Banana Crumb Muffins

I can't believe I haven't posted these yet! I'm getting ready to go to my parents' house tomorrow, and our half rotting, I mean RIPE bananas were glaring at me from the fruit bowl. I've made these many times now, and they're so easy and delicious! Today I skipped the crumb topping to cut out a few calories, but it is YUM!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 bananas, mashed
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon butter

Directions:

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease 10 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers.
2. In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.
3. In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and cinnamon. Cut in 1 tablespoon butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over muffins.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

I make these in a mini-muffin tin. For this, bake for 10 mins. Also, I just ate one...def better with the crumb topping (DUH!) but they are still good!!

Curried Carrot Soup

I LOVE Indian curry of all kinds, including the classic store bought yellow curry powder that creates the generic curry taste. My mother has always made a fantastic pumpkin soup (I'll post that soon) that is seasoned with yellow curry powder. We have it every year at Thanksgiving. I'm really not sure why I opened my fridge this afternoon, saw my bag of baby carrots, and thought I needed to make a carrot soup. When I lifted them out, I saw a bag of red potatoes (I store them in the fridge to make them keep longer) and realized they needed to be cooked. So, I found a recipe for Curried Carrot Soup (Rachel Ray) and added garlic and 6 cubed white potatoes to the recipe. Here's what I did:

Curried Carrot and Potato Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil,
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
  
• 1 1/2 pounds packaged baby carrots
• 6 cups chicken broth
• 1 1/2 tablespoons curry powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
• Coarse salt

Directions:

1. Heat oil in large dutch oven. Add onions, carrots and potatoes and stir until onions are softened.
2. Add broth and bring to a boil.
3. Cover and reduce heat to med-low. Continue cookie until carrots are tender (I find that with baby carrots this takes awhile).
4. Use either a submergable blender or a regular blender to blend small batches of the soup until smooth.
5. Serve garnished with a dollop of sour cream.

The result: This soup was YUMMY! Pretty spicy, so definitely not for kids- mine had fish sticks, tater tots and strawberries. I will definitely make this again!!

My Kodak/Scentsy FOOD Party

Due to the fact that I have a food blog, I think it's pretty obvious that I enjoy cooking. I know it's not something that everyone looks forward to, but I truly do. The only thing I don't love is the cleanup. Getting to the point, I threw a small party today which was to promote Kodak Gallery and to sell Scentsy products for a friend of mine. But for me, the real fun was cooking (and EATING) the food! So, for a grand total of 7 people, including myself, I made 4 appetizers and 3 desserts. Overkill, yes, but I just couldn't resist, and I have NO regrets. Bear with me here, this is going to be a long blog...

Chicken Enchilada Dip

1 10 oz can chicken breast, drained and broken up with a fork
2 4 oz cans green chiles
2 jalepenos, seeds and pith removed, diced
1 cup mayonaise
8 oz cream cheese
8 oz cheddar, jack or mexican mix cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl.
3. Bake for 20-30 mins, until just brown on top and bubbly.

Mrs. Johns' Artichoke Dip

1 14 oz can artichokes, drained and chopped
1 cup parmesan cheese
1 cup mayo
1 cup mozzerella cheese
1/2 tsp garlic powder, or 1 minced clove of garlic

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl.
3. Bake for 20-30 mins, until just brown on top and bubbly.

Spinach and Ham Pinwheels

Spinach Parmesan Balls

2 (10 ounce) packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
2 cups Italian-style seasoned bread crumbs
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 tsp olive oil
4 small green onions, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 eggs, lightly beaten
salt and pepper, to taste

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Heat olive oil over medium heat in a small sauce pan. Saute green onions and garlic until just softened.
   
3. In a medium bowl, mix the spinach, Italian-style seasoned bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, butter, green onion, eggs, salt and pepper. Shape the mixture into 1 inch balls.
4. Arrange the balls in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Bake in the preheated oven 10 to 15 minutes, until lightly browned.

Ginger Cookies

Key Lime Bars (from Cooks'Illustrated)

Makes sixteen 2-inch bars. Published July 1, 2006.

If you cannot find fresh Key limes, use regular (Persian) limes. Do not use bottled lime juice. Grate the zest from the limes before juicing them, avoiding the bitter white pith that lies just beneath the outermost skin. The optional coconut garnish adds textural interest and tames the lime flavor for those who find it too intense. The recipe can be doubled and baked in a 13- by 9-inch baking pan; you will need a double layer of extra-wide foil for the pan (each sheet about 20 inches in length) and should increase the baking times by a minute or two.

Ingredients

Crust
5	ounces animal crackers
3	tablespoons packed brown sugar (light or dark)
	Pinch table salt
4	tablespoons unsalted butter , melted and cooled slightly
Filling
2	ounces cream cheese , room temperature
1	tablespoon grated lime zest , minced
	Pinch table salt
1	(14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1	egg yolk
1/2	cup fresh lime juice , either Key lime or regular
Garnish (optional)
3/4	cup sweetened shredded coconut , toasted until golden and crisp

Instructions

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Cut about 12-inch length extra-wide heavy-duty foil; fold cut edges back to form 7 1/2-inch width. With folded sides facing down, fit foil securely into bottom and up sides of 8-inch-square baking pan, allowing excess to overhang pan sides. Spray foil with nonstick cooking spray.

2. TO MAKE THE CRUST: In workbowl of food processor, pulse animal crackers until broken down, about ten 1-second pulses; process crumbs until evenly fine, about 10 seconds (you should have about 1 1/4 cups crumbs). Add brown sugar and salt; process to combine, ten to twelve 1-second pulses (if large sugar lumps remain, break them apart with fingers). Drizzle butter over crumbs and pulse until crumbs are evenly moistened with butter, about ten 1-second pulses. Press crumbs evenly and firmly into bottom of prepared pan. Bake until deep golden brown, 18 to 20 minutes. Cool on wire rack while making filling. Do not turn off oven.

