Banana Streusel Muffins

I've always been a big fan of banana nut bread, but when I needed to whip up a dessert for a recent potluck, I spied the very ripe bananas sitting on the counter and decided they needed to become a sweet, rather than a bread. I found a recipe for banana streusel muffins on food.com and altered it to create the recipe below.

Ingredients:
Muffins:

• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3-4 bananas mashed
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 3/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Topping:

• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions:

1. Preheat Oven to 375 degrees
2. Lightly grease 10 muffin cups, or line with paper liners. I wanted bite size treats, so I used 36 mini muffin cups (without nuts, probably just 30-32).
3. In a small bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
4. In another bowl (or stand mixer bowl), beat together bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter. Add nuts if desired.
5. Stir the flour mixture into the banana mixture.
6. Spoon batter into prepared muffin tins. be sure to only fill cups 2/3 full. You need room to place the topping or it will fall off the muffin and caramelize the pan!
7. In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, flour and cinnamon.
8. Add melted butter and stir until well blended.
9. Spoon evenly over muffins.
10. Bake in preheated oven for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

Enjoy!

So easy my Daughter made it. Filling Fruit Salad

Jello and fruit make this a tasty snack or dessert.

25 Minutes to Prepare and Cook
Ingredients:

• 1 4-serving box of your favorite flavor Jell-o
• 1 Pint strawberries, washed and sliced
• 1 small box of fresh raspberries, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 cup Cool Whip

Directions:
Prepare the jell-o as instructed for "jigglers" on the box. Chill until set.Spoon remainder of the ingredients into the prepared Jello, stir and serve. Makes 8 One-cup servings.

Making up for Lost Time - Quick Banana Bread

So I feel like I owe you folks a few more recipes. So I'm going through my recipe box to share a couple more favorites. This Banana bread recipe is perfect for when you have over-ripe bananas laying around. They can be completely black and the bread will still taste delicious!

Ingredients:

• 1-3/4 cups sifted all purpose flour (whole grain wheat flour works too - use 1-1/2 cups)
• 2-1/4 teaspoons double acting baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup shortening (softened - not melted-butter will work in a pinch)
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon grated lemon rind (optional)
• 1-2 beaten eggs (more eggs = fluffier more cake-like bread)
• 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 cups banana pulp (use a fork to mush the banana into a measuring cup)
• 1/2 cup nuts (optional, but I like walnuts and pecans, and sometimes I use a full cup!)

Directions:
Preheat Oven to 350 degrees. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Blend next 3 ingredients until creamy. Beat in eggs and banana pulp. Add the sifted mixture in about 3 parts, beating until smooth after each addition. Fold in Nuts. Place the batter in a greased bread pan and bake for about an hour. You can also make 3-4 mini loaves, which cook in 35-45 minutes.

My Favorite Spinach salad

I was really hating salads for a while there, until I "discovered" baby spinach. It's got tons of vitamins, but doesn't taste as bitter as some of the other dark leaf lettuces. So when we eat salads these days, the lettuce is almost always baby spinach. Try my Favorite Spinach Salad, or just add your own toppings and post what combos you love!

Ingredients:

• 1 bag pre-washed baby spinach
• 1 crisp apple, cored & chopped (but I leave the skin on)
• 1/2 to 1 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 1/2 to 1 cup chopped walnuts
• raspberry vinegarette

Directions:
This is pretty easy - it's a salad! Place the spinach on individual plates or bowls. Top with the apple, feta and walnuts. Add dressing sparingly.
My tip for the apples - use a peeler/corer/slicer without peeling, and then just cut the spiral apple in wedges for the right sized chunks. Toss with lemon juice if you're not serving right away, this will keep the apples from browning so quickly.

A quick dessert tip...

So in the interest of speed and simplicity, I made 70 second cake last night, but with a twist! First of all, I doubled the recipe, to 1 cup mix, 2 eggs, 4 tablespoons oil and 4 tablespoons water. I made the batter and "baked" it while I was cooking dinner, using a ceramic cereal bowl. A double batch needs about 90 seconds. I then turned the cake out of the bowl and onto a plate, and stuck it in the fridge. I mixed up some german chocolate frosting with the recipe below, and put the mixing bowl of frosting in the fridge as well. When we were done eating, I grabbed the cake and frosting, spread the frosting on the cake and we had a lovely mini-german chocolate cake for 2. Okay, it's actually cake for 4, since I still have half the cake left, but it was a great size for dessert.

Here's the recipe for my German Chocolate Frosting

Ingredients:

• 2 egg yolks
• 3/4 cup evaporated milk (I may try sweetened, condensed milk next time, but my recipe said evaporated)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 1-1/2 cups coconut
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts
• 2 teaspoons vanilla

Directions:
In a small saucepan, beat yolks, and add milk and sugar. Blend well. Add butter, and heat over medium high heat, stirring constantly. Cook for about 12 minutes, or until the mixture is thickened. Add remaining ingredients and allow to cool. Spread on Chocolate cake. If you really want to be fancy, slice the cake into two layers, and spread frosting between them also! You'll have plenty of leftover frosting. Throw it in a ziplock in the fridge, and make cake again next week!

