Wednesday 23 November 2011

Sweet Pork Bites

I made this recipe up this afternoon after not wanting to do any of my normal things for pork. We loved it, and it's really so easy. I'll definitely do it again. :)

2 boneless pork chops, cut into bite sized pieces
1/2 onion, chopped
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 cup apple juice

Put pork and onion in a baking pan (I used a 8x8 brownie pan, but whatever works for you). In a measuring cup, put the brown sugar and apple juice. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Pour over pork and onions. Cover with tin foil and bake at 425F for 40 minutes.

It made enough for Alex and I to have for supper tonight with no left overs.

Wednesday 16 November 2011

Banana Cake

I had bananas that needed to be used, and didn't want to make a banana loaf or banana muffins, so I went looking for something different.  I ended up finding this recipe online and it was a hit as dessert at my parents' house for supper tonight. It's actually called "Frosted Banana Bars" but it's more of a cake to me than bars, so that's why I called it what I did. I made some modifications, so I'll give the actual recipe and then give my modifications.

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup mashed bananas
1 container of cream cheese frosting

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 10x15 inch baking pan
Mash bananas in a bowl
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the sour cream and vanilla. In another bowl, combine the four, baking soda and salt; stir into the batter. Finally, mix in the mashed banana. Spread evenly into the prepared pan.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool completely, then frost.

Modifications: I used 2 cups of bananas instead of 1, because that's how much banana I had and I needed to get rid of it. I also used an 11x7 inch pan (because that's what I had). Because of these modifications, it actually took 40 minutes to cook. Also, I was unable to get cream cheese frosting, so I put chocolate frosting on it and it was delicious.

PS: For anybody who might be wary of using sour cream or doesn't like sour cream...put it in. My father hates sour cream and didn't even notice it was in the cake. :)

Sunday 13 November 2011

Chewy Milk Chocolate Cookies

I actually got this recipe on the back of a bag of Chipits milk chocolate chips...and they are now my favorite chocolate chip cookes ever. who knew that making a mistake (I usually buy semi-sweet chocolate chips) would result in something so good?

1. Beat 2/3 cup melted butter, 2 cups lightly packed brown sugar, 2 eggs and 2 tablespoons hot water. Mix well.

2. Stir in 2 2/3 cups flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda and 1/4 teaspoon salt (I didn't use that much salt).

3. Stir in 1 package of Chipits milk chocolate chips.

4. Drop from small spoon onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 375F for 8-10 minutes.

Wednesday 2 November 2011

Easy Sugar Cookies

I made these for our Halloween party and they were a hit. I got the recipe on allrecipes.com and some of the comments there complained that they couldn't make the cookies into shapes, but I had no trouble using cookie cutters to make ghosts and pumpkins out of the dough, so I think those people were crazy. LOL. Anyway, these are the best sugar cookies I've ever tried, and I will definitely make them again.

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup butter (or margarine) softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375F.

In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda and baking powder. Set aside.

In another bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla. Gradually blend in dry ingredients. Roll rounded teaspoonfuls of dough into balls and place on ungreased cookie sheets (or if you want to be like me, take amounts of the dough, flatten them on the counter and use cookie cutters to cut out shapes before using a metal spatula to put them onto the cookie sheets).

Bake 8 to 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Let stand on cookie sheet for two minutes before removing to cool on wire racks.