This has to be one of the most stressful weeks we’ve ever had since we’ve been married…short of the two small strokes Mr. FixIt had in the spring of 2020. Everyone worked so hard and we are so grateful and so proud of them. I honestly did so much stuff yesterday, I can hardly remember it all…it became a blur after a while.

I got up early and took the shingle hoist back to the rental place and stopped for some bread on the way home. When I returned, Mr. FixIt Jr. was there all alone on the roof trying to get the flashing on and it wasn’t cooperating. It set him back at least two hours. Finally he got it into place and he started laying the shingles.

Mr. FixIt Sr. set up a work station below and cut the end shingles to size. The young Mr. FixIt really needed someone to lay out shingles for him so…I got on the roof. I know. I promised I wouldn’t. But my gosh…he was working so hard and we had no idea when the reinforcements would arrive. I was very careful and he helped me off the ladder onto the roof. I got up to the peak and stood there for a few minutes and said, “Nope…not happening. You have to come back over here and help me on the ladder. My talents are best used elsewhere.” I was careful, and God was with me, and I will NEVER….EVER….do that again. I absolutely promise you!!! My days of being a daredevil are gone, gone, gone. I was a little sad about that part, actually. But I’m still adventurous!

I toted the cut shingles from the work station over to the edge of the roof and threw them up to the World’s Greatest Stepson! When he finally worked away from the edge and could reach the other shingles to put down by himself, I went inside to start doing what I do best…COOKING! I took the leftover beans the former Mrs. FixIt sent over to us on Wednesday and turned them into a big pot of delicious chili. As it simmered, I decided to make some banana bread with some overripe bananas we had. I rarely ever make a recipe exactly like it’s written. I use them as a general guideline for things like temperature and baking times and an overview of ingredient proportions. Then I do my thing and quickly write it all down and…voila! A new recipe is born…this one with a really crazy secret ingredient!

So…without further ado (because I’m so flipping tired I can’t see straight) here is my recipe:

Banana-Carrot Nut Bread

This variation on traditional banana bread is so dense and moist. It browns so beautifully and the crispy edges of the loaves are the BEST! And…you get extra fiber from the carrots…win-win!

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 8”x4” loaf pans and set aside.

Dry Ingredients:

3 cups All Purpose Flour
1/2 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1 tsp. Baking Powder
2 cups Granulated Sugar (next time I’ll try using one cup because it was really sweet!)
1 tsp. Cinnamon
1 Cup Chopped Nuts (I used pecans, but walnuts would be really yummy, too.)
1 Cup Grated Carrots

Wet Ingredients:

3 Lrg. Eggs, beaten
1 Cup Vegetable Oil
3 Lrg. Overripe Bananas, mashed
8 oz. Sauerkraut, drained (Yes…sauerkraut! There’s an old Appalachian recipe for Kraut Cake so that made me think of adding it here. It didn’t disappoint…you would never know it was in there and it really contributed to the moist texture.)
2 tsp. Vanilla (I make my own vanilla and it is the best! Better than Mexican vanilla…if you can believe that!)

Combine the dry ingredients in a big bowl. Add the chopped nuts and carrots and toss together to mix and coat the veggies and nuts. Combine the wet ingredients in a separate bowl. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and stir just enough to combine them. Divide the batter equally between the two loaf pans and place in the preheated 350° oven. 

I baked mine for about 65 minutes. I got just a little more batter in one of the pans and it was very slightly undercooked in the middle. Not enough to ruin the loaf…it just fell a bit in the very center.

Remove from the oven and place pans on wire rack to cool for a few minutes then remove from pan. We didn’t take the time for the loaves to cool before we cut them and they might have looked a little prettier if we had. But, they didn’t fall apart, so I call that a win! 

Served warm with butter, it was a wonderful balance to the spicy heat of the chili. This recipe is definitely a keeper!

Once dinner was finished, I retreated to the kitchen again and cleaned up then went out to help wherever I could. It was almost dark when they finished the first side and I was certain they couldn’t get the second side done last night. But these kids are the hardest workers I’ve ever seen. The reinforcements arrived around 2:00 in the afternoon. We found every light source we owned to shine on the roof and the guys wore head lamps. I even found a solar motion light I brought home from the farm. Even though it’s been in the garage for over a year, it still was fully charged and worked as long as the kids did.

They finally came down off the roof at 6:38. There’s a little bit more to do, but they overlapped the shingles at the ridge of the roof and Mr. FixIt Jr. will come over on his next three day weekend to finish. All he’ll have to do is cut open the top ridge, trim back a little bit, and place the ridge vents. He’ll also need to do a little caulking here and there. And this part of the roof is done!

They finished with literally hours to spare before the rains from Hurricane Nicole hit. God had our Guardian Angels watching over us all week. Only a couple of minor scratches and a lot of sore muscles. We finally collapsed last night and we aren’t moving today!

I am so incredibly blessed to have married into this family. I love these kids like my own!

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“In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty.”

Proverbs 14:23 ESV