Peanut Butter and Banana Oatmeal Squares

Got overripe bananas?

Tired of the same old banana bread you resort to every time you have overripe bananas?

I was.  So I decided to try something new for breakfast.

Peanut Butter and Banana Oatmeal Squares

• 1 1/2 cups quick cooking oats
• 1/2 cup peanut butter (I used crunchy!)
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 3/4 cup whole milk
• 1 egg
• 2 ripe bananas, mashed
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 2 tablespoons of ground milled flaxseed (optional)

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl, then spread evenly into baking dish.

Bake 20-25 minutes, or until edges are golden brown.

Let cool, then cut into squares.

This is delicious all by itself, but I recommend enjoying it topped with vanilla yogurt and fresh sliced bananas.  And bacon.  Always bacon.

I have never had banana custard before, much less made it.  But it sounded like a kid-friendly breakfast to me. I mean, it's basically banana pudding, right?

After I blended all the ingredients together, I poured them into glass bowls, set them in a water bath, and baked them for 45 minutes.

I don't think they were entirely done, though, because they were just slightly liquidy in the middle.  The baby ate it just fine, but the older two turned up their noses.  Which was fine, because I loved it, and I didn't mind eating two all to myself at all.  Except that eggs make you sleepy.  Did you know that?  Eggs contain tryptophan.  I went to bed really early that night.

So my custard was a fail for the kids, but I had high hopes for lunch: salmon patties.  I had planned on buying canned salmon and making my own patties, but then I found these:

Wild salmon patties made with organic vegetables!

From a local and sustainable source!

I fried them in a cast iron skillet with a little olive oil and served them with avocado.  Three salmon patties and two organic avocados fed all four of us.  The kids actually ate the salmon, pretty impressive.

For dinner last night, I tried to make popcorn chicken, but it basically came out as chicken nuggets.  Served with mashed potatoes.

Oh, man.  I have to tell you about this smoothie I made today.  It's really basic, but it tasted exactly like an orange julius.  It was like a perfectly creamy probiotic orange julius!  I simply blended milk kefir with raw milk and fresh squeezed orange juice and added vanilla and oh my goodness.  Delicious.

And tonight... tonight for dinner I made a lasagna casserole and threw together these no rise dinner rolls.

This casserole was reeeally easy (I don't know why, but I don't like cooking or layering lasagna noodles...) and reeeally yummy.   The rolls were okay, definitely good for a quick "on the spot" side.  I smothered them in really creamy pastured butter & the kids were in heaven.

Cinnamon Rolls, Oatmeal, Pizza Pockets and Chocolate Milk

On Sunday morning, I happened to be woken up rather early by the baby, which gave me a chance to bake these bad boys before anyone else woke up:

That, my dear people, is a delicious array of whole wheat cinnamon rolls, sweetened with coconut palm sugar.

And now here they are smothered in ooey gooey frosting (made from homemade powdered sugar, which was made from unrefined sugar).

This was my first time making cinnamon rolls with whole wheat flour.  I was nervous they would taste too... wheaty.   But honestly, by the time I was biting into my fourth one I couldn't even taste the wheat anymore. So gooooood.

On Monday morning, I made the kid's and I some peanut buttery banana oatmeal stuff.  I cooked the oats in a mixture of milk and cinnamon, then added honey, maple syrup, peanut butter and banana slices.

This was a risky breakfast.  First of all, because my kids don't really like oatmeal.  Secondly, because my kids don't like bananas.  How frustrating is that?  It's something I'm trying to change, by making them eat it.  Is that horrible?  I actually sat at the table and spoon-fed my 5-year-old.  I told him he was a robot and every bite he ate was an "energy deposit" and I would do something comical (like a failed hyper-blast, or an out-of-control zig-zag, etc) and he was laughing so hard, he didn't even notice he ate more than half the bowl.  I win.

We had pizza pockets for dinner.  They are so easy to make.

This is the dough, which I made out of 3.5 cups of flour, 1 cup of plain yogurt, 1 cup of melted butter, and a tsp of salt.  Mixed well, then separated into small balls.  I think the rest is pretty self-explanatory.

Baked at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. I made a very simple salad to go with it.

I have no idea why, but after this meal I really needed some chocolate.  I decided to make some chocolate milk, and realized I haven't shared how I make it yet.

I start with 2 cups of milk:

And add 2 tablespoons of cocoa and 2 tablespoons of honey:

Blend on high for a few minutes and that's it!

This chocolate milk is darker and richer than what you buy in the store, and is definitely much fuller-flavored than something you'd mix up with artificial syrup!

Day 26 - Pumpkin Banana Muffins

Needed to use some bananas before they went bad so I came up with these.

They are especially good warm and smothered with butter.

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
¼ cup butter
¼ cup coconut oil
½ cup palm sugar or sucanat
2 eggs, beaten
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1 cup pumpkin puree

Preheat oven to 350 and lightly grease muffin tin.

Combine flour, baking soda and salt.

Separately combine butter, oil, and palm sugar. Stir in eggs, bananas and pumpkin.

Combine mixture with flour mixture and stir just to moisten.

Pour batter into muffin tins. Bake for 20 minutes at 350.