bake to save

I have never been much of a baker and I’ve never claimed to be. My son’s first birthday for instance: the cake looked like it had a stroke and then threw up frosting and sprinkles on itself. *good thing he tore into it and destroyed it before too many pictures were taken! My son recently decided he does not like bananas anymore. He used to love them.  So, a few days ago, I found an AMAZING recipe for banana muffins. In fact, I actually messed it up and they still turned out amazing! So… I am sharing this recipe with you.

Ingredients

•  
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 -3 very ripe bananas
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 eggs
  • 1/2 cup oil
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • butter, for pan
  • 1/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Butter pan.
3. Peel bananas and mash with fork in a small bowl.
4. In a different bowl mix the sugar, oil, and egg until creamy yellow.
5. Blend in the mashed bananas and add nuts if wanted.
6. Add flour, baking soda, and salt.
7. Destroy any lumps.
8. Put the batter into a loaf pan and bake for 1 hour or until tooth pick comes out clean.
9. Enjoy!

Here is the link :http://www.food.com/recipe/banana-bread-30075

Thank you Marzalicious!!!

romanceless and pantless…………

so i love my android phone. LOVE loll. i recently got the kindle app on it and all hell broke loose. i finally read Twilight and was immediately, to my independent-girl-power dismay, captivated. with that read in about 24 hrs, i plowed through the whole entire series in less than a week. it was soooo good. it appealed to every facet of myself that i apparently had tried to convince myself i didnt need, with being a super woman and all. it was my guilty pleasure. then, literally, just now, it struck me. WHERE”S THE ROMANCE (besides my kindle app on my phone). of course you’ve heard me rant and rave about how oversexed the media is and blah blah blah. i think we made a trade off- romance for sex. i think that the more advanced we become as a society through civil equalities, technological advances, science break throughs, the hunt for the concise and efficient has compressed life into a pretty salty bullion cube.

after today i realized how THIRSTY i am for romance. utterly parched lol. but my life is so UNromantic. working 40 hrs as a bookkeeper (the math alone all day leaves u feeling quite dry), coming home, cooking, cleaning, bathing da bubbies, bottles, bedtime. i mean an altogether snoozer if you ask me.

i can see, however, in the US our way of life. (maybe it’s bc im in nyc). the hustle the bustle, everything moving so fast. the competition the ambition, the drive, the need to win. earn more, save more, spend more. scratch, claw, bite your way through to the top. our passions seem so misplaced.

when i was in high school i dreamed of my life in quite a romantic way. finding love, raising a family, or being a dancer in a ballet company, or moving to nyc,  whatever it was (ugh i’m so old it’s hard to remember). but then once you go to college its’ like this swift monsoon that sweeps you off your feet and suddenly you’re worried about your career and the rest of your life and MONEY. no more romantic daydreaming. the rat race had commenced. from a small town romantic idealistic girl to a nyc career girl with a kid and no time to daydream!! Dammit! *shaking fist angrily.

i’m also noticing it’s not just about career and money. i read an article the other day about girls who are going through puberty earlier and earlier. getting their periods at 7!!!!! SEVEN!!! (i wiped my brown relieved my first was a boy). and watching all the tyra episodes with teens with multiple sex partners and sexting and all this other craziness. (of course there were a few girls in high school like that but it was never considered the NORM). the songs on the radio are no longer about “before i let you go away, can i get a kiss good night” (ahh blackstreet how i miss thee) now it’s lil wayne talking about how he’s “single for the night”. or usher’s “making love in this club” or trey songz “take you home” (along with the dozens of other songs on the top 20 about post-clubbing-one-night-stands). and all the sorrowful women singing about their men cheating. we’ve replaced romance with emotionless, meaningless sex. (not to mention money, careers, and everyday life).

as women (as i always say) we try to be super women. doing everything. working, taking care of our families. not that im knocking women’s liberation. or saying suffrage was a mistake. but perhaps we’ve moved too far from where we came from. the word WOMEN now has such a strong connotation as opposed to Shakespeare women who were whimsical and feminine. (of course silly and mindless a little). of course im not saying i wish i wore a burka either. i jus wish that as women we were regarded with  a little more reverence. a little more romance.

i’m not sure exactly what it is that i want from my everday life. and how to achieve a ‘little more romance’ will then be my next step. but this (sigh, like most things) is up to ourselves. adding more romance to our lives. perhaps seeing life differently. enjoying small pleasures again. you know, half full instead of half empty. life is sooo stressful and it blinds us. we live our everday lives again and again, each day passing into the next, same routine. perhaps i need to find something to break that routine and find a little romance in it.

i’ll keep you posted as to how that goes lol…….

i mean life doesnt have to be THAT far off from fiction does it? (well minus the whole vampire, werewolf thing).

