CHIA BANANA BREAD

I found a quick bread recipe that calls for no oil and is moistened by Chia Seeds. I tweaked the recipe and eliminated the White Flour and substituted Garbonzo Flour instead. It is a dense bread and I enjoyed the texture and flavor, of course a light spread of butter or honey butter on each slice tastes even better. My kids gobbled slices of it up for breakfast today too.

You are probably scratching your head... What the heck are chia seeds??? My next post will help educate you on the benefits of Chia Seeds. You can get them at a natural/nutrition store, Whole Foods Market, Market of Choice, Capella's or even On-line. They come in a bag or in bulk.

CHIA BANANA BREAD

2 T Chia Seeds, soaked in 1/2 cup of water; set aside for 10 min.

1/2 c All Purpose Flour (or substitute Garbonzo Flour)

1-1/2 cups of Whole Wheat Pastry Flour

1 tsp Baking Powder 1/2 tsp Salt

1 Egg

1-1/2 tsp of Lemon Juice

3/4 cup of Brown Sugar

1/4 cup of Honey

3 mashed Bananas

1 T of melted Butter

1 T Vanilla

1/2 cup of Walnuts, chopped

*optional 1/2 cup of Nestle Mini Morsel

1. Mix the Chia Seeds and water and let sit while you get the rest of the ingredients ready or until they've started to gel.


2. Mix all the dry ingredients together (flour, baking powder and salt).


3. In separate bowl, beat egg with lemon juice, brown sugar and honey. Add the mashed bananas, chia seeds, vanilla and melted butter.


4. Add wet mix to flour mix until combined.


5. Fold in nuts and/or mini chocolate chips.


6. Bake in greased loaf pan at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes.

(Makes one standard loaf or four mini loaves)

Cornflake Chews

Corn Flake Chewies

2 cups of sugar

1/4 cup butter

2 cups light corn syrup

2 cups creamy peanut butter

12 cups of corn flakes

In a large nonstick pot heat sugar, butter and corn syrup to boiling, stirring constantly.

Take off heat and add peanut butter, stir until melted.

Add cornflakes to hot mixture and stir.

Spread in greased pan or cookie sheet.

Cut when cool.

(You can drop by round spoonfuls too, but I find it much easier to spread on a cookie sheet and cut into squares).

From Angie's Kitchen

Enjoy!

Homemade Granola Bars

Granola Bars

4 cups of Quick Oats

1 cup of Old Fashioned Oats

1 cup of sliced Almonds

1 cup of Pepita's (pumpkin seeds) (no salt)

1/2 cup of Sunflower Kernels (no salt)

1 cup of shredded Coconut

1/2 cup chopped dried Cranberries

1/2 cup chopped dried Apricots

1 cup of dry Powdered Milk

1 1/2 cups of Honey

3/4 cup of Olive Oil

2 tsp. Vanilla

1 tsp. Salt

Mix all ingredients together, press into a cookie sheet. Bake at 300 degrees for 30 to 45 minutes. Cut into square bar shapes while still warm, let cool on sheet for a few hours. Store them in a airtight container.

From my kitchen to yours, Enjoy!

Angie

Make your own Brown Sugar

Brown Sugar

Ingredients:

2 Pounds of Sugar

6 ounces of Molasses

Put Sugar and Molasses in food processor and pulse a few times until incorporated. Store in airtight container for 30 days.

Homemade Tartar Sauce

1 cup of mayo (Best Foods)

1/8 cup of dill pickle relish (Steinfields)

1/8 cup of minced onion

2 tsp of dried dill (or 1 tsp of fresh baby dill)

Mix all ingredients together and let flavors meld together in the refrigerator for at least one hour before using. The flavor is awesome.

My favorite things to use this tartar sauce on is steamed fish, salmon cakes or fish tacos.

Homemade Pizza Crust

I have given this pizza crust recipe to a few friends and it was a big hit with there families. It is delicious, easy and super cheap to make. So I thought that I'd share it with all of you too.

Pizza Crust

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 package of dry yeast
1 T plus 2 tsp olive oil
1 cup of lukewarm water

*Preheat Oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease a 12x 9 inch baking sheet. Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl. Stir in the yeast. Make a well in the center and add olive oil and 1 cup of lukewarm water. Mix until a soft dough forms. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently for five minutes.

