Easy Banana Nut Bread

I love when our bananas get all brown and mushy and you can't eat them...but they are perfect for banana bread! This recipe is from my mom's super old Betty Crocker Cookbook and is a classic, easy and quick recipe that is always a hit! Plus, it makes your house smell so good while baking!

2 1/2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

3 Tablespoons vegetable oil

3/4 cup milk

1 cup finely chopped nuts (I omitted this time because we didn't have on hand, and I didn't want to run to the store)

1 cup mashed bananas (appx. 2-3)

Heat oven to 350. Grease a 9x5x3 loaf pan and line with flour.

Measure all ingredients into a large bowl and mix.

Pour into the greased and floured pan. Bake 55-65 minutes or until a knife comes out clean in the center. Remove from pan and cool throughly before slicing.

Cheez-It/Laughing Cow Chicken

I got inspired to find a recipe with Cheez-Its as I was munching on a box of them after work. I figured there had to be a recipe out there that used them as a breading for the chicken we had thawed out that morning. I did find one, but it called to deep fry them. Since we didn't have the means or desire to do that, I decided just to bake them at 400 degrees like I do with Laughing Cow chicken. Since the chicken breasts were very thick at one end, I decided to add a wedge of Laughing Cow cheese to each breast and it was a hit!

This is the original recipe for 6 servings. I modified it for 4 on the site and they adjusted the ingredients accordingly.

• 1 1/2 cups Cheez-It® Original Baked Snack Crackers, crushed (we used Reduced Fat)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon celery salt (garlic if preferred)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 wedge of Laughing Cow cheese (whichever flavor you prefer) per breast

Preheat oven to 400.

Lightly grease a baking dish. I used a small oval Corningware, a glass 8x8 dish would work too.

Mix together the egg and the milk. Place in a shallow bowl. Crush the Cheez-Its (I use my mini food processor) and mix in the salt, oregano, celery salt (we used garlic). Place in a shallow bowl.

Open up each chicken breast and spread one wedge of Laughing Cow cheese in the middle. Fold back over to original shape.

Dredge the chicken breast in the milk/egg mixture and then roll in the Cheez-It mixture until well coated. Place in baking dish. Cook in pre-heated oven for around 35-40 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Keep checking the chicken, ours seemed to take forever, probably because of the thickness at one end. Enjoy!

Chicken Dijon

This is a yummy recipe that we got from one of our guests at one of our showers. It is a great recipe because most of the ingredients we always have in the house. The downside of this recipe was, no offense to the person that gave it to us, written so confusing, I had to start over 2 times! I will do a much better job for you when I post it! That is also why I don't have a picture, I was so annoyed, I just wanted to eat the thing! It is delicious though. Don't let the name fool you, it is a really light mustard taste. In a way, it reminded me a lemon rice chicken soup from National Coney Island, but not as lemony!

Rice Ingredients

2 cups water

1 cup rice

1/2 teaspoon salt

Pat of butter

Chicken and Sauce Ingredients

3-4 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts

3 Tablespoons Butter

3 level Tablespoons flour

16 oz. can of chicken broth

2/3 cup milk

2-3 Tablespoons dijon mustard

In a medium pot, place all the rice ingredients. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer till all liquid is absorbed (around 10-15 minutes).

Cut up the chicken breasts into strips and cook throughly. I lightly seasoned them with some salt and pepper before cooking. Set aside. The original recipe calls for browning the chicken, then placing it into the butter (next step), but I did it my own way, mostly because I was confused. :) It came out just fine and the chicken was nice and tender and cooked perfectly.

In a medium sized pan, melt 3 Tablespoons of butter until it begins to bubble. Gradually stir in 3 Tablespoons of flour. As you are stirring in the flour, gradually start adding the chicken broth, stirring constantly (like a rue almost) until the broth, flour and butter are well combined. It may be a bit clumpy...that will work itself out.