//

age ain’t nuthin but a number….

so recently i have come into a bit of drama and would like to take this moment for a little rant. at what age can we start acting like adults, ladies? i have come to the conclusion that age has nothing to do with maturity. as women, as mothers, we have the obligation to present ourselves in a manner that reflects where we are in life. of course reflect who YOU are, but can we please stay classy??? obviously if you were classless to begin with, we can’t expect much from you post-baby. but i would really hope that somewhere from the time of pregnancy to raising your child, you may have learned a thing or two about adulthood.

of course, women will be women:caddy, gossipy, two-faced. but you do run into those women that really have nothing better to do with their time (including trying to raise their children) than to try to stir up drama. these are the women to steer clear of. of course we all have tendencies to enjoy a bit of gossip or drama ourselves, but to create it in order to ‘better’ ones image of ones own life…. really not cute.

So this woman that i thought was a close friend of mine and my family showed her true colors in the face of desperation. of course i do not believe that she would have done this unless she truly felt her life and her family was at risk, but i would have hoped she would have left me and my family alone, rather than trying to bring us down with her. i guess they do say that the ‘grass is always greener’ and ‘misery loves company’, but to ruin a friendship and potentially my own family (thank goodness im confident in my own life to smell a flat out lie , no matter how much she tried to convince me and everyone it was the truth).

looking back at the relationship, the behaviors, the person i can honestly say, the writing was on the wall. i suppose i am the eternal optimist, trying to see the good in everyone, believing that people are inherantly good rather than bad. trusting before taking it away. however in light of this recent situation i am re -thinking this. ‘friends’ come and go and i realize that maybe this needs some further reflection. i mean, is it me? does my optimist nurturing personality draw these type of people? do i choose to see the good (no matter how slight) and ignore the bad? i’m sure all of of these are true, but now that it’s not jus my own life, it’s my whole family that was effected by this woman, i really need to get it together and be careful about who i let into my and my family’s lives.

so i have compiled a list of characteristics to be wary of when letting people get close to you (or your family). or maybe it’s YOU that has these characteristics. ask yourself these questions:

~does this person often seem a pile of extreme emotions (anger, joy, sadness)?

~do you often find yourself being the counselor or advice giver or ear or shoulder to lean on?

~have you given more of your time, energy, money doing things for this person than you have received from them?

~does this person seem to tell you EVERYTHING about EVERYONE, and seem to know intimate details? (aka gossip)

~does this person spin the truth about small things to benefit themselves?

~does this person constantly talk about how awful their life is?

~would you take this person to a fancy restaurant or event?

~do you feel drained and tired during or after spending time with this person?

~does this person often ‘warn’ you about other people?

(the list of questions could go on and on, but these are just a few) if you find yourself being able to relate to these questions or imagine one particular person when you’re reading this…..RUN!!!! lollll. i’m not saying that someone who holds these characteristics is a bad person or has ill intent, but eventually it will bite you in the ass in some way or another. i’ve learned this lesson SO MANY times in my life (you’d think id get it together by now).

it doesn’t matter how old you are, if you act like a child. age ain’t nothin but a number…..

ok so on a lighter note:

so my son is 15 mths old and is starting to have this thing about food. he’s not big on textures, so he now spits out chicken, pork, beef, any veggie that is not over cooked lol. so i decided to share his favorite meal with all of you. it’s a ground beef recipe (which is the only meat he will actually eat).

Thai Ground Beef:

-1 thinly sliced onion

-1 cup of frozen peas

-1 teaspoon minced garlic

-1 lb of ground beef

-1 teaspoon of red curry paste

-1 small can of tomato sauce

-1/2 cup of coconut milk

-1 tablespoon of brown sugar

-grated rind and juice of 1 lime

-1 tbs of fish or oyster sauce

1) in a large skillet drop a small teaspoon of oil

2) saute onion, garlic until onion translucent

3) add ground beef, cook until brown

4)add peas cook until well done

5)stir in curry paste and tomato sauce cook until starts to simmer

6)add coconut milk, brown sugar, lime, and fish sauce

7) cook until slightly thickened

8) serve over rice

Thai green beans:

-green beans trimmed

-1 tbs of soy sauce

-1 tbs of oyster sauce

-1 tbs of creamy peanut butter

-1 tsp of grated ginger root

-1 tsp of lime juice (i use the leftover from the ground beef)

1)in a seperate bowl combine the soy sauce, oyster sauce and peanut butter

2) in a pan steam the green beans until tender

3) add ginger

4) add peanut sauce

5) mix well over low heat until the sauce coats beans

6) serve

**This is my son’s absolute favorite meal. he will eat about 2-3 bowls of this in one sitting!!**

~random i know but *shrug*~ lollll

i feel like chicken tonight

there are a few things i really suck at baking is one and roasting a chicken is the other. however, i have recently found an awesome roast chicken recipe that takes about an hr. i couldnt believe it. a whole chicken, in the oven, 1 hr (depending on your oven) that’s it.  you need whole chicken ( you can season it over night if you so wish) and a covered pan such as this:

preheat the oven to 500 (yes i said 500). cut the chicken in half like so:

season the chicken, i usually add a little water or some other liquid to the bottom to baste.