Roll out dough and press into a prepared baking sheet. Cover and allow to rest for 10 minutes at room temperature, then bake for 5-7 minutes.

Remove crust from the oven (spread your pizza sauce on top and top with mozzarella cheese and your favorite toppings). Bake an additional 15-20 minutes or until golden.

Helpful tips: I rub my hands with olive oil to help crust from sticking to my hands, when pressing out. I like to sprinkle my baking sheet with a touch of cornmeal before pressing out dough, for a chewy/crunchy crust.

Pacific N.W. Gumbo

I was creative the other day and started putting items from my fridge into a stock pot and this is the recipe I came up with. I call it Pacific N.W. Gumbo, because it is served like Southern Gumbo, but has North West ingredients. We don't grow okra in our neck of the woods, we grow mushrooms. Ground Beef is what I had on hand, shrimp and andouille sausage is a bit expensive for my budget. It is delicious and feels like comfort food. I hope you enjoy it like my family did. By the way it is loaded with fresh vegetables and is healthy too.

Pacific N.W. Gumbo

1 1/2 pounds of ground beef
2 shallots, minced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
3 tsp ranch seasoning
4 tsp of taco seasoning
1 tsp Lawry's seasoning
1 cup carrots, diced
1 cup cabbage, diced
4 cups of beef broth
3 cups of chicken broth
1 can of diced tomatoes with juice
3 T of tomato paste
1 cup zucchini, quartered and diced
1 cup mushrooms, diced
1/4 cup of red or yellow bell pepper

Hot buttered rice (the real thing, not instant)

Directions:

Make rice as directed on package ahead of time.

Brown ground beef, add shallots and garlic, add seasonings, carrots and cabbage. Saute a few minutes. Add beef stock, chicken stock, tomatoes with juice and tomato paste. Stir together and bring to a boil. Add remaining veggies and simmer another 10 minutes. Taste and season to your liking.

In a bowl add a half a cup of hot buttered rice, and ladle the gumbo over rice (about a cup and a half or two).

Chicken Corn Chowder

3 baked or boiled Chicken Breasts, sliced in semi-thin one inch slices
10 Fingerling Potatoes, sliced in rounds
1 cup of sliced Carrots
1 1/2 cups of Frozen Sweet Corn
2 cups of Cream
1 cup of Whole Milk
1 cup of shredded Cheddar Cheese (optional)
1/2 cup of bacon bits
Salt and Pepper to taste

Bring a pot of water to boil and add fingerling potatoes and carrots, simmer until fork tender. Drain most of the water leaving about 1/2 a cup of water. Add cream, milk and sweet corn and heat until hot. Add chicken, bacon and cheese and heat until hot. Salt and Pepper to taste.

Good Job Dad!

These are two gifts that my Dad got me last year, one for my birthday and the other for Christmas. I have to say, that he did a good job picking out these gifts. He usually has some corny ideas or I end up having to return and exchange them. But he really put some thought into these and knows that I love to cook.

I have used both of these cook books and have brought some new recipes into our home. We love a big simmering pot of soup in the Fall and Winter. The Deceptively Delicious book is written by Jerry Seinfeld's Wife, Jessica. It is really cool to sneak healthy veggies into meals, if you have a picky eater.

Homemade Chicken Stock

I buy a roasted chicken or two at Costco each month and realized that I have been tossing out the bones and skin and not making stock out of it. If I don't have time I can toss the carcass in the freezer in a Ziploc bag for later or boil some up right away. This week I made chicken enchilada casserole and roasted chicken noodle soup. The soup was divine and hearty.


Homemade Chicken Stock

Two chicken carcasses with skin
Water
Onion quartered
Handful on Carrots
Head of Garlic cut in half
Parsley
Salt and Pepper
Garlic Salt

Bring stock to a full boil and then turn down to a low boil and cover for and hour or so. Drain through a sieve or strainer. Skim off fat after cooled. You can use it right away or freeze in containers for later.

