Banana Pecan Bread

I had some extra ripe bananas just begging to be made into something fantastic. Luckily, I didn't have any walnuts on hand, so it made me search for a new recipe that included pecans, something I did have. This recipe calls this Moist Banana Pecan Bread, and it is! I'm enjoying a warm piece out of the oven now...and you should too!

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter softened
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 medium overripe bananas, mashed
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

1. Preheat oven to 325. Grease a 9" x 5" loaf pan.
2. In a large mixing bowl, beat together butter and brown sugar until creamed. Beat in eggs, mashed bananas, and vanilla until creamy.
3. In a seperate bowl, combine flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg. Gradually add this dry mixture into creamed mixture and mix well. Batter will get thick.
4. Stir in chopped pecans.
5. Pour into greased loaf pan. Bake at 325 for 70-80 minutes. (Mine took the full 80 minutes)
   
6. Makes 1 loaf.

Beef Rolls with Spring Salad

I had, oh, about 12 magazines I hadn't even touched. So this past Saturday was a fun game of catch up. I got through about 3 of them. I'm actually going to be reading the magazine while the month that's on the spine is the same that is on today's calendar. Anywaaaaay, Everyday Food had a really delicious looking dinner that not only was quick but healthy! We are trying to focus more on what we eat, so this was really appealing to us. I can't wait to make this in the summer! It's the perfect light dish for eating outside.

I modified it just a touch from the magazine- mostly the amounts of things.

Ingredients:

• 1 pepper (I used 1/2 of a red and 1/2 of an orange)
• 1 small onion
• olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 3/4 c water
• 3/4 pound braciola beef (I used just a thinly sliced sirloin tip and pounded it a bit thinner)- cut into 4 equal pieces
• 2 ounces pepper Jack cheese
• 7 ounces spring lettuce mix
• 1 1/2 tsp sherry vinegar (I used balsamic vinegar)

1. In a large skillet, heat 1 tbsp oil over medium-high. Add onions and peppers; cook, stirring occasionally, until beginning to brown, about 7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and add 3/4 c water; cover and simmer 3 minutes. Uncover and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are soft and liquid has evaporated, 2 minutes.

2. Pat meat dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Place cheese and onion-pepper mixture in center of beef pieces. Beginning with narrow end of meat, roll filling up tightly. Carefully flip meat seam side up and secure with toothpicks.

3. In the same skillet as in step 1, heat to medium high. Place meat rolls, seam side down, in skillet and cook, turning occasionally, until beef browns and cheese melts, about 8 minutes. Reduce heat is beef is browning too quickly. Transfer beef rolls to a plate.

4. Toss lettuce with vinegar and 1 tsp oil; season with salt and pepper. Remove toothpicks from beef rolls; serve with salad.

Enjoy!

Ginger Pumpkin Tart

I was watching 5 Ingredient Fix and saw this recipe. It looked way too good not to try! (I made a good choice!)

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups crushed thin Swedish ginger cookies, (about 55 to 60 cookies)
• 6 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin puree, organic if possible
• 3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
• 2 large egg yolks
• Pinch salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Put a 9-inch removable-bottom fluted tart pan on a baking sheet.

Make the crust by combining the ginger cookie crumbs and melted butter in a large bowl, until well blended. Add the crumbs to the tart pan and evenly press over the bottom and up the sides with the bottom of a measuring cup. Bake until set and a bit darker in color, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

In a bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, condensed milk, egg yolks and salt until well blended. Pour the filling into the cooled crust, return to the oven, and bake until set and beginning to brown on the top, about 30 minutes. Remove tart from the oven, cool to room temperature and then chill in the refrigerator, at least 1 hour or until ready to serve.

To serve, carefully remove outer tart shell ring and slice. Eat and enjoy!

NOTE: Any crushed gingersnap cookie will do; just be sure to use 2 1/2 cups crumbs for the crust.

Freezer Ready Chicken Pot Pie

Back when my sister had her baby in September, I made her 3 freezer meals to help out their tired, hungry bellies. While I was at it, I went ahead and just doubled each recipe and kept one of each for ourselves. I found the recipe here, and it was super easy! Of course I was a bit skeptical as this was my first time making freezer meals...and because this just seemed too simple. I.was.wrong. It was REALLY good! My plan next time is to make about 6 of these bad boys at once. I could easily eat this once every couple weeks. Sorry my picture is awful...I forgot to take one after we cut it, and it was gone really quickly.

Easy Chicken Pot Pie Freezer Recipe

1 pkg frozen peas & carrots
1 8oz can small whole onions, drained
1 small can mushroom pieces
2 cups cooked & cut-up chicken pieces
2 cups chicken gravy
Pie crust (frozen or homemade)

Combine all ingredients well and pour into 9" pie pan. Cover with pie crust, pressing edges into foil pan. Freeze as is for one hour, remove, wrap with freezer wrap and label, then freeze.

