Giant Whole Wheat Banana- Strawberrry Muffins

I came across this recipe, and it's really yummy. It's a perfect way to use up some ripe bananas and those fresh strawberries that you just picked.

2 eggs
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup vegetable oil (I like to use Walnut Oil in my baking, just for a little healthier version)
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 bananas, mashed
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 cup sliced frozen strawberries (fresh, frozen from the berry patch are the best!)

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease 12 large muffin cups, or line with paper liners.
In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, applesauce, oil, brown sugar, vanilla and bananas. Combine the flour, baking soda and cinnamon; Stir into the banana mixture until moistened. Stir in the strawberries until evenly distributed. Spoon batter into muffin cups until completely filled.
Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the tops of the muffins spring back when pressed lightly. Cool before removing from the muffin tins.

Squash Souffle

This is much easier than the title would suggest and a wonderful way to use winter squash. I always buy a few in the fall to roast and puree, then I have them in convenient 2c blocks in my freezer for whenever I feel like a pie a souffle. You might be able to use a 15oz can of pumpkin for this, but I've never tried it. This is very popular with both my husband and daughter. If you want a light dinner for a small family, serve this with a salad, for a larger group it is a tasty and unexpected vegetable side dish.

1/2c butter
1/2c flour
1 1/2c half and half OR 12oz evaporated milk
2c cooked and pureed squash
6 eggs, separated
1/2t salt

In a saucepan, whisk butter and flour constantly over medium heat. Gradually whisk in half and half or evaporated milk. When thick and bubbly, remove from heat and whisk into squash, egg yolks and salt.

Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold into squash mixture. (Or if you have a kitchen aid with a whisk beater, beat whites in kitchen aid, and then beat in the squash just until everything is mixed)

Pour batter into a buttered 2qt souffle dish or casserole.

Bake at 350 for 1hr and serve promptly. The top will be golden brown and nicely puffed.

"Noodle Nests" with Peanut Sauce

This is a great way to use up leftover spaghetti (but fresh works well too). Mia even ate it. I haven't tried it, but I hear you can also do a similar thing with noodles and fresh basil and do a marinara-type dipping sauce...

Noodle Nests (I found the name is a good sell to kids)
1 to 3 t curry paste (depending on your feelings for curry)
4 eggs
6 oz (2/3 C) tofu diced in small cubes
1/4 to 1/2 C cilantro
6 green onions, chopped
1/2 t salt
4 C spaghetti noodles, cold

1 T sesame oil or olive oil in a pan

Turn on a frying pan to med high heat. Mix the eggs and curry paste together in a bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and mix with your hands so the noodles don't break. Put small circular piles of the noodle mixture in the pan (they keep their shape better if you use a circle shaped biscuit cutter as a mold). Make sure you get the tofu on there too because sometimes it sinks to the bottom of the bowl. Cook until golden brown on each side. Top with Peanut sauce or use sauce for dipping.

Peanut Sauce:
1/4 C honey (although you could probably leave this out if you use the PB w/sugar in it already)
1/4 C peanut butter
2 T rice vinegar
2 T olive oil
1 T sesame oil
2 t garlic
1 T ginger
1 t red pepper flakes (if you want a little kick)

White Chili

1 or 2 chicken breasts (boil for 20 min for short method or allow extra time for crockpot cooking)
4 cans great northern beans (white)
1 small can green chilis (chopped peeled)
1 can white sweet corn
2 cans chicken broth
1/2 small onion, diced
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup grated monteray jack cheese
1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp chili powder (or to taste)

For crockpot method: combine chicken broth, onion, and chicken in crockpot. Cook on high for about 2 to 2 1/2 hours or until chicken is done. Add remaining ingredients except sour cream and cheese. You can add 2 tsp corn starch with 1 T cold water to thicken chili if you want it to be thicker. Continue cooking for one hour. Turn heat to low. Stir in sour cream. Serve with breadsticks and garnish with grated cheese and additional sour cream. Yum!

