all be a part of my cooking adventures!!

I also wanted to give a little reminder that I'll be closing my giveaway on Wednesday.  So if you haven't registered for it, do it soon so you'll be in the running for a special Valentine treat from me!

Winter has finally hit (not that I wasn't grateful for the dry weather we were having).  Snow has blanketed everything in sight.  When that happens, I don't like to go out.  It's cold and the roads are slick.  Instead, I much rather prefer to stay indoors and bake.

So that's what I've been doing lately.  I tried a new recipe for banana bread and LOVED it!  It comes from a cookbook I have called, "A Passion For Baking" by Marcy Goldman.  I love this book!  I have yet to try something that I haven't been impressed with.  I've posted about her Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies, so try those if you haven't.

I love that this recipe for banana bread is tender and moist.  And since we are chocoholics in this house, we love that it's studded with chocolate chips.  But if you'd prefer to forego the chocolate, you can try raisins instead and you can always add nuts of course.  They're just a no-go around here.

So on the next chilly day that you happen to have some ripe bananas to use, try this recipe out.  It's quite delicious!

Here's what you'll need:

1 C. unsalted butter, softened

2 C. sugar

4 large eggs

5-6 medium ripe bananas, mashed

1/2 C. sour cream

2 tsp. vanilla

4 C. flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 C. chopped pecans or walnuts (opt.)

1 C. chocolate chips (opt.)

1 C. raisins (opt.)

Generously spray two 9"x5" loaf pans with baking spray (that has flour in it) and set aside.  In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until well blended.  

Add eggs, banana, sour cream, and vanilla.  

Fold in flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, scraping the bowl often.  

Mix on low speed; then fold in nuts or chocolate chips or raisins, if desired.  

Spoon batter into prepared pans.  

Bake at 350 degrees for 55 minutes, then decrease the temperature to 325 degrees and bake another 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out mostly clean.  

Cool on a wire rack.  Makes 2 loaves.  I like to keep one loaf out for the kids to snack on and I'll put the other loaf in the freezer until we're ready for more banana bread.

 Delicious!!

My Very First GIVEAWAY!!!

**Giveaway is now closed.**

I've been working on so many changes to my food blog for this year.  Yet another change would be to do GIVEAWAYS for my awesome followers!

So, for my very first giveaway, I wanted to give one very lucky person something special for Valentine's Day.

Two of my most FAVORITE things to have on Valentine's Day are 1.) Sheffield Sparkling Cider and 2.) Florence's Chocolates!  So those are the two things I'll be sharing with one of you!!

Scheffield Cider makes the absolute BEST sparkling cider I have ever tasted!  The lucky winner gets to choose one of their four varieties: Cherry Cider, Classic Sweet, Harvest Crush, or Vintage Dry.  Check out their website for descriptions and details of each variety.

Florence's Exquisite Candies has some of the most amazing chocolates that may ever enter your mouth!  Everyone on this side of Idaho knows that if you want to give something special, this is what you give.  The lucky winner also gets an 8 oz. box of their choice of assorted creams in milk chocolate, assorted nuts and caramels in milk chocolate, or a combination of both - assorted milk chocolates.  Checkout their website for details on each.

Okay, now for the rules...the winner must:

• be a follower of ALL THINGS DELICIOUS, 
• like the ALL THINGS DELICIOUS Facebook page, 
• live in the 48 contiguous United States, and
• leave me a comment below telling me your favorite thing to make on Valentine's Day

This giveaway will close on Wednesday, February 1st at 10pm MST.  I want to make sure my winner gets these prizes in time for Valentine's Day!  The winner will be announced the morning of Thursday, February 2nd.

Good luck, everyone!!!

Swiss Chicken

I've got a bit of a problem.  Well, if you ask my husband, I've got many problems.  But we're not going to go there.  The problem I'm talking about is my funny phobia of cooking the same thing twice in a relatively short period of time.  I do NOT cook the same thing after a week of making it.  I don't cook the same thing twice even in a month.  I will RARELY cook the same thing even six months after the last time I've made it.  

I prefer making a recipe once a year.  Is that weird?  I'm less weird about cooking the same breakfast foods.  I rotate those recipes about every 4-6 months.  But dinners?  Yeah, I prefer at least a year between making them again.  There are just so many options to try; why limit yourself to the same thing?  That's how I see it.

Since I have that particular phobia, my kids completely forgot about today's recipe.  It's actually been several years since I've made this one.  It comes from my mother-in-law's good friend, Kathy Howard.  I love trying her recipes!  And my kids loved eating this one!!

What I like about this recipe most is that you don't have to pre-cook the chicken.  So the prep time to assemble this recipe is very quick!  I also like that it doesn't have to go right into the oven once it's put together.  I assembled this the morning I needed it, covered it and put it into the fridge until I was ready to bake it that evening.  It gave me plenty of time to work on homework with the kids after school and not have to worry about making dinner as well.

It'd also be nice to take to a family needing dinner, assembled and covered with baking instructions written right on top.  Then they can bake it whenever they need it.

Or it'd be perfect to leave for a babysitter to pop in the oven.

So many possibilities!

Here's what you'll need:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

salt, pepper, garlic powder to taste

8 slices of Swiss cheese

1 can cream of chicken soup

1/2 soup can water

1 pkg. Stove Top stuffing

1/4 C. margarine

1 1/2 C. water

Cut chicken breasts in half or into small serving pieces.  Season both sides well.  Place in a greased baking dish.

 

Cover with cheese.

