Banana Bread

One of the many ways to make delicious banana bread!

Recipe from here.

Ingredients:

1 cup granulated sugar

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

2 large eggs

3 ripe bananas

1 tablespoon milk

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan.

Cream the sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

In a small bowl, mash the bananas with a fork. Mix in the milk and cinnamon. In another bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Add the banana mixture to the creamed mixture and stir until combined. Add dry ingredients, mixing just until flour disappears.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Set aside to cool on a rack for 15 minutes. Remove bread from pan, invert onto rack and cool completely before slicing.

Slow Cooker Sausage and Peppers

These are simple to make and amazing to eat. Seriously. The sauce kick's ass.

Recipe from here.

Makes about 6 servings.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 5 - 6 hours on HIGH

INGREDIENTS:

2 pounds Italian sausage, cut into 1-inch pieces
{I did one package of sweet and one package of spicy}

2 bell peppers, cut into 1/2-inch strips

2 cans (14 1/2 ounces each) stewed tomatoes

2 cans (6 ounces each) tomato paste

1 package McCormick® Slow Cookers Italian Herb Chicken Seasoning

DIRECTIONS:

1. Place all ingredients in slow cooker; toss to coat well. Cover.

2. Cook 5 - 6 hours on HIGH. (Cooking time may vary).

3. Serve over cooked pasta or in hoagie rolls, if desired.

Dallas Burgers

I adapted this recipe from my favorite Bobby Flay burger here.
These were so amazingly yummy. My hubby wants them every night for dinner!

Ingredients:
1 lb. lean beef
chili powder
paprika
dry mustard
cumin
salt & pepper
burger buns
coleslaw
bbq sauce
spicey cheese
sandwich pickles

Directions:
Mix 1 tablespoon chile powder, 2 teaspoons paprika, 1 teaspoon each of dry mustard, ground cumin and kosher salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a large bowl. Mix in beef with hands. Shape lean ground beef into a uniform patty, no more than 3/4 inch thick (don't overwork the meat). I made 4 patties. Make a depression in the center with your thumb so the burger won't bulge; the indent will rise as the patty cooks.
Preheat a grill or cast-iron grill pan to high. Brush the pan with canola or olive oil and season the burgers with salt and pepper. Grill until golden brown and slightly charred, turning once (7 minutes for medium-rare). Avoid pressing with a spatula! Add cheese and bbq sauce on top of each burger to your liking the last minute of cooking.
Toast buns. Add you burgers to the toasted buns and top with coleslaw and pickles and enjoy!

Baked Potato Soup

I made this recipe a few years ago and was suddenly craving it the other day. It's sooooooo yummy on a chilly night! Pure comfort food.

Recipe from Cooking Light

Ingredients:

• 4 baking potatoes (about 2 1/2 pounds
• 
  2/3 cup all-purpose flour (about 3 ounces)

• 6 cups 2% reduced-fat milk

• 1 cup (4 ounces) reduced-fat shredded extrasharp cheddar cheese, divided


• 1 teaspoon salt


• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper


• 1 cup reduced-fat sour cream


• 6 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled


• Cracked black pepper
  

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 400°.

Pierce potatoes with a fork; bake at 400° for 1 hour or until tender. Cool. Peel potatoes; coarsely mash.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Place flour in a large Dutch oven; gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until blended. Cook over medium heat until thick and bubbly (about 8 minutes). Add mashed potatoes, 3/4 cup cheese, salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper, stirring until cheese melts. Remove from heat.

Stir in sour cream. Cook over low heat 10 minutes or until thoroughly heated (do not boil). Ladle 1 1/2 cups soup into each of 8 bowls. Sprinkle each serving with 1 1/2 teaspoons cheese, and about 1 tablespoon bacon. Garnish with cracked pepper, if desired.

Food Shopping on the Cheap - Take 3

Once again, this was difficult since I was buying a lot of holiday items....but I still had a decent amount of coupons and made out ok. Better than no savings at all :-)

Hopefully come January, I can resume spending a lot less.

Food Shopping on the Cheap - Take 2

I didn't have high hopes for this week since I had to buy a lot of Turkey Day items and purchased a lot more than usual...but I still managed to do awesome, and I even spent enough to go back for a free turkey :-)

Food Shopping on the Cheap - Take 1

This is my first post that isn't a recipe my friends...But I thought I'd share that I have started to take control of my food shopping and become a coupon clipper and a sales stalker. I was getting tired of spending $150 - $200 at the dang food store all the time, and still feeling like I had nothing to make. I thought it would be interesting, not only for others to check out my savings, but also for myself to see how I do each week.

Thanks to the help of many many many websites and the asbury park press inserts, I have started to match sales with coupons and only stock up on items that are only on sale. It took way more time that I had hoped, between clipping the Sunday paper's coupons, searching and cutting coupons online, and looking thru Ad's. Not to mention the time it takes in the actual food store looking at my list and coupons and matching up the correct sale items.

It wasn't easy, and it took up a lot of my time...but this week I only spent $65 on 41 items.

Here's to Week One.

Thyme-Garlic Chicken

Recipe from BHG

The flavor was delicious! But next time I'll try doubling the liquids. Chicken was a little bit dry.

Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts
4 cloves garlic, minced
1-1/2 teaspoons dried thyme, crushed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Directions:
1. Clean chicken. Sprinkle chicken with garlic, thyme, salt. Place chicken in a 4-quart slow cooker. Pour orange juice and vinegar over chicken.

2. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 6 to 7 hours or on high-heat setting for 3 to 3-1/2 hours. Remove chicken from slow cooker; cover and keep warm. Discard cooking juices.

Pumpkin Butterscotch Cookies

Recipe from here

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1½ tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 large eggs
1 cup sugar
½ cup vegetable or canola oil
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup butterscotch chips

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325° F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. In a small bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon; whisk to blend. In a the bowl of an electric mixer combine the eggs and sugar. Beat on medium-high speed until smooth and light in color, about 1 minute. Blend in the oil, pumpkin puree, and vanilla extract until well combined. With the mixer on low speed, mix in the dry ingredients just until incorporated. Gently fold in the butterscotch chips with a spatula.

Drop mounds of dough onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing them a few inches apart. Bake, rotating the sheets halfway through baking, until the tops feel set and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry, about 14-16 minutes. Allow to cool on the baking sheets 5-10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

Roast Chicken with Balsamic Bell Peppers

Recipe from Cooking Light

3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
3/4 teaspoon fennel seeds, crushed
1/2 teaspoon black pepper, divided
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breasts
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
Cooking spray
2 cups thinly sliced red bell pepper
1 cup thinly sliced yellow bell pepper
1/2 cup thinly sliced shallots (about 1 large)
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
1 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1. Preheat oven to 450°.

2. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Combine 1/2 teaspoon salt, fennel seeds, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, garlic powder, and oregano. Brush chicken with 1 1/2 teaspoons oil; sprinkle spice rub over chicken. Add 1 1/2 teaspoons oil to pan. Add chicken; cook 3 minutes or until browned. Turn chicken over; cook 1 minute. Arrange chicken in an 11 x 7–inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Bake at 450° for 10 minutes or until done.

3. Heat remaining olive oil over medium-high heat. Add bell peppers, shallots, and rosemary; sauté 3 minutes. Stir in broth, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Reduce heat; simmer 5 minutes. Increase heat to medium-high. Stir in vinegar, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper; cook 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Serve bell pepper mixture over chicken.