Recipe: Banana Monkey Bread

Banana Monkey Bread for Two

1-3 bananas (depending on how much you love bananas - I used 2, but kind of wish I'd used 3)

1 pack of biscuits (10-pack)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1/4 cup butter

1 tsp cinnamon

Mix cinnamon and sugar.

Cut biscuits into quarters and slice bananas. Coat biscuit pieces and bananas with cinnamon sugar.

Grease small oven-safe serving dishes. Arrange biscuits and bananas in dishes.

Combine melted butter and brown sugar. Pour over biscuits.

Bake monkey bread in oven preheated to 350 for 20-25 minutes.

Recipe: McAlister's Deli Chili Cheese Dip

While reheating leftovers of nachos the other day, I hurriedly mixed together the beans, meat and cheese. It turned out to be a perfect replicate of McAlister's chili cheese dip.

Don't you love those happy little accidents?

McAlister's Deli Chili Cheese Dip

{Ingredients}

1 can refried beans

1 lb ground beef

1 packet taco seasoning

1 jar of queso con salsa

{Directions}

Brown ground beef

Drain fat

Stir in seasoning packet plus 1/4 cup of water

Stir in refried beans and queso

Bring mixture to boil and remove from heat

Serve in a bowl surrounded by tortilla chips. Yum!

Recipe: White Christmas Pancakes

Happy Christmas for everyone! Oddly enough, we're having a white Christmas here. So to celebrate being a Texan's version of 'snowed in', we made spiced pancakes and bacon, and snuggled up on our couch with some cream soda with caramel whipped cream.

Yum, pancakes.

Spiced Pancakes

Note: recipe adapted from Group Recipes spiced pillow pancakes

1 3/8 cup of all purpose flour

2 tbsp brown sugar

2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1 egg white

1 egg yolk

1 1/4 cup milk

3/4 tsp vanilla

Pam or melted butter

Mix dry ingredients together in a medium mixing bowl.

Beat egg white until soft peaks form. Set aside.

Preheat skillet sprayed with Pam over medium heat.

Mix rest of wet ingredients together until joined. Incorporate wet mixture with dry mixture - it should be a bit lumpy. Fold in the egg white.

Place spoonful of batter into skillet. Flip pancake when top is bubbly. Repeat until all the batter is used.

Top with butter and a drizzle with maple syrup.

Serve with crispy bacon and enjoy!

Recipe: Super Yummy Tacos

Prepare yourself to eat the best dang tacos this side of the Mississippi!

Okay, so I don't actually know that to be fact, but my tummy sure thinks it is. These tacos have been in my family since the beginning, when I was so little that the only role I was allowed to perform in the preparations was setting the table and readying the condiments. My mom called them burracos, because they were half burrito and half taco and all delicious. I loved how the house would be in such a bussle getting everything ready for taco nights.

I remember the first time I actually got to fry the shells myself (about age 11 or so). As I flipped the shell, hot grease sloshed onto my hand. Luckily, minor grease burns can get you out of PE for a whole week! And I learned to be more careful when flipping tortillas. The only thing that's changed from then and now is the number of tacos I make in one sitting. I've learned that making them all up in one fell swoop and reheating in the toaster oven is much more appetizing than making them up as I'm ready to eat them - the shells just get so super crunchy in the toaster oven!

Reheated tacos from toaster oven. These are the last two tacos from the batch we made Saturday night.

Super Yummy Tacos

Note: These directions are set up for more than one person, so invite some friends over and get them helping! This recipe makes a total of 24 tacos. They can be refrigerated and reheated in the toaster oven at 350 for a few minutes on each side or until golden brown. And don't worry, they get eaten up fast so you won't have to keep leftovers for long.

{Ingredients}

2 cans refried beans

1 pound ground beef

1 packet taco seasoning

1 package (24count) corn tortillas

Vegetable oil

Any extra condiments you enjoy with tacos (we found some creamy havarti cheese with jalapenos in it - yum!)

{Directions}

Person 1: Brown the beef. Drain grease. Stir in both cans of beans and taco seasoning. Stir everything together then place on slightly lower than medium heat until warm, stirring occassionally.

Person 2: While the beef is browning, pour a layer of vegetable oil along the bottom of a sauce pan or skillet over medium heat. Once oil is hot (check by setting the edge of tortilla in it - if it starts to sizzle, it's ready), start frying your tortillas flat until golden brown on both sides - about 30 seconds on each side (I used my kitchen timer).

Person 1 or 3: Line casserole dish with four layers of paper towels (for soaking up any excess grease). As shells become ready, place a spoonful of filling inside and fold in half. Add any condiments that everyone agrees on here (cheese will get wonderfully melty at this stage) - if no one agrees on condiments, you can do an assortment or leave them out for everyone to do themselves.