Quinoa and Asparagus

Maybe some of you are ahead of us, but we are just discovering the beauty of quinoa at our house. A little background: it is a South American grain that is almost 20% protein. Unlike wheat or rice (which are low in lysine), quinoa contains a balanced set of essential amino acids for humans, making it an unusually complete food. It is a good source of dietary fiber and phosphorus and is high in magnesium and iron. Quinoa is gluten free and considered easy to digest. Quinoa has a light, fluffy texture when cooked, and its mild, slightly nutty flavor makes it an alternative to white rice or couscous. For more see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinoa

So I've been experimenting a little bit with some quinoa recipes. This is the best one we've tried so far and makes a great protein-filled, meatless meal. Mia even ate it too...Oh ya, I buy quinoa in the bulk foods section of the store because it's cheaper. You can also find it sold in a box in the health food section.

2 cups white quinoa, rinsed well
4 scant cups water
2 tsp. chicken boullion
a few splashes of extra virgin olive oil
3 - 4 medium/large potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch dice
1 large yellow onions, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 cup toasted nuts (walnuts, pine nuts, etc)
1-2 cups lightly cooked asparagus, cut into 1/2-inch segments
salt to taste
fresh parmesan to top (optional depending on your taste)


Mix the quinoa, water & boullion in a pan. Bring it to a boil then turn down to a simmer for 12-15 minutes. It's not supposed to be mushy, kind of like a firm, nutty rice. If there's any liquid at the end, drain it off.

Cook the potatoes, olive oil and onion in a large stir-fry type pan on medium heat until the potatoes are tender (it takes a good 1/2 hour or so of occasional stirring). Put the potatoes on a plate. To the already dirty pan add the garlic, (I added mushrooms because I had them in the fridge), pine nuts and asparagus. Cook until the asparagus is crunchy but tender. Combine the asparagus, potatoes & quinoa in the pan. Add salt and pepper to taste. Yum!

Honey Wheat Bread

This is our favorite whole wheat bread. Since I like to experiment, I have tried just about everything I could think of with this recipe. I do not recommend any of them. The only change that does work is to allow the loaves to sit in the fridge for about 8hrs for their second rise, then just put them straight into the oven.

Dissolve in small bowl:
1/2c warm water
1T yeast
1t sugar

Combine in bowl of stand mixer:
12oz evaporated milk
1/4c water
1/4c melted shortening
1/4c honey
2t salt
2c whole wheat flour

Mix yeast mixture into flour mixture
Allow to rest for 15min

Add 3c all purpose flour, 1c at a time
Knead dough until smooth (for my kitchen aid, this means mixing at speed 2 with the dough hook for 3-5min)

Cover dough and raise for 45min

Punch down dough and divide in half
Form each half into a loaf and place in a greased pan
Raise another 30min (or in fridge for 4-8hrs)

Bake at 375 for 30-35min

Shortbread Cake

We had this cake this weekend and it was fabulous! Our friend made it with Blueberry Jam/Preserves in the middle. This is a full recipe but it can be halfed for a 7" springform pan and baked for 30 min. Really good!

Beat 13T room temp butter until soft and smooth
Add 1c sugar and beat til creamy
Add 1 egg + 1 egg yolk -- beat until well incorporated
Mix in 1t vanilla

Then add and mix just until incorporated:
2 1/2c flour
1t baking powder
pinch of salt

Gather dough into a ball, divide in half, pat each part into a disk
and wrap in plastic
Chill for 15-30min

Butter a 9" springform pan and place on a cookie sheet

Roll one disk of dough to a 9" circle and place in pan -- or squish in
pan to size with fingers

Spread about 2c of a good chunky jam/preserve over dough Roll the other disk to a 9" circle (easiest on a wax paper sheet so
that you can easily lift onto jam) -- place in pan and use fingers to
even if necessary to make sure it covers the jam.

Lightly brush with water and sprinkle with 2T sugar -- I have large
grained raw sugar that was very pretty on top

Bake at 350 for 35-40min until it is very lightly golden and a thin
knife inserted into the center comes out clean

Cool at least 20min, then release sides of pan and plate -- it's best
served at room temperature