Running Mama Cooks

For my bridal shower, I received a beautiful cookbook with recipes submitted by my friends and family. This one is from my Aunt Lenora. Since we had exactly 3 bananas that would have gone bad and a gloomy fall day, Cecily and I made banana bread. I loved that this recipe is really healthy, have to get back on the wagon after stuffing myself full of Halloween candy!!

Banana Bread

Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup wheat germ
3 med very ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup skim milk
1/4 cup applesauce
4 egg whites

Directions:

Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix in wheat germ. Add all remaining ingredients and beat until well blended. Place in pam sprayed 8x4 loaf pan. Bake at 350 for 1 hour.

Pumpkin french toast? Why not!! I have leftover pumpkin in the fridge so I thought Id put it to good use this morning. Came out great!

I didn't really measure anything, so this won't be a real "recipe." Just mix one egg, a splash of milk, a scoop of pumpkin, dash of vanilla and a generous amount of pumpkin pie spice together. Dip bread into the mixture coating it and cook in a pan with a little bit of melted butter.

I have to admit I was worried about this one, since I made so many changes to the original recipe, but it turned out great! I often say that I have no business baking (not my strong suit!), but since my daughter was begging to "make a recipe" this morning, I decided making a healthy apple bread would be a fun project.

I used this recipe as a jumping off point. I was going to make muffins, but the batter was very dense and seemed to lend itself better to bread. I think the addition of the plain yogurt was key, the end result was very moist, yet hearty bread. My only regret is that I didn't have whole wheat flour on hand.

1 egg
3/4 cup skim milk
3 tablespoons canola or olive oil
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
2 medium golden delicious apples, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup dried cranberries or raisins
1/2 cup walnut pieces
1 cup flour
1 cup quick-cooking oats
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl, beat together egg, milk, oil, and sugar. In a large bowl, combine remaining ingredients. Fold egg mixture into dry mixture, just to moisten. Stir in yogurt.

Monkey bread is one of our Christmas morning traditions. This year I made it first thing so we could snack on it while opening presents. It is easy to make and so good!

Monkey Bread

3 pkgs Pillsbury biscuits
3/4 cup sugar
3 tsp cinnamon
1 stick butter
1 cup brown sugar

Cut each biscuit into quarters. Mix sugar and cinnamon, shake in a zip lock bag. Add cut biscuits and shake until coated. Pile into well greased bundt pan. Combine butter and brown sugar in a pan and bring to a boil. Pour over biscuits.

Bake 35 minutes at 350

My Christmas morning table all set