Once the last shell gets filled, gather round the table and dig in!

What I Wore: And Other Cold Weather Comforts

cowl :: knit by me

Another cold front has hit here, and I'm bundled up as much as possible. Only one problem - I have no coats! I always freeze my butt off every winter because I - for some reason - have never actually bought myself a real coat. I have a couple of jackets, plenty of sweaters, but nothing to really keep me warm.

sweater vest :: hand-me-down // t-shirt :: maryink

So with my birthday approaching, I'm heading to the thrift stores this weekend in search of some comfy real cold weather gear.

loafers :: greatest friend

In the meantime, I'm snuggling up with a bowl of reheated frozen chili and a hot pumpkin chai latte. 

pumpkin syrup :: starbucks

Perfect Starbucks Chai Latte (large)

2.5 pumps syrup

1 cup chai concentrate

2 cup milk

Heat everything in a pan over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally until desired temperature.

Pour and enjoy!

Recipe: Chicken and Rice Fajita Burrito

Last week, I came home from work to the whole house smelling of dirty socks. Sounds gross, but it was amazing because I knew exactly what that smell meant - FAJITAS! And I was right, Martin had whipped us up a grand feast of chicken and rice fajita burritos. And he picked up these great blue corn and flaxseed tortillas. Yum!

Chicken and Rice Fajita Burrito

{Ingredients}

1 tbsp spanish rice seasoning

4 chicken tenderloins

1 cup uncooked white rice

1 can roasted garlic tomato sauce (8oz)

1 tbsp oil

1.5 oz fajita seasoning

2 cups water

{Directions}

Cover tenderloins in fajita seasoning and leave in fridge for 30 minutes.

Brown rice in pan with oil. Stir in tomato sauce, rice seasoning, and water and bring to boil. Cover and simmer on low heat for 15-20 minutes.

Cut chicken into fajita strips, and fry in pan with a little bit of oil.

Heat up some tortillas and enjoy!

Recipe: Plantains

I know, I know. A recipe post two days in a row! But I've been out of commission for the past week due to straining my wrist while training. Damn - no knitting for me. So I've been working on my reading list while Martin's been cooking me delicious meals and snacks.

We just recently got an Aldi in town, and Martin was so excited when he saw plantains. Plantains? I asked. What are those? Martin was appalled that I'd never had the pleasure of eating a plantain, so he grabbed two and went to work on preparing this simple, delicious snack.

Traditional Cuban Plantains

{Ingredients}

1 plantain

1 tomato

salt

oil

{Directions}

 Put a thin layer of oil in a pan over medium heat. Peel and cut plantain into sections. Place sections in pan. Flip once bottoms look done.

Take plantain from pan and smoosh between two layers of parchment paper (do you notice I use this stuff for everything?).

Put squished plantain back in pan to fry until cripsy. (They looked so tasty at this stage, I almost couldn't wait to dig in.)

Slice tomato and lightly salt. Place over plantain and enjoy!


This being my first time to eat plantains, I tried a little bit at every step. They basically taste just like a little potato cake by themselves, but once you add the tomato (which I'm not usually a huge fan of) with salt, it becomes this sort of sweet delicacy that melts in your mouth. Yum!

Recipe: Green Tea Butter Cookies

Lately, I've been trying to cut back on spending. One great change I made was ordering the concentrated Starbucks teas online instead of going to Starbucks every morning (that's a $20/week savings!). Well, I thought I'd spice things up a bit for myself by ordering the green tea concentrate, but it turns out I'd much prefer to stick with my plain old chai.

So now I'm stuck with two boxes of green tea concentrate that I haven't a clue what to do with. But wait! What about cookies? Oh, yes. A nice creamy tea cookie, I thought. So I went in search for some yummy looking grean tea butter cookies. Unfortunately, I only found recipes that used the matcha powder or tea leaves instead of the liquid version. And since cookies are one of those things that not a lot of liquid goes into, it's hard to just substitute green tea for whatever liquid is in the recipe. I did finally stumble upon this recipe over at Cooks.com.

It was way bigger than I wanted, so I cut it down a lot. I also noticed that this recipe comes out much stickier than most cookies. And the cookies don't come out very sweet. I'm definitely going to be revisiting this recipe soon. I think I'll substitute all of the cream for green tea and add a cup of sugar - that should help both problems.

