Whole Grain Banana Bread Muffins

Great texture, yummy, non refined. And they have the added bonus that you don't have to throw out those black bananas that are too gross to even put in a fruit shake.

3-1/2 C. soft white wheat (aka whole wheat pastry flour)
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2/3 c. good fat - olive oil, coconut oil, or softened butter (can also sub 1/3 c. applesauce)
3/4 c. honey
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3 c. mashed very ripe bananas
1/2 c. hot water

Mix dry ingredients together in smaller bowl. Cream together honey & oil. Add eggs and beat well. Stir in vanilla and mashed bananas. Add about 1/3 of the dry ingredients to the wet and stir. Add 1/2 the water, stir. Repeat till it's all added. Don't over-stir.

Spoon batter into greased muffin pan. Makes 24 muffins. Bake at 325 for about 12-16 min. Test with a toothpick to make sure they are done.

Bonus treat: add 1 c. chocolate chips.

Burrito Bar

Set the following out on the counter. Start with the tortilla on your plate and pile it on!

Warm tortillas (homemade are especially good, use corn tortillas for gluten free)
Cilantro rice
Shredded sweet pork or chicken
Warmed refried beans or black beans
Chopped romaine lettuce
Salsa (fresh homemade is the best) or Green salsa
Ranch dressing or cilantro-lime dressing
Shredded cheese or queso fresco
Lime (twist of lime juice)
Olives
Guacamole

This is fast if you already have frozen rice and shredded meat in the freezer.

Shredded sweet pork or chicken

So good in a burrito or taco! 

3 lb pork roast or 3 skinless/boneless chicken breasts 

1 cup salsa 

1 cup sucanat 

 Put meat in crockpot. Mix together salsa & sucanat and pour over the top of the meat. Cook on high 4 hours or low 8-10 hours. When done, shred with forks. Serve in a taco or burrito bar. Could substitute agave & a little molasses for the sucanat.

INSTANTPOT update: 

Slice pork roast into 2" thick slices.  Put in instant pot, cover with sauce.  Cook for 50 minutes, natural release for 10 minutes.  If pork is frozen,  go to 60-70 minutes.  

Italian Cheese Bread

This is a copycat recipe for italian cheese bread like they have at Little Caesar's.

1 loaf of bread dough (1 hour bread works great, use 1/4 of the recipe)
1 stick butter
1 TBS Italian dressing mix
1/2 tsp salt
2-3 c. shredded mozzarella

Melt 4 TBS butter and spread on bottom of a jelly roll pan (15" x 10" pan with 1" high edge). Roll out dough and put in pan on the butter. Melt 2 TBS butter and brush on top of the dough. Sprinkle the italian dressing seasonings and salt on top and cover with shredded cheese. Bake 400 degrees for about 12-18 minutes until done. Melt remaining 2 TBS butter and brush on top of cheese.

If you want to cut down on the fat a bit, you can reduce each step by 1 TBS butter. Or you can use 1/2 olive oil.

Heavenly Holiday Mashed Potatoes

Festive red and green potatoes, these are a hit at every holiday party.

5 lb red potatoes
12 oz onion dip
1 stick of butter
1/4 c. parsley
1/2 - 1 TBS real salt, to taste
1 TBS ground pepper, to taste

Wash potatoes and cut into cubes. Do not peel them. Put in large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and simmer till soft, about 15-25 minutes. Remove from heat and drain. Add dip, butter and mash. Mix in parsley, salt and pepper.

If bringing to a party, spread in a 9x13 pan and cover with foil. Wrap in towels to keep warm. You can put it in the oven to warm at 425 degrees.

Onion Soup Dip

Tasty vegetable dip

8 oz sour cream
4 tsp dry minced onion
1/2 tsp onion powder
2 tsp beef bouillon
1/8 tsp celery salt

Mix together and refrigerate.

Chicken Tortilla soup

Rather tasty soup for a cold night.

1 onion, chopped or pureed
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tbs butter or olive oil
dash chili powder
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp garlic salt
3 (15 oz) cans crushed tomatoes
5 cups chicken broth
1 (15 oz) can corn (or 2 c. frozen corn)
2 (15 oz) cans black beans (or 3-4 c. cooked black beans)
1/4 C. chopped fresh cilantro
3 boneless chicken breast halves, cooked
Shredded cheddar cheese
sour cream
Corn tortillas

In a large pot, heat butter. Saute onion and garlic in oil until translucent. Stir in spices, tomatoes (can puree in blender if you don't like chunks) and broth. Bring to a boil and simmer 10 min.

Meanwhile, cook the chicken. Blend the chicken in a food processor to make small chunks. Add chicken, beans, corn and cilantro to the soup and simmer 10 minutes more.

Meanwhile, heat oil (I use 1/2 coconut oil and 1/2 olive oil). Cut corn tortillas into 1/4" strips and deep fry them in the oil until just starting to get golden. Salt them. Or you can just crush up tortilla chips to serve with the soup.

Serve soup with sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese and fried corn tortilla strips on top.