On cooking day:
Remove one and a half hours before baking, remove from freezer to thaw. Preheat oven to 450F. Cover edges of pie crust with foil to prevent the crust from burning. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until crust is brown and mixture inside is hot. Remove from oven and allow to sit for ten minutes.

Annie's Benchiladas

I promise, we are not withering away to nothing over here at Casa de Happy Meals. We are all keeping our pounds right where they are, and then some :) I've got a handful of posts to get caught up on, I've just been busy over at My Happy House. Promise, I'll make more of an effort to stay on top of the food business.

So...onto the good stuff. Meet benchiladas.
I had some chicken thawing, and wanted to do something new. We were getting tired of the regular rotation players. I remembered Lindsay raving about some enchiladas she had made, and that made my decision easy. They come from the wonderful Annie, at Annie's Eats. These are new candidates to the starting line up. Thanks Annie...and Lindsay!

INGREDIENTS

* 4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

* 8 oz. reduced fat sour cream (we used fat free)

* 8 oz. ranch dressing (we used light)

* Flour tortillas (10-15)

* Jar of salsa (we used red enchilada sauce instead)

* Shredded mexican cheese - as much as you want!

DIRECTIONS

1. Cook chicken breasts by preferred cooking method until cooked through. Set aside to cool a bit.
2. While chicken is cooling, mix up the sauce. In a large mixing bowl, combine half of the sour cream and half of the ranch dressing. In a small bowl, combine the rest of the sour cream and Ranch dressing. Stir both until well combined. Shred or chop the cooked chicken and add to the large mixing bowl. Mix well with sauce.
3. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 9 x 13″ pan (and possibly another, smaller pan if needed). Take one tortilla and top with a little less than 1 tbsp. of the sauce from the small bowl. Spread over the tortilla in an even layer. Add some of the chicken mixture to the center of the tortilla. Top with salsa to taste. Sprinkle with shredded cheese, to taste. Roll up tortilla and place, seam side down, in the prepared baking dish. Repeat with remaining ingredients (usually makes 10-15 enchiladas).
4. Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes (30 for a crispier tortilla). Allow to cool a few minutes before serving.

Cranberry Orange Scones

I had some leftover cranberries from the Cranberry Orange Bundt Cake...well and some oranges. So when I saw this recipe on The Way the Cookie Crumbles, it was screaming my name. I really love to eat scones, so I thought I'd try my hand at making them. Yummy! This is the perfect sweet bread for breakfast. I'll totally make them again...I'll have to try some variation though!

Makes 8 scones

1½ tablespoons freshly grated orange zest
2½ cups (12 ounces) all-purpose flour
½ cup (3.5 ounces) sugar plus 3 tablespoons
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¾ stick (6 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into bits
1½ cups fresh cranberries, chopped coarse (I usually do this in the food processor)
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 cup heavy cream

1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 400°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

2. In a small bowl, toss together fresh cranberries and 3 tablespoons sugar. In another small bowl, lightly beat the egg and yolk, then stir in cream.

3. In a food processor, pulse the flour, ½ cup sugar, baking powder, salt, and zest until combined. Add the butter and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Transfer to a large bowl. (You can also just smoosh the butter into the dry ingredients with your fingers instead of using a food processor.) Stir the cranberries into the flour mixture. Then gently fold the egg mixture into the flour until just combined.

4. On a well-floured surface with floured hands, pat the dough into a 1-inch-thick round (about 8 inches in diameter). With a 2-inch round cutter or the rim of a glass dipped in flour, cut out as many rounds as possible, rerolling the scraps as necessary. (Or cut the circle into wedges, which is my standard method.) Arrange the scones about 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheet and bake 15 to 20 minutes, or until pale golden. Cool about 10 minutes, then serve.

*I did however find the dough to be a bit moist, so I just added some flour as I went.

Macintosh Apple Cake

I had some apples that were quickly going downhill, so I wanted to use them up. Amy over here had an intriguing apple cake recipe. Intriguing because she said it was delicious but it looked ridiculously simple! Well, she wasn't lying. It is reeeeeeally good! I think we each had 2-3 pieces. It was hard to put it away. I'll definitely make it again.

1 1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 cups sugar

3 eggs beaten

3 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. vanilla extract

3 cups apples, peeled sliced -I used Macintosh & an apple peeler corer- which is a huge lifesaver! Once it went through that, I did was cut them into 6 sections for approximately 1 inch pieces

1 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 300.

Combine oil and sugar, blend in eggs. Combine flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Add to oil and sugar mixture. Add vanilla extract, apples and walnuts. Place in greased 9x13 inch pan and bake for 1 hour, 20 minutes in a 300 degree oven.