Emergency Banana Cake

Our lovely church playgroup has been the joyful participant in the FareShare scheme and a local Tesco Express branch donates pastries and breads most weeks which Papa goes to collect and we share with playgroup and church members, with any left over being taken to a local homeless shelter - so there really is no waste!

However, the Tesco we receive donations from has apparently had a broken freezer for a few weeks, and the repair is not likely to be swift.  So when I received the text to inform me that there was no donation this week, I decided to use some black bananas to whizz up a cake for playgroup instead.

I used to bake every Thursday once upon a time, when our playgroup was a small circle of parents and carers, but since beginning online advertising, we've had far higher numbers and I just can't cope with the volume each week!

But just this once, I wanted to.  Besides, those bananas were going to go to waste otherwise!

So I looked for a quick and easy recipe online using the right amount of banana, and then of course I slightly tweaked what I found because it was too high in sugar for my preferences.

Here is what I did, I'm afraid I mix and matched the measurements because the original recipe was a "cups" recipe, and while I like that for liquids and powders, I don't like it for things like butter.  Just try it, you won't be sorry.   At least 7 people asked me for the recipe...

Emergency Banana Cake

4 oz butter 

3/4 cup sugar. I used a mix of dark brown soft and golden caster sugars

2 eggs

4-5 mashed bananas

2 cups of plain flour

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1 Preheat the oven to 180˚, and line a 2lb loaf tin with greaseproof paper.  I also used 3 silicone muffin cups as all the mixture didn't fit in the loaf tin.

2 Cream the butter and sugars together until smooth.  Beat in the eggs, then the bananas.  Add the flour and bicarb, and just stir gently until just combined.  Do not over mix.

If you are doing the creaming and egg mixing in a machine, stop and use a spatula to fold the flour and bicarb in by hand.

3 Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 30 mins.  Remove the smaller cups and turn the loaf around.  Cook for another 15 mins and you should find that a toothpick comes out clean by then.  Turn out and cool.  Slice and share and eat.  Sit back and accept the adulation for very little effort.

HINTS AND TIPS:  The recipe suggests using a 9" x 5" pan. I didn't have anything in even a vaguely similar size so I improvised. It suggested using one whole cup of sugar.  I reduced this to three quarters, and would actually happily reduce the sugar further than I did already.  It also suggested cooking for 1 hour, but I felt my cake was done perfectly, but I do have a new fan oven.

another courgette disguising trick - cheesy green sludge

Friday afternoon and I couldn't think what to make.  The veg drawer contained mainly carrots, courgettes and mushrooms.  Deciding not to take too many risks, I avoided the mushrooms and decided to see if I could do something new with the courgettes.

First I wanted something different with the carbs also, and we've had a lot of pasta and rice, and we don't often have a lot of bread in the house, so I got out the bag of red potatoes and using my Bamix SliceSy I made thin slices of potato.  I steamed them in the microwave for 5 mins and then tipped them into a baking dish.  I got not-so Littl'Un to spread them out, season with salt and pepper, cover with milk and cream and dot with butter.  We then put them in a preheated oven and let them cook while we got on with the courgette transformation.

Now I chopped up half a pack of streaky bacon and got that frying in a pan.  I finely chopped a couple of shallots (because I had them from earlier than the onions - one onion would have been fine also!) and added those to the bacon once it had started browning.

Swapping cutters, I got Big'Un to grate the courgettes in the SliceSy and once the bacon and shallots were cooked the way I like (brown and almost crispy bacon, soft and translucent shallot) we tipped in the grated courgettes, seasoned it all with black pepper, and stirred well.  I lowered the flame and allowed it to simmer with the lid on until it eventually turned to almost mush.  At this point, I added the thicker cream which was still stuck to the pot after adding the liquid double cream to the potatoes, and a good dollop of butter.  Finally, just before serving, I chucked in a good handful of grated cheese and waited for it to melt completely, after stirring it through.

The whole meal was a masterpiece!! Everyone wanted more, and even Tiny didn't patronise me when I called it "cheesy bacon vegetables" - he didn't seem to clock that it was courgettes this time!!!

Baked Cheesy Gnocchi with spinach and tomato sauce.

Baked One Pan Gnocchi

On a chilly Friday, I wanted something stodgy and comforting to feed us, and the special offer, impulse-buy pack of gnocchi seemed the right thing.  I had stopped buying them for a while as the kids just didn't seem to enjoy them, but I don't like to give up, and I like a bit of a change sometimes from the pasta/rice/potatoes trinity of carb options. We do occasionally have a bread supper, but that's also rare.

