About those bananas ...

I know you've all been there before.  The bananas you bought last weekend with oh so good intentions of eating are still sitting in your fruit basket when the week ends.  And they sure aren't looking as appetizing as they did in the middle of the week when the peel was still bright yellow and devoid of brown spots.

You probably contemplated eating one at that moment. But then opted for Swedish Fish. 

Oh wait, that was me.  My choice of an unhealthy snack over a healthy snack is also what led to the surplus of browning bananas on my counter last weekend.

Now,  about those bananas.

What to do, what to do?

Then, I remembered that one of the universally agreed upon best uses for very ripe bananas is to make banana bread.

And that is exactly what I did last Saturday.

I've made a lot of banana bread in my day using many different recipes.  I was baking the bread during my son's naptime and therefore couldn't hit the store for ingredients.  I also needed a recipe that was healthier than some I had made in the past so it would be a good snack for both me and my son.

The recipe I used cut the amount of vegetable oil dramatically but suggested using buttermilk.  Since this isn't the days of Little House on the Prairie and hence, I don't keep buttermilk readily available, I used non-fat plain yogurt as a substitute.

As I've expressed in the past, I get nervous about healthifying (is that a word?) recipes but this modified recipe was a home run!

If you find yourself with a pile of overly ripe bananas this weekend, give this recipe a try.  I bet it will be your new banana bread recipe.

When presented with the choice of a naptime snack of my freshly baked banana bread or the remaining Swedish Fish, I opted for the bread.

Now that's saying something.

Banana Bread

Ingredients

2 large eggs

3/4 cup sugar

2-3 medium ripe bananas, mashed

1/3 cup non-fat plain yogurt

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Details 

Preheat oven to 325°F. Lightly grease a standard loaf pan; dust with flour.

Using electric mixer; beat eggs and sugar in large bowl until thick and light, about 5 minutes.

Mix in mashed bananas, yogurt, oil and vanilla. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt over mixture; beat until just blended. Transfer batter to prepared pan.

Bake bread until golden brown on top and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 hour.

Adapted from Bon Appetit

Food for the Cheesehead's soul

In case you've been buried under a rock this week, tomorrow is the Super Bowl.

If you live in Wisconsin, you would have to be buried under said rock plus the 20+ inches of snow to not know that the state's beloved Green Bay Packers are playing in the Super Bowl tomorrow.

Growing up in Wisconsin, I was indoctrinated into the Cheese Head Nation by my dad.

Dad didn't love the Packers.  He LOOOOOVED the Packers.

He loved them when they were awful during the Don Majkowski era and when they were Super Bowl champs during the Mike Holmgren and Brett Favre era.  He was over the moon when he landed the Packers as a client during his days selling phone systems.  The only thing better for Dad was when his company purchased a luxury box at Lambeau Field and he was responsible for "hosting" the box.

Dad on the sideline at Lambeau Field.

Dad loved entertaining clients and watching the game from the box but most importantly, he controlled the ordering of food for the box.

As you know if you've been reading my blog, Dad loved food.  It isn't suprising that there was never a shortage of food in the box.  Shrimp, chili, hotdogs (and the list goes on).  And then, the desserts.  I seem to remember him being very focused on the mini cheesecakes.

He took the food duty very seriously.  Dad believed that no matter how good the game was, food was a critical element to truly enjoying football.

I couldn't agree with him more.  With that, I bring you a recipe for something green for you to make tomorrow in honor of the Green Bay Packers and their hopefully huge victory over the Steelers:

Split pea soup!

Even if your football team lets you down tomorrow, the commercials disappoint or there is an unfortunate wardrobe malfunction during the half-time entertainment, this soup will leave you satisfied and blissed out.

If you are a Steelers fan, I advise disregarding the symbolism of the color of the soup and still giving this a try.

If you really want to embrace the Cheese Head lifestyle, serve the soup with grilled cheese.  You can't beat this combo.

Split Pea Soup

(serves 6)

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter

4 slices pancetta

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup diced white onion

1/2 cup diced carrots

1/2 cup diced celery

1 cup dried split peas

1 cup whole milk

1 large container chicken broth

Details

Melt two tablespoons butter in a large soup pot.  Add garlic, pancetta and onions.  Cook until pancetta and garlic are browned and onions are soft.

Add carrots and celery and cook until somewhat tender.

Place peas in a strainer.

Rinse split peas and add to the mixture in the soup pot.  

Add chicken broth to the mixture.  Cook on medium heat until the peas are tender.

Add one cup whole milk to the pot.  

Using an immersion blender, blend soup until chunky but not completely pureed.  Alternately, if you do not have an immersion blender, add the cup of milk to a small bowl and two cups of the soup mixture and use a masher until the mixture is chunky.  Add back in to the soup.

Cook soup on low and serve once it is warmed through and vegetables are tender.