Banana Cream

Banana Cream
yield: 2 cups
2 large bananas
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1 cup heavy cream

Mash the bananas in a small bowl and sprinkle them with the sugar, cinnamon and lemon juice. Whip cream in a separate bowl until it is stiff. Fold the banana mixture into the whipped cream and serve immediately.

Yeasted Waffles

Yeasted Waffles:

1 3/4 Milk

1/2 cup butter

1 cup white flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

3 Tbl sugar*

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp yeast

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

Heat the milk up until hot, but not boiling. Add the butter to the milk and melt. Cool slightly. Beat the eggs lightly and then add to the milk mixture, along with the vanilla. Put all the dry ingredients in a bowl and whisk to combine. Add the wet ingredients and stir until combined, a few lumps are OK. Cover with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for 12-24 hours.

Heat your waffle iron a good 10-15 minutes before you use it. Whisk your batter and ladle it into the iron. Cook until golden. Serve immediately.

Chicken Posole

I have made this recipe from about 15 other recipes I read online. I just geared it to ease and my family’s taste. I am not claiming this is an authentic posole. As for hominy you should be able to find it canned at any local grocery store in the canned veggie aisle. If you prefer to use dried then follow the bag’s soaking and cooking directions and then add to soup as directed in instructions. If you don’t like hominy just use a can of white corn. It will change the flavor but to me it’s all about the red sauce. As for the chiles, I get my dried guajillo chiles from Aldi. This soup can be as spicy or mild as you want depending on what type of chile you use. It would be worth it to go to a Hispanic grocery store and get the chiles and hominy if you can’t find them at your local grocery store. This is so good and very worth the effort. It actually doesn’t take much time or prep to make this really delicious soup. My super picky toddler LOVES this soup (minus the hominy and chicken). This recipe feeds 2 to 3 people.

Ingredients
2 cooked chicken breasts (cubed or shredded)
32 oz chicken broth
1 15.5 oz cans of hominy, rinsed (or 16 oz bag of dried hominy soaked and cooked)
1 teaspoon dried oregano (preferably Mexican)
1 teaspoon cumin

Red Sauce Ingredients:
1/4 large onion, chopped in large pieces
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1 1/2 cups boiling water
3 dried chiles (either New Mexico red chiles or ancho chiles, which are mild. For more heat use 2 guajillo chiles, which is what I use. Supposedly they are spicier but I didn’t find them spicy at all.)


Red sauce:
Wearing protective gloves (I don’t do this I just wash really well after I touch them and I don’t touch them once they’ve been soaked), discard stems from chiles. In a dish that the chiles can lay flat in, combine chiles with boiling-hot water. Soak chiles in 1 1/2 cups boiling water for 30 minutes, turning them after 15 minutes. Puree onion, chiles and soaking liquid, 2 cloves of garlic, and 1 teaspoons salt in a blender until smooth. (Don’t take a big whiff of it at this point because it’s potent!)


In a large soup pot add the chicken stock, canned or cooked dried hominy, cooked chicken, cumin, and oregano. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to gently simmer for 15 minutes. Then add red sauce to mixture 1/2 cup at a time until taste is to liking (I use all the red sauce). Simmer for 15 more minutes stirring occasionally.
 Garnish individual bowls.

Garnishes are where the soup really gets GREAT! Pick and choose from cabbage, radish slices, chopped cilantro, lemon or lime wedges, and fried corn tortilla strips (or you can use tortilla chips). I always use cilantro, lots of fresh lime juice (the more lime the better) and fried corn tortilla strips.

Fried corn tortilla strips - Stack about 4 or 5 tortillas and cut in half then half the other direction so you have triangles. Then cut strips from the triangles and fry in a pan with hot oil.

Quinoa Salad

Quinoa (pronounced KEEN-wah) is a whole grain that looks really funny once it's cooked but is super good for you. This is a great salad to bring to a BBQ as a side. It’s really refreshing and did I mention really good for you? Lot’s of fiber, protein, and iron. It tastes great too! I buy mine at Trader Joe's but I've seen it at Costco and some local grocery stores near the dried rice.

