Banana Muffins

This is a easy, quick banana muffin recipe that makes moist and delicious muffins!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 
• 1 teaspoon baking powder 
• 1 teaspoon baking soda 
• 1/2 teaspoon salt 
• 3 large bananas, mashed 
• 3/4 cup white sugar 
• 1 egg 
• 1/3 cup butter, melted 

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Coat muffin pans with non-stick spray, or use paper liners. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside. Combine bananas, sugar, egg, and melted butter in a large bowl. Fold in flour mixture, mixing only until combined - don't over mix! Scoop into muffin pans. Bake in preheated oven. Bake mini muffins for 10 to 15 minutes, and large muffins for 20 to 25 minutes. Muffins will spring back when lightly tapped.

Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies II

We made these cookies to remember dad's birthday this past weekend. I know we already had a recipe for this on the blog, but I have been wanting a softer, less crumbly peanut butter cookie recipe. This is my new favorite recipe for these cookies!

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups peanut butter
• 1 cup shortening
• 2/3 cup white sugar
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup milk 
• 2 eggs 
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup white sugar, or as needed
• 2 (12 ounce) bags Hershey's Kisses, unwrapped

Directions:

Beat peanut butter, shortening, 2/3 cup white sugar, brown sugar, milk, eggs, and vanilla extract together with an electric mixer in a large bowl until creamy and smooth.

Spoon flour into measuring cup (don't scoop - it adds too much flour). Sift flour, baking soda, and salt together in a bowl. ( I don't sift, I just mixed well.)

Gradually fold flour mixture into peanut butter mixture to form a smooth dough. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled, about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour 1/4 cup white sugar into a shallow bowl. Scoop dough into 1-inch balls, roll balls in sugar, and place 1 1/2 inches apart on baking sheets. Bake cookies in the preheated oven for 8 minutes. Open the oven door and press a chocolate kiss about halfway down in the center of each cookie. Bake for until chocolate begins to melt and lose form, about another 2 minutes. Cool on wire racks until chocolate hardens, at least 3 hours.

A few notes:

Refrigerating the dough at least 1 hour is not strictly necessary, but I recommend it because it makes the dough easier to work with when shaping balls and also helps retain the shape when baking and avoid too much cracking when adding kisses.

Prep kisses by unwrapping foils and lining them upright on a plate or cookie sheet for easy transfer to cookie dough. Baking dough too long before adding kisses can cause kisses to fall out of the cookie dough when cooled. Kisses need to bake long enough to adhere to the cookie base but not to the point that they lose shape. Do not over bake!

Stacking cookies before chocolate has fully cooled and hardened will cause them to squish and loose shape. If desired, freeze immediately when cooled. I've kept them up to 2 months and they taste as fresh as the day they were baked.

Magic Cookie Bars

My sister in law Jennifer made these for everyone on the 4th. They were DELICIOUS!

Ingredients

• Crisco Original No-Stick Cooking Spray 
• 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs 
• 1/2 cup butter, melted 
• 1 (14 oz.) can Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk 
• 2 cups (12 oz. pkg.) semi-sweet chocolate chips 
• 1 1/3 cups flaked coconut 
• 1 cup chopped nuts 

Instructions

HEAT oven to 350°F. Coat 13 x 9-inch baking pan with no-stick cooking spray. COMBINE graham cracker crumbs and butter in small bowl. Press into bottom of prepared pan. Pour sweetened condensed milk evenly over crumb mixture. Layer evenly with chocolate chips, coconut and nuts. Press down firmly with fork. BAKE 25 to 30 minutes or until lightly browned. Loosen from sides of pan while still warm; cool on wire rack. Cut into bars or diamonds. For perfectly cut cookie bars, line entire pan with foil, extending foil over edge of pan. Coat lightly with no-stick cooking spray. After bars have baked and cooled, lift up with edges of foil to remove from pan. Cut into bars.

VARIATIONS SUBSTITUTE chocolate chips or nuts with candy coated pieces, dried cranberries, raisins, mini-marshmallows or butterscotch chips.

