Banana Oatmeal Cups with Chocolate Chips

It's time for another What's Baking Challenge, and the theme this month is Baking Healthier from Catherine at Pursuing Domestic Godess-ness.

I am a yo-yo exerciser.  I'm really good for a few months, and then working out doesn't seem like fun anymore, so I stop.  In turn, my weight also yo-yos.  I am back in the working out really good phase right now.  I am finally getting into jogging, thanks to the Couch to 5K program, and when the bitter cold sinks in, I've been doing Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred. 

I recently heard on the Biggest Loser that one of the problems with overweight people is that the majority of them skip breakfast.  This is something that I used to do a lot, so I understand it.  So, when approaching this challenge, my first thought was to find a healthy breakfast that I could make on Sunday, pop in a plastic bag, and eat all week when I got to work: enter Banana Oatmeal Cups with Chocolate Chips.

Banana Oatmeal Cups with Chocolate Chips
from Green Lite Bites
Ingredients

3 mashed bananas

1 cup vanilla Almond milk

2 eggs

1 tablespoon Baking powder

3 cups Old Fashion or Rolled Oats

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 tablespoons mini chocolate chips

 

Directions

1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2) Mix all ingredients except the chocolate chips together, and let sit while you prepare the muffin pans.
3) Spray a muffin pan and/or liners with with non-stick spray.
4) Stir the chocolate chips into the oatmeal batter.
5) Divide batter into 15 muffin cups. They should be just about filled, these don't rise much, so it is okay to fill them all the way.
6) Bake 25 minutes, you’ll see the edges just starting to brown and they will be firm to the touch.

I thought these were great.  I am not a huge banana fan, but I think they worked well in these.  I think the banana and the chocolate provide just enough sugar to make these good, although if you like sweeter things, you may want to add just a little sugar into the mix.  These were a great breakfast and kept me full all the way up until lunch.

I do have to confess that Jacob isn't a fan of these.  He thinks that the oatmeal stayed too crunchy, and he is a huge breakfast oatmeal fan, so he likes a mushier oatmeal texture.  I thought the inside oatmeal was softer while the outside was crunchier, providing a nice contrast.  But, I can't force him to see the cups my way...so more for me!

Please check out Catherine's blog (Pursuing Domestic Godess-ness) at the beginning of February to see a list of what all the other participants made.

 

Chile Tortilla Egg Bake

Throughout the week, it is hard enough to get a cold breakfast before sprinting out the door (hopefully with all of my stuff...sometimes not).  So, during the week, it is mostly just cereal bars or fruit on the bottom yogurt.

Jacob and I only have one day a week off together, so I try to make something good for breakfast on the days that we have.  We both love green chiles, so I thought this was a no-brainer.  This was an easy breakfast to put together, perfect for accomplishing small chores around the house while putting something great on the table.

Chile Tortilla Egg Bake
from Spoonful
Ingredients
6 flour tortillas, soft-taco size (fewer if the tortillas are larger)
3-4 small cans of chopped green chiles, drained and rinsed
1 pound grated cheese
5 eggs, beaten
2 cups milk
1 teaspoon kosher salt

Optional toppings:
Pico de Gallo
Sour Cream
Guacamole

Directions
1) Grease a 9 by 13 inch baking dish.  Preheat oven to 35 degrees.

2) Cover the bottom of the baking dish with tortillas, overlapping as little as possible, using about 2 tortillas per layer.  By the time you get to sides, press the tortilla up against the edge o fthe dish. 
3) Sprinkle the tortillas with half of the chiles, and about a third of the cheese.  Then add another layer of tortillyas, and top it with the rest of the chiles and another third of the cheese.  Add the final layer of tortillas, sprinkle with the remaining cheese.
4) Whisk together the eggs, milk, and salt in a bowl.  Pour this over the entire casserole.
5) Bake for 35 minutes.  The edge will be brown, and it will not jiggle at all.  Let sit five minutes before cutting. 
6) Top with optional toppings that are desired and enjoy.

This breakfast was a hit.  Jacob added a lot of cheese to the top, so it had that strand of cheese that dangles from your mouth to the fork.  The original recipe didn't call for extra toppings, and in all honesty, was fine without them, but I had some leftover pico de gallo from tacos that week and we threw it on and it elevated the dish even more.  Jacob put sour cream and pico on his and exclaimed that it was delicious. 

