Banana Carrot Muffins

I have a picture of these on my facebook, but I didn't want to download it off my phone onto my computer because clearly I am lazy, so go check out the final product on my profile.

These really turned out great, even though I made a few changes. Delicious and SUPER healthy.

Anja's Food 4 Thought

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup rolled oats

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon allspice (I used 1/4 cloves and 1/4 nutmeg because I didn't have allspice)

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 tablespoon flax seeds (left these out because I didn't have any)

1 large carrot, finely grated (about 1 cup)

1/2 cup raisins (left these out because I didn't want them)

3 tablespoons canola oil (I used apple sauce)

2 ripe medium bananas, mashed

3 tablespoons agave syrup (I used half honey and half sugar substitute)

I also added blueberries on top before I baked them because I have a ton and they're delicious! 

Yields 6 (Mine made 9?)

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 Preheat oven to 180C. Line muffin tin with paper liners or coat with cooking  spray.

In a bowl, combine flour, oats, salt, baking powder, flax seeds and spices. Mix well. Stir in raisins and grated carrot.
In another bowl, combine oil, agave and mashed bananas. Combine wet and dry ingredients. Stir until just combined. Fill batter into muffin molds. Bake for 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Whole Wheat Pizza Pockets

From 100 Days of Real Food

These were so good! Seriously! And now that I know the tricks to the trade they are a pretty quick meal too. The cheese mixture is what really makes it. Man now I want these for dinner again!

Dough Ingredients

• 1 cup water
• 2 teaspoons dry active yeast (did you know that yeast should be refrigerated or in the freezer)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 cups whole-wheat flour (same with this - whole wheat flour needs to be refrigerated or in the freezer to keep it good).
• 2 tsp sugar (I tried this SEVERAL times without sugar and it never ever ever foamed like it's supposed to. I even tried to see if foaming was really necessary and the dough would not stick together - it was just a clumpy mess. Finally Mark looked at the back of my yeast jar and in the directions it says to add sugar. Anyway, it may just be the yeast I have, but check to make sure).

Filling Ingredients

• 1 ¼ cups ricotta cheese (maybe you could substitute with cottage cheese)
• 1 ¼ cups mozzarella cheese, shredded 
• ½ cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
• Salt and pepper, to taste 
• Other fillings as desired: (Italian sausage, mushrooms, green bell pepper with onions and garlic. Other ideas: BBQ chicken, cilantro, pineapple, caramelized onions, olives, basil, roasted garlic, spinach, eggplant, goat cheese, figs, and zucchini. (We just used Italian sausage. I was going to saute up some onions and peppers, but after fighting with the dough for an hour I just wanted to get it over with. Next time, next time).
• Pizza sauce

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. In a glass measuring cup heat 1-cup water until warm. Drop in 2 teaspoons yeast (and sugar) and let rest for a minute. (more like 5-10 minutes)
3. After the yeast foams up a bit add the salt and olive oil to the water mixture and gently stir if necessary.
4. In a food processor or mixer with a dough blade/hook add 3 cups flour. Pour in the water mixture and process until a dough ball forms. (I still had to knead mine by hand a little bit to get it good and doughy)
5. Coat a large bowl with olive oil, add the pizza dough ball, and cover with plastic wrap while you prepare the other fillings. (She says this in her blog post, but you don't have to let it rise. I didn't and it was still good).
6. In another bowl mix together the ricotta, mozzarella, and Parmesan. Chop and/or cook other desired fillings while dough rises on the counter (20 – 30 minutes). 
7. Divide dough into 6 equal sized pieces. Shape each one into a ball and then flatten it out with a rolling pin. 
8. Spread a spoonful of pizza sauce in the center of the dough. Add two heaping spoonfuls of the cheese mixture and one spoonful of filling (or 3 spoonfuls of cheese mixture if no other filling is desired).
9. Seal edges of the dough together as best you can with your fingers. (After reading some of the comments I folded ours like a calzone. Otherwise the cheese filling comes out and the dough doesn't cook all the way in the middle. Make a couple of holes with a fork in the top.
10. Bake in the oven for 12 – 15 minutes and once done let cool for a few minutes.
11. Serve with warm pizza sauce for dipping and enjoy!

Veggie Pancakes

From 100 Days of Real Food

These were yummy! Tyler ate 3 and Mark had just as many and probably would have had more, but they were all gone. I made them as a side when we were having pancakes for dinner. (I needed to add something of nutritional value). It probably made about 8 pancakes. 

Ingredients

• 2 cups shredded veggies (I like to use a mix including things like sweet potatoes, zucchini, yellow squash and/or carrots…whatever you have on hand)
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon whole-wheat flour
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• Olive oil for cooking
• I added some salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder to give it some flavor.

Directions

1. Combine the shredded veggies with the eggs, flour, and salt. Mix thoroughly.
2. Heat a thin layer of olive oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. It is important that the heat is the right temperature because you want the pancakes to cook all the way through the middle by the time they are brown on the outside.
3. Once the oil has heated up add pancake size dollops of the veggie mixture into the pan. Cook for several minutes until the bottom starts to brown. Then flip and repeat.
4. Transfer cooked pancakes to a plate lined with paper towels.

Graham Crackers/Bars

I got this recipe from my friend Stacy.

These are more like graham bars and they aren't hard like crackers - they are nice and soft.  Tyler gobbles these suckers down and I don't care because they are whole wheat.  I like them too.  They are a nice snack to have around and easy to boot.

2 c whole wheat flour (I use white whole wheat flour)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 c butter, melted
1/2 c honey

Mix together flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, salt. Separately mix the butter and honey and pour into the dry ingredients. Mix Well and drop onto a greased baking sheet or jelly roll pan. Roll out to the corners or pat into shape. Bake for 10 min at 350 degrees. Cut quickly when they come out of the oven. Place on cooling rack.

