What to do with bananas past their prime

Here is a great recipe for banana bread that gets raves every time I make if for some A Chef of Your Own vacationing guests.

Banana Bread

3 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

3 ripe bananas

3/4 cup oil

1 1/2 cups sugar

4 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Set aside.

Mash bananas. Add sugar, vanilla, oil and sour cream. Mix well. Add eggs and thoroughly mix.

Add dry ingredients to wet and mix well so there are no dry spots or lumps.

Pour into two well greased bread pans or 12 mega muffin cups.

Place in preheated oven and bake bread 45-55 minutes and muffins about 30 minutes until tester comes out clean.

 

Read Full Post »

New breakfast idea

This is a revised post, much better finished product.

My husband posted this to my page from something someone posted and I changed it a little bit.

Bacon, French toast and egg bake

12 slices bacon, par-cooked

6 slices bread – cut in 2-3 inch rounds

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup maple syrup

6 eggs

3 cups milk

1/2 cup shredded Monterey jack cheese

Cut bacon into 1 inch pieces. Cook bacon until crispy. Dice bread and toss with bacon pieces. Melt butter and maple syrup together and pour over bread mixture. Place eggs in greased casserole dish. Top with cheese. Combine milk and eggs. Pour egg mixture over bread and cover, let sit overnight. Bake in 350 degree oven 25-35 minutes until puffed and egg is cooked through. Remove from oven and let cool.

 

Read Full Post »

These look really yummy!

A Chef of Your Own found this recipe on Facebook, on Living the Country Life page. They looked so yummy, I couldn’t resist making them for breakfast. They were a little messy, but I added plenty of love to make up for it.

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes~~Southern Mama~~

Ingredients:

for the Pancakes:   4 cups all-purpose flour …  8 tsps baking powder   2 tsp. salt   4 cups milk   4 tbsps vegetable oil   4 large eggs, lightly beaten

for the Cinnamon Filling   1 cup butter, melted   1 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed   2 tbsp ground cinnamon

for the Cream Cheese Glaze   1/2 cup butter   4 oz. cream cheese   1 1/2 cups powdered sugar   1 tsp. vanilla

Directions:   To make the Cinnamon Filling:   Mix the three ingredients together. Place in a disposable piping bag and snip the end off or put in a Ziploc bag and snip the corner off.   To make the Pancakes:   Mix the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet ingredients in another bowl. Stir them together until everything is moistened leaving a few lumps.   Heat your griddle to exactly 325 degrees. You don’t want these to cook too quickly, and you won’t want your cinnamon to burn.   Make desired size pancake on greased griddle and then using the piping bag and starting at the center of the pancake, create a cinnamon swirl. Wait until the pancake has lots of bubble before you try to turn it. You will find that when you turn it the cinnamon swirl will melt. The cinnamon will melt out and create the craters which the cream cheese glaze will fill.   To make the Cream Cheese Glaze:   In a microwave safe bowl melt the butter and cream cheese and then stir together. Whisk in the powdered sugar and vanilla. Add a little milk if needed to make   it a glaze consistency.   Place pancake on plate, then cover with cream cheese glaze.

Read Full Post »

Happy Holidays

WOW, sorry for the long gap between posts. Seems being busy and just not having a lot to say got the best of me,  but here is an amazing make ahead breakfast to make for Christmas morning! A Chef of Your Own is always looking for that recipe I can leave with my clients for breakfast the next morning and I found this one in the December 2012 edition of Cooking Light. I used some blackberry preserves instead of the fruits cooked in cider, but I imagine it might be almost a good as the original. I also used french bread slices, leaving the crusts on. However you make it, whatever you make it for, enjoy the holidays and remember to share in the blessings of the holidays.

Streusel topped French Toast Casserole with fruit Compote

1 cup unfiltered apple cider

1/3 cup dried cranberries

1/3 cup golden raisins

1 cup fat free milk

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 Tbls vanilla extract

1 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon, salt, divided

4 large eggs, slightly beaten

Cooking spray

8 (1 1/2 oz ) slices sourdough bread, crusts removed

6 Tbls flour

1/3 cup old fashioned oats

1/3 cup walnuts, chopped

1/4 cup brown sugar

3 Tbls chilled butter, cut into small pieces

1. Bring cider to a boil in a small saucepan. Cook until reduced to 2/3 cups (about 4 min). Add fruits and let stand 10 minutes

2. Combine milk, sugar, vanilla, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp salt and eggs, stirring with a whisk.