 

Orange Zest and Pecan Chicken

It's time for another recipe swap, hosted by Sarah at A Taste of Home Cooking.  It's hard to believe that I've been doing these swaps for almost two years now, and have found so many good recipes because of it. 

The theme this time was Celebrity Swap.  I swapped my recipe from Bobby Flay for Lamb and Red Onion Tacos with Tomato Relish, and in return received Orange Zest and Pecan Chicken from A Seasoned Greeting that she adapted from a Rachel Ray recipe.

I've started jogging in the evenings after work and this is a simple, not a lot of fuss meal that turns out fantastic.  It is such a great weeknight meal.  Usually Rachel Ray's dishes are ingredient intensive too, so I was glad to see that this recipe had no where near her usual ingredient count. 

Orange Zest and Pecan Chicken
barely adapted from A Seasoned Greeting
Ingredients

1 tablespoon EVOO

2 chicken breasts cut into tenders (I just left my chicken breasts whole)
1 cup orange juice (either fresh or from concentrate)
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup sweet BBQ sauce
1/3 cup finely crushed pecans
1 navel orange (you'll use the zest and the juice)
Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2)  Place the chicken in pan and season with salt & pepper, surround chicken breasts with orange juice. Cook 45 minutes (or until no longer pink).

3) In a bowl, mix the maple syrup and BBQ sauce. Zest the orange and stir in the zest. Juice the orange and stir into the mixture.

I have to say that I think the star of this dish is the sauce.  I really could have left the pecans off the dish and been perfectly happy, but this dish had really moist chicken and a sauce that was to die for.  The juice from the orange transforms the barbeque sauce into something unique yet completely delicious.  I have to say that I tried to serve this over some lettuce like Rachel Ray suggested but the sauce is a little too much for the lettuce, and it became a soggy mess with the lettuce.  However, the rice was a great compliment to the dish and absorbed the leftover sauce, which was a bonus too. 

Please check out all the other great Celebrity Swap recipes below!

Lamb and Red Onion Tacos with Tomato Relish

When Jacob got the Boy meets Grill cookbook for Christmas, I was ecstatic.  I have a whole shelf of cookbooks in my guest room closet that only get used occasionally, but I still love getting them.  I usually hit them when I am in a food rut and nothing looks good online.

Christmas morning, I spent like an hour looking through the Boy meets Grill cookbook, asking Jacob what recipes sounded good and what didn't.  When looking for something for the week of New Years, I found this recipe for lamb tacos and thought it would be a good recipe to try first.

Lamb and Red Onion Tacos with Tomato Relish
slightly adapted from Boy Meets Grill
Ingredients
Tomato Relish:
4 large tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup finely diced red onion
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and Pepper

Lamb Marinade:
1 small red onion, coarsely chopped
10 cloves of garlic, coarsely chopped
1 cup fresh orange juice
1 cup olive oil

Lamb:
1.5 lamb stew meat or lamb tenderloin
Lamb Marinade
Salt and Pepper

To Assemble Tacos:
Flour tortillas
1 cup grated white cheddar cheese
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1 cup grated Monterey Jack cheese
1 red onion, sliced thin
Salt and pepper
Tomato Relish

Directions:
1) Tomato Relish: Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and let sit for 1 hour at room temperature.
2) Lamb Marinade: Combine all the ingredients, let rise to room temperature, put lamb in and mariate in the fridge for 2 to 4 hours.
3) Lamb: If you have lamb tenderloins, you can drain the marinade and season with salt and pepper.  Grill 4-5 minutes per side until medium rare.  Let sit for 10 minutes and then slice.  If you are using lamb stew meat, drain the marinade and saute for about 4 minutes, turning as it cooks. 
4) Assemble tacos using desired ingredients.

 

 

These tacos turned out great.  I thought three different types of cheese would overwhelm everything in the taco, but it all worked well together.  The tomato relish provides just the right amount of acid to cut through all the cheese and the meat is delicious.  The marinade cut through the kind of game-y taste that I think lamb can sometimes have.  This was a great recipe and I can't wait to try more of the recipes in this cookbook.

