I finally cooked ... and banana chocolate chip bars

Well, after returning from a camping trip - which is stressful enough, with needing to put away camping gear - and worse in this case because we borrowed a bunch of camping gear - we were hit with head lice.  And by "we", I mean the kindergartener.  So that meant the week became LESS about putting away the camping gear and MORE about de-lousing the house.

This meant 2 trips to the laundromat to do four triple loads of laundry each (couch covers, every pillow and duvet we own, clothing, hats).  Needless to say, Domino's was on the menu.

But by Thursday, I had finally the energy to cook.  And what did I make?  The house staple, of course, skillet spaghetti.

This version had a variety of bits and pieces.  Spaghetti, marinara, chickpeas (that I'd previously cooked and put in the freezer), leeks, bell pepper, parsley, and spices.  It was yummy.  Sorry for the fuzzy photo.

From there, we had visitors over the weekend (um...close family...and we put them up in a hotel, just in case), so there was WAY too much eating out.  Bad me.  But I have a few more weeks to get back on track so I can avoid last month's "wow I've gained 10 lbs in the last 4 weeks, yikes".  In fact, last week I lost 0.2 lbs, but then again, the ENTIRE family got a haircut.


I also made banana chocolate chip bars.  These are a recipe from my mother-in-law.  I've never made them, but they seem to be a staple for birthdays when I'm back east.  Knowing that spouse's family loves them, and that I have frozen bananas (in the peel) on hand all the time, it seemed like a good thing to try.  I think mine were a little thick because of the organic butter.  Still tasty!  And as you can see by the pan, well-received.

Banana Chocolate Chip Bars
3/4 c. softened butter
2/3 c. sugar
2/3 c packed brown sugar.  Whoops. I forgot this entirely. Didn't even see it there on the recipe. They were still good.
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
2 mashed bananas
2 c. flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Cream butter and sugars until fluffy.  Add egg and vanilla and beat well.  Stir in bananas.

Mix flour, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl and mix well into wet mixture.  Stir in chocolate chips. 

Spread in greased and floured 9x13 pan and bake at 350 for 25-30 min.  Cool and cut into bars.