My Secret Recipes: Addictive Banana Squares

It's been awfully hot here, the kind of weather where turning on an oven is probably illegal. And a suicide mission. Probably both. Ottawa has never had this hot a weather and we broke quite a few records! (Something I wish I could be proud of)

All this to say that I haven't been able to bake for about a week, but thankfully I have a few recipes I have yet to post on...so...I uh...will. ya. :D

Ok so as I have shared with you guys before, I have a series of recipes that, if I say so myself, taste really really REALLY good. And for some reason that is somewhat foreign to me I feel a bit 'over protective' of these recipes, almost like a 4 year old who doesn't mind (in fact loves) to share all her toys with the neighborhood kids, but for some reason clutches greedily to that one special doll. And lord have mercy on your soul if you try to yank that doll away from her.

But I've been trying to be a good girl and learn to share a bit more. So from my list of uber secret recipes (that coincidentally happen to be my most requested recipes) I am slowly but surely trying to share a few of these with you. So if Banana isn't quite your thing (the insanity!:O ) then why not try my cinnamon bun recipe? Or perhaps some Hummus?

I made these babies to take to a family friend's house where we were invited for dinner. The final product was quite adorable (think little chocolate squares in cupcake liners topped with a swirl of chocolate frosting and a slice of banana!) but I wasn't able to catch a picture of them, so you will just have to take my word for it. :)

TIP: These banana squares taste EVEN BETTER the next day. So let them sit for a while...if you can stand it

Blogging is a way for me to connect with other foodies around the world and 'write down' my experiences and life through food, but it also serves the purpose of helping me keep track of my favorite recipes. Long story short I thought I had lost this recipe forever, and hopefully by writting it here I never will lose it again!

Enjoy!

The Most Addictive Best Ever Banana Cake


3 bananas
¾ cup sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup vegetable oil
¾ cup chocolate chips (optional)
1 ½ cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt

1. Mash up the Bananas really well. Beat in the sugar, egg and vegetable  oil.

2. Mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together in a separate bowl.

3. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ones and make sure you mix REALLY WELL. You can also stir in some chocolate chips if you like.

4. Bake at 350C until lightly brown on the edges and toothpick comes out clean.


"PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine

2/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa

3 cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. About 2 cups frosting.

Recipe Review: This is (clearly) one of my all time favorite recipes. It converted my banana hating sister into a banana cake eating crazy person! (To the point where you have to hide it from her!) What I love about this is its SOO easy to whip up, can be made in one bowl if you like, is fool proof and most importantly its SO yummy. When you have your first bite, you wont think oh my god insane! You will be like" hmm...this is good banana cake. nothing crazy...not sure what she was going on about..its just banana cake." But thats where you are wrong laddie. Ten minutes later you will find yourself reaching for another bite....and another...and another...They really are THAT addictive!

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Greek Salad

 
I’ve recently started watching Hell’s Kitchen. I know, I know, I’m a bit slow on jumping on the bandwagon, but I’m not one to watch tv. Scratch that. I watch a lot of tv. Some (my parents) would say too much tv, but I’m not one to channel surf, and though we got a new tv that I was so hyped about, I rarely watch anything on it. My tv is my macbook's internet. This can be good, because you don’t waste hours of your life watching commercials and channel surfing, but the consequence is that you won’t be exposed to such awesome shows as Hell’s Kitchen.

Watching hell’s kitchen makes me all excited and giddy. It makes me want to head into my kitchen and cook up a storm. Take out a nice sharp and shiny Chef’s knife that’s worth a few pretty $$ and go to town chopping parsley, mincing onions, slicing chicken and sautéing god knows what else.


This is amazing. I want to cook? I’ve always been a more of a baking sort of girl. If I bake it’s a hobby, a passion; if I cook it’s a chore. Hopefully this will change in the near future? I know my parents would sure like that! They are always telling me how I should cut back on baking and do more healthy cooking.

Speaking of healthy cooking, I made this a week ago. My parents were glaring at me for baking just a taddd too much(I may or may not have baked every day for a week…hey! Whats a girl to do during summer vacation?!), so I decided to make something more ‘healthy’ to balance it off. This Greek salad was amazing and I will definitely be making it again this summer! Its so light and delicious and easy to put together, it will probably become your staple salad recipe for the summer too!


Greek Salad

- Tomatoes
- Cucumbers
- 1 Red Onion
- Chunks of Feta Cheese
- Sauce

1. This is all about taste, so add the veggies and cheese to your liking and toss with the sauce.
2. To make Sauce: combine 1/4 cup of lemon juice, 1/4 cup olive oil, 1 TBSP of Mustard, and 1/2 tsp of garlic powder and basil. Add a dash of pepper.

*** feel free to alter the sauce recipe to your taste and experiment with different spices

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Canada Day Cupcakes

We have been having some really odd weather lately. It’s almost July, but you wouldn’t know it…it was 15C (59F) this morning! Its kind of weird because for a few days we will have overly hot and humid weather(35C, 95F), that makes you want to do nothing but just lie around and …well….do nothing. And then for a few days we will have freezing cold weather were you need a jacket!

Global warming ya’ll. No joke.

So speaking of July, July 1^st is Canada Day for us here canucks. For those of you who are not Canadian, and don’t know what Canada day is, its sort of the equivalent of Independence day in the US. We celebrate the anniversary of the July 1, 1867 enactment of the Constitution Act, 1867, which united two British colonies and a province of the British Empire into a single country called Canada. (see mom? I listen in school :P)

That makes Canada a bit of a ‘baby’ country since its only turning 143!

Anywho, on to these lovely cupcakes. I used the same recipe that I did for the FIFA world cup cupcakes, and followed the exact same directions. The only difference is I sliced up some strawberries and put them in the middle. Make sure to cover the top of the strawberry with the batter, and not over do it with the strawberries, since this is a cupcake surprise.

 

TIP: For a more American Version, trying popping in a few blueberries with the cupcakes and when you bite in, there will be blue, red, and white colors! (blue and red for the berries, white for the cake)

For decoration I alternated between pouring red sugar over some in the shape of the flag, and using red maple leaf sprinkles, and topping some with just one single sprinkle.

I had a bit too much fun decorating these!

Happy Birthday Canada! :D 

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