pioneer woman: bananas foster

i don't love bananas, but i don't hate them either. if i eat one fresh i like it to be more green than yellow. i am not a fan of ripe mushy bananas. i do love me some good banana bread, but you already knew that. 9.9 times out of 10 i lean towards chocolaty deserts than fruity ones. but for some odd reason i have recently taken up a love affair with bananas foster. butter, cream, brown sugar...really, what's not to fall for? i have only eaten bananas foster a couple times, and each time i have thought, "wow that was really good!" 

so last night i decided to test out the pioneer woman's recipe, as she has yet to disappoint. we put coen to bed and i declared a stay-date. what is a stay-date? we get off our computers, our phones, and any other distractions to just spend time together. we used to do this more often, and really should get back to making it a priority.  i guess if bananas foster is up for grabs, we just may. it was a total success. this recipe goes really quick! no joke. so prep all the ingredients before you start. 

oh, and your welcome. 

the pioneer woman's bananas foster {oh my!} 

okay, i might have to make this again tonight. 

or right now. 

pioneer woman: perfect pot roast

my pioneer woman recipe for the week was pot roast. i know, i know, pot roast is a pot roast is a pot roast. i thought the same thing. until now. i have been making pot roast for years in the crock pot. just throw it in, cook the heck out of it and serve it up. 

well when i was meal planning last week i was dreaming of fall, and i thought i would see what the pioneer woman had to say about pot roast. i dug up an old post from a few years ago and thought it sounded good. although to be honest i really thought that it was way more complicated than my crock pot variety. i decided against it, then changed my mind a couple times and finally i put it on the menu. what the heck. 

IF you are one of those people that is saying, "oh that's nice but pot roast isn't really my thing." please do me this one favor and try this recipe. if in fact you still don't like it, then you can proudly announce that pot roast really just isn't your thing. but i am telling you people, this is really the most perfect pot roast. hands down. 

now, IF you don't have 4 hours to sit home with a pot roast...call in sick. just once, so you can enjoy this. or you could always make it on a weekend, that may be a better option. 

side note: i had planned this meal out a week in advance and it just so happened that she made the perfect pot roast on her cooking show the same day i made it. i think i am starting to channel ree drummond. 

the pioneer woman's perfect pot roast

so i totally agree with ree on not putting potatoes into your roast. they get over cooked and are just not very substantial to the meal. i am sure that her mashed potatoes are delightful. but i really really love these easy garlic red mashed potatoes. they are so easy you can make them on a weeknight. in fact i might start calling them weeknight mashers. i like that. 

alright, get cooking. 

pioneer women: pasta with pesto cream sauce

i successfully cooked up my second pioneer woman recipe...and it was gooooood. also it was insanely easy. mostly because when i make pesto, i make a double batch and freeze half. so i got to skip the whole pesto making step. if you aren't the pesto making type (although, it really is WAY better fresh) i won't judge you. you should buy some pesto from the store and make this anyhow. it is delightful. 

the pioneer woman's pasta with pesto cream sauce

i did a couple things different, but the sauce is really were it is at. so don't change that. 

i used whole wheat penne, to balance out the 1/2 cup of heavy cream. those balance out, right? 

i topped it with grilled chicken. my husband insists that if it doesn't have meat it is just a snack. 

i sprinkled it with shaved parmesan. cause that is all i had, and love parmesan. 

like i said, the pesto cream sauce it really the ticket. it would be good on anything. 


anything.