Egg Free Banana Bread

I don't normally look for egg free recipes, but I only had one egg left and my grocery shopping spree will not happen until this weekend. I had 3 very mushy bananas that were in need of some help. The bread didn't turn out as dark as it would when you add eggs but it is super moist and smells delicious! I am sure Little Foodie will be enjoying a piece as soon as she gets home from school. I adapted this recipe from one found on allrecipes.com. Enjoy!

• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup margarine or butter
• 2 cups all-purpose flour or whole wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/3 cup of vanilla or banana yogurt (we love stoneyfields banilla yogurt)
• 3-4 mashed ripe bananas
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In a large bowl, cream sugar and butter. Next add the yogurt and bananas. Combine flour, baking powder and baking soda; add to creamed mixture. Spoon into a greased 9-in. x 5-in. x 3-in. loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 40-45 minutes or until bread tests done with a toothpick. Cool in pan for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack.

Meyer Lemon Sorbet

I love Meyer Lemons they are a nice mix of lemon and orange flavors. I have this weird obsession with purchasing them each time I go to the Whole Foods and then for the next two weeks I look for different ways to use them. Today they were looking a little wrinkly and sad so I needed to figure out how to use 4 lemons fast. I also have a weird obsession with not going to the grocery store to purchase special ingredients in between my regular bi-weekly grocery shopping sprees which means I only make recipes using the ingredients I have on hand. My first thought was to make a lemon ice cream but I had no cream so I went with a lemon sorbet. It tastes like frozen lemon-aid and makes me dream about summer vacation by the pool. Enjoy!

1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 cup freshly squeezed juice from meyer lemons (about 3-4 lemons)
2 teaspoons fine lemon zest

1 In a small saucepan on medium high heat, make a simple syrup by heating sugar and water until the sugar has completely dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool. Mix in the lemon juice and zest. Chill, either in the refrigerator, or by placing in a metal bowl over an ice bath.

2 Once the mixture has thoroughly chilled, freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. If you don't have an ice cream maker, you can pour the mixture into a shallow pan and freeze in your freezer until semi-solid. Then take a fork and fluff it up, returning it the the freezer to freeze firm. Then put in a food-processor or blender to process until smooth.

Place sorbet in an airtight container and freeze until ready to serve.

3 Scoop out preferably with a melon-baller. Garnish with mint. Makes 2 1/2 cups.

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Muffins

In our house we prefer hearty muffins and breakfast breads, we only eat cold cereal as a last resort which means I am always on the lookout for new muffin recipes. This recipe is made with whole wheat flour and oat bran so it contains a lot of fiber and the chocolate chips turn it from bland bran to yummy bites of mini muffin goodness!! Little Foodie went nuts over these, she ate them at breakfast and as an after school snack. I adapted this recipe from one found on tastykitchen.com. Enjoy!

¾ cups Oats, Ground In Blender

1 cup Whole Wheat Flour

2 Tablespoons Wheat Bran

½ cups Brown Sugar

¾ teaspoons Baking Soda

½ teaspoons Salt

1 cup Applesauce

2 Tablespoons Melted Butter/Margarine

1 whole Egg

¼ cups Milk

1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

½ cups Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a 12-cup muffin pan or mini muffin pan with non-stick spray.

Sift together ground oats, wheat flour, wheat bran, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt.

In a separate bowl, mix together applesauce, oil, egg, milk, and vanilla extract.

Add applesauce mixture to dry ingredients, stirring gently to combine. Fold in 1/2 to 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips. Avoid over-mixing.

Distribute mixture evenly between cups. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes.

Double Chocolate Banana Bread

I have this crazy obsession with banana bread. I will actually buy 2 bunches of bananas just so I can let one bunch get really ripe so I can make banana bread. This bread is sooooo yummy and super moist because it is made with sour cream. Little Foodie has been enjoying a piece each day when she gets home from school, I think she will eat the whole loaf all by herself. I saved the second loaf in the freezer and I am going to take it to Little Foodie's school for a teacher breakfast during teacher appreciation week. Enjoy!!

1/2 cup of butter

1 1/2 cups white sugar

2 eggs

3 super ripe bananas

1 cup of sour cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 teaspoons of baking soda

2 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder

1 cup of semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Grease 2 loaf pans.

In a large bowl cream butter and sugar. Mix in eggs, mashed bananas , sour cream, vanilla and cinnamon. Mix in salt, baking powder, cocoa powder and flour. Stir in chocolate chips and divide into prepared pans. Bake for 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Black Bean Soup

This is not my picture, if you have made black bean soup than you know its pretty unattractive looking and hard to photograph so I am grateful for pictures found on the web! This is a yummy soup that is very filling. We enjoyed big bowls of soup and a side salad and it was the perfect dinner.

4 cans of black beans (no need to drain)

1 large can of diced tomatoes

1 cup of chicken or veggie broth

1/2 cup of salsa

2 tablespoons of cumin

1 tablespoon of garlic powder

few dashes of hot sauce

salt and pepper to taste

Place all ingredients in your crockpot, stir and cook on low for 6 hours or on high for 3 hours. Top with shredded cheese and enjoy!!

Chicken w/ Prunes and Pine Nuts

Prunes sometime get a bad rap but in reality they are only dried plums and they are very yummy. If you haven't had a prune before it taste sort of like a giant raisin. I have been reading a lot about the Mediterranean diet and I found this yummy recipe at a site devoted to Mediterranean recipes, http://www.mediterranean-food-recipes.com/. Enjoy!

• 6-8 boneless/skinless chicken thighs
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 clove garlic - peeled
• 1 stick cinnamon
• 2 bay leaves
• 8 fresh oregano leaves (or 1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves)
• 10 prunes - whole
• 1 ounce pine nuts - whole
• 2 cup chicken broth
• Salt

1. Sprinkle salt over the chicken cuts and let them rest for an hour.


2. Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a medium-sized casserole pot over medium heat. Add the chicken, garlic, the stick cinnamon, and the bay and oregano leaves. Brown for 5 minutes over medium heat, turn the chicken pieces over, and cook for another 5 minutes.


3. When the chicken begins to turn golden, pour in the chicken broth, and add the prunes and the pine nuts. Turn down the heat to low, cover and cook for about 30 minutes.

Ranch Dressing/Dip

I have not purchased salad dressing at the grocery store for at least 3 months! Making my own dressing has been really easy and super tasty if I do say so myself. This dressing is so thick you could use it as a veggie dip or if you want to thin it out just add a little milk or buttermilk. I adapted this recipe from one found on allrecipes.com. Enjoy!

• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoon dried chives
• 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
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In a large bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, sour cream, chives, parsley, dill, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes before serving.