Strawberry Banana Muffins

I had some very ripe bananas that needed to be used and was going to just make plain, old boring banana muffins when I found this recipe on Tasty Kitchen. It's perfect because I had just bought fresh strawberries!

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup oil

2 eggs

2/3 cup mashed ripe bananas

1 tsp vanilla

1 2/3 cup flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup finely chopped strawberries

Preheat an oven to 375 degrees. Line a muffin pan with paper baking cups. In a medium bowl, combine sugar, oil and eggs; blend well. Stir in bananas and vanilla.

Add flour, baking soda and salt to the sugar mixture, stir just until combined. Gently fold in strawberries.

Spoon batter evenly into muffin tins. Bake for 17-21 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.



Recipe made by: A Bountiful Kitchen

BBQ Chicken Quesadillas

My original plan was to make BBQ Chicken Braid, similar to a stromboli; but I bought the wrong type of bread. So I improvised and used some leftover tortillas and made quesadillas. They were great and a quick and easy lunch or dinner.

8 whole wheat tortillas

2 cups shredded cooked chicken

1/4 red onion, thinly sliced

1 cup barbecue sauce

1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

On each tortilla, spread 2 tablespoons of barbecue sauce. On the one half, add chicken, red onion and cheddar cheese. Fold over in half and place on a baking sheet. Continue until all 8 quesadillas are made.

Bake at 350 for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted and tortillas are crispy. Let cool for 5 minutes and cut into 4 pieces.

Lemon Burst Bread

I made this bread for a bake sale that benefits my friend's organization, Erin's Dream. Erin and Jeff lost two of their children to infant leukemia and are raising money to restore a farmhouse to make a resource home for other families who have lost a child - so it's definitely a worthy cause! Make sure to check out the Erin's Dream site, ducks on are sale for the 1st Annual Ducky Dash!

1 1/2 cup flour

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking powder

1 egg, beaten

1 cup lemon yogurt (I couldn't find lemon yogurt, so I used vanilla and added a tsp of dried lemon zest)

1/3 cup canola oil

2 Tbsp lemon juice

Icing:

1 cup confectioner's sugar

2 Tbsp lemon juice

Preheat oven to 325 degrees and lightly grease an 8x4 inch loaf pan or a 12 muffin tin. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and baking powder. Make a well in the dry ingredients, and add egg, yogurt, oil and lemon juice. Slowly combine all ingredients together until just moist.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 45-50 minutes for bread and 15-18 minutes for muffins or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow bread or muffins to cool completely before glazing.

For the lemon glaze, in a small bowl combine sifted confectioner's sugar with the lemon juice. Add more lemon juice or sugar if needed until ideal glaze consistency is reached. Pour the frosting over the top of the cake, allowing it to drip down the sides. For muffins, dip the top of each muffin into the glaze. Allow excess glaze to drip off the muffin before turning it over. Place on a rack to allow icing to set up.

Recipe adapted from Tasty Kitchen

Congo Bars

Ok, before you look at the list of ingredients, trust me – these are so good! Now that you saw this recipe calls for one pound of brown sugar – yes, you read that right, take a deep breath and forget about your diet for a couple days. I was in the mood to bake the other day and went through my starred list on Google reader and knew I had all the ingredients in my pantry to make this; it was a no-brainer.

2 ¾ cup all purpose flour
2 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
2/3 cup butter, softened
1 lb. light brown sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
11.5 oz milk chocolate chips (I did ½ bag of milk chocolate & ½ bag of white chocolate – but any type of chips/candies would be delicious!)
1 cup chopped pecans (optional – or any other type of nut)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 13x9 pan with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.
In a large bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and salt; set aside. Stir brown sugar into softened butter in another large bowl until the butter disappears. I used a wooden spoon and it worked great! Add eggs one at time into the butter mixture and stir by hand until eggs and butter are combined well.

Add vanilla, chocolate chips/nuts and mix well. Add dry flour mixture and continue mixing by hand until all ingredients are combined. The batter will be very thick.

Spread batter evenly in coated pan and bake for 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

Recipe from Bakerella

Bean and Cheese Enchiladas

I've been meal planning for months and over the last month or so, I've decided to start adding one vegetarian meal per week to our menu. I have been successful but have been turning to the same recipes, so I needed to expand my options and found this recipe. It was really good and I modified it slightly from the original recipe. The next time I make it, I plan to replace the kidney beans with black beans.