Ingredients:
1C quinoa
2 C water
1 med tomato cut into 1/2 in. cubes
4 to 6 green onions, finely chopped
1 med cucumber, peeled and cut into 1/2 in. cubes
1 small red pepper seeded and cut into 1/2 in pieces
1/4 to 1/2 C finely chopped fresh cilantro
1/3 C freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 C extra virgin olive oil
1 1/4 teas. salt

Rinse quinoa thoroughly. I just put the 1 cup of quinoa in the pot I’m going to use to cook it and add enough water to cover and swish it around with my fingers. Slowly drain the water out trying not lose too much quinoa. Repeat this at least one more time. Cook quinoa per directions on package (should be 1 cup quinoa to 2 cups water). Remove from heat, fluff, and allow to cool for about 30 minutes. Add the chopped ingredients. Mix lemon and EVOO together and pour over quinoa and veggies. Salt to taste. This is best when it’s been chilled in the fridge for at least 2 to 4 hours. The longer the flavors mingle the better.

Easy Pretzel Turtles

These are EASY and yummy. I promise you won't be disappointed. This came from Our Best Bites. Here's the link. http://www.ourbestbites.com/2009/12/tis-season-for-goodies-and-it-seems.html#

Pretzel Turtles
adapted from Our Best Bites

small pretzels
Rolo candies - one bag has about 55 candies
Pecan halves - or optionally peanuts, cashews, and m&m's
Optional: almond bark or white chocolate for drizzling.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Place pretzels on a parchment lined baking sheet. I like to use parchment paper for easy handling, but you can also put them on foil, a silpat, or directly onto the cookie sheet.

Unwrap your Rolo candies and place one on top of each pretzel.Place pan in the oven for 3-4 minutes. Any longer is probably too long. You just want the chocolate on the outside to look glossy and melty, but they should still hold their shape.

Remove pan from oven and take a pecan and gently press it right into the center of the chocolate candy. You can also use cashews, peanuts (honey roasted too), M&M's, mini Hershey Kissables, or almonds. You can drizzle melted almond bark or white chocolate on top.

TIPS
I found that in my oven 3 -4 minutes was too long. It was closer to 2-3 minutes. They'll get runny if you leave them in the oven too long. I like to use the waffle type pretzels.

Oatmeal Pancakes

Adapted from Orangette

2 cups rolled oats
2 cups buttermilk
½ cup all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. table salt
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted but not hot
Vegetable oil or spray, for greasing the pan
Maple syrup, for serving

The night before:
Combine the oats and buttermilk in a medium bowl. Stir to mix. Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.

The morning of:
Take the bowl of buttermilk and oats out of the fridge. Set aside.

In another medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

Add the eggs and melted butter to the oat mixture, and stir well. Add the flour mixture, and stir to blend. The batter will be very thick.

Warm a large nonstick skillet or griddle over medium-high heat, and brush (or spray) with vegetable oil. To make sure it’s hot enough, wet your fingers under the tap and sprinkle a few droplets of water onto the pan. If they sizzle, it’s ready. Scoop the batter, about a scant ¼ cup at a time, onto the pan, taking care not to crowd them. When the underside is nicely browned and the top looks set around the edges, flip the pancakes. Cook until the second side has browned.

Re-grease the skillet, and repeat with more batter. If you find that the pancakes are browning too quickly, dial the heat back to medium.

Serve hot, with maple syrup.

Cheesy Bacon Dip

Thanks to my friend Krista, this is my FAVE dip ever. It is seriously addictive and seriously not good for you. I love it anyway. It's easy and always a crowd pleaser. Here's the link.
http://kristasfavorites.blogspot.com/2008/04/cream-cheese-dip.html

Cheesy Bacon Dip

8 oz cream cheese
½ cup mayonnaise
1 cup grated Swiss cheese
2 Tbsp chopped green onion
8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
½ cup Ritz crackers, crushed

Mix first 5 ingredients together and spread in a 9x9 (approx.) baking dish. Sprinkle crushed Ritz crackers on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes, or until hot and bubbly. Serve with tortilla chips or crackers.