Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Banana Cake


½ cup Crisco
1 ½ cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup mashed bananas
¼ cup sour cream
2 cups flour
¾ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla

Cream Crisco and sugar. Add eggs, vanilla, sour cream and bananas. Mix dry ingredients together, and then add to batter. Bake in greased tube pan at 350° for 35-45 minutes.


Cream Cheese Frosting

¾ cup Confection Sugar sifted
1 block of cream cheese
1 ½  Tbsp milk or cream
1 tsp vanilla

Cream cream cheese and milk. Beat in sugar. Add vanilla.

This recipe is from my grandmother, Granny.  I actually don't like banana cake but Justin and my whole family love it!  I made it yesterday for Justin and Jack.  It is very easy to make and I'm sure tastes great because Justin ate two big pieces after dinner!  I copied the recipe from my mom who got it from Granny but my family thinks it tastes different from when Granny makes it so we think she's holding out on us! :)  I prefer Coffee Cake or Zucchini bread.  I'll post those recipes in the future.

Baked Pasta with Summer Veggies

Baked Pasta with Summer Veggies
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 60 minutes
Serves: 8

Ingredients:
Cooking spray
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 zucchini, sliced 
1 yellow squash, sliced
2 Tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1 lb ziti or penne pasta
1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, plus 1/2 cup
3 tomatoes, chopped
1 Tbsp fresh oregano, chopped
1/2 lb fresh mozzarella, cubed
1/2 cup bread crumbs

1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Lightly coat a large, shallow baking dish with cooking spray. Place a large pot of salted water over medium-high heat.

2. Toss onion, garlic, ywllow squash, and zucchini in a large bowl with olive oil; season with salt and pepper to taste. Place vegetables on a baking sheet, and bake for 10 minutes.


3. While vegetables are roasting, add pasta to the water and boil about 2 minutes short of package directions (it should still be slightly firm). Drain.

4. In a large bowl, mix the ricotta and 1/4 cup parmesan.  Season with salt and pepper. Gently toss pasta with the ricotta mixture, vegetables, tomatoes, oregano, and mozzarella. Pour mixture into the baking dish.


5. Sprinkle top with the remaining parmesan and bread crumbs. Bake, uncovered, until lightly browned and bubbling, about 20 minutes. Serve immediately.

This dish was fairly easy to make and was pretty good..  Justin and I both thought that it needed more cheese and we actually added more cheese than it called for but was still unsatisfied with the result. The dish still tasted good but I just like a lot of cheese!  We also would have added chicken if we thought about it befreo.  Justin doesn't think a meal is a meal without meat!  We will probably make this meal again.