 



 



 



Beef Stew with Herbed Dumplings

It's time for another recipe swap, hosted by Sarah at A Taste of Home Cooking.  It is time for another Blogger's Choice swap, and this time I received My Chicago Kitchen.  I don't remember ever looking at this blog before, and so I spent quite awhile looking over Angie's blog for a recipe. 

It has been getting colder here, and so I kept going back to her soup section.  I love stews, but usually they make so much that I really don't make them often.  Like Angie said in her post, she had never had rutebegas before this dish, and neither had my husband or I, so I thought it would be a great dish to try something new...that's what the swaps are for, right?  We found out during the course of this dish, that rutabegas are awesome. 

Beef Stew with Herbed Dumplings
barely adapted from My Chicago Kitchen
Ingredients
2.5 pounds boneless beef chuck, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 tablespoons peanut oil
4 thick-sliced bacon strips, chopped
1 white onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 bay leaf
3 1/2 cups canned beef broth
1 28-ounce can whole tomatoes
3 carrots, peeled, cut diagonally into 1-inch pieces
1 rutabaga, peeled, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
2/3 cup whole milk
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons minced chives
2 tablespoons minced fresh Italian parsley
1 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons cornstarch

Directions
1) Preheat to 325°F.
2) Pat beef dry. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Heat oil in a heavy, large ovenproof pot over medium-high heat. Brown the beef, stirring occasionally and scraping up browned bits, for about 8 minutes. Cook in batches if necessary. Remove to platter.
3) Add bacon to same pot. Sauté until crisp, scraping up browned bits, for about 5 minutes.
4) Add onions, garlic, thyme and bay leaf. Cover and cook until onions are tender, stirring occasionally, 8 to 10 minutes.
5) Return beef to pot. Add 5 cups beef broth and crushed tomatoes with purée. Cover and bring to simmer, stirring occassionally.
6) Transfer pot to oven. Bake until beef is just tender, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour. Add carrots and rutabagas. Cover; bake until vegetables are crisp-tender, about 20 to 30 minutes. Uncover and cook until beef is very tender, about 20 to 25 minutes. Remove stew to range and simmer over low heat.
7) While the stew is simmering, prepare dumplings. Whisk milk and eggs in medium bowl to blend. Mix in chives and parsley. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Mix flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Add the milk mixture to the dry ingredients and stir just until blended.
8) Whisk remaining 1/2 cup canned beef broth and cornstarch in small bowl. Raise simmering stew to medium heat. Stir cornstarch mixture into stew. Return to simmer, stirring until sauce thickens.
9) Spoon dumpling batter in medium-sized dollops onto simmering stew. Cover tightly; simmer until dumplings are puffed and a toothppick inserted into center of dumplings comes out clean, about 15 minutes.

The only changes I made were the amounts of things.  Angie said this had about six servings, but we ate three bowls for one meal and there was more than half left, so even with the amounts changed, it still makes a lot of food.

This dish is absolutely amazing on a chilly, rainy evening.  I made it after work one night and let the flavors meld even more the next day.  The night we ate it, I thickened it with the cornstarch and made the dumplings, and the flavors were even more developed. 

I loved the tomato aspect of the dish.  I have only had stews with beef broth and the tomatoes added a new dimension to it.  I also love dumplings, and that is one of the things that made me click on the dish while looking through Angie's blog.  The dumpling makes the perfect accompaniment to the dish.

Peppermint Bark Surprise Cupcakes

Carrie from Carrie's Sweet Life, is the host of this month's What's Baking Challenge, and the theme was Peppermint. 

Last year, I discovered the Ghirardelli Peppermint Bark Squares and they were the first thing that I bought this year when I deemed it to be Christmas time.  They are so creamy with just the right amount of peppermint flavor that they are super addictive.  So, when I heard the challenge, I immediately was wondering if I could make something using those peppermint squares.  I found a recipe that hit the jackpot.