Add the milk and heat until warm. Then add the dijon mustard, bring to a boil. I was constantly stirring at this point to make sure the sauce was well blended and thickens up a bit.

Add the chicken to this mixture and let it all get warm together for a few minutes.

Serve over cooked rice.

Fall is arriving!

Well almost! It got really cold here in Michigan, and now the temps are back in the 80's with humidity...ick! I am ready for sweater weather. Call me crazy, but I love our 4 seasons we get in Michigan and I have just come to realize, the more you hate on one specific season (winter), the more awful it is. So I just embrace it...along with my North Face coats and Uggs!

My previous post was about my journey to Eastern Market this weekend. I thought I would share with you what I bought and the touches of fall I have begun to add around our house.

Our front yard has this light post in it, which I always decorate with corn stalks, usually a bale of hay and some pumpkins. I decided to switch it up this year with the mums since I got such a great deal over Labor Day weekend for these at Eastern Market...all 5 for $10! Woo hoo! If I kill them, I won't feel so bad! I bought the corn stalks this past weekend, 2 for $5. Gotta love<>

Next up, the interior. I got two large bunches of sunflowers for $10 total as well. Fresh flowers make me happy, but I don't like to spend a lot on them...which is why going to the Market is so worth it to me!

A small bunch in our living room:

Another small bunch in our newly painted and drywalled ceiling bathroom:

And another big bunch on our kitchen table, with some new placemats from Kohl's! I was inspired to stop by there at lunch yesterday after seeing My Happy House's cute fall table runner. I got these placemats for 50% off! Yay! Thanks for the tip Molly!

Last but not least, my favorite thing so far, my fancy pumpkins I spent at least 20 minutes trying to decide which ones to get at Eastern Market. I wanted ones that stacked just right, but weren't too big for our buffet in the kitchen. I got all 3 of these for $15 and it was so worth it! There were so many different kinds, white ones, green ones, orange with green. I highly suggest you check out your local farmers market for some of these pumpkins. They are great fall decor!

My Love of Eastern Market

This past weekend, I spent Saturday morning at one of my most favorite places in Detroit, Eastern Market. Steve was at a golf tournament, so I got to walk around and enjoy it all by myself.

The Market will forever hold a very special place in my heart, because the morning of the wedding, before heading to St. Mary's for the ceremony, my bridesmaids and I walked around the stalls taking pictures with some of the locals. Those moments were some of my favorites from 05.09.09. There was just this immediate out-pouring of love and joy for me and us. Random cheering, picture taking and just Detroit Love. I specifically recall a woman walking by us and saying "You are the most beautiful thing I have seen in the Market all day." How could you not get warm fuzzies from those random words of kindness?

I now walk through the stalls and remember those moments and I find myself smiling at everyone while being there and just loving being a Detroiter...which I say with pride. This city has had its face shoved in the mud so much lately (some of it much deserved, cough, Kwame), but I have nothing but love for Detroit, which I hope to share with all of you. If you haven't been, I highly suggest you go. It is truly one of the best things the city has to offer.

Here are some pictures from that morning which I just had to share.

Enough of the trip down memory lane...I had a list of things I was looking for and was able to get most of them, with the exception of bananas.

I also broke down and finally bought a little portable, collapsable shopping cart at J.R. Hirt. For as much as we go down there, we waited long enough to get one. It really made walking from one end of the market to the other much easier without having to walk back to the car.

I was so excited to get some fresh, fall decor for the house, of course, for cheap since I was at Eastern Market. Bunches of sunflowers, funky pumpkins and corn stalks for the front yard. Misson accomplished! Fall is on its way!

A bit of a new look, name and "direction"

You may or may not have noticed that I have changed the name of our blog, from the un-original "Horgan's Cooking Blog" to the bit more original "20 Paws 4 Feet, Our Journey as Mr. and Mrs.". I did this because as much as I loved the idea of having a blog for just our house stuff, I know I can't maintain it...so this blog will now be recipes, home and more! We hope you enjoy it :).