So I began by frying the gnocchi slowly in some olive oil to get them slightly crunchy on the outside, which makes them a nicer texture after baking, I feel.  To make this a true one pot, I used a pan which can go in the oven also, but if you don't have one, you can always pour the contents into a baking dish before the final step.

Once they were starting to be golden all over (and this DOES take time) I added some frozen chopped garlic and allowed it to soften and lose its harsh bite.  I then added a box of Heinz Fritto which is basically a flavoured passata, and also swished out the box with some hot water and added that too.  I then put in a handful of balls of frozen chopped spinach and stirred them in and then brought the whole pan to a gentle bubble.  

Finally, I covered the top with a layer of grated mozzarella and put the pan in a preheated medium oven for about 20 minutes.

I was rewarded with a deliciously crunchy top cheesy layer, with good oozy strings of cheese when served, and a very filling and nutritious meal all round.  The kids did enjoy it, although it wasn't one they immediately said they'd request again, but clean plates and small victories, definitely!

Every week easy chicken

So it's all change round here once again. This Mama is now in full time paid work! But I'm incredibly lucky to have a fabulous job where I work from home with split hours so that I work around my kids and am still here for them as needed. Holidays are tricky, but they are great kids and we juggle life, and manage.
So meals are simpler so that I can help the kids with their various after school needs - reading eggs, coding practice, home-learning, colouring, and more.  I do judiciously use prepared ingredients a few times a week, the meals are still very reasonably priced and unprocessed; as good as from scratch, and healthy and nutritious.  I don't feel guilty for helping myself with occasional shortcuts, and spending that saved time with my kids.

I have made this particular meal pretty much every week since I first tried it out, and it's a huge hit. It's so easy and tasty and low maintenance, try it out and I'm sure you'll add it to your regular list too.

My plateful

You will need:

1kg pack of chicken thighs, or a mix of drums and thighs, or leg portions would also be fine.

2 packs of ready prepped cubed sweet potatoes and butternut squash. Other prepped roasting veg would work too, or if you have more time to hand then feel free to peel and chop your own choice of veg. 

500g baby potatoes 

Some green veg as desired. 

Spray olive oil

Salt and pepper

Preheat your oven to 200 deg C.

Line a roasting tray with either a nonstick baking mat/silicone mat, or oil sprayed foil and spread the roasting veg over it.  Season the chicken with the salt and pepper and place it skin side down onto the veg. 

Spray it all with the oil and pop it into the oven for 25 mins. 

Now I use my halogen for the potatoes - I prep them the same way: spread on a foil lined tray, spray with olive oil and sprinkled with salt, then baked for about 20-25 mins in the halogen at 175 deg, but you could do them on a separate shelf in with the chicken for slightly longer. I don't try this as my oven is very old and variable and I don't think the potatoes would cook properly. 

After the first 25 mins, turn the chicken pieces over and shuffle the roasting veg if needed, and cook for another 20 mins or so until crispy and cooked through. 

Serve with the potatoes and the steamed green veg of choice. 

Tiny's portion

emergency oven no-sotto

After the laid back approach to meals we had during half term, I got a bit caught out and forgot to go shopping or make a menu plan, and then suddenly it was Monday and the girls had Rainbows and Brownies, so no time to nip to the shops and I really didn't want sandwiches!

I had a half pack of bacon in the fridge, and a few cherry tomatoes, and plenty of cheese, so my first thought was the oven risotto which I make quite often. But oh no! No risotto rice! Now, I really don't think this would be right with basmati, (even though I always have loads, I'm not sure my head would cope) but I did have a few of the packs of quick cook mixed grains packs I have blogged about before.  Tesco and Waitrose definitely both have their own versions, which can be found in the whole foods sections.  They make a nice change from rice or couscous, and are very quick to cook, so I keep a few in the cupboard at all times.

So I got out a nice oven-proof, flame-proof pan, and fried the bacon (chopped up). I added some chopped onion and a little butter.  Once the onion was soft, I emptied the pack of the dry grains in, and stirred it well.  I then added a litre of stock and the halved cherry tomatoes.  Once this was boiling, I popped it in the oven for 18 minutes.  If I'd had a slightly narrower pan, I would have used the halogen, as it is cheaper to run than putting the full oven on. 

After the 18 minutes, the grains had absorbed the liquid and become plump and juicy, and I then stirred in some grated cheese.  

It was really delicious, and comforting and quick, and made a very interesting change from the usual oven risotto, and no one noticed the emergency even happened!