cover and bake for about a half hr. after a half hr lower the heat to 400 and you can start basting every few minutes or so. until the juices run clear. that’s it!!  yummy roasted chicken only after about an hr.

here is also a really simple oven fried chicken recipe that i use:

~about 1 lb or so of chicken pieces

~2 cups of bread crumbs (use according to how much chicken you have if less, use less, if more use more)

~1 tbs of garlic powder

~1 tbs of adobo

~1/2 packet of sazon

-preheat oven to 400

-marinate chicken pieces in whatever seasonings you like. (i usually do some green seasoning, sometimes i do garlic powder, adobo, and hot sauce)

-slather the chicken pieces with  cooking oil ( you can also use egg, something that will make the crumbs stick)

-in a seperate bowl combine dry ingredients dunk chicken in bread crumbs and generously cover until you don’t see skin

-place in pan about an inch apart

-bake for 40 min (or until juices run clear)

*so tonight’s meal, roasted chicken and macaroni pie. yayy!

homesick………

being homesick means a lot of things to different people depending on who you ask. for some, it’s the comfort of your old bed, in your old house. for others it’s the smell of home. for me…… it’s food. food has always been this central theme of my life. perhaps it’s because the olfactory bulb is part of the limbic system, the part of the brain associated with memory, or perhaps it’s because i’m a fatty….either way some of my best memories come from food, in one way or another. So…I’m sharing with you my “i wish i was here” places lol.

    

Ok well this is pretty obvious lol . Anchor Bar is the most heavenly spot in buffalo. it is the original wing spot that originated buffalo wings. this place has such amazing food. and when i lived i buffalo, it had live jazz on friday and sat nights. so….you sit there with a huge vat of hot wings, a pitcher of honey brown beer and an order of pizza logs, while listening to some pretty banging jazz= HEAVEN. this place was such a haven for me and my best friend, and really anyone else that was bored and hungry lol.

*sigh…………there’s no pizza like western NY pizza i tell ya. (of course everyone says that about their region) but, Pontillo’s carries with it some amazing memories from my childhood. pizza and wings on the weekend at my house, or pizza parties in elementary school, or really anytime at all. on mother’s day they had a pretty great buffet that my nana absolutely loved haha. and let’s not forget pizza frita. *fried pizza dough with powdered sugar, i have a recipe that’s a pretty close copycat*

catfish and grits……need i say more?? this was mine and my best friend’s breakfast spot. catfish, cheese grits, scrambled eggs, homefries, and PLENTY of hot sauce. after a night out, when you finally mosey out of bed at noon, this was the must. the best part about buffalo was that it was so relaxed, you literally could wear pajamas and nobody would care haha.

niagara cafe-the west side of buffalo. THE most amazing rotisserie chicken i’ve ever had. hands down. this little hole in the wall also holds some pretty fabulous memories. coming here on an afternoon with friends pigging out. lol. lots of great conversation. they people that worked there always speaking spanish to me ….yea i definitely don’t speak spanish.

Panos was the spot for late night studying or taking a break from late night studying during finals. it was amazing gourmet food at a student budget in the artsy area of buffalo. they were also opened until 3am lol. amazing lemon chicken rice soup and gyro breakfast yummmm.

Shanghai Reds in buffalo- this is an awesome place when you feel a little fancy. drinks and seafood during the day with an amazing view of the harbor, or drinks, seafood, and a pit fire at night. lots of girl talk and jokes were had here.

this was an awesome spot for late night drinks. pseudo fancy atmosphere pseudo gourmet food. this was a spot that i made my own and turned lots of friends onto.

This is my #1 offender=KOREAN EXPRESS in the UB commons. Dak bulgogi and curry fried rice, bimbimbap, kimbap, japchae, tonkatsu *Sigh…..when i was pregnant i was almost in tears i craved this so much. for this, i def would’ve fedexed it.

#2 offender (i couldnt find any pics)-LUCKY HOUSE in my hometown of LeRoy. absolutely the most amazing chinese food i’ve ever had even in nyc. i can’t say enough great things about them.

Another place from my childhood. this is in rochester and has the sweetest and spiciest chicken and best mac salad EVER. i actually have a copy cat recipe that i use for chicken wings. *dinner idea!!!

another rochester MUST- nick tahoes garbage plate. it looks gross and u’ll feel like crap after eating it…but a definate staple in the rochester world!!!

Neon Thai the best thai food i’ve EVER HAD ever. even in nyc. i started coming here when they had first opened. from then ANYONE and everyone that i could bring here, i brought. the owner saw me there allll the time. for my gf’s bday as a thanks, he gave us a few bottles of some thai liquor. love that place and the family that owns it is simply adorable.

And finally- my biggest late night memory that i miss. going out on chippewa street in buffalo in my college days. $20 will buy you a full night of drinks, dancing, bar hopping and just all around good times. La luna’s, 3rd room, level=my old stomping ground. GREAT memories!!!

Well thank you for letting me share my homesick cravings with you. what homesick cravings do you have?