Baby, It's Cold Outside...

A snow storm started up today in the area, resulting in the older boys getting out of school early. They got off the bus at their Grandma's after school and would be there for a couple of hours until the hubs picked them up when he chored. That left the "little man" (our youngest son) and me with no plans for the day outside of the house, so we thought it sounded like a good day to make banana bread! He is such a busy 3 year old that we usually try and find at least one "activity" for the day that isn't part of the normal routine just to keep him (and Mama) sane when we can't go outside. 

I found this recipe years ago and have tweaked it some over time. It is not a "skinny" recipe by any means...if you are on a diet then you will have to attempt to eat it in moderation, or feel free to "skinny" it up with substitutions of your liking. :) A loaf doesn't last long around our house. Who am I kidding? What food does last long with 5 males in this house? LOL! 

Any who, Little Man likes to help in the kitchen, it proves to be quite messy but I have learned over the years it isn't about the mess, OK, still a work in progress on that one at times ;) It is about the experience and fun memories we are making. Plus, I want to make sure my boys all know how to cook. I feel like it is something I can do with them that they can remember for years to come...heck, maybe they can even impress a woman one day with their skills. Ah, who am I kidding, I'm not going to let them be in a position to impress a woman until they are at least 35. ;)

So, Little Man and I got eggs brought up from our spare fridge in the basement. Of course, we had to have a little disagreement over who got to carry what, he insisted on carrying the eggs up the stairs. I however was not going to let him carry the full dozen up but we compromised that he could carry 1 egg. Well he got up 2 steps and realized it was probably best if I carried it. Gee, Mom might have suggested that a few times during the 5 minute argument. But what do you do? It is so trying to argue with a head-strong 3 yr old! 

** Sidebar: Yep, you heard me right, we have a spare fridge in our basement, it comes in handy because we go through about a gallon of milk a day when the boys are in school and closer to almost 2 a day when school is out. That takes up a lot of room in a fridge. We don't have a grocery store in town anymore so when I do get groceries I usually buy anywhere from 4-8 gallon at a time so we have enough on hand. We have our own grocery store of sorts in the basement pantry because we do buy in bulk due to the size of our family and the distance from grocery stores. I usually buy groceries once or twice a month and then replenish perishable items like milk, eggs and bread a little more often if need be.  

Once we had our eggs upstairs, he helped me get all the ingredients out. He instantly said he was unwrapping the sticks of margarine, this made me smile because a few months ago he didn't want to touch it because it was too messy..apparently he is over that now. :) Today included a first for him, I let him help with operating the switches on the Kitchen Aid mixer. Little Man was delighted at this new experience and we discussed at great length how important is was NOT to pull the speed control switch all the way to 10. He looked at me with an ornery look similar to, "Oooo I wonder what Mama will do if I DO pull it that high." Thankfully, he did not. 

He wasn't so sure about picking up the banana pieces to put in the bowl to mash because "they is slimy" so we scraped them off the board instead.

 Then Little Man got to mash the bananas. He went to town on them and smashed them very well...definitely a good "boy" job. ;)  

We had enough ingredients to make a quadruple batch. 1 for eating in the morning for breakfast and 3 for the freezer to enjoy another day! 

The house smelled wonderful when we were done, we used up some ingredients that were going to go to waste if not used soon, and it was a fun time spent with my son while it was cruddy outside. I hope he enjoyed it as much as I did. It brought a smile to my face too when the other 3 boys got home this evening and immediately said how the house smelled "yummy" and knew exactly what that smell was. Warmed this Mama's heart! 

Here is the recipe, enjoy!

Mama's Banana Bread

1/2 c butter or margarine

1 c white sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 c flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 c sour cream

1 c mashed bananas (about 6 medium sized)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 1- 9X5 loaf pan. 

Cream butter and sugar together. Add eggs and vanilla, mix well. Add soda & salt to wet ingredients and blend. Add flour to mixture blend until smooth. Mix in gently sour cream, then do same for bananas. Spread in pan. 

Bake for 60-70 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. 

Cool in pan for 15 minutes. (Makes 1 loaf)

(I usually slice the bananas the smash them up. Some prefer chunks in their bread, we like ours a little smoother, do as you desire.)

I can't wait until breakfast in the morning so we can dive in and eat it! I better sneak a piece before I serve it before the "herd" scarfs it all up. :)

Night y'all.