Banana Chocolate Chippers

It's been a busy few weeks lately, so I've used this weekend to kind of "come up for air" and do some cooking to help me relax. So worth it!

Since I can never seem to consume a bunch of bananas before they get mushy and brown, I am constantly on the lookout for new ways to incorporate bananas into things. This is today's attempt, and has gotten rave reviews around my house.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup of unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 large ripe banana, mashed
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
• 2 cups of flour
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
• 1 cup of chocolate chips

Method

1 Preheat the oven to 350°F. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the egg and continue to beat until the mixture is light and fluffy.
2 In a bowl, mix the mashed banana and baking soda. Let sit for 2 minutes.
3 Mix the banana mixture into the butter mixture. Mix together the flour, salt, and spices and sift into the butter and banana mixture and mix until just combined.
4 Fold into the batter the chocolate chips. Drop in spoonfulls onto a silpat or parchment paper. Bake for 11-13 minutes or until nicely golden brown.

They are delicious! I doubt they will last long around my house.

Cheesecake Bites

I am a huge fan of cute desserts that taste good and are quick to make. I made these little guys for a party back in December, but just ran across the photo of them here. So quick and easy!

Start with phyllo tart shells - they come in packs of 12 or 15 in the freezer case at the grocery store. Bake them as directed on the box. Mix together 1 8oz container of whipped cream cheese, and 1 smaller container of marshmallow fluff. Put filling mixture into a plastic bag, then cut off the tip to make a makeshift piping bag. After the shells have cooled, pipe mixture into each shell and top with a quarter of a strawberry, or whatever topping you wish. These are delicious, and adorable. Plus they only take about 10 minutes total. A crowd pleaser!

Sausage Bowtie Pasta

Up until a year ago or so, you couldn't have paid me to eat smoked sausage. Then one day, I visited my mom as she cooked limitless amounts of smoked sausage for a huge breakfast. It smelled heavenly, so I stole a small bit out of the pan. Then another. Just one more. Now I love it! I love it so much that I've found a way to work it into a dinner treat.

I start by chopping the smoked sausage into thin discs and cooking it in a skillet until the edges and sides caramelize. Then I add not-quite-perfectly-done bowtie pasta, a cup or so of pasta cooking liquid, a little chicken stock, a little white wine, some frozen peas and corn, salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper flake. Reduce until the pasta is tender and the liquid becomes a sauce. Its a great, quick weeknight meal!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

I love a good crock pot meal. Don't get me wrong - I love all cooking methods, but something about coming home to your house being filled with the aromas of long-cooked meals is just fantastic to me. This morning I prepped dinner in the crock pot and then proceeded about my day of laundry, spring cleaning, and some work. 8 hours later, here is delicious chicken tortilla soup!

Into the crock pot: 1/2 diced onion, 2 boxes of chicken stock, 1 can crushed tomatoes, 1 can diced green chiles, garlic powder, chili powder, 1 lb diced chicken breast, 1 can black beans, 1 cup corn kernals. I even threw 3/4 cup of rice in the pot, and it turned out fab. Add fresh avacado at the end, and voila! Easy dinner.

'Nanna Pudd'n

I am not a fan of banana pudding. I am generally not a fan of anything that involves soggy cookies. However, my family and friends love it, so I like to make it on occasion as a treat.

I've been looking for ways to jazz it up and make it a little different, and I think I've finally found one I like. I blended up wafer cookies, macadamia nuts, a tiny bit of sugar, and a tiny bit of salt together in my food processor, then mixed with butter to make a crust. After a quick bake and cool, I filled the bottom with banana slices, then french vanilla pudding, and topped it off with some whole cookies.

Turned out pretty well! The picture above is a dish of 'nanna pudd'n I made for our Easter feast.

Easter Cupcakes

I decided to make some cupcakes for the fellas over at Curry Honda. My typical favorite yellow cake with chocolate frosting. Happy Easter!

Beef Stir Fry

Tonight I was at kind of a loss while wandering through the grocery store. A package of stir fry beef caught my eye. So here you have it: teriyaki beef! I am slowly perfecting the art of making my own glazes. This was relatively inexpensive to make, AND there are enough leftovers for me to have some for lunch tomorrow.

I think we decided we liked the veggies just as much as the beef, which is quite the change!

And for dessert, Oreo pie!