1 can (15 oz) red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 can (4 oz) diced green chile peppers, drained

1/2 cup frozen whole kernel corn, thawed

1 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground cumin

2 cups shredded monterey-jack cheese

1 can (19.5 oz) can mild enchilada sauce

8 fajita-sized whole wheat tortillas

Heat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, mix beans, chile peppers, chili powder, salt and cumin. Microwave for 1 minute and slightly mash beans. Add corn and cheese and combine. Add 1 cup of the enchilada sauce to the bean mixture.

Spread 1/4 cup of the enchilada sauce in a 13x9 baking dish. Brush one side of the tortilla with the enchilada sauce. Spoon 1/4 cup of the bean mixture into the center of the sauced side; roll up tortilla. Place rolled enchilada in a baking dish. Repeat with remaining tortillas and bean mixture.

Pour remaining sauce over top to cover. Top with remaining cheese.

Bake for 15 minutes until warmed through and cheese is melted.

Creamy Quinoa & Chicken Casserole

I had a half of a bag of quinoa leftover from another recipe and have been searching and searching for a new recipe to use it. I was browsing Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen site and found this recipe. It was really good, a little time consuming; but totally worth it in the end! It was so good and if mushrooms and asparagus aren't your thing - it would be easy to switch to other veggies.

2 cups milk

1 cup uncooked quinoa

1 can (10.75 oz) fat-free cream of chicken soup

1 can (10.75 oz) fat-free cream of mushroom soup

2 tsp chicken seasoning

1/2 tsp thyme

1/2 tsp dill

8 oz white button mushrooms, sliced

4 pieces boneless, skinless chicken breast, sliced

bunch of asparagus

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large casserole dish, combine milk, quinoa, soups, seasonings and mushrooms. Add strips of chicken breast on top of soup mixture, season with salt and pepper.

Cover the dish and bake for 90 minutes, stirring every 30 minutes.

With 30 minutes left, prepare asparagus for roasting. Cut off ends of spears and coat with olive oil. Place on a baking sheet and roast for 25-30 minutes. Slice roasted asparagus into bite-sized pieces and stir into the casserole.

Pecan Sandies

I won a quart of fresh Georgia pecans in an auction on my mom's board and have been looking around for recipes using pecans. I love Keebler's Pecan Sandies and these were even better - a little more crispy and packed full of pecans!

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup flour

1 cup pecans, coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees with racks in upper and lower thirds. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla and salt.

With mixer on low, gradually add in flour, beating just until combined. Fold in pecans.

Roll dough into 1 1/2 inch balls and place on two baking sheets, 2 inches apart. With a dampened bottom of a glass, lightly flatten each ball.

Bake until cookies are golden brown, 15 to 17 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Transfer to wire racks and let cool. Store in an airtight container.

Recipe from Everyday Food

Weeknight Beef Skillet

This recipe was quick and easy to make and my family loved it! My daughter gobbled it up and didn’t even flinch about the carrots – even though she refuses to eat carrots right now. It’s fairly healthy, less than 400 calories a serving. I used very lean ground beef, but you could substitute it with ground turkey or chicken.

3 cups uncooked yolk-free whole wheat noodles
1 lb lean ground beef
1 medium green pepper, finely chopped
1 pkg (16 oz) frozen mixed vegetables, thawed and drained
1 can (15 oz) no salt tomato sauce
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 ½ tsp Italian seasoning
2 tsp sugar
1/ 4 tsp salt

Cook noodles according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large nonstick skillet, cook beef and pepper is no longer pink; drain.

Stir in mixed vegetables, tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, seasoning, salt & sugar; heat thoroughly. Drain noodles and serve with meat mixture.

Recipe from Taste of Home – Healthy Cooking

Nutritional facts: 1 ¼ cup beef mixture over ¾ cup cooked noodles. 389 calories, 9 g fat (3g sat fat), 56 mg cholesterol, 800 mg sodium (my version is less since the original recipe called for full salt tomato sauce), 49g carb, 10g fiber, 31g protein

Green Meatballs

Well, they weren't supposed to be green at least according to the photos on the original recipe. My husband and daughter didn't complain though! They're good for you and a great way to sneak veggies into meatballs if you have a picky eater. This recipe can easily be cut in half.

3 lbs ground chicken

2 zucchini

2 yellow squash

Peppers (I used 1 small red and 1 medium green)

1 bag fresh baby spinach

15 baby carrots

1 egg

1 cup panko breadcrumbs

salt & pepper to taste

2 Tbsp chopped garlic

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a food processor, chop all veggies and put into a large bowl. Add the ground chicken, breadcrumbs, eggs, salt, pepper and garlic and mix until all ingredients are combined.

Form meatballs into golf shape sizes and place them on a greased baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes, flip and then bake for another 20 minutes.

If desired, simmer in any tomato sauce for about 20 minutes and enjoy.

Recipe from mambosprouts.com