Peanut Butter Banana Quesadilla

    Needless to say, this recipe  is an easy snack to take. I usually eat this before practice for a power booster or even breakfast in the morning. The peanut butter really gives you the kick you need, along with the bananas. It's so simple! For this I just use the straight up ingredients. I get Jif whole peanut butter because you usually want everything (nutrients and vitamins) in it as long as you use the correct proportions. Bananas, of course. Usually medium or small depending on what you prefer. And to really get your sweet tooth, 1 tablespoon of chocolate chips. You can use semi-sweet if you like stronger taste, or even the milk chocolate for the more sweet side. Again as long as you're using the correct proportions, it IS okay. Sometimes if you want, you can heat it up on a stove top to caramelize the bananas and melt the chocolate, it makes it even more delicious. Enjoy!

Cheeseburger Quesadilla

     Okay, so the reason I tired this one is because Beef O' Brady's has a cheeseburger wrap that is to die for! I wanted to find something similar to it, and this is what the conclusion was. This is literally so delicious. I honestly thought it was better than the wrap because its more compact and has bursting flavors. Plus it's super simple and doesn't take a lot of effort to make. The great thing about this too, is you can add any condiments or any extra vegetables that you want. The recipe is easily manipulative and you can change it to they way that you want it. Just like your own personal hamburger! The only thing I changed was the meat, and I changed it to more lean ground beef and whole wheat tortillas, just to make it a little healthier. Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 1 whole Medium Onion, Chopped
• 1 pound Ground Beef
• 2 Tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
• ¼ cups Ketchup
• ¼ cups Real Bacon Bits
• Salt And Pepper, to taste
• 2 teaspoons Garlic Powder
• 2 teaspoons Onion Powder
• 2 whole Large Flour Tortillas
• 2 cups Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese
• Vegetable Or Canola Oil For Brushing
• Red Crushed Pepper Flakes For Sprinkling

 

 

 

Preparation

In a large skillet on medium high heat, heat the olive oil. Add the onions and allow them to cook for about 5-7 minutes until they become translucent. Add the beef and break it up with a wooden spoon or spatula. Cook the beef and onions together for about 10 minutes or until the beef is thoroughly cooked.
Preheat your oven to 350 F.
Once the beef is cooked add the Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, bacon bits, salt and pepper, garlic powder and onion powder and stir until all is incorporated. Allow the mixture to simmer on low heat for 5-7 minutes.
On a large baking sheet, lay out the tortillas. Take half of the burger mixture and spread it evenly on one half of each tortilla. Top it with as much cheese as you like then flip the other half on top of the burger mixture. Brush the top with vegetable or canola oil and sprinkle with crushed red pepper flakes.
Bake for 10-15 minutes until the tortilla shell becomes nice and crisp and the cheese is bubbly. Remove it from the oven and place pan on a rack. Let quesadillas sit for about 5 minutes to cool down then use a really sharp knife or pizza cutter and cut into triangles. You should get 4 large pieces out of both of them.  

 

 

Buttermilk Banana Blueberry Bread

So I'm sure we are all guilty of not eating all the bananas we buy. But have no fear! This recipe actually calls for your over-ripe bananas that you don't want to consume.  It also contains blueberries which contain antioxidants and stimulates your brain health and eggs which are loaded protein. When mixing the ingredients together, make sure you mix the DRY ingredients first then put the other ingredients. It would be better to put them in a mixer then using a bowl and wooden spoon. With the first test, I couldn't taste the vanilla, so I added an extra 1/2 tablespoon. That was the only change I made to the recipe. I highly recommend this, it's delicious!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly coat four 5 3/4-inch mini loaf pans with nonstick spray.

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar on medium-high until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Beat in eggs, buttermilk and vanilla until well combined. Beat in bananas until well combined. Gradually add flour mixture to the sugar mixture at low speed, beating just until incorporated.

Add blueberries and gently toss to combine.

Scoop the batter evenly into the loaf pans. Place into oven and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

Remove from oven and let cool for 15 minutes before inverting the cake onto a wire rack.