Green Tea Butter Cookies

{Ingredients}

7.2 oz butter, softened

4.96 oz sugar

1/4 cup cream

4.96 oz all-purpose flour

1.25 teaspoon salt

4.96 oz cake flour

2.5 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 tablespoons green tea concentrate

{Directions}

Cream butter and sugar together. Gradually beat in cream and vanilla. Stir dry ingredients together and add to butter mixture. Add green tea flavoring.

Chill dough for two hours.

Spoon dough onto cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

Let cool and enjoy!

Recipe: Sinus Busting Chili

Every year when the weather is cooling off for fall, we're blessed with a few warm days between bitter, bone-chilling cold fronts. And when these cold fronts come in, I become a sniffling, sneezing, droopy-faced mess. To make matters worse, I have a really hard time / aversion to taking medicine.

The Green Pharmacy :: James A Duke, Ph.D.

So I pulled out the Green Pharmacy book Martin bought me a few month's ago and looked up Sinusitis. Of course the normal spicy foods remedy wasn't new to me, but the peppermint oil rub (three drops of peppermint essential oils with 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil) was definitely one I hadn't heard. Martin and I had already made this chili the night before, but a few of our ingredients were at the top of the list in foods / herbs that aid in healing Sinusitis. If you'd like your chili to be more effective at fighting your sinuses, just add some horseradish or hotter peppers.

Sinus Busting Chili

1 onion

3 - 4 tomatoes

4 - 5 cloves of garlic

2 - 3 bell peppers

2 cans black beans

2 cans kidney beans

2 - 3 packets chili seasoning

2 lbs ground beef

 

Dice all veggies and garlic; I used my awesome kitchen Ninja to get them super fine.

 

Brown the ground beef with some a clove of garlic, a quarter of the onion, and about a half pack of seasoning. While the meat's cooking, place remaining ingredients in a large stew pot over low-medium heat. Drain beef once browned and add to pot. Allow pot to simmer of low-medium heat until chili has reduced (this can take a while... about two and a half episodes of Big Bang Theory). Enjoy with corn chips and cheese!

Recipe: Potato Apple Gratin Casserole

I found this great recipe on RealSimple while searching for casserole dishes for the holidays, and decided to whip it up for dinner.

I reduced the recipe by 1/3, and I used red potatoes instead of baking potatoes because that's just what we had on hand.

Potato Apple Gratin Casserole



What you'll need.

2 eggs

1 pint buttermilk

2/3 tablespoon thyme

1 1/3 teaspoon salt

a pinch pepper

3 red potatoes, peeled and chopped

3 granny smith apples, peeled and chopped

a little under a block of swiss cheese, shredded

about half a package of parmesan cheese, grated

{Step 1}

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and grease your dish. Whisk together the eggs buttermilk and spices. Set aside.

{Step 2}

Layer a portion of the potatoes, apples, and cheeses. Pour a portion of the egg mixture on top.

{Step 3}

Repeat Step 2 until all ingredients are used.

{Step 4}

Cover and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Then bake uncovered for 15 minutes.

 Mine ended up bubbling over, but that's because I filled them up with no wiggle room. And I'm not sure if the cheese came out so done on top because it baked too long or I forgot to pour the egg mixture after adding the cheese on the top layer.

Either way, Martin thought of putting bacon on the bottom next time, but I think that would leave me with soggy bacon. Maybe a lattice top of bacon would come out crunchy enough for my tastes. Mmmm... I can't wait to try that!

Recipe: Sugar Cookies

While baking pie last weekend, I found this set of cookie cutters with the batch of pie-making things my mom gave me years ago - and just in time for fall! To celebrate this unexpected find, I decided to bake some good old-fashioned sugar cookies.

While the dough was chilling in the fridge, I started mixing up some marshmallow fondant for decoration. The colors didn't come out as poppy as I'd have liked them to be, but that's because I only had regular food coloring on hand and not gel colors.

Classic Sugar Cookies

{What you'll need}

1 1/2 cups butter, softened

3 cups sugar

4 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

5 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt
cookie cutters

{Step 1}

In large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt.

{Step 2}

Cover and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight). I like to dust the outside of my dough with a light layer of powdered sugar.

{Step 3}

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Roll out dough on parchment paper dusted with powdered sugar. I roll my dough out really thin because I like my cookies to have a nice crunch to them. Cut shapes with cookie cutters. Peel the dough away from shapes. Place shapes on greased cookie sheet. Bake 8 to 10 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.

{Step 4}

Decorate! Use your favorite frosting, fondant, or glaze. I decided to try out this recipe I found for marshmallow fondant. I halved it and added my color at the end so I could make multiple colors. I'd like to work with some other colors throughout the week - maybe buy some vodka so I can paint them! Because the fondant comes out so sweet, I'd drop down to 2 cups of sugar instead of 3 for the cookie dough.