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Sunday, November 22, 2009

A Bit of How the Weekend Went

I was sick.

All weekend.

Not with the flu {got the shots}. Not with a cold.

Just my usual pregnancy sickness.

It was h-o-r-r-i-b-l-e.

Thus, I had a mini breakdown. That was a long time coming. I normally suck it up but this weekend I let lose and let the tears flow. Half a box of kleenex later I was semi fine. I tried to sleep it off most of the weekend but my eyes are still burning from the inconsistent sleep that I've been getting. I'm such a light sleeper. And Ilah likes to remind me that she's still "in there" so every few hours she likes to practice Cirque du Soleil routines in my tummy.

I decided to lay off of my continual Chipotle fix and nourish myself properly this weekend. For lunch on Saturday we had seasoned baked chicken, rice, corn and broccoli and it was yummy. As you can see, the meal was nothing fancy but it was a nice nutritious homemade meal. I had leftovers on Sunday and it hit the spot once again.

The hubby loves my homemade banana bread so I find myself making it often. I usually use a large bread pan but this time around I used two smaller ones so that I could split the mix and make two versions- one with pecans {for my mom} and one without. For both I made a crunchy topping, like I always do, that is oh-so-good!!

When my husband woke up from his mid-afternoon cat nap on Saturday, he had a nice plate of hot, fresh banana bread sliced up waiting for him....


I packaged my mom's bread in wax paper and wrapped it pretty. I'll be seeing her today.


I have a kitchen drawer full of torn out recipes, taken from various magazines, that I've held onto through the years. The banana bread recipe is from Cooking Light {I modified it just a tad and got the recipe for the crunchy topping elsewhere}. I personally don't like banana bread - which is odd because I like banana's. But I enjoy making the bread for others : )

EDIT: Below is the recipe for those that would like it!

Ingredients
1 cup mashed ripe banana (about 2 medium)
2/3 cup sugar {I also add 1/4 cup of brown sugar}
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup egg substitute or 1 large egg white
1 large egg {I usually just use one egg and skip the above}
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons cream of tartar {if not on hand, I ommit it and the bread tastes the same}
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
I add cinnamon and nutmeg, see below
Add chopped pecans or walnuts if desired
Cooking spray

Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°.

Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth.
Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt in a bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add the flour mixture to banana mixture, stirring just until moist {then I add in cinnamon and nutmeg to the mixture}. Spoon the batter into an 8 x 4-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray.

Bake at 350° for 40 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on rack.

Topping:
In small bowl, mix together 1/3 cup brown sugar, 2 tablespoons of flour, 1/8 teaspoon of cinnamon {I always add more!}, 1 tablespoon of butter. Cut into the tablespoon of butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over bread mixture before placing in the oven.

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