Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Well friends I am obviously veryyyyyy MIA over here.

Catch up on my daily adventures (and misadventures) at www.kallgal.blogspot.com

The catalyst for this baking endeavor was three fairly disgusting looking bananas of the black/brown variety sitting on my counter.  I shoved one into the fridge for smoothie making purposes and decided to turn the other two into banana bread.

I adapted this very about five "best banana bread" you will ever eat recipes.  Because you know, everyone's is the best.  This bread is great, but I was not making it for me.  I prefer a richer, nutiter banana bread with whole wheat flour, more brown to white sugar and of course, chocolate chips.  However, most people don't like a whole wheat flour base as much, so I baked for the masses.  Expect a more me-approved version soon.

This loaf is a gift for my patient coordinator who has been super busy with school just starting back and for the students in my "bay."  At my dental school, a "bay" is your family.  It's the students you work with daily and the professors whom you report to the most.  Most bays say this, but really do have bay love.  We act like a family and help each other out -- no gunning or sniping allowed.

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

2 ripe bananas, mashed
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup softened butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
METHOD:No need for a mixer for this recipe. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour last, mix. Pour mixture into a buttered 4x8 inch loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour. Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve.

Half for Mrs. Ana, half for the rest of the bay!

Grasshopper Ice Cream Pie

Ohhhhhhhhh buddy.

This is a goody.

In high school, my first real job was at an ice store, Bruster's.  Between being an honors student, high school over-achiever and soccer player, this job was a Godsend.  It gave me a little spending $$ and flexible hours - one shift during the week and 2 over the weekends.  Obvs an ice cream shop is busier in the summer so we would work a lot more.

During my tenure at Brusters, I found out I loved mint chocolate chip ice cream or MCC as we would abrievate.  The one flaw of all parents is that you tend to feed your children what you like.  Neither of my parents really love MCC so working at Brusters was the first time I was exposed to its amazingness.

It is my favorite flavor of ice cream don't ya know.

The month of March generally conjures up March Madness, but to me, it also reminds me of "mint month March" at Brusters.  Our flavors of the month included Mint Oreo and Grasshopper.

To celebrate cooking dinner during the last weekend of March, I made a Grasshopper pie to serve for dessert.  Bet you wish you could join me for dinner!

Grasshopper Ice Cream Pie

1.75 quart mint chocolate chip ice cream, softened

1 jar hot fudge

1 container Cool Whip, softened.

1 Oreo pie crust

1.  Spread ice cream in the bottom of the pie crust.  Put ice cream + crust in freezer for 10 minutes.

2.  Warm fudge for 5-10 seconds until spreadable.  Take pie out of freezer, spread with fudge, reserving some for decoration.

3.  Spread fudge over ice cream, creating a layer.  Put back in freezer till chilled.

4.  Spread Cool Whip over fudge layer and freeze.

5.  Decorate as desire.

6. Serve and wow your dinner company!

just the ice cream

decorated to perfection

travel FAIL.

Ice cream pies don't travel well...so much for all my hard work piping :(

www.kallgal.blogspot.com

Tempeh Coconut Curry

There are blips in my life when I enjoy being a vegetarian. Everything in moderation, including moderation. And then I think of things like sausage balls, and it could never fully happen. 

People love sausage balls, especially guys. 

Bread+cheese+meat = a guy's perfect trifecta of food.

At Andrew's going away party, there was the most lovely spread of food, mostly desserts -- cookies, brownies, chocolate covered pretzels and coconut cake. I walked in with sausage balls (on the adorable serving tray I got at Target on Christmas clearance for $2!) since I had committed to bringing something and promptly watch them get devoured. Only food item gone in the time we were there.

 Christmas clearance tray

What does this tell us? 

Most guys don't want to be vegetation.

Luckily, I was not cooking for anyone with a Y chromosome last night.

