Showing posts with label Frugal Meals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Frugal Meals. Show all posts

Monday, February 22, 2010

Serendipity: Banana Bread Pudding

After being sick all week (and not visiting the grocery store), my family was invited to an impromptu birthday party for a friend. After a moment of panic, wondering what I could possibly make, I discover a brilliant recipe for Banana Bread Pudding over at Kitchen Scoop. Beverly Mills and Alicia Ross, authors of Desperation Dinners, are experts at creating easy-to-make recipes that taste amazing. And as luck would have it, I'd purchased some bananas and a bag of Hawaiian Sweet Bread before getting ill that for some reason had been overlooked by all the starving children while I was too sick to cook. The Banana Bread Pudding went together quickly. It tasted great too. I can only imagine how good it would have tasted with the caramel sauce. It'll have to wait until next time because I was in a hurry and walked out without the sauce. ::sigh:: In my haste I walked out without the camera too so I don't have a picture of the Banana Bread Pudding either. Here's a picture of Hank, the German Wire-Haired Pointer instead.

Banana Bread Pudding
Recipe courtesy of  Kitchen Scoop

6 cups soft bread cubes, from French bread or white sandwich bread, loosely packed
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
2 cups heavy or whipping cream
1 cup milk*
5 egg yolks*
2/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups mashed ripe banana
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Rich Caramel Sauce, optional for serving*
Vanilla ice cream, optional for serving

Lightly grease a 13 X 9-inch glass baking dish with butter. Set aside.

Cut bread into bite-size cubes, (do not use the crust if it is tough), and place in prepared dish. Set aside.

Place butter in a microwave-safe measuring cup or bowl, and microwave, covered with a paper towel, on high, until melted, about 45 seconds. Drizzle butter over bread cubes, tossing cubes while drizzling butter. Stir and toss cubes to distribute butter as evenly as possible. Set aside.

Pour cream and milk into a small saucepan, and bring it just to a boil over medium heat. Meanwhile, place egg yolks in a small mixing bowl, and beat lightly with whisk. When cream mixture boils, remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Whisk in egg yolks, sugar, and vanilla. Whisk well. Pour mixture over bread cubes. Cover dish with foil, and refrigerate at least 1 hour (and up to 4 hours) so bread can begin to absorb milk mixture.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Remove bread pudding from the refrigerator, and uncover. Combine bananas and lemon juice in a small bowl. Stir banana mixture into bread pudding, and then smooth top with the back of a spoon. Re-cover dish and cut 6 small holes in foil so steam can escape. Bake, covered with foil, until set, about 50 minutes to 1 hour.

Remove bread pudding from oven and cool 15 to 20 minutes. Serve warm in dessert bowls, with sauce of choice and ice cream, if desired.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

What We're Eating for Dinner:January 3 - 9


It's Menu Plan Monday at I'm an Organizing Junkie again. Be sure to stop by and check out all the other delicious menu plans at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Here's what we will be eating this week:

Monday - Ecuadoran Locro Potato Soup, BLT sandwiches

Tuesday - Grilled Pork Sliders with Honey BBQ Sauce, cole slaw, baked sweet potato fries

Wednesday - Wrestling Meet! Tortilla soup, quesadillas, salad

Thursday - Basketball Game! Pizza Night

Friday - Chinese Beef with broccoli, steamed rice, Garlic Scallion Noodles, egg rolls

Saturday - Dinner with Friends!

Sunday - Dinner on the Road

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Pinwheel Pizza


I wish I'd heard about The Hunger Challenge last month while it was going on last month. These days any challenge that helps me save money is exactly what I need! The goal was to live on $3 per day for a week just as the average family who lives on food stamps have to do. Browsing through recipes from some of the bloggers who participated in the first Hunger Challenge really spurred me on to get creative and save some money on my food bill.

When I saw this recipe I knew it would be perfect for us. Mainly because we all love pizza around here but also because Pillsbury recently sent me a coupon to try their new thin crust refrigerated pizza crust. Using the pre-made rectangular pizza crust made this recipe a breeze. I just unrolled the dough, topped it with pasta sauce and shredded cheese. Added some baby spinach and some leftover Kalamata olives and rolled it up. Prep time was probably less than 5 minutes. Definitely a good recipe to keep around for those hectic nights coming up since ... ds made his 7th grade basketball team! Woohoo! Go ds!





I can see that we'll be using these Pillsbury Pizza Crusts more often around here. I prefer my own crust but you can't beat the convenience of having a ready-made crust in the fridge. You can have a fresh, homemade pizza on the table in less than 30 minutes from start to finish. Definitely a lifesaver on those busy weeknights. If anyone would like to try Pillsbury's new Thin Crust Pizza Crust, either email me at imrunningtoeat (at) gmail.com or leave a comment below with your email address and I'll email you a coupon so you can try it for yourself!

Pinwheel Pizza

Recipe from The Hunger Challenge
Makes 8 pieces, serves a family of 4

1 pound whole wheat pizza dough
½ to ¾ cup favorite jarred tomato sauce
¾ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
½ cup fresh organic baby spinach leaves
2 tablespoons chopped black olives

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease an 8-inch-round metal baking pan.

Roll dough out into a rectangle shape, about 10 x 12 inches. Spread sauce on top. Sprinkle with half the cheese. Top with spinach leaves (kids can help arrange) and sprinkle with olives.

Starting with shorter end, roll dough into a tube, with all sauce and toppings inside. You may have to lengthen and even out the dough roll. Carefully transfer roll to a cutting board. Using a sharp knife, make hard quick crosswise cuts to slice through dough, preventing dough from mashing and sauce spilling out. Cut log in half, then each half in half, then each quarter in half again, so you have 8 equal pieces.

Reshape dough wheels and arrange in baking pan, leaving about ½ to 1 inch between each wheel, so they can expand and rise and push into each other when they bake. Sprinkle wheels with remaining cheese. Bake for 22 to 25 minutes, until golden brown and dough is cooked. Carefully remove each wheel from the pan with a spatula or pie server.