Banana, Peanut Butter and Honey Muffins

Image Credit

These were a wonderful departure from the usual breakfast suspects in our house this morning. I saw this on the Tasty Kitchen Blog last night and knew immediately that it was what I was going to make for breakfast this morning.

1-¼ cup Flour
½ cups Whole Wheat Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
¼ teaspoons Salt
½ teaspoons Cinnamon
1 whole Ripe Banana, Mashed
⅔ cups Plain Fat Free Yogurt
1 whole Large Egg, Lightly Beaten
¼ cups Water
⅓ cups Creamy Peanut Butter
⅓ cups Honey
1 teaspoon Vanilla
2 teaspoons Sugar
¼ teaspoons Cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375°F and line a 12-cup standard muffin pan with baking cups then coat baking cups with cooking spray. Set aside.

Whisk together flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt and 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon in a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the mixture.

Combine banana, yogurt, egg, water, peanut butter, honey and vanilla in a medium-sized bowl. Whisk to combine. Add this wet mixture into the well that you made in the center of the flour mixture and stir just until combined. The batter will be thick.

Fill each baking cup 3/4 full of batter. In a small bowl, mix together the sugar and 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon. Sprinkle evenly over the top of the muffins.

Bake for 15 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let muffins cool in pan set on a wire rack for 2 minutes before removing them from the pan to serve warm or cool completely. Store muffins in an airtight container at room temperature up to 2 days.

Hummus (Lebanese- the ONLY kind...)

I have discovered that after living in Lebanon,  I will never look at hummus the same again.  Those of you living in the good ole' US of A who think you have had yummy hummus, if it did not come from a Lebanese restaurant or from the home of someone who learned to make it in Lebanon, sorry but it could not have been that great!  Yep, I'm a little biased!

I've started making our hummus because I have yet to find it in Jordan that is quite like I like it.  I have a Lebanese cookbook and follow that basic recipe and then tweak it until I get the right flavor and appearance.  So, these measurements are not exact.  You have to figure it out for yourself!

Hummus, Lebanon style

4 cups chick peas, soaked overnight

tahini (sesame paste)

lemon juice

salt

garlic cloves (several, crushed)

olive oil

Cook the chick peas in salted water for several hours until very soft adding water as necessary.  Now, the first time I made hummus, I became very overwhelmed at the amount of chick peas produced and how difficult it was to process them.  A friend told me that one of her Lebanese neighbors separates the chick peas after cooking them into serving size freezer bags and only uses a little at a time.  It worked so much better this way!  Again, I don't know the exact measurements but I divided the cooked chick peas into 4 equal portions, froze 3 of them and prepared the last portion.  Place chick peas (with a little water and a good bit of lemon juice in large bowl).  Process until smooth.  Add crushed garlic (2-3 cloves), salt and tahini to taste and until you get the consistency you desire.  Top with olive oil, serve with pita chips and fresh veggies- YUMMY!

KJ's Chicken Salad

KJ might not even know that she has a chicken salad, but in our house, this is KJ's chicken salad.  She made it for supper when I visited them back in the fall and I LOVED it so much and now make it a good bit.  So yummy and quick and easy!  (and pretty...)

KJ's Chicken Salad

1 rotisserie chicken (or chicken cooked in crock pot- white and dark meat)- torn into pieces

chopped celery

chopped walnuts

craisins

celery salt (amount depends on if you also used celery too)

mayonaise (enough to where it sticks together but not so much that it gets gloopey- is that a word?)

Combine all and serve on a bed of lettuce.

(I had mine with hummus and red peppers- also super yummy!)

Strawberry Dream Cake

And here is yet another amazing strawberry dessert recipe (I am obviously blogging therapeutically about food since I'm dieting and can't eat any of it!).  I had to go back a few years to find a picture of this cake.  I made it for Maddie's birthday several years ago shaped like a big white bow...

This year I made it for our traditional Easter bunny cake and of course forgot to take a picture.  But let me tell you this cake is AMAZING.  I've had lots of experience with strawberry cake and this is the all time best I think...I got the original recipe from all recipes.com but changed it up a bit.