Hawaiian Haystacks - New Version!!

From Picky Palate

This was really yummy! Definitely much better than the cream of chicken soup version I've always made. The ranch dressing seasoning added the perfect flavor! 

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 cup sour cream

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

32 ounces reduced sodium chicken broth

2 teaspoons of dry Ranch Dressing seasoning packet

1/4 teaspoon garlic salt

2 cups cooked shredded chicken breast (Yesterday, I put 6 chicken breasts in the crockpot with some broth, salt, and pepper. It made 5 1/2 cups of shredded chicken. Best idea ever! I basically have half of a meal already made for the next few days! Today - Hawaiian Haystacks. Tomorrow - baked chicken taquitos. The day after - balsamic chicken pasta. SO EASY!)

Steamed rice, enough for your family (I used basmati - as usual)

Whatever toppings you prefer (We do cheese, pineapple, celery, and chow mein noodles)

Place butter into a large saucepan over medium heat, stirring to melt. Slowly whisk in flour, salt and pepper until smooth and thick, for 1-2 minutes. Slowly whisk in chicken broth until smooth. Increase heat to high whisking until thick, about 2 minutes (more like 4-5 min). Add sour cream, Ranch seasoning, garlic salt, and cooked chicken breast. Stir and season accordingly. You may prefer additional, salt, pepper and garlic salt. (After I added everything and stirred it together I turned it to low and let it simmer. That helps it thicken up more). 

Shredded Pork Sandwiches

Recipe from My Baking Addiction

I'm giving up on remembering to take pictures. Even when I do remember they turn out very unappetizing looking. Anyway, I'm pretty sure this is a recipe Katelyn uses too, but since she hasn't posted it on here, I will. I found it on her pinterest page and tried it. YUM! We all loved it. Tyler devoured a whole sandwich, plus some on the side that he dipped in ketchup (that kid and ketchup!). I especially like that it isn't cooked in bbq sauce. It seems like the recipes that require that are way too saucy and strong. So, what are you waiting for - give it a try!

1 large Vidalia onion, sliced thin

2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon paprika
2 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 (4-6 lb) boneless pork butt or shoulder - I've also tried it with bone-in and it worked just fine
¾ cup cider vinegar
4 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 ½ teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes (with Tyler in mind, I only used 1 tsp)
1 ½ teaspoons sugar
½ teaspoons dry mustard
½ teaspoon garlic salt
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper (same here - I just dashed some in)

Don't forget the whole wheat hamburger buns!

DIRECTIONS:

1. Rinse pork roast under cold water and pat dry with paper towels. 

Tips: 1)My pork had a HUGE, THICK "fat cap" (and yes, it really is called that - I googled it) that I had the privilege of sawing off. I wasn't expecting that step.
2) Be careful opening your package of meat! Maybe it was just my package but I opened mine on a flat cutting board and juice/blood ran everywhere. I would try opening it on a plate or in a bowl or something to contain the flood of juice that is bound to follow.
Basically, preparing the meat for this recipe is kind of messy. Pick one spot of your kitchen to prepare this and then clean thoroughly - don't forget that sink that now has raw meat juice incubating in it. 

2. Place onions in crock-pot. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, paprika, kosher salt and pepper; mix thoroughly. Rub mixture all over roast and place the roast on top of the onions.

3. In a medium bowl, combine vinegar, Worcestershire, red pepper flakes, sugar, mustard, garlic salt and cayenne pepper; whisk to combine. Drizzle about 1/3 of vinegar mixture over roast. Cover and refrigerate remaining vinegar mixture.

4. Cover crockpot; cook on low for 10-12 hours. Drizzle about 1/3 of reserved vinegar mixture over roast during last ½ hour of cooking.

5. Remove meat and onions; drain. Chop or shred meat and onions. Serve with remaining vinegar mixture or your favorite barbeque sauce. (We used some Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce and it added the perfect amount of flavor to the sandwich. We just spread some on the bread like you would mayo or something.)

PS I think Katelyn makes coleslaw to go with this and I imagine that would be great! I'm just too lazy. 

Sweet Potato and Black Bean Enchiladas

These were yummy! Even Mark liked them (well for being meatfree)! *cue heavenly chorus* And they were super easy. Bonus! So seriously, you should try them, like now!

I got the basic idea from A Couple Cooks, Their recipe seemed very spicy and VERY oniony, so I made quite a few changes. The recipe that follows is the way I made it. If you want to see their version just click on their blog link.

Sweet potatoes (about 2 cups, diced)
1 15 oz can black beans (drained and rinsed)
1/2 medium sized red onion, diced (this may even be a bit much...just go for how oniony you want it)
1 4 oz can diced green chiles
1/2 Tbsp cumin
1 Tbsp chili powder
Sprinkle of salt and pepper
1 10 oz can green enchilada sauce (I don't think I used the whole can. Just pour on how much you like)
Shredded colby jack cheese
8 flour tortillas
guacamole or sour cream for toppings (I made a basic guac but added some plain yogurt to make it a bit creamier)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Peel and dice potato. Throw in a sauce pan, cover with water, and sprinkle in some salt. Bring to a boil and boil until tender.

Combine tender diced potatoes, black beans, diced onion, green chiles, cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper in a bowl and mix.

Warm up tortillas in microwave to soften. Pour some green enchilada sauce in the bottom of a greased 9x13 casserole dish.

Spoon some mixture into a tortilla, sprinkle on some cheese, roll up, and place in the pan seam side down. Continue until mix is all gone.

Pour some more enchilada sauce over the top of the enchiladas (as much as you like), sprinkle some cheese on top, and throw in the oven - about 20-30 minutes.

Serve with guac and/or sour cream and enjoy!