Cooking With Kendra: Old-Fashioned Banana Bread Loaf

 Old-Fashioned Homemade Banana Loaf (with Chocolate Chips, Pecans, and Maple Extract)

During our road trip to Pennsylvania and back, we bought bananas a few times. The last batch ripened quickly, but fortunately, we made it home just in time to bake some Banana Bread. Banana Bread is a simple and speedy recipe—no proofing or fermenting required—just a few basic pantry staples and a couple of overripe bananas.

Here's what you need:

• 2/3 cup sugar

• 1/3 cup soft butter, margarine, or shortening

• 2 eggs

• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon maple extract

• 3 tablespoons milk of your choice (I used unsweetened vanilla almond milk)

• 1 cup mashed overripe bananas (about 2 bananas)

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/4 cup chocolate chips

• 1/4 cup chopped pecans

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

Mix the sugar, butter, eggs, and maple extract together thoroughly.

Stir in the mashed bananas and milk.

Sift in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, then stir well.

Fold in the chocolate chips and chopped pecans.

Pour the batter into a well-greased 9x5x3" loaf pan. Let it stand for 20 minutes before baking.

Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Serve warm, room temp, or cold. Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator.

Substitutions can be made for the chocolate chips and nuts, such as using walnuts or peanut butter chips. For the extract, you can substitute vanilla for the maple extract. Use vegan eggs, egg replacement, more bananas or applesauce (1/3 - 1/2 cup) to veganize the recipe. YMMV on the cooking time and density with changes made.

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Long time no see!!

Unfortunately, it has been years since I have made a post on this blog :(  A lot has happened!!

We moved, closed our construction business, started new jobs, Kendra's Kreations is still running!  Right now we're in the middle of the Covid 19 global pandemic so things are strange and weird all over the place!

Come find me on Social Media:

• https://kendraskreations.net/
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• https://www.instagram.com/kendraskreationstexas
• https://www.pinterest.com/KendrasKreation/
• https://www.facebook.com/Kendras.Kreations.Texas/
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• https://www.samsclub.com/r/rvd5btz
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Strawberry Vegan Ice Cream

Ingredients:
* 2 1/2 cups frozen or fresh strawberries
* 2/3 cups white sugar
* 1 tablespoon orange juice
* 1 cup almond milk, divided
* 1/2 cup coconut milk (located in the dairy section)
* 1/2 teaspoon coconut extract
* 2 teaspoons corn starch



How to:
* Heat 2 cups of strawberries in a pot with the sugar and juice.  Bring to a boil and simmer for 3-5 minutes (until the sugar is fully dissolved).  Remove from heat and let cool.  Once cooled puree in a blender.  Then pour into a bowl.
* Mix 1/2 cup almond milk and corn starch in a small bowl, set aside.
*Heat 1/2 cup almond milk, 1/2 cup coconut milk & coconut extract until simmering.  Add the corn starch & almond milk slurry to the heated milk.  Keep on low-med heat for about 5 minutes, whisking often to prevent burning.
*Pour milk mixture into the strawberry mixture bowl.  Let the milk & strawberry mixture set in the fridge for about 30 minutes, to cool even more.
*Chop the last 1/2 cup of strawberries - add to your strawberry & milk mixture.  Pour all into your prepared ice cream maker.  Let it run for about 25 minutes.
*Eat now or put your ice cream in a freezer container until you are ready for use.


***I topped mine with mini chocolate chips.  My husband topped his with chocolate syrup.  I bet toasted coconut would be delicious also.  You could change this up to make this your recipe.  Use different milks, extracts (vanilla, orange, almond) or berries (blueberries, raspberries) - limitless options!

Stuffed Poblano Peppers

I have another awesome stuffed pepper recipe for you! It is very similar to my Vegetarian Stuffed Anaheim Peppers.

 

Sauce:

*1 28 ounce can tomatoes (or 2 14.5 ounce cans)
*1/2 Tablespoon onion powder
*3 garlic cloves

*Salt and pepper to taste

 

Filling:

*2 1/2 cups cooked grains (I like to use Saffron Yellow Rice for this recipe)

*1 15 ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained

*1/2 c grated cheese (I used 1/4 c cheddar & 1/4 c mozzarella) (use vegan cheese to make this vegan)

*1/2 Tablespoon onion powder

*Salt and pepper to taste

 

Other:

*4 Poblano peppers

*1/2 cup crushed tortilla chips

*1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese (use vegan cheese to make this dish vegan)

 

Turn oven on to 425.

Wear gloves and cut the peppers in half and deseed them (keep the seeds to plant later).

Find a baking dish that will hold all of your peppers (I used a 9x13 glass pan)

 

 

 

Take all the ingredients for the sauce and place in a blender - blend until smooth.

 

 

 

Place the sauce in the bottom of your baking dish.

Place your cleaned and halved peppers on top of the sauce.

 

 

 

In a medium bowl combine your filling.

 

 

 

Stuff your peppers with the filling.

 

Top with the crushed tortilla chips and then your cheese.

 

 

 

Bake for 15 minutes.