Strawberry Dream Cake

1 white cake mix (i used yellow)

1 1/2 cups frozen sweetened strawberries, pureed (I used fresh and mooshed them)

12 oz cream cheese

8 (1 oz) squares white chocolate

1 pckg strawberry jello

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1 (8oz) container cool whip (I used the equivalent of whipped cream)

sliced fresh strawberries

Preheat oven to 350 and grease and flour 2 9inch round pans.  Make cake per directions except substitute the 1 1/2 cups strawberries for the water and add 1 extra egg, (if mix calls for 2 eggs, add 3), and 8 oz cream cheese at room temp and package of strawberry jello.  Beat well and pour into prepared pans.  Bake 20-25 minutes until golden brown.  A toothpick inserted in center will not come out clean when this cake is done since it is so moist.  Let cake cool fully before frosting.

Frosting:  Heat the heavy cream until just beginning to boil.  Pour it over the white chocolate (chopped) and the remaining 4 ounces cream cheese.  Mix well and let cool.  Once cool fold into the whipped topping (I used whipped cream).  Use to frost cooled cake.  If the frosting needs to be thicker, you can beat in powdered sugar but I did not have to do that this time.  Garnish with fresh strawberries.

I promise the combo of white chocolate, cream cheese and strawberries in this cake is to die for!!

Strawberry Sour Cream Pie

This pie is one of our summer favorites.  The recipe actually says that it can also be done with peaches or blackberries which I've never actually done but I'm sure would be amazing.  It kind of ends up being a pie/cobbler combo- best of 2 worlds!

And on this post, not only am I a horrible food photographer, but I actually forgot to take a picture of the finished product so you'll have to use your imagination...

First you pile your strawberries in the crust..

Then put on the topping...

And voila....

A delicious strawberry cream pie

(here's the part where you have to use your imagination or just try it, believe me, you'll be glad you did...)

Strawberry Sour Cream Pie

1 unbaked pie shell (9 inch)

(you can find my favorite pie crust recipe here)

1 1/4 cup sugar

1/4 tsp salt

2 TBSP sugar

1 quart fresh strawberries 

1 cup sifted flour

1 cup sour cream (middle east friends- I substitute labneh and it works great)

Rinse, drain and half strawberries and place in pie shell.  Sift sugar, flour and salt together and add gradually to sour cream.  Pour mixture over strawberries.  Sprinkle remaining 2 TBSP sugar evenly over top.  Bake until firm and lightly browned.  (450 for 15 minutes and 350 for 50-60 minutes).  I used a shield around the crust to keep it from getting too brown.  

Moroccan Lamb Stew

I found a new recipe and we all LOVE it, so I thought I would share.  I did it in my crockpot, but that's not what the recipe calls for, so if you don't have a cp, don't worry.  I browned my lamb chunks before putting them into the crockpot and cooked for 8 hours on low.  I also used golden raisins instead of the apricots, couldn't find sweet potatoes so just left them out, and couldn't find turmeric so I jut didn't worry about it.  Other than that, I think I followed the recipe :).  I served it over cous cous, which I made with the awesome broth from the soup (thanks KF for teaching me that trick).  The second time I made this, I put in more lentils because, hey, why not?  The link is Here.  ENJOY ladies!

Germantown Chocolate Pie

I discovered this pie by accident this winter and it's oh so yummy.  I've realized that in our overly connected world, I typically used recipes I've always used and then those that I find on the internet.  But I have mounds of cookbooks that sadly rarely get touched.  Anyway, I was going through some old ones this winter and came across this pie recipe.  It was so worth it!  I got this recipe as a wedding gift.  It's a Junior League cookbook and has some great recipes in it.

I actually forgot to take a picture of the finished product but I took a picture a day or so later for another post on dieting.  Again, food photography, not my strongest gifting, but you get the idea...

Germantown Chocolate Pie

1 4 oz package German sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

1/3 cup milk, divided

1 1/2 tsp instant coffee crystals

3 oz cream cheese, softened

3 TBSP sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 cup heavy cream, whipped (or 2 cups whipped dessert topping)

1 9 inch baked pie shell or graham cracker pie shell

chocolate curls

In a 1 quart sauce pan, combine chocolate, 2 TBPS milk and the coffee crystals.  Cook and stir over low heat until chocolate melts.  Cool to room temperature.  

In a small bowl, beat together cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, remaining milk, and cooled chocolate mixture with an electric mixer until smooth.  Fold in whipped cream.  Spoon into pie shell.  Freeze about 4 hours or until firm.  Let stand at room temperature for 5 minutes.  Garnish with chocolate curls before serving.  YUMMY!!