 

 

Produce

3	Bananas, ripe
1 cup	Blueberries

Refrigerated

2	Eggs, large

Baking & Spices

1 3/4 cups	All-purpose flour
1 tsp	Baking powder
1/8 tsp	Baking soda
1/4 tsp	Salt
1 cup	Sugar
1/2 tsp	Vanilla extract

Dairy

1/2 cup	Butter, unsalted
1/4 cup	Buttermilk

 

Breakfast Cupcakes

This recipe is an excellent idea for parents to feed a bunch of mouths. It's quick, easy, and super simple. It doesn't call for a lot of ingredients and is packed with protein. The only ingredients I replaced was the bacon for turkey bacon and skim milk for whole milk. The cohesive tastes in these breakfast cupcakes are rather explosive. Definitely something kids and/or adults will enjoy. Looking through the directions, I only made one change and that was setting the oven to 350 and baking them at five minute intervals rotating the pan to bake them all equally. I used the smallest cupcake pan size so they are bite sized pieces.  Use tin foil cupcake wrappers instead of paper because it wont stick to the sides. When you pack the hash brown in, make sure you pack it tight. You can actually brush the outer hash brown in vegetable oil to make it crispier. Serve, and ENJOY!

 

 

Meat

3/4 cup

Crisply cooked bacon

Produce

1 bag

Hash brown potatoes, refrigerated

Refrigerated

6

Eggs

Condiments

1	Sriracha sauce

Baking & Spices

1/4 tsp	Pepper
1/2 tsp	Salt

Oils & Vinegars

2 tbsp

Vegetable oil

Dairy

3/4 cup	Cheddar cheese
2 tbsp	Milk

Bacon Chicken Ranch Pasta

         So this recipe is a little more frugal. Through out it, I made some exchanges in ingredients to make it healthier. The penne pasta I used was whole wheat. Turkey bacon to replace the fatty bacon. Skim milk in exchange for the heavy cream. A Ranch dressing powder packet instead of the bottled version. Also, low fat sharp cheddar. You may think that with these changes it would change the outcome of the product wanted. The only thing about using the Ranch powder packet is not to use the whole thing because it would dry the product out. So only 1/2 of the whole packet was needed. The whole what penne noodles give you a more sense of fullness. When eating the finished pasta, you feel a lot better knowing you made the healthy substitutes. I highly recommend this delicious meal.

 

 

What you’ll need:

10-12 oz penne pasta

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, thawed

3/4 cup cooked and crumbled bacon

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup flour

2 cups heavy cream (milk would be fine, too)

1 tsp. onion powder

1 tsp. garlic salt

1/3 cup ranch dressing

3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Preparation:

1. After chicken is thawed, cut into small cubes and set aside.

2. Cook bacon in skillet, do not toss grease. Crumble bacon and set aside. Start boiling water for pasta and cook according to package directions.

3. Cook chicken in bacon grease until no longer pink inside. Pour off grease and continue cooking chicken for 2 minutes to sear, stirring frequently.

4. Add bacon and chicken to drained pasta and set aside.

To make sauce

1. Melt butter in medium saucepan. Once melted, add flour and stir to combine (this is called a roux).

2. Once you have your roux, add heavy cream and stir constantly until sauce thickens (I found I had to turn my burner up a few clicks above medium).

3. Remove from heat and add garlic salt, onion powder, and ranch dressing (I used a little more ranch to make it more ranch-y)

Combining everything

 

1. Add sauce to pasta mixture and stir well to combine. Add cheddar cheese and mix well.

2. Pour whole mixture into a 9×13 baking dish and bake at 350 for 15 minutes.

3. Serve and enjoy!

 

 

Weight Watchers Smoothie



 

 

Scrolling through Pinterest all you ever see are food posts. They can usually make you hungry and half the time you want to test them out. So that's what I've started to do. Since I'm on a health kick, new year...new me, I've been inspired to try many recipes. For my first trial, I didn't want anything too overwhelming, so why not start with a smoothie. A strawberry-banana smoothie/slushy seemed appropriate. It consisted of 1 cup of strawberries, 1 cup of sliced bananas, a cup of ice, and a can of diet 7 Up! To my surprise this was rather delicious. The ingredients were simple, the drink itself was zero points for Weight Watchers and filling. It can cure your sweet tooth craving. I highly recommend anyone who is watching what they eat and wanting something sweet to try this drink.