Recipe Ratings

Well, last week I tried two new recipes. The Chicken Bacon Ranch Pizza was really good. The homemade pizza crust was really easy too. On half of the pizza I added thinly sliced zucchini, minced red onion and diced tomatoes. I heated up the leftovers on my new pizza stone from pampered chef and served it at my Friday Coffee Gathering for Brunch. It was a big hit and the kids loved it too. My husband and pre-teen said that they would prefer a tomato based sauce rather than the garlic ranch sauce. Too each their own. I loved it as did my girl friends.

The Chicken Spaghetti was wonderful. It made three meals for our family and I froze one of them for later. I mashed it up a bit and it made wonderful baby food. However, even though it sounds light, it was pure comfort food and was probably loaded with tons of calories. Hence the sharp cheddar cheese, Velveeta, cream of chicken soup and pasta, if you get my drift. I would like to find a way to make it lighter, healthier and cheaper.

This weeks new recipes are Quiche Tartlets and Penne Pasta with Italian Sausage Links, peppers, onions and fresh canned tomatoes.

Weekly New Recipe

Do you ever get in a rut and run into preparing the same old go to recipes/meals. I am sparking a new change and have decided to add a new recipe to my weekly menu planning. This week I have two new recipes that I want to try, because I have the ingredients and am inspired to be creative in the kitchen. These will be recipes that I haven't tried and will rate them for you at the end of the week.

I am also working on launching a recipe co-op exchange with family, old friends and new foodie friends too. I will post the new recipes in the recipe blog that are a hit with my family and guests.

Be Inspired in the Kitchen!

Frugal Recipes

My dear friend Jen called me today to ask me and my other dear friends to bring a few frugal recipes to our Friday morning coffee gathering to exchange. She wants to menu plan for two weeks and needs some new recipes that are cheap to make on the budget and tastes good.

Can any of you inspire her with some of your frugal recipes for her family? Much appreciated.

Heirloom Tomato and Bocconcini Mozzarella Salad

This is one of the recipes that I made with those wonderful heirloom tomatoes that I found at my local farmer's market. Each bite was bursting with fresh flavors.

Heirloom Tomato and Bocconcini Mozzarella Salad

Variety of fresh heirloom tomatoes or any tangy tomato variety (sliced in quarters)
3 balls of fresh baby bocconcini mozzarella (sliced)
1/4 cup of EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
the juice of one tomato
a drizzle of basalmic vinegar
2 garlic cloves (minced)
salt and pepper to taste

Toss together to coat and let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Frozen Apple Pie Filling

Frozen Apple Pie Filling

Ingredients
6-7 baking apples sliced or 6 cups ( I use Gravenstein)
2 T Minute Tapioca granules
1/2 C sugar
1/4 C brown sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg

Put fruit, tapioca, sugars and both spices in large bowl. Mix together, let stand 15 minutes.
Line pie plate or disposable aluminum cake pan (that will drop into pie plate perfectly after frozen) with wax paper.
Pour pie filling mixture into lined pan.
Let freeze several hours or overnight until frozen solid.
Remove from wax paper.
Wrap in saran wrap and place in Ziploc bag and label or place in food saver and vacuum seal and place back in freezer.

Granny Annie's Cream of Corn Recipe

Granny Annie's Cream of Corn Recipe

40 ears of corn
1 1/2 pounds of butter, melted
2 pints of half and half

Husk and clean corn.
Preheat Oven to 200 degrees.
Remove/Cut corn from the cobb and place in dutch oven or roaster pan.
Scrape each ear for juice (Very important step do not skip).
Add butter and half & half to corn.

Place in oven for about two hours. Let Cool-in ice bath.
Ladle in freezer containers and freeze.

Thaw, reheat and warm slowly.
Salt and pepper to taste just before serving.


I enjoy my Grammy's Cream of Corn Recipe. It is really delicious and it tastes nothing like the tin can cream of corn that you get at the grocery store. Now is the time to go out and pick some fresh, sweet corn before it is gone for the season. I picked 65 ears of corn at a local farm. J&M Farms on Seavey Loop charged only $2.50 a dozen (U-Pick). This year I froze them in three cup containers and it made 13 containers, so that's about 39 cups yielded. Yummo!