3. TO MAKE THE FILLING: While crust cools, in medium bowl, stir cream cheese, zest, and salt with rubber spatula until softened, creamy, and thoroughly combined. Add sweetened condensed milk and whisk vigorously until incorporated and no lumps of cream cheese remain; whisk in egg yolk. Add lime juice and whisk gently until incorporated (mixture will thicken slightly).

4. TO ASSEMBLE AND BAKE: Pour filling into crust; spread to corners and smooth surface with rubber spatula. Bake until set and edges begin to pull away slightly from sides, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool on wire rack to room temperature, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Cover with foil and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, at least 2 hours.

5. Loosen edges with paring knife and lift bars from baking pan using foil extensions; cut bars into 16 squares. Sprinkle with toasted coconut, if using, and serve. (Leftovers can be refrigerated up to 2 days; crust will soften slightly. Let bars stand at room temperature about 15 minutes before serving.)

Raspberry Yogurt Trifle

1 large pound cake or angel food cake, diced into 1 inch cubes
1 32 oz container vanilla yogurt
1/4 cup milk
1 10 oz package frozen raspberries

1. Mix yogurt and milk in a large bowl.
2. Make a single layer of cake cubes in the bottom of a trifle dish (may use any old bowl).
3. Then layer 1/2 raspberries and yogurt. Repeat, reserving small amount of raspberries for garnish on top.
4. Let sit at least a couple hours so the yogurt can soak into the cake.

The result: I'm pretty sure every one was happily full at the end of the party! I don't have the patience for truly tedious recipes (which none of these are), so this was a lot of fun for me to prepare. I actually made the spinach balls earlier in the week when I had time, and froze them until this morning. They took 20 mins to cook, from frozen. The only recipe "premiere" on here is the key lime bars, and I will definitely be making them again!

On another, less exciting note...my husband was gone for work this week, and our meals consisted of rotisserie chicken, canned children's pasta, broccoli, grapes, mac n cheese, quesadillas, and other OH SO EXCITING meals :o) I wouldn't say that I ever truly cook to impress, but cooking for a 3 year old and 11 month old is just plain unrewarding...so, I make what they like, and jazz it up a bit for myself.

Shayake N Bayake

And I helped....

In the Army world we move often, and when we do, we often offer to let friends and neighbors invade our pantry. When my neighbors moved a few months ago, one of the items I "inherited" was a box of generic Shake N Bake. So, last night I used it to make chicken tenders. The chicken stayed pretty juicy, and my 3 year old loved it. My 11 month old threw it to the floor after one taste- his trademark rejection. I served it with good old blue box mac n cheese and steamed broccoli with parmesan cheese. I was definitely the only one who enjoyed the broccoli.

As a side note on the broccoli. For awhile I have bought the steamer bags that Ziploc and Glad make, but honestly, they're overpriced. My friend microwaves her veggies in the grocery store's produce bags and swears by it. The past few times I've made broccoli, I've cut it into small florets and put it in a shallow bowl and covered it with a plate. I then microwave it for 2:40. It turns out perfect everytime, and I can't tell the difference from any other steaming method I've tried.

Indian Night

We had another Indian food night, and we definitely established that at least in our town, the Indian food we make at home is as good or better than what we can get in a restaurant. We had marinated, grilled chicken breasts, Saag with tofu, and jasmine rice. One of these days I'll buy basamati rice, which would be more appropriate. For the chicken breasts, I used a spice mix that we bought at the local Indian Festival this year (they are FANTASTIC!), and mixed it with plain yogurt, green chiles and about a tbsp of olive oil. The saag I made using the recipe from my previous post. I had previously used dry mustard in the recipe b/c I needed a substitute for tumeric, but this time I actually had tumeric. I didn't think it changed the taste much, but the color was slightly different. I browned the tofu lightly prior to adding it to the saag, which I did just prior to serving. I loved the addition!

Squashy Casserole

I saw some pretty winter squash at the commissary last week, and for some reason felt compelled to buy them. On halloween I felt I needed to bake them- but the craziness of the day caught up with me quickly, and although I baked them, I didn't serve them for dinner. So, I scraped them out, and they sat in my fridge until today. My husband won't be home for dinner, and while he's gone, I often like to experiment with things that I wouldn't necessarily serve on a "normal" night. Tonight we'll be having a winter squash casserole and steamed asparagus (b/c it needs to be eaten). I know my kids are going to be bouncing off the walls with excitement. I modified a recipe off of allrecipes, and this is what I came up with:

Ingredients:

2 small winter squash, cooked and mashed
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp all purpose flour
1 1/2 c evaporated milk
1/2 c brown sugar
1/4 c melted butter

Topping:
3 graham crackers, crushed
1/4 c pecans
1 tbsp melted butter

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400.
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.
Pour into greased 9x13 casserole dish.
Bake 30 mins. Mix together topping ingredients and sprinkle over top of casserole. Bake an additional 10 mins, or until casserole is firm.

The results: Actually, the squash casserole was REALLY good! The main variance I made from the original recipe was cutting the sugar by more than 1/2, using evaporated milk, and the topping. My 11 month old really loved it, and my 3 year old ate a few bites. The addition to the meal that I didn't mention above was BACON. Who doesn't love bacon, right? I think it should be an official food group. So, the next time I feel "compelled" to buy another winter squash, this is how I'll be preparing it.