Peppermint Bark Surprise Cupcakes
from the Collegiate Baker
Ingredients
1 package of Ghirardelli Peppermint Bark Squares
1 cup + 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Directions
1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a cupcake pan with paper liners.
2) Unwrap 10 of the peppermint bark squares and cut off the corners. (They aren't exactly the right size for to fit in cupcake pans, but they're pretty close.) Put the peppermint bark squares/octagons aside.
3) In a small-medium sized bowl, combine the dry ingredients: the flour, cocoa powder, and baking soda. Whisk them together.
4) In another medium sized bowl, combine the sugar, egg, oil, milk, and vanilla. Mix well.
5) When you put the batter in the first paper liner, make sure you put enough in to completely cover the bottom. Fill the liner up about halfway, maybe a little less, and then put in a peppermint bark square. Cover it with cake batter until the liner is about 2/3 full. Repeat until all the other lines are full.
6) Bake for about 25-30 minutes. Test the top part of the cupcake for done-ness, but don't go too far down or you'll hit the peppermint bark.

 

Peppermint Buttercream Frosting

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon milk
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
1 cup powdered sugar

Directions

1) In the bowl of a stand mixer, or a medium sized bowl with a hand mixer, beat butter on medium-high speed until smooth and creamy.

2) Add milk, peppermint extract, and the powdered sugar. Mix until everything is incorporated.
3) Test the frosting to see if it's the right consistency. If it's too thin, add 1/2 cup powdered sugar. If it's too thick, add another tablespoon of milk.
4) Decorate cupcakes with frosting.  You can use the corners from the squares to decorate...if you haven't eaten them by this point.

I made these twice and the first time was a failure.  I baked them for the 15 minutes The Collegiate Baker said in her instructions and when I tested them, they seemed like they were done, but as they were cooling, they totally collapsed on themselves because the centers weren't done. 

The second time, I left them in for a long time.  I left them in closer to 30 minutes because that was when my toothpick came out completely clean.  With the peppermint in the frosting, I think you lose the surprise element in these cupcakes, but I still think they are delicious.  I think it would be good to incorporate the corner leftovers into the frosting instead of putting in peppermint extract.  I made these for Christmas and couldn't keep my hands off them.  Definitely a great holiday treat. 

Beer Cheddar Risotto

It's time for another recipe swap, hosted by Sarah at A Taste of Home Cooking.  This time around, the theme was Side Dishes.  Always a good theme because I think everyone is always looking for new side dishes to go with the main dishes they have in mind.

I received Beer Cheddar Risotto from Ashley at Cheese Curd in Paradise.   I have to admit that I've always heard how much work risotto is, so I just haven't made it, and so while this sounded like a delicious combination, I really thought I would mess it up just because of what I'd heard.

The night that I decided to make this, my husband came home from work exclaiming that the Packers were playing on TV...he is a huge Green Bay Packers fan, so I knew this was the perfect dish for us.  We enjoyed it as Green Bay won the game (against whoever they were playing, haha).

Beer Cheddar Risotto

barely adapted from Cheese Curd in Paradise

Ingredients

24 oz of beef stock

1/2 small onion, diced

1 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoons olive oil
1 cups Arborio rice 
1/2 bottle of beer
3/4 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1/8 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
Black Pepper, to taste

 

Directions

1) Place beef stock in a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer (do not boil). Keep warm over low-medium heat.
2)  Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoons olive oil and 1 tablespoon of butter to pan; swirl to coat. Add onions and cook for 3 minutes and add garlic.

3) Stir in rice, and cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring constantly.

4) Increase heat to medium and add beer. Add 1/2 cup stock and cook 3-5 minutes or until liquid is nearly absorbed, stirring constantly. Continue adding remaining stock, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly until each portion of stock is absorbed before adding the next.

5) Right before you serve the risotto, stir in the cheese and season with black pepper. (Right before I plated, I stirred in another dash of beer.  I think it made the beer flavor a little stronger.)

 

 

I now think that things that take longer to cook and a little more attention usually turn out more delicious than the things that are just easy and throw together.  I couldn't get enough of this dish.  The leftovers were devoured the next day for lunch, and I think the flavors got even better the next day.  I think this is the best side dish that we've had in awhile.  I served this side dish with Grilled Honey Mustard Pork Tenderloin from Two Peas and Their Pod, it was a great combination.

 

Please check out all the other delicious side dishes that were made below.