Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

I had some old bananas and I didn't quite feel like making banana bread again and so I opted for banana cookies. This is what I found. They turned out pretty good.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup flour
1 cup wheat flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 cup white sugar
2/3 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup mashed bananas, ripened
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets. Sift the flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda together, and set aside.
2. Cream the butter with the sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. Mix in the mashed bananas. Add the flour mixture, and stir until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips. Drop by spoonfuls onto prepared cookie sheets.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes.Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Banana-Chocolate-Chip-Cookies/Detail.aspx

Ground Beef Nachos

We made taco salad again and we had some leftover meat and beans so I decided to make some yummy nachos instead. The ingredients included: ground beef mixed with jalapeno refried beans, cilantro, red onions, green onions, tomatoes, jalapenos, colby jack mix, and jalapeno cheddar. Yummmy. Enjoy!

Mac 'N' Cheese

I was craving mac 'n' cheese during our entire cruise and so voila I made it the day after we got back. Warning: I like mine with a little bit of a kick.

Ingredients:

Servings: 6
5 cups uncooked pasta (our preference is to use rotini pasta)
2 tbsp butter
3 cups milk
3 tbsp cornstarch
3 tbsp hot water
3 cups cheese (2 cups jalapeno cheddar, 1 cup cheddar)
1 small can of diced jalapenos (optional)
2 tsps each of garlic powder, chili powder, and onion powder

1 tbsp red pepper flakes
garlic salt and pepper to taste

topping:

2 cups bread crumbs
1 tsp melted butter
1 tsp garlic salt

1 tbsp red pepper flakes

Directions:

1. Cook pasta , drain and set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
3. In a dutch oven, heat the milk and butter together until almost bubbling.
4. In a separate bowl, mix the cornstarch and water together until not lumpy, then pour into milk mixture. Stir constantly with a whisk until thickened.
5. Add cheese and jalapeno and stir to melt. Add all spices. Combine together well.
6. Stir pasta into cheese sauce mixture until fully coated.
7. In a separate bowl, mix the bread crumbs, butter, and spices together. Sprinkle on top of cheese covered pasta.
8. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes until warm and bubbly. Enjoy!

Happy 92nd Birthday Babbi

Babbi's 92nd Birthday was today. Her one request was that I make her a checkerboard cake and so there it is. I had a tough time with it, but as you can see it still looks like a checkerboard when you cut it. Babbi was very happy with it and she enjoyed her birthday with the family.

Our Alaskan Cruise

Hello everyone,

We are back from our cruise. We had a great time, it was very relaxing and Alaska was quite gorgeous. We are happy to be home and in our own bed again but we will miss the beautiful views and although I did miss cooking, it was great to be served and cleaned after everyday. Instead of telling you what we did, I have included some pictures to show you what we did instead :)

Seattle



The view from our hotel (notice our cruise ship at the dock)


Our ship and the beautiful sunset seen from our balcony


Ketchikan, Stop #1

Totem Poles


Creek Street, Ketchikan
(this is a big salmon filled creek during the correct season)


Juneau, Stop #2 (absolutely gorgeous)


Our hike to Mt. Roberts Peak, 6 miles (3 miles up, 3 miles down)


Cruising The Inside Passage


bald eagles and seals just hanging out on some icebergs

The Tracy Arm Fjords


Sawyer Glacier


Skagway, Stop #3 (so beautiful)


We took a rain forest bike ride through the ghost town Dyea


Prince Rupert, Canada - Stop #4
We went kayaking across the bay and went ashore a small island to eat some hot dogs, fresh crab, and to roast some marshmallows. It was a perfect excursion.


Our beached kayak's

Alaska

Alright, so Nick and I are finally going on our 7 day cruise to Alaska. We have been waiting patiently for over 4 months for this trip to come and it is finally here. Tomorrow we are headed to Seattle, where we get to spend an evening with our old pal Cindy. Then on Saturday we will depart from Seattle on our 7 day cruise. We are so excited and even more so because this week we upgraded to a room with a balcony rather than a inside stateroom, so now we will have a constant view of wherever we go and possibly get to see some glaciers in the privacy of our own room. Awesome.

Here is our itinerary in case you are interested:

Sat- Seattle - 4:00 PM

Sun- Cruise Inside Passage - -

Mon- Ketchikan 7:00 AM 3:00 PM

Tue- Juneau 7:00 AM 1:30 PM and At Sea

Wed- Skagway 7:00 AM 5:00 PM (We have Biking planned)

Thu- Prince Rupert 4:00 PM 10:00 PM (We have Kayaking planed)

Fri- At Sea - -

Sat- Seattle 8:00 AM -

If you are interested in our whereabouts, you can go to this page and see what our scenery is at any moment by the live webcam on our boat, the Norwegian Star: Go to this link http://www2.ncl.com/ship/star/overview and then click on "view the live webcam" on the right hand side in the blue Explore box. Voila! there is a current picture of our boat :)

Alright see you when we get back.