Triple Thick Banana Cranberry Smoothie

December 16, 2013 by Leave a Comment

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Carton Smart for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

One of the forgotten ingredients around the holidays that can tend to get a bad rep is of course, the cranberry sauce. Typically at the family gatherings that I attend, someone always buys it "just in case" and then it never makes it to the table. However, this all changed last year when my oldest realized that she is in love with such cranberry sauce.

Now it is simply a requirement. 

Don't get me wrong, I like cranberry sauce. I'll even eat the kind out of the can. Although sometimes it can have a tinny taste to it depending on the brand. I got to try out some pretty cool products from Tetra Pak that are packaged in cartons, not cans! How perfect is that? No tinny taste and not only that, but they use 1/3 less packaging compared to cans.

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Tetra Pak doesn't just package cranberry sauce either. You can find a variety of products for making your upcoming holiday meals!

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The products that I got to try out seemed so much more compact in their little cartons. I love the fact that they make less waste than your regular everyday food packaging.

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Here are the beauties I got to try out. Look at that cranberry sauce. You can even enjoy a different shape than the famous can circle when you get it from a carton.

I think what I loved most about the carton was how easy it was to open

I used some of my cranberry sauce to surprise my daughter with as an afterschool snack. We found out that my youngest is also a very big fan of cranberry sauce now too. Had to break up a sibling fight over it!

How can you be Carton Smart this holiday season? Well, you could make something up like I did! I some of the cranberry sauce to whip up a quick smoothie for my hubby while he was working. You know me and my experimentations. I threw this together in about 5 minutes and it was really good! A great way to use up leftoever cranberry sauce if you ever need to. 

Triple Thick Banana Cranberry Smoothie

Ingredients

1 whole banana, frozen
1/4 c. cranberry sauce
1/4 c. water

Directions

Blend all ingredients in a blender until smooth. Viola! 

In the meantime, you should Become Carton Smart and check out the other products that you can get in a carton. It makes a difference, it really does!

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Banana Nut Bread Cookies

July 3, 2012 by 9 Comments

So I completely understand if you look at the title of this recipe and think, what in the world? How can a recipe be both bread and cookies at the same time? Well it’s simple really. You take the best flavors and tastes from a popular bread and bake it into a cookie leaving the cookie every so slightly bread-ish, but in bite-size form. It’s a tremendous feat. Creating the impossible.

You can be a kitchen super-hero just by making these cookies!

No really, your kids will love them. And hubby too. Mine won’t get out of the kitchen eating them. But I’m not going to scold him for it because I can’t get away from them either. I think I’ve already eaten about 6 myself.

I got this recipe from this eCookbook at Amazon called Keep the Cookie Jar Full, but I made some changes to it to accommodate what I had on hand. These turned out fantastic!

Just the right mixture of bananas, oats, and walnuts make these ultra soft and mimic the flavors of banana nut bread perfectly. Great idea for bringing along to a get together!

I can’t believe that tomorrow is July 4th already. I feel like I’m still waiting on Easter or something. Sheesh I’m behind! I’m just praying that all of these fireworks don’t set off fires all over town. Scary stuff with how dry it’s been.

I digress….

Try these cookies! You won’t be sorry.

Banana Nut Bread Cookies
Recipe Type: Dessert, Cookies
Author: Homemade Cookie Recipes eCookbook on Amazon
As tasty as a fresh loaf of banana nut bread, these cookies are the perfect alternative.
Ingredients
  • 1 and 1/2 c. All-Purpose Flour
  • 1/2 Tsp Baking Soda
  • 1 c. Sugar
  • 1/8 Tsp Nutmeg
  • 1/2 Tsp Cinnamon
  • 3/4 c. Butter
  • 1 Egg, Beaten
  • 1 Tsp Salt
  • 2 Very Ripe Bananas, Mashed
  • 1 and 3/4 c. Oats
  • 1/2 c. Chopped Walnuts
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
  2. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, sugar, nutmeg, salt, and cinnamon. Add in the butter and combine until most of the lumps are gone.
  3. Add the egg and bananas and combine well. Fold in the oats and walnuts and mix well.
  4. Drop dough by the teaspoonful on an ungreased cookie sheet. About 2 inches apart.
  5. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the edges start to brown.
  6. When done, immediately remove from pan and place on wire rack to cool.

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Peanut Butter Banana Cupcakes

June 1, 2012 by 10 Comments

I can almost say without a doubt that Elvis and I would have got along great. Besides the fact that he was easy on the eyes (younger years), he also had great taste. I’ve toured Graceland before and Elvis’s style was definitely unique and modern for his time. My favorite room, of course, was the Jungle Room.


Though the King of Rock and Roll is gone, his influence on taste has stuck around. Take these incredible Peanut Butter Banana Cupcakes for instance. Fit for a king and rockin’ and rollin’ with flavor, you just can’t go wrong with the creamy combination of peanut butter and banana.


These cupcakes are almost like a poundcake. I didn’t expect to have such dense cupcakes, but the more that I ate them, they grew on me. The banana taste in these comes directly from real bananas with no artificial flavoring. I think that’s what makes these so good.

Oh yeah….

And that peanut butter frosting.

This frosting by far is one of my favorite frostings that I’ve made. Not because others have made are not as good, but this is one that I could just sit and eat out of the bowl all day.

And I did. I have no shame.

This peanut butter frosting is the key to completing such a royally-inspired cupcake. And though you’d expect to spend a long time baking up a completely from scratch cupcake, it’s also very easy. And frugal at the same time.

Most ingredients in this cupcake are things you might have on-hand. You may have to grab some bananas at the store if you don’t usually keep those around. And those will put you out like what….$1?

Banana Cupcake recipe inspired by gourmetgeema at grouprecipes.com. Peanut butter frosting recipe inspired by hutchison at recipes.sparkpeople.com.

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Peanut Butter Banana Cupcakes

Peanut Butter Banana Cupcakes

Creamy banana cupcakes topped with a smooth and decadent peanut butter frosting are fit for a king! Of rock and roll that is!

Ingredients

    For the Cupcakes
  • 1/2 c. Butter
  • 1/2 c. Domino Light or Splenda
  • 1/2 c. Sugar
  • 1 egg, slightly beaten
  • 1 and 1/2 c. flour
  • 1/4 tsp Salt
  • 1 c. Bananas (very ripe), mashed
  • 1 tsp Vanilla
    • For the Peanut Butter Frosting
  • 2 c. Powdered Sugar
  • 1/4 c. Skim Milk
  • 1/4 c. Butter
  • 1/2 c. Peanut Butter
  • 1 tsp Vanilla
  • Graham Cracker Crumbs for sprinkling (optional)

Method

    For the Cupcakes
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Add all ingredients to a large bowl and mix until well combined.
  2. Fill cupcake tins 1/2 full and bake for 15-20 minutes.
  3. Let cool.
    4. For the Frosting
  4. In a large bowl, cream butter, milk, and peanut butter together. Slowly add in the powdered sugar. Add vanilla and whip until combined well. Frost cooled cupcakes.
  5. Sprinkle with graham cracker crumbs (optional).

Notes

The cupcakes don't get really brown on top like most cupcakes do. The banana in them tend to keep them light. Don't let this fool you when you are timing them in the oven. Be sure to use a toothpick to tell if they are cooked through and remove them right away. They can become extremely hard if overcooked.

http://www.pennywisecook.com/peanut-butter-banana-cupcakes/

 


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