Banana Bread Muffins

Ingredients:
6 Medium Bananas, very ripe
2 Tablespoons Vanilla Extract
2 Cups Brown Sugar, firmly packed
1 1/2 Cups Apple Sauce
1 Cup Sour Cream
4 Large Eggs
3 1/2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
2 Teaspoons Baking Soda
2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
1 Teaspoon Salt
2 Cups Mini Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels
1 Cup Pecans, finely chopped (optional)

Preheat oven to 350.  Put cupcake liners in muffin tins.

In a small bowl, mash bananas together with vanilla.

In the bowl of a mixer combine brown sugar, apple sauce, sour cream, and eggs.  Stir until combined.

In a medium bowl combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.  Gradually add the flour to the sugar mixture, mixing just until combined.  Stir in bananas, chocolate morsels, and pecans (if using).

Pour into muffin tins.  Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.

Yield:  42 muffins

Zucchini Tots

Ingredients

3 cups grated zucchini

3 eggs lightly beaten

1 red onion, diced

3/4 - 1 cup cheddar cheese (or parmesan for a lighter taste)

3/4 cup bread crumbs 

Red pepper flakes to taste

1.  Heat oven to 400 and spray a mini-muffin tin non-stick spray

2.  When you grate the zucchini, spread it out on a paper towel and lightly sprinkle with salt.  LET IT SIT for about 20 minutes.  This removes all the excess moisture and keeps the tots from being soggy.  Bleh.

3.  Mix together the eggs, onion, cheese, bread crumbs, and pepper flakes.

4.  Add zucchini

5.  Spoon into muffin tin.  Bake for 15-20 minutes (until they are brown)

VARIATION

Use 3 cups of squash in place of zucchini.  Use yellow onion in place of red.  Add 1 teaspoon (or more- to taste) of ground sage.  Be sure to use cheddar cheese with this one.  They'll taste like mini casseroles!

Spicy Black Beans

Ingredients

2 16 ounce Cans of Black Beans
2 Small Cans of Diced Green Chiles
1/2 to 1 Cup of Salsa (your taste)
Lime juice - just a dash or so

Heat the beans on the stove until warm.  Add the green chiles and salsa and heat to desired temperature.  Add a dash of lime and put those babies on the table!

Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients

2 cloves garlic
1 large onion, chopped
8 ounces mushrooms, chopped
2 cans Rotel
Black pepper (to taste)
Red pepper flakes (to taste)
4 chicken breasts, cooked and diced (I marinate ours in Allegro marinade)
2 cups shredded 2% cheddar cheese
8 Tortillas (I use Carb-Balance flour tortillas with 12 grams of fiber, but you can use what you prefer)

Saute the onion and garlic using Pam spray. Add mushrooms.  Add the cans of rotel and both peppers, let simmer until liquid reduces. Take half of tomato mixture and stir in with chicken. In each tortilla, sprinkle some cheese, then spoon 1/8 of chicken mixture into tortilla. Roll up, and place in a 13x9 baking dish. Repeat until you have made 8 enchiladas. On top of the enchiladas, spread the remaining tomato mixture and top with cheddar cheese (cheese is optional). 

Bake at 350 until cooked through.

Our kids have been known to pour all sorts of things on them at one time or another.  We've used taco sauce, salsa, salsa verde, or just nothing.  They are fabulous any way you do them.

Guacamole

Ingredients

2-3 Fresh Avocados - remove the seed and scoop out meat
2 Tomatoes- chopped
1-2 Jalapeños- chopped
1 Red Onion - chopped
1 Handful of Cilantro- chopped
1 Lime - juiced (or use the bottled stuff- it works too)
1 Teaspoon Cumin
Salt & Pepper to taste

In one bowl place the avocado meat and mash.  In another bowl add tomatoes, jalapeños, onion, and cilantro- toss together.  Add to the avocado.  Then season with lime juice, cumin, and salt & pepper.

Salsa

Ingredients

1-2 Jalapeños (depending on how much heat you like)
1 Onion (red is pretty, Vidalia is fabulous if they are in season, but any old onion will do)
Handful of Cilantro -  again just use according to taste
28 oz. can Whole Tomatoes, drained  (I use a quart of tomatoes I canned from our garden)
2 cans Rotel Tomatoes - drain one can, use the liquid from the other
1 pinch of sugar
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of cumin
1 teaspoon of pepper
Juice of 1 lime - I use a squirt of bottle key lime juice ALL the time

Add all ingredients to a food processor and process.

DONE!

Green Beans Tossed with Garlic

Ingredients

1 Pound Fresh Green Beans
1 Small Onion, minced
3-5 Cloves Garlic, minced
3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
3 Tablespoons Chicken Broth
Salt and Pepper to Taste

In a saute pan, heat olive oil.  Add onions, garlic, and green beans.  Toss to coat.  Cover and let cook for 5 minutes.  Deglaze pan with the chicken broth.  Put top on beans and let them simmer until desired doneness.