Peanut butter banana muffins

Todd came home from tennis the other night with an abundance of bananas and peanut butter. I personally have not tried these muffins since I'm not a banana fan. James gobbled 2 down right away so they must be good! I googled "peanut butter banana muffins" and this looked good to me!

Peanut Butter Banana Muffins

4 ripe bananas
1 1/4 c whole wheat flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 c honey
2 T melted butter
2 eggs
1/3 c unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp vanilla extract
8 T creamy peanut butter
{optional: +2 tb to use as small dollops of pb on top of each muffin}

1. Mash bananas and set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together honey and melted butter until smooth.
3. Add applesauce, eggs, vanilla extract and peanut butter. Whisk together until smooth.
4. Add flour, baking soda, salt & stir together until not lumpy.
5. Add bananas and mix until just combined.
6. Spoon mixture into lined muffin tin.
7. Add a small (1/4 ts?) dollop of peanut butter to the top of each muffin, and sort of press it in until it's almost covered by the muffin batter.
8. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. I stuck the toothpick in at an angle and went towards the center to avoid sticking it through the dollop of peanut butter.

Yield: 12 muffins

Lentil soup

I got this recipe is from my co-worker Kathy several years back. Her Italian mother made this frequently when she was growing up. The ingredients are so simple, but it tastes so good. I know lentils aren't everyones "cup of tea", but I love them. Warning, this makes a lot of soup!

Ingredients
Olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2-3 carrots, chopped
4-5 stalks celery, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes
1 bag lentils
11 cups stock/broth of choice (maybe a little less if not adding rice or pasta)
1/2-1 cup small pasta or brown rice(tonight I used ditalini which is the cutest little pasta ever!)
Parmesan cheese

Heat oil in large soup pot. Saute onion, carrots, and celery until tender. Add garlic and salt/pepper to taste. Cook 1-2 more minutes. Add tomatoes, lentils and stock/broth. Stir and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Add small pasta or rice. Cook until done. Rice will take much longer than pasta to cook.

To serve ladle into bowls, add a little olive oil and parmesan cheese. Yum!

What we ate this week!

Monday- Baked sweet potatoes with leftover chili along with Balsamic roasted carrots
Tuesday- Noodle salad with peanut sauce. This was mmm mmm good! I would definitely make this again!
Wednesday- Chicken tortilla soup at Jami's house
Thursday-Poached eggs in tomato sauce with parmesan roasted broccoli. Both of these recipes were really really good! Definitely keepers!
Friday-Penne with marinara, carb loading for 15k Saturday morning
Saturday- Brunch at The Farmhouse after our 15k. Sesame Chicken, rice/quinoa blend, and roasted cauliflower for dinner.
Sunday- Eggplant Lasagna with steamed green beans

Oh, and I made these AMAZING pancakes for breakfast. I felt like I was eating dessert for breakfast, they were so decadent! If you want to treat yourself to something special make these!

Balsamic glazed carrots

I saw this recipe in Septembers Health magazine. I love anything with balsamic vinegar so I thought these were great!
Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds(12 medium) carrots, halved lengthwise then halved crosswise. I halved then just halved the chunky top half crosswise. This made 3 segments from each carrot.
2 T olive oil
2 T water
1/2 t cumin
2 T balsamic vinegar
parsley for garnish

Directions
Preheat oven to 350. Roast carrots 35-40 minutes until tender. Remove carrots and sprinkle with balsamic vinegar. Shake the pan to distribute vinegar.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

I got this recipe from my BF Jami. It is seriously the best tortilla soup I've ever had. It always tastes better when she makes it too. I can't believe I'm just now putting it on the blog, because this has been a favorite for years!

Ingredients:
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 T olive oil
1-2 chicken breasts , boneless and skinless
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes
1 can rotel
1 can beef broth
1 can chicken broth
1 can tomato soup
1 cup corn (I use frozen)
1 can black beans, rinsed and drains or 1-2 cups mexican black beans
1-2 cans water
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp lemon pepper
2 tsp worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp tabasco sauce
salt and pepper to taste
fresh tortillas/tortilla chips and cheese for topping

Directions
Saute onion and garlic in oil. Add all ingredients except for tortillas and cheese. Simmer for 50 minutes. Remove chicken from soup and shred. Return chicken to soup and serve with toppings. This is SOOOOO good and you can make it in a crockpot too!

Toasted Quinoa with sun-dried tomatoes, chickpeas and feta

I originally saw this idea here. I changed it up a little bit the basic recipe is the same.