When it's time to plan the shopping list, I generally open up this blog first and browse for ideas. But the second place I go is to Taylor's blog. Taylor is my super duper talented sis-in-law, who makes the most amazing food and takes the most gorgeous photos of that food. I love her blog, and wanted to post links to some of my favorites here so that I always remember when planning what I want to eat!

Taylor's recipe for Lemon Chicken is one of my new favorite dinners. In fact, we ate it again tonight. Mmmmmmm!

This Baked Mushroom Chicken recipe is another meal we have had multiple times - it's a keeper!

These dinner rolls are to die for!

And as Taylor has definitely mastered the art of making dessert, you can't go wrong with any of these recipes.

Really, everything on her blog is fabulous, these are just some of our favorites that we've tried and loved! So if you are looking for something new, head over to her blog. You can thank me later!

Coconut Curry Shrimp and Rice

Oh, yummy! This meal from The Pioneer Woman was amazing!!  I was a little wary of the curry, as I am not a fan of super strong curry flavor, but the curry blended beautifully with the coconut, lime and honey flavors, and it was the perfect mix of deliciousness.  Click HERE for full pictures and instructions.

• 2 Tablespoons Butter
• 1-1/2 pound Peeled And Deveined Raw Shrimp (I Used U10, But Any Size Is Fine)
• 1 whole Medium Onion, Finely Diced
• 4 cloves Garlic, Minced
• 1 Tablespoon Curry Powder
• 1 can (13 1/2 Oz. Size) Coconut Milk (I Used "A Taste Of Thai" Brand)
• 2 Tablespoons Honey, More To Taste
• 1/4 teaspoon Kosher Salt (more To Taste)
• 1 whole Lime, Juiced
• Hot Sauce, Optional
• 12 whole Basil Leaves, Chopped, Plus More For Garnish
• 2 cups Basmati Rice--cooked According To Package Directions

Preparation Instructions

Heat the butter in a large skillet (I used non-stick) over medium-high heat. Add the shrimp and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, turning them over halfway through, until fully cooked. Remove to a plate and set aside.

Add the onion and garlic to the skillet and stir to cook for 2 minutes. Sprinkle the curry powder over the onions and continue cooking the onions, stirring, for another couple of minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-low and pour in the coconut milk, stirring to combine. Add honey, salt, and lime juice, and allow the sauce to heat up until bubbling gently. Add shrimp into the sauce, tossing to coat, and allow it to simmer for 2 to 3 minutes or until slightly thickened. Taste the sauce and add more salt, lime juice, or honey depending on your taste. Stir in the basil. (Add hot sauce if you want a little kick.)

Serve shrimp and sauce over a bed of cooked basmati rice, garnishing with more basil. Delicious!

Quick and Easy Breakfast Granola

One of the hardest things for me when it comes to making healthy choices is breakfast. I LOVE breakfast cereal. Right now I am doing a challenge where I am trying not to eat as much sugar, and if sugar is listed within the first three ingredients on an ingredient list, I am avoiding that food. Sugar is within the first three ingredients on EVERY breakfast cereal I like to eat. So, what to eat for breakfast?

Here is a good recipe that you can whip up in 2 minutes and that I think is delicious!  I usually half this unless I am sharing, as half is plenty for me and this is not a low calorie recipe.

Quick and Easy Breakfast Granola

• 1/2 Oats, either old-fashioned or quick
• 2 T. nut butter (almond, walnut, cashew) OR organic peanut butter
• 1 T. honey
• salt

(optional add ins: cinnamon, chopped nuts, dark mini chocolate chips, dried fruits or ginger)

Stir together in a bowl until well blended. Eat plain, on yogurt, or (my favorite!) over fresh peaches or berries.  

Banana Ice Cream

Did you know that you could make ice cream with only a banana. Seriously, that is the only ingredient. If you have a ripe banana and a food processor or blender, you are ready to make this!  It's sweet and yummy and surprisingly creamy!!

This is my new favorite healthy treat! Read the easy how-to instructions here.