courtney rebecca

Earlier this week, I found out that this Saturday would be National Banana Bread Day. You know I can't resist any sort of reason to bake, and conveniently, I had three bananas ripe and ready to be made into bread! I've been working on making my baked good healthier by using better fats, whole wheat flour, and honey rather than sugar. I sneaked a little granulated sugar into this, but only for the topping and cinnamon swirl! So here you go! My very best recipe for banana bread... Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread! This is adapted from my very favourite recipe blog, Lovin' From the Oven . Just about everything I have tried from there has been amazing. Ingredients 3 ripe bananas 1/3 cup melted butter (salted or unsalted) 1/3 cup honey (raw, unfiltered, and local if you can find it!) 1 egg, beaten 1 tsp vanilla (or as much as you feel like pouring in) 1 tsp baking soda dash of salt (if you used unsalted butter) 1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour 1/4 cup granulat...

I have been wanting to learn how to make pizza at home for a long time, but I was intimidated by making the dough and I had no idea what would go into the sauce. I finally just went for it last Friday, and it turned out great! I shouldn't have been so apprehensive, it was really pretty easy once I found a couple of recipes that had good reviews. I had great intentions of taking pictures when I made the pizza again last night... And then it finished baking and we ate over half of it before I remembered. Ooops! I promise... it was delicious. I made whole wheat crust  and exquisite pizza sauce , then topped it with two cups of mozzarella and two links of italian sausage, crumbled. I also did one quarter of it with turkey pepperoni, just for some variety. I think we have a new Friday evening tradition! Anyone have great ideas for pizza toppings??

You probably already know this if you know me at all: I love to bake! Lately I haven't been baking very much because Jason and I are trying to eat healthier and exercise more. When I have to suffer through half of a Jillian Michaels video for one cookie, it just doesn't seem worth it as much anymore. But last night we went to a game night with friends, so I could bake a bunch of things to share! I started with Whole Wheat Dark Chocolate Brownies . I'm trying to bake with only whole wheat flour these days, and I really love King Arthur's White Whole Wheat flour. I can hardly tell the difference between it and regular unbleached. These brownies turned out to be SUPER rich and not very sweet, even though I threw in some chocolate chips at the last minute. They are pretty healthy, only 90 calories per brownie, but it kinda defeats the purpose when they are so rich they can't be eaten alone. They ended up being perfect with a little Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla ice cream...

This is one of my go-to recipes. We celebrated Easter with Jarrod & Rachel on Sunday, and I made these scones for our brunch to go with the amazing quiche and creme brulee that Rachel made. I love these scones because they are pretty easy to make, and they always turn out fantastic. I know they look a bit like biscuits in the picture, which is why I usually cut them into more of a triangle shape. I was lazy this time and just used a biscuit cutter! This time I made them with dried cherries, but I've also made them with fresh or frozen blueberries, dried cranberries, and fresh raspberries. I'd also like to try them with some dark chocolate chunks in with the fruit. The recipe is available on the Food Network website here !

Every Friday morning at work, someone brings in treats. Cleverly, we call it Friday treats. It was our turn (my aide and me) last week, so we decided to bring in Easter treats! Originally I was going to make cupcakes and put my cake decorating skills to work. Gotta make that class count for something... but then I realized that by Thursday night, I wouldn't feel like putting in that much effort. And when I saw this recipe on The Alchemist 's blog, I knew I had to try it. I could not resist these! The ones in my picture are not exactly following the recipe... but they still turned out okay. I actually made two different batches with slightly different recipes so that I could use up the whole box of Fruity Pebbles. The original recipe is here ! Enjoy!

I have fabulous news! We paid off our washer & dryer today that we bought when we moved here last August! I had a great meeting with my mentor and fellow new librarians! I'm teaching a small math class for advanced sixth graders! I got to network with a math rep from my district! There are 11 school days left until Christmas break! Two of my favourite people are moving here in less than 5 months! I love my school & my job! I'm making Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls tonight! but most importantly.... JASON GOT INTO GRAD SCHOOL!! HUZZAH!

It's National Bundt Day! I've been reading the Food Librarian 's 30 Days of Bundt Cakes , and I just had to make a bundt today. Also, I may or may not have been incredibly wired after a really fun Zumba class. I made what has become (I guess) my "signature" cake. If I'm going to make a cake, it's almost always this one. Jason loves this cake. I make it in all forms! Layer cake, cupcakes, mini loaves, regular loaves, but the first way I made it was as a bundt. The recipe is from the Cake Mix Doctor, who I absolutely love. Every recipe I've tried from this book has been wonderful. And I used the wonderful Baker's Joy to spray the pan, and the bundt came out so pretty! I think it's the nicest looking bundt that I've ever made. Cream Cheese Pound Cake Ingredients: * 1 (18 ounce) box butter recipe cake mix * 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, at room temp * 4 eggs * 1/2 cup sugar * 1/2 cup water * 1/2 cup vegetable oil * 2 teaspoons...

I'm taking a cake decorating class this month at Michael's. I had my second class last night, and we decorated our first cake! I'll be the first to say that I kinda suck at it right now. But I'm still proud of my first effort! The top of it. And I tried to do a border and I think it turned out cute! After we cut into it. It's raspberry filling inside. The cake & filling tasted good, but the icing was straight up NASTY. For class we make "buttercream" but it's made out of Crisco. Great for decorating... horrible to eat. I can't wait to make my own real buttercream & cream cheese icing!