 

 

 

**The peppers will be REALLY firm - I like them this way.  If you like them more tender I suggest roasting the peppers and removing the skin.  Here is a video.

 

**You can add or remove items to really make this your own recipe. (proteins, cheeses, veggies, cilantro, chives, different kinds of chips, etc)

 

**If you'd like to kick up the heat - add 1 whole jalapeno to the sauce before mixing in the blender.

 

**If you have a bit of left over filling mixture use it in a soup or taco salad - or give it to the kids - most kids don't like peppers anyway.

 

 

 

Vegetarian Stuffed Anaheim Peppers

(photo from wikipedia)

*1 28 ounce can whole tomatoes
*1 jalapeno (seeded and roughly chopped)
*2 small onions (one chopped and one cut into fourths)
*2 garlic cloves
*1 regular size can of beans (pinto, black, navy, whatever you have) rinsed and drained
*1/4 cup cornmeal
*1 cup shredded cheese (cheddar, pepper jack, whatever you have) (use vegan cheese to make it vegan)
*1/2 teaspoon paprika
*6 large anaheim peppers (the big bright green ones), cut in half and seeded
*S & P

Preheat oven to 425.
In a blender or food processor combine the tomatoes (and its liquid), jalapeno, the onions that were cut into fourths, the garlic, salt and pepper. Blend, blend and blend - get it souper saucy. Pour sauce into a 9x13 pan (I used a glass dish). Set that aside for now.
In a medium bowl combine the beans, cornmeal, half of the cheese, your chopped onions, 3/4c water, paprika, salt and pepper. Wait about 5 minutes for the cornmeal to absorb the water.
Now...there are two ways of doing this. The first way it to place the peppers in your sauce mix then stuff or stuff then place in the sauce mixture - up to you. I put my peppers in the suace then stuffed them using a spoon. Easy enough either way. Once you have stuffed your pepper and they are in a sauce bath use the rest of your cheese as a topping. Sprinkle sprinkle.
Cover with foil. Bake for 45 minutes. Remove foil. Bake 15 minutes. DING.
I really wished I would have had some sour cream to top this with..but I didn't - it was still amazing!!

This was originally a Martha Stewart recipe - but I changed it up a bit and made it my own - you can do the same thing.

Southwestern Stuffed Bell Peppers

4 medium to large bell peppers, any color - your choice 

1 lb "meat" 

1 clove fresh garlic, minced 

1 small to medium onion, diced 

1 pkg of your favorite taco seasoning mix (or Kendra's Kreations Taco Seasoning)

1 T chili powder (optional) 

1 regular can of corn 

1 6 oz can of V8 

1/4 c water 

Directions: Cut tops of bell peppers off (save for soup or compost) remove seeds & ribs (compost). Rinse peppers. In skillet, cook ground meat with onion and garlic until meat is cooked through. Drain any extra fat. Add can of corn, taco seasoning package, chili powder, V8 and water. Simmer about 5 min. Divide the mixture into each of the bell peppers & place in a 8x8x2 pan. Bake at 350 for about 25-30 minutes. Eat. You could add cheeze, tomatoes, sour cream, crumbled tortilla chips, cilantro... (Pictured: On two of them I added cheeze slices & crumbled tortilla chips on all four)

Just BEET It

I've heard that our taste buds change every seven years. I found a beet receipe that I thought I would try....to see if my taste buds had changed since I was a kid. It was labeled "The Best Beet Recipe". Perfect, right?! I, of course, changed it up a little and posted below is what I came up with. By the way, this is my first time ever to cook beets. It is a pretty easy recipe. 

 ***KK's Pretty Good Beets - If You Like That Kind Of Thing*** 

* 3 beets, boiled in plenty of water for 1 hour with three bay leaves and 1/4 t kosher salt - then peeled (discard the bay leaves and water when the hour is up) 

* one medium yellow onion 

* juice from one orange 

* one minced clove of garlic 

* 1/4 c honey/agave 

* 1/2 T grated fresh ginger 

* 1/4 t fresh thyme 

* 2 T EVOO 

*S & P to taste 

 Heat the EVOO in your pan on med-high heat. Cut each beet in half. Lay the flat side down and slice into half moon discs. Then cut each moon disc in half - length wise. (Kinda like steak fries). Slice your onion in half moon slices also (halved onion rings). Add your onion and garlic to heated oil in pan. Cook for about 4 minutes. Add the beets. Add orange juice, thyme, ginger and honey/agave. Simmer on med to med-low for about 10 minutes. Taste. Add S & P - how much you like. I added just a pinch of kosher salt and a few turns from the pepper mill. 

 My taste buds haven't changed much since I was a kid. I thought this dish was pretty good for a beet recipe. I guess I just don't care for beets. I will eat what I cooked so it doesn't go to waste. Whatever I don't finish will go to the compost though. I know my husband will not eat this - just because it is beets. If you try it let us know! We want to know your thoughts. My husband just walked in my office. "Um, I know I usually taste everything you make. I'm not tasting that." Haha!! We've been together over 15 years. I know him all to well. =)