3. Coat a 9 inch deep dish pie plate with cooking spray. Lind bottom of dish with half of the bread in a single layer. Pour half of egg mixture over bread, let stand 1 minute. Spread cranberry mixture over bread. Top with remaining egg mixture over bread. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

4. Combine remaining 3/4 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp salt, flour, oats, walnuts, and brown sugar in a small bow. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Uncover bread mixture and sprinkle flour mixture evenly over bread mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until golden brown. Let stand 5 minutes, Cut into 8 wedges.

 

Read Full Post »

Contest on A Chef of Your Own facebook page

Summer is here (a little early in some places) but yesterday I went berry picking. Stop by my FB page, A Chef of Your Own, leave a comment and go into a drawing to win a set of jams I will draw on Mother’s Day. I’ll put them in the mail Monday. Good Luck.

New U-Pick farm in St Cloud, open nights after 4

I went with my niece and great-nephew to pick blueberries and black berries. In just under an hour we had about 12 pounds of blueberries and 2 pounds of blackberries., about $2.50 a pound.

    

Just enough blackberries to make a batch of jam, and enough blueberries to make jam with some leftovers.

Recipe is from Certo Sure jell that I’ve been using since making jams with my grandmother many years ago.

Blackberry Jam

Prepare jars, I boil the lids to make ready to jar. Set aside.

4 cups crushed blackberries

7 cups sugar

1 pouch CERTO

Bring berries and sugar to a boil over medium high heat, stirring constantly. When mixture comes to a rolling boil, stir in CERTO, bring back to a boil and boil for 1 minute.

Remove from heat, and pour into jars. Place lids on jars and turn over for 3-5 minutes to distribute fruit through the jam. Turn over and store in a cool, dry place.

Read Full Post »

Blueberry Waffles

A Chef of Your Own has found another waffle recipe, this one from “Cooking Light” for Blueberry Waffles

Blueberry Waffles

1 3/4 cups flour

2 Tbls sugar

1 Tbls baking soda

dash of salt

1 2/3 cups fat free milk

3 Tbls vegetable oil

2 large egg whites, lightly beaten

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries*

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Combine milk, oil, egg whites, and egg in a small bowl; combine well with a whisk. Add to flour mixture, stirring until smooth. Add blueberries, stirring gently.

Cook waffles according to manufacturer’s directions.

*Note:If you are using frozen blueberries, do not thaw them before adding to batter.

Read Full Post »

Waffle recipe

Here is a recipe for a friend request from A Chef of Your own. These come from a great book, “Low Carb Gourmet” by Karen Barnaby.

Colin’s Omega Waffles

1/2 cup flaxseed meal

1/2 cup walnut pieces

1/2 cup almond meal

2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp sea slat

1/4 cup Splenda

4 large eggs

1 cup unsweetened soy milk

1 tsp baking powder

In a blender or food processor, combine the flaxseed meal, walnuts, almond meal, cinnamon, salt, and sweetener. Blend until the walnuts are finely ground.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and 1/2 cup soy milk/ Add the walnut mixture and combine well. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to overnight.

When you are ready to make the waffles, stir in the baking powder and the remaining 1/2 cup of soy milk. Beat well.

Cook the waffles until light brown according to the manufacturer’s directions.

 

Read Full Post »

Wonderful cookbook, wonderful gift

A client gave me a great cookbook for Christmas, The Low Carb Gourmet, by Karen Barnaby. Here is her website, http://www.karenbarnaby.com/biography/bmain.html

I am working my way thru the cookbook and the Egg and Sausage Muffins for breakfast are wonderful. Remember the recipes in this book are low carb, not necessarly low fat, it is a different mindset and works for some people.

My daughter gave me silicone muffin cups for christmas as well, and they made this dish increadably easy to make. I made extras and they heated up fine in the microwave the next day.

Egg and Sausage Muffins

1 lb breakfast sausage

12 large eggs

1/2 cup cream

1/2 cup water

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cook sausage and crumble. Divide evenly into muffin cups.

Whisk together the eggs, cream water and salt. Pour over the sausage and top with cheese.

Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until eggs are cooked through.

Read Full Post »

Great Breakfast idea

Just returned from a Get Fit