Hamburger Soup and Biscuits

I made the yummiest supper tonight.  Hamburger soup and biscuits.  Both were simple yet tasty.  We don't seem to do a lot of homey, simple meals, but we've started trying to make more of them to save a few bucks.  One of the best parts about this meal is that it isn't spicy (90% of our meals are) so it's something that we'll be able to make when BB starts sharing more of our meals.

I didn't have a recipe for the soup, I just winged it.  When I visited T a couple weekends ago, she had made a pot of it, so I felt inspired to give it a try on my own.  As for the biscuits, I used the recipe my mom has always used, but I included some whole wheat flour to up the wholesomeness factor, and I had to guess at the instructions as they were kind of vague.  Here are the recipes if you're interested in giving them a try (I'll try to be more detailed in the biscuit instructions that the original recipe is.)

Hamburger Soup

1 lb hamburger

2 carrots, chopped

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

Fry all together in frying pan until ground beef is cooked.  Drain fat.

Add:

2 tsp oregano

28oz can of tomatoes, diced (use the salt-free kind)

4 cups beef broth (I used the liquid bouillon and water)

1/2 cup barley

Freshly ground pepper to taste (I used oodles of this.)

Bring to a boil then simmer for 1 hour.

Fluffy Biscuits

2 cups white flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 tsp salt

1-1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tbsp cream of tartar

1/2 cup butter

1-1/3 cups milk

Mix first six ingredients together in bowl.  Cut in butter with pastry blender.  Stir in milk.  Mixture will be gooey.  Flour a workspace and place the mixture on the flour.  Sprinkle a bit more flour on top of the mixture and use your hands to spread it out.  Use a round cutter to cut approximately 12 biscuits.  Bake at 400F for 15 minutes or until browned.

Banana Snack Cake

I love how a scent or a flavour can take me back in time.  Right now I'm enjoying a cup of Almond Rocker tea and a piece of banana snack cake.  I haven't had this tea since the summer...  when BB was a tiny baby boy, when I was beyond tired, when a cup of this tea would make me feel like I was a little bit more connected to the world.  It's funny, it was a difficult time but I really miss it.  Not that I'm not happy how things are now; I'm sure that in a few months I'll be missing right now too.  I think more than anything I'd love to be able to re-live it all again.  These past (almost) nine months have been such a wonderful time for me.  

Hmmm... I didn't begin this post with the intent of talking about the tea.  It was actually the banana snack cake that I was thinking about.  I've loved to bake for as long as I can remember.  When I was little I'd beg mom to let me bake something.  Every so often she would give in.  I'd mix lots of everything into a bowl, and then she'd pop it into the oven for me.  I remember all of my creations always tasted very salty.  :)  I was feeling a bit creative yesterday afternoon.  Rather than winging it the way I used to when I was a kid, I started with a recipe, but changed it significantly to make it a bit healthier.  The result is pretty darned tasty!  Normally the first time I make a recipe, I do it exactly the way the original recipe says so I can evaluate whether it's even worth trying to improve it.  But yesterday I could see so many opportunities to improve on this recipe, so I just jumped in.  I chose this recipe because it has mashed banana in it, and I had three over-ripe bananas sitting on my counter screaming at me to do something with them!  Without further ado, here is my wonderful recipe!

Banana Snack Cake

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

Mix together, set aside.

2 eggs

1/4 cup canola oil

3 mashed, ripe bananas

1/2 cup sour cream (go for the low-fat stuff)

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup chocolate chips (I used the normal sized ones, but minis would be good.)

With a mixer, mix the eggs and canola oil in another bowl.  Then add the bananas, sour cream, and vanilla, mixing well again.  Gradually add the dry ingredients to the went ingredients, mixing well after each addition.  Fold in chocolate chips.

Pour batter into a greased 9 x 13 baking pan (I used a Pyrex dish) and bake in preheated 350F oven for 28 minutes (use a toothpick to test that it is done.)  Cool on a wire rack, cut into 16 pieces and store in an airtight container.  

What are you waiting for?  Give it a try!  :)