Blonde Reminiscence

Okay, yes, yes, I know the know the name of this recipe should be the title of the newest harlequin novel, but I couldn't think of anything to adequately describe it!  And it almost reminds me of a Blondie from Applebee's. And...although I think its delicious, there is definitely room to play with this dessert--add something, change up the amounts--be creative!  I'm sure it would be great with zucchini bread.. or leftover cake edges???

4 slices almost stale banana bread
1/2 c. pecans or wanuts, chopped
4 T butter
1/4 c. brown sugar
2 bananas, cut in 1/2" rounds (optional)
2 c. Creamy-ness (ice cream, whipped cream, etc--I used some leftover banana cream cheese frosting that I had... it worked too)

Melt the butter in a thick skillet, add nuts and toast til light brown. Add brown sugar to butter nut mixture (you may need a bit more butter so that the br. sugar has something to melt into...) (if you are using bananas, add then to the skillet and warm til heated through. Toast the banana bread if it won't fall apart in your toaster (otherwise, warm in a pan or the mic**wave... isn't that a swear word on a food blog??)

Place banana bread on a small plate, pour the brown sugar/nut mixture over the bread and top with your ice cream, whipped cream, frosting. Enjoy!!

Everything Frittata

Last week, I wanted to make something 'different' for dinner and I realized that I had a bunch of veggies in the fridge.  I remembered making a yummy frittata from a Family Fun cookbook, which I hadn't written down and couldn't find the recipe online, so I just made this up. I loved it.... Quick and easy dinner!!  These are estimates on amounts, because I just threw things together and didn't measure, but if you add a large amount of veges/sausage, then add a couple more eggs!

6 eggs, beaten
s & p
1/2 small Onion, minced
2 cloves, garlic, minced
2 -4 T Olive oil
2 Cooked Sausages (optional-- I used a delicious Chicken & Apple sausage that I get at Costco, sliced in to 1/4" rounds)
1 c. Broccoli, washed and cut into 'trees'
1/2 c. peppers
1/2 c. asparagus, washed and cut into 1" pieces
1/2 apple, washed and cut into chunks
3/4 c. cheese, shredded  (I used mozzarella)

Beat eggs and add salt and pepper. Set aside. Preheat oven to 350. Cook onions in olive oil on medium heat until almost translucent. Add garlic, sausage and broccoli and asparagus. Continue cooking until the onions are translucent and the remaining veggies are about halfway cooked, then add the peppers and apples. Cook for a minute more. Remove from heat. Pour the egg mixture over the veggies/sausages. Sprinkle cheese over egg mixture. Immediately, place in oven and cook for 15-20 until the frittata has set and the top is golden!

*I would have added tomatoes right before I added the egg.... if I'd remembered!

** I would have added mushrooms with the broccoli.. if I'd had any!!

Blueberry muffins

While shopping last week, I found a box of Blueberry Streusel muffins by Duncan Hines.  They are 100% whole grain and have real blueberries in them (not the hard, dried, sugared kind).  We had that for breakfast with some fresh fruit and they were very good.  It's an easy way to have something tasty, but also somewhat healthy.  I've checked out a book that has recipes for making muffins, pancakes, cookies, and donuts with equal parts white flour/wheat flour/wheat germ.  I'm excited to try the recipes to see if we like them.

Strawberry Shortcake

Well, I tell you this blog is requiring a lot of sacrifice on my part. This morning, I remembered that I had made a strawberry shortcake last night that I should have photographed to put up on the blog, but forgot. So, in my willingness to devote all my energy to this blog I decided I would use the leftover ingredients and have another for breakfast...  Haha! So here it is!! It was just as delicious as it was last night... too bad I didn't forget to take pics again!!

I love this strawberry shortcake, because it is NOT sweet! It is tasty and I love that I can feed it to my family and not have to deal with the 'sugar high'!

2 c. all purpose flour
2 1/2 T granulated sugar
1 T baking powder (yes, that is Tablespoon)
1/2 t. salt
1/2 c. butter
1 egg, beaten
2/3 c. milk
3 c. strawberries, sliced
1 c. whipping cream
1 t. vanilla
1 T. granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 450 F. Mix dry ingredients together. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs (it will look dry).  Add milk to the egg and mix together. Add the egg-milk mixture to the dry ingredients, stirring by hand just until moistened.  Grease a 8 X 8 pan and spread the dough into the pan, making the edges a bit thicker than the center of the shortcake.  Bake for 15 - 18 minutes. Let cool for a couple of minutes, remove from pan, let cool another 5 minutes. Split into 2 layers. While shortcake is cooling, pour cream into a tall bowl or large mixing cup, add sugar and vanilla. Beat until medium peaks form.  Serve with alternating layer--shortcake, cream, strawberries, shortcake, cream, strawberries! Enjoy!

Kitchen gadget #2

My new favorite kitchen gadget is the kitchen shears.  For years I've seen them at the store and never knew why anyone would need them.  I had a pair in my drawer and decided to use them really quick to cut up some green onions.  Amazing!  So I was in a hurry and tried it on cooked chicken tenders.  Fast!  Now I use them for anything that I can.  It's so much faster than chopping.  I'm all about saving time when cooking and these have helped me a lot.

Smiley pudding

My girls love to eat pudding and I was thinking of a way to make it a little more fun and healthy.  This is what I came up with.

We also do this with our yogurt too.