Whole Wheat Banana Bread

1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup white flour
1 t baking soda
3/4 t salt
1 1/4 cup mashed banana
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1/4 - 1/2 cup walnuts

Preheat oven to 350F. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in egg. In another bowl, sift together flours, baking soda, and salt. In a third bowl, mix together banana and yogurt. Alternate adding dry and banana to the butter mix. Stir just enough to combine well. Fold in walnuts. Bake 50-60 minutes in a bread pan. Makes 1 loaf.

Danish

This one is on the back of the Swedish Nuts and Baked Apples.

2  8-oz packages cream cheese
1 egg
3/4 c sugar
1 t vanilla
1 t lemon juice
2 packages crescent rolls

Preheat oven to 350F, or 325F if using a Pyrex pan. Mix together cream cheese, egg, sugar, vanilla, and lemon juice. In 10x13" pan, lay out one package of crescent dough. Spread the filling evenly over it. Cover with the other package of crescents. Bake 20 minutes. Optional: Drizzle with glaze of powdered sugar and lemon juice.

Baked Apples

This is written on the same card as Swedish Nuts and Danish, which is titled "from Amy to me & to you". It's like a self-contained, crustless apple pie. One of many of Grandma's recipes that could either be dessert or breakfast, depending on your mood.

1/3 c walnuts
4 T water
4 apples
1/2 c sugar
2 T flour
1 1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 c butter

Core and peel apples - do not slice. Combine sugar, flour, and cinnamon well. Melt butter. Roll apples in butter, then in sugar to coat them. Place apples in cups or baking dish. Sprinkle walnuts and 1 T water on each apple. Microwave 1 1/2 to 3 minutes, or bake 35-40 minutes at 350F.

4 servings. Per serving: 374 cal, 18.2g fat (7.9g sat. fat, 30.5mg chol.), 55.4g carbs (5.6g fiber, 44.4g sugar), 2.5g protien

Garlic Roasted Potatoes

This is a Barefoot Contessa recipe that we make for Christmas morning and that sort of thing.

3 lb small red or white potatoes
1/4 c olive oil
1 1/2 t kosher salt
1 t black pepper
2 T (6 cloves) minced garlic
2 T minced fresh parsley

Preheat oven to 400F. Cut potatoes in halves or quarters and toss with all ingredients except parsley. Spread in one layer on a baking sheet and bake 1 hour or until brown and crisp. Turn twice while baking to ensure even browning. Toss cooked potatoes with parsley and serve.

Mom's suggestions:

Skip the parsley,

Cut the garlic in half and you will still have plenty (crush instead of mince)

Use a healthy douse of tamari instead of the salt (and 1  1/2 teaspoons of salt sounds like a lot anyway)

Add one or two large-chopped onions

Add/substitute any other veges you feel like having: carrots are good; cauliflower cooks down very soft, but is yummy!; bell peppers if you like them; sweet potato;firm tofu chunks;  it even makes eggplant yummy. (I don't think that broccoli or asparagus work so well for this.)

Reheats beautifully!

Apple Breakfast

For Mother's Day yesterday, I raided my mom's recipe book and found some of my grandma's original recipe cards.

3 medium apples, peeled cored sliced
sprinkle of nutmeg
sprinkle of cinnamon
2 t sugar - white or brown
1 batch of pancake batter (1 cup mix, 1 egg, 3/4 cup milk, 1 t oil)

Preheat oven to 375F. Butter an 8 or 9" square Pyrex dish. Put in sliced apples, add sugar and spice. Microwave 4 minutes. Pour pancake batter over the apples. Bake 15 minutes at 375/400. Serve hot with syrup and butter. Serves 4.

A note on the back says, "I buy generic pancake mix. Raises nicely." My mom said she uses whole wheat pancake mix, but it does not raise quite so well.