Ingredients
2 cups cooked quinoa (1 cup uncooked), prepared according to pkg
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1 bunch green onions, divided
2 T olive oil
1/2 cup chickpeas
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes and feta

Heat 2 T olive oil in skillet until hot. Add garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Remove garlic and dispose. Add half green onions and saute for 2-3 minutes. Add cooked quinoa and saute for 10-15 minutes until brown and crispy. Add toppings of choice.

What we ate this week!

Monday-A quickie version of my sweet potato and black bean quesadillas for myself and the boys. We met Daddy up at the tennis park(that is what James calls it) to watch his match against my alma mater BSS. Instead of grating and cooking the sweet potato I cooked it in the microwave.
Tuesday-Picnic at the park with hummus, carrots, pita chips and fruit
Wednesday- Chili
Thursday- Black bean burgers with pineapple rice/steamed broccoli. The burgers were just OK. Not our favorite..
Friday- Leftovers and pumpkin bread
Saturday-Spaghetti and roasted asparagus
Sunday- Oatmeal pancakes for breakfast
Toasted quinoa with sundried tomatoes, chickpeas, and feta for dinner

Semi-homemade hot fudge sauce

Ok, this one is really hard so read carefully! :)

You need 2 ingredients:

1 can chocolate syrup(aluminum/tin found in baking isle)

1 can(12 oz) sweetened condensed milk(also in the baking isle)

In a saucepan combine the chocolate syrup and milk. Heat on very low heat until it just starts to bubble. This is amazing on ice cream!

What we ate this week!

This was a short week for us with Monday being Labor day and Friday James and I left for Phoenix. I didn't really cook at all. I'm excited to start cooking with fall flavors soon!

Monday-Grilled Trout and Kebabs at the parents pool. My mom made some amazing hot fudge to put on ice cream.

Tuesday- Ciao Bella take out. We had a Groupon about to expire and needed to use it ASAP. Tuscan Eggplant for her, Chicken Giorgio for him. I LOVED my Eggplant and would love to try to recreate it at home. Of course, I'm going to try to find a recipe that doesn't include breading and frying. If anyone has a good oven baked eggplant recipe let me know.

Wednesday-Leftover Waldo Pizza from Sunday

Thursday-Leftovers from Ciao Bella. We can make a restaurant meal usually last 2-3 meals. Portions are out of control!

Friday- Out of town for the weekend! No cooking for me! :)

Oven roasted almonds

We love to eat almonds at our house. My aunt Lynda shared this recipe/method over the weekend. It makes raw almonds taste amazing without any added flavors or salt. I can't wait to go home and roast my raw almonds(We buy them in a big bag at Costco).

All you do is put your almonds on a baking sheet and roast at 300 for 30 minutes. That's it! Let cool and enjoy. Once you try these you won't want to eat raw almonds ever again!

Enjoy!

What we ate this week!

Monday-Leftovers

Tuesday- Baked sweet potatoes with Mexican black beans. Topped with cheese and sour cream.

Wednesday- Chicken nacho bake with Sweet corn

Thursday- Eggs, toast, fresh fruit

Friday-Mozzarella-stuffed bruschetta turkey burgers with sweet corn and roasted asparagus

Saturday-Leftover burgers and veggies

Sunday- Waldo Pizza

Mozzarella stuffed bruschetta turkey burgers

These burgers were great! I found this recipe on Iowa Girls Eats. She always posts really yummy recipes. The peanut butter jar tip for making the patties worked great too! You can watch a video tutorial here.

Ingredients:
Burger:

• 1 lb 99% fat-free ground turkey breast
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese, divided into 4
• 1 cup balsamic vinegar

Bruschetta mixture:

• 4 Roma tomatoes, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup fresh basil, sliced
• Salt & pepper, to taste

Directions:
1. Simmer balsamic vinegar in a saucepan over medium heat until it is the consistency of
thin maple syrup – about 10-15 minutes. Turn off heat and set aside.

2. In a large bowl, combine turkey, salt, pepper, dried basil and parmesan cheese. Divide
turkey mixture into four, equal portions.

3. Wrap an old peanut butter jar lid with foil, then lay a sheet of plastic wrap on top.
Divide one portion of the turkey mixture in half, then press one half into the bottom of
the lid. Heap 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese into the middle, then top with the other turkey
half. Press together, then invert the patty by pulling up on the plastic wrap. Seal the edges
with your hands, then place on the grill. Continue with other turkey portions until you
have 4 patties total. Grill burgers for 4 minutes a side over medium-high heat.

4. For Bruschetta mixture: combine all ingredients, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

5. Top grilled burgers with Bruschetta mixture and drizzle with balsamic glaze.