Mix cream of chicken soup and 1/2 soup can of water;

Pour over cheese and chicken.

 Prepare the stuffing as directed on the box using the 1/4 C. margarine and 1 1/2 C. water.

 Put stuffing on top of the soup.

Cover with foil.  I like to write the instructions on the foil for a babysitter, husband, a friend in need, or if I make this in advance and put the recipe away.

Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour covered.  Then uncover and bake another 30 minutes.

This is what it'll look like when it's done baking.  Mmmmm...

Soooooooooooo delicious!  My kids absolutely loved it!! 

Check back soon.  I'll be doing my first ever GIVEAWAY this week!!  I'm so excited about it!  So, make sure you come back and enter.  Have a great day!

My Favorite Breakfast Casserole

I LOOOOOOOOOVE breakfast foods!  Especially this one with it's layers of hearty potatoes, cheesy eggs, and bacon.  It's very simple, but I guess just the sheer combination of perfect breakfast foods makes this recipe fantastic!  It's a perfect companion to muffins, or better yet, the Sticky Bun Breakfast Ring.  Ooooooooohhh, Heaven help me.  I'm salivating just typing this!

It comes from Taste of Home, way back in 2001.  I regret not trying it as soon as I found it.  But I guess that's just how I work.  Apparently I like to think about recipes before trying them years later.  Don't be like me.  Try this soon!

Here's what you'll need:

1 (28 oz.) pkg. cubed frozen hash browns (O'Brien hash browns also work great in this)

1/2 tsp. garlic salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1 (10 3/4 oz.) can condensed cheddar cheese soup, undiluted

1 lb. sliced bacon, cooked and crumbled

12 eggs, lightly beaten

2 Tbsp. butter or margarine

2 C. (8 oz.) shredded cheddar cheese

In a large skillet, prepare hash browns according to package directions.  Sprinkle with garlic salt and pepper.  Transfer to a greased 9x13 inch baking dish.  Top with soup.  Set aside 1/2 cup of bacon; sprinkle remaining bacon over soup.

In another skillet, scramble eggs in butter until nearly set.  Spoon over bacon.  Sprinkle with cheese and reserved bacon.  Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until cheese is melted and casserole is warmed through.  Serves 10-12.

To make things easier, I cook and crumble the bacon and shred the cheese the night before.  Then all you have to do the morning you want this is to cook the hash browns and the eggs, layer everything and pop it in the oven.

I may even try assembling the casserole and keeping it in the fridge overnight.  Then the next morning I'll just bake it for a little while longer.  That will give me time to throw together some sticky buns.  Mmmmmmm...enjoy!

American Chili Casserole

Hi!  How do you like the new look?  Another one of my goals for this blog this year was to improve the look of it.  What do you think?  I'm loving more room to write and for bigger pictures!  I also like that I don't just have a tiny little column that everything squeezes into.  So, yay for changes!  I hope you like it too.

Today's recipe is another one of Jacie's.  She's really got some good ones and I love it when they're quick and easy!  My kids are big fans of chili as well as Fritos, so this casserole was a big hit around here!  So, thanks again, Jacie, for another stellar recipe!

Here's what you'll need:

1 lb. hamburger

1-2 Tbsp. dried onion OR 1/2 onion, chopped

1 can chili

1 (10oz.) can cream of chicken soup

1 can tomato sauce

salt and pepper to taste

1 bag Fritos

1 C. cheese

In a greased 9x13 inch pan, layer 1/2 the Fritos and half the cheese.

Brown the hamburger with the onion and salt and pepper.

When cooked, add the chili, cream of chicken soup, and tomato sauce to the hamburger.  Combine well and simmer for 5 minutes.

For your next layer in your pan, add all of the meat and chili mixture.

Top that with the other half of Frito's...

...and then the rest of the cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Serve with a dollop of sour cream. 

So easy!  I love it!!!!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Happy new year, everyone!  I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and some fun for new year's.  We sure did!  But, I've missed blogging and I'm so happy to be back.

With it being a new year, I've made some goals and plans for my food blog.  What I'm most excited about is to introduce you to my friend Nicole.  I've mentioned her in several past posts, but I really wanted you to get to know her.

Nicole and I were best friends all through high school and roommates our freshman year of college.  We did EVERYTHING together!  We both got married just a few months apart and our lives separated us by where we lived, but as time has proven, nothing has come between the fact that we are soul sisters and always will be.

Nicole has gotten into photography over the years and she is good.  REALLY good!  Check out her PHOTOGRAPHY BLOG HERE.  She has so graciously agreed to take some pictures of some of my recipes since my pictures are somewhat lacking in comparison to her amazing pictures.  She really captures the beauty of cooking and delicious food!

So, please join me in welcoming my very good friend, Nicole!!  And please enjoy some of her gorgeous photography!

Here's what you'll need:

3 (15 oz.) cans chicken broth or about 4 C. homemade chicken broth
2 T. dried onion OR 1 C. onion, diced
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1 3/4 - 2 C. thick and chunky salsa
1 C. frozen petite white corn
1 can black beans
3-4 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
Tortilla strips or tortilla chips

Garnish for topping: cilantro, sour cream, avocado, lime juice, shredded cheese

Combine the first six ingredients, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and cook for 5 minutes.

Add chicken and heat through.  Serve with tortilla strips or crushed tortilla chips in the soup.  Top with garnishes of your choice.

Simple and delicious!  Enjoy this warm bowl of soup sometime this cold winter.  And, thank you, Nicole, for the fabulous pictures!!!