Tempeh Coconut Curry

from Cooking Light

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 cup curry and about 1 cup rice)

Ingredients

Curry:

1 tablespoon canola oil

2 cups finely chopped onion

1 teaspoon salt, divided

2 teaspoons tamarind pulp

1 tablespoon finely chopped peeled fresh ginger

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh garlic

1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1 (3-inch) cinnamon stick

3 cups chopped peeled sweet potato (about 1 pound)

1 cup water

1 (13.5-ounce) can light coconut milk

8 ounces organic tempeh, cut into 3/4-inch cubes

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

2 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce

Rice:

1 1/2 cups uncooked basmati rice

1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1/4 teaspoon salt

Preparation

To prepare curry, heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cook 2 minutes or until onion is tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in tamarind; cook 2 minutes, stirring to break up tamarind. Add ginger and next 5 ingredients (through cinnamon); cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, potato, water, milk, and tempeh; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Uncover; stir in juice and soy sauce. Simmer 3 minutes or until slightly thickened. Discard cinnamon stick.

To prepare rice, cook rice according to package instructions, omitting salt and fat. Stir in cilantro and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Serve with curry.

**Since I don't own any Tempeh, I nixed that and used chickpea instead and added mushrooms.  You can never have too many vegetables.

**Also, no ginger.  Nicole touched on this the only day, but I am not really a ginger fan.  And no tarmind pulp -- I don't really know what that is.

Major plus?  So easy, so healthy and the sauce it makes is incredible.  The coconut milk is really what makes the difference.

I might "cook" some snow cream this afternoon.  Its Tuesday morning and classes are cancelled till 11 am but its snowing again!  I hope it sticks!

REDNECK TRUFFLES

I may be southern, but I am promise I am not a redneck.  My dad sometimes has his "Tennessee Steve" moments, though....Ha :)

These "truffles" are certainly redneck, easy and delicious!  Try and eat just one.

Redneck Truffles

1 bag square pretezels

unwrapped Hershey's Kisses -- we used original, Hugs, and chocolate with caramel

m&m's

pecans

1.  Pre-heat oven to 350.

2.  Spread pretzels in one layer on a baking sheet lined with alumnimn foil

3.  Put the one kiss on top of each pretzel and then place the cookie sheet in the oven for ~1-2 minutes or until the chocolate starts to look shiny.

4.  Remove from oven and put either the m&m or pecan on top, squishing lightly.

5.  Allow your "truffles" to cool completely

Combinations we like:

pretezel/Hug/m&m

pretzel/original kiss/m&m

pretzel/ caramel kiss/pecan

 Turtle, chocolate and hug varieties

my little helper.

side note: we celebrated New Year's Eve on the 30th, hence the headband and glasses.  We are cool like that.

trays of truffles!

Happy New Year.

May yours be filled with love, Jesus, friends, family, adventures and lots of chocolate, maybe even in the form of Redneck Truffles.

WHITE BEAN CHICKEN CHILI

I am on a roll, and not the type you eat.

Cooking, blogging, remembering what it is like to be a normal human being. No 5:30 am - 10:30 pm days for me on vacay.

Not gonna do it, not gonna do it.

[I miss you republican presidents.  Badly.  And so does our nation.]

My mom tasked me with making dinner tonight.  It was either that...or meatloaf.  

It has been freezing (relatively) down south and it felt like a soup day.

Not a "soup question" ala Finding Forrestor, but actual soup.  Chicken Green Chili with White Beans.  

Chicken Green Chili with White Beans

Credit: Cooking Light

Ingredients
6 Anaheim chiles
1 tablespoon peanut oil
3 chicken leg quarters, skinned (about 1 3/4 pounds)
1 3/4 cups chopped onion
4 garlic cloves, minced
4 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
2 cups water, divided
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 (15.5-ounce) can cannellini beans (such as Goya) or other white beans, rinsed and drained
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons reduced-fat sour cream
6 lime slices

Preparation

Preheat broiler.

Cut chiles in half; discard seeds and membranes. Place halves, skin sides up, on a foil-lined baking sheet; flatten with hand. Broil 5 minutes or until blackened. Place in a heavy-duty zip-top plastic bag; seal. Let stand 15 minutes. Peel chiles; discard skins. Chop chiles.

Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook 4 minutes on each side or until browned. Remove chicken from pan. Add onion and garlic, and sauté 6 minutes or until browned, stirring frequently. Return chicken to pan. Add broth, 1 1/2 cups water, and cumin; bring to a simmer. Cook 20 minutes or until chicken is done. Remove chicken; cool slightly. Remove chicken from bones; cut meat into bite-sized pieces. Discard bones. Add chicken to pan; stir in chopped chiles and beans.

Combine 1/2 cup water and flour, stirring with a whisk. Stir into chicken mixture. Bring to a simmer; cook 15 minutes. Stir in salt. Spoon about 1 1/2 cups soup into each of 6 bowls; top each serving with 1 1/2 teaspoons sour cream

**In lieu of anahiem chilis, I used two 4oz cans of chopped green chilies.  

Served with cilantro, cheese and sour cream

Served with either cornbread or a biscuit and some unpictured roasted brussel sprouts.  

I was the golden child tonight.  The chili was a hit.  

Random aside:

While cooking, I spied this picture of me on the fridge.

my first fish ~10.22.99

And then I looked down at my sweatshirt.

 

Somethings never change.

PUMPKIN TRIFLE

Oh I know how to cook? 

Kinda forgot about this, didn't I?

Yikes.

And in case you were wondering, yes I still eat.  Duh.  And I cook...just haven't been blogging so much about recipes.  Catch me over here for a bigger helping of a "side of life."  

That was a lame attempt at a shameless plug for:  www.kallgal.blogspot.com

This recipe for pumpkin trifle is based loosely on a trifle that my friend Katie made for our Sunday School mid-week Thanksgiving Potluck.  It was quite the throw-down -- 50ish twenty-somethings gathering to eat.  I wish I would have taken some more pictures.

A pot-luck picture.

Her recipe was the fabulous Paula Dean pumpkin trifle: 

Too bad Maggie doesn't like gingerbread.  So we got a little creative.

The Official Kallie and Maggie Pumpkin Trifle 

1 box spice cake

Egg

Can of pumpkin

Cool-whip

Butterscotch pudding mix

Skim milk

Chocolate Chips

Heath pieces

1. Combine the first 3 ingredients in a bowl.  Mix well, and bake according to the temperature on the spice cake box.

2.  While the cake is baking, making the butterscotch pudding.

3.  Let the cake cool and then crumble into chunks.

3.  Start layering.  Cool whip/cake/butterscotch/chocolate chips for good measure.

4.  Aim to have at least 3 layers going.

5.  Try not be impatient and let the trifle meld together for 2 hours in the fridge.  Enjoy!

**Use whatever level of "healthy" ingredients you want.  Obvs, I say that loosely.  You can use lite Cool-Whip, SF pudding, etc

 Topped with chocolate chips and heath pieces

 Lovely table spread

Its final resting place

Just hanging around on Thanksgiving with my trifle, you know.

To see what the rest of our Thanksgiving 2010 looked like, click here.  And here for the post-dinner festivities.

And if you decide to make this trifle, prepare to be amazed.  

It could be love <3

CARAMEL APPLES

I love fall. Last year my family went to an apple festival. This year we went to an apple store extravaganza in the mountains in north Georgia. Every year, my family decorates gingerbread houses, but we started a new tradition of decorating apples.

This really isn't a recipe, more of me sharing a family activity that we loved with y'all. Please enjoy!

Caramel Apples
Apples
Bag(s) of caramels ( each bag yields ~5 apples)
Fixin's: sprinkles, chocolates, nuts

Step one: Go buy apples, preferably local. Make sure to take some fun pictures.


Lots of local apples


Posing with a pumpkin


Aunt Karen and me


Mom and her girls
Step 2: Secure popsicle sticks in apples. Melt caramels in the microwave, 2 tablespoons of water per bag of caramel.

Step 3: Have fun!


Step 4: Refrigerate till set.


Step 5: Enjoy!


Back porch sitting in the mountains.

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