When you just need Dessert

I have to share my recipe for 70 second cake. Imagine - a cake you can whip up while your hubby clears the dinner dishes!

Ingredients:

• powdered cake mix (ideally one that has "pudding in the mix"), any flavor
• 1 (4-serving) box of jello instant pudding mix, any flavor
• 1 egg
• 2 Tablespoons water
• 2 tablespoons oil
• Frosting if desired

Directions:
Take the powdered cake mix and powdered pudding mix, and combine the powders in a big ziplock and shake to combine.
Mix 1/2 cup of the powder with egg, water and oil in a microwave safe dish. A large coffee cup or small bowl works great. Microwave on high for 70 seconds, and turn over onto a plate to eat. You can eat it warm or let it cool and frost it.
Voila! Cake for 1 to 2 people. No leftovers to gorge on at midnight. Unless you make more. Label the ziplock with the recipe and keep for the days when you're desperate for cake. Or when you're at the office and want to annoy coworkers with the smell of warm gooey chocolate (or other flavor) cake.

As promised...Fluffy Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is the best chocolate chip cookie recipe ever! We've adapted it a lot since the original. So far our favorite is using Chocolate pudding mix and white chocolate chips!

Ingredients:

• 2-1/4 cups unsifted flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup butter (softened, not melted)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 package instant pudding & pie filling (4 serving size)
• 2 eggs
• 1 package chocolate chips (12 ounce size)

Directions:

Mix flour and baking soda in a small bowl & set aside. Combine butter, sugars, vanilla and pudding mix in bowl. Beat until smooth. Beat in eggs. Add flour mixture in parts, mixing well. Fold in chips. Drop by teasoon on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.

Another request from Jackie...Apple Berry Salsa and Cinnamon chips

Apple season is upon us, and you should have seen Jackie perk up when I mentioned Apple Berry Salsa and Cinnamon chips. This is a past pampered chef recipe, with a few changes by me.

Cinnamon chips (I generally double this recipe, or I'll have a lot of salsa left over!)

Ingredients:

• 4 (7 inch) flour tortillas
• 1 egg white
  
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly brush tortillas with egg white. Combine sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over tortillas. Cut each tortilla into 8 wedges (a pizza cutter works well!), and place in a single layer on a baking stone or pan. Bake 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned & crisp. Remove to cooling rack, and cool completely.

Apple Berry Salsa

Ingredients:

• 2 medium Granny Smith apples
• 1 cup strawberries, sliced
• 1 kiwi, peeled and chopped
• 2 tablespoons orange juice
  
• 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons apple jelly

Directions:
Peel apples, core & slice into small chunks. (You want pinky-nail sized pieces.) Place all ingredients in a medium sized bowl, and stir. If you've used a fresh orange for the juice, you can add some orange zest as well. Mix it all up and serve with cinnamon chips.

Super simple cookies - Peanut Butter Kisses

In honor of my knottie girls coming over, I thought I'd post the recipe we used tonight. I had a few dozen hershey's kisses just begging to be made into cookies. So Michi and Britt & I chatted and made cookies together, sitting around the kitchen table.

Ingrediants:

• 1 3/4 cup flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teasoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter (softened, not melted)
• 1/2 cup peanut butter (I used chunky and it worked fine)
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• About 40 chocolate kisses, unwrapped
  

Directions:
Combine ingredients. (This is a great chance to use that Kitchen Aid mixer you got as a wedding gift!). Roll dough into small balls, and roll in sugar. Bake on cookie sheets at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. Top with Chocolate kiss immediately upon removal from oven.

Let's get cooking! French Dip Sandwiches

This blog started when my knottie girlfriends asked about my dinner plans. Or maybe I was just bragging. But a few asked for my recipe for French Dip Sandwiches and Twice Baked Potatoes. Someone else had eaten my Taco soup, and wanted that recipe. They asked for a cookbook, but I’m not that cool. I’ll give you a blog though! Let’s get started with those original recipes.

French dip is super easy. At least the way I do it!

· ½ pound thick sliced roast beef per person from the deli. [10.00 for 1 pound]
· 1 roll per person [1.99 for 6, or about 70 cents)
· Butter [almost free, you ought to have this!]
· Beef broth (1/2 can per person) [1.49]
· 1 packet onion soup mix per 4 people. [1.00]

Mix the broth and powdered onion soup mix, and place the sliced beef in the mixture. This can even be done the night before. Heat beef & au jus until it’s hot. Meanwhile, slice the rolls and lightly butter them. Toast them under the broiler (or on the BBQ if hubby needs a chore!) until crispy. Place warm meat on rolls and serve with individual cups of warm au jus.

[Total cost is about $14 for two servings. You can use less meat per serving though - this is a lot of food!]