Banana Chips and Spaghetti

Ok, so, no, I'm not making banana chips and spaghetti together.  In the same day, yes.  One meal, no.  That would be kind of gross.  Or, I mean, well, maybe it would be conceivably ok, but I'm not going to try it.

The idea for making my own banana chips really came from Pinterest (again!) and well, from the fact that I really just wanted to try my mandoline slicer.  I couldn't wait to try it.  So, I did.  And thought of the banana chips that I had just seen on Pinterest.

So while at Shaws, I decided to make some last minute purchases.  Namely bananas and lemon juice.  Because besides cooking spray, those are the only ingredients in the banana chips.

I excitedly put together my mandoline slicer and tried to figure out how to best slice a banana with it.  Come to find out, a banana was probably not the best choice to try it out on.  It was so soft that it didn't really cut all that well, and when I tried to use the holder, it kind of squished the banana on its side and mashed it a little.  I tried slicing the last one with my hand instead of the holder and it worked much better.

And then, after dipping each slice in lemon juice, it's just a matter of baking.  And baking.  And baking.  And baking.  For two hours at 200 degrees, to be exact.

Then, flipping each slice and baking again.  And baking.  And baking.  And baking.  For 1 1/2 to 2 hours this time.  I ended up using the whole two hours the second time, and they still weren't as crispy as I was hoping,

But hey, I think they taste better than store bought ones.  And even without sugar, they are definitely sweeter.

I also made NES dinner last night.  I actually found the recipe in one of my Bride magazines . . . which sounds odd, I know, but I think it was in an article about the local food in Italy or something.

I thought of NES when I found it, and so I surprised him with it last night.  I was also reminded of how much I like living in the middle of town.  I miss my rural-ness, too, but being able to turn in our parking application, go to the post office, buy cheese (and fancy dancy cheese at that!) for dinner, buy juice and also find super comfortable awesome teacher capris at a consignment shop all in 2 1/2 blocks on a beautiful day?  Worth it.

It was a really simple meal: I cooked spaghetti first.  Then I drained it and added olive oil, black pepper and a tiny bit of ground red pepper (because I know how much NES loves it!).

I also added grated Peccorino Romano cheese and some chopped oregano at that point, but it just kind of melted and disappeared.  Oops.  So I grated more cheese on top of the plates themselves.

It was simple, but effective!

And then, tonight, well, we still went with the simple, but not quite so healthy.  I made nachos, but with a new twist.  Instead of just tortilla chips, cheese and salsa (as we make it now since NES doesn't like refried beans), we added barbeque pulled pork on top.  First of all, it made it infinitely more filling, while also being super yummy!

Hey, at least we started the meal with some frozen yogurt!  That counts, right?

 And this is PS.  He is our neighbor cat.  And as much as I don't want a pet right now, I miss my HGM and it's great having PS hanging out on our back deck!  It's like having a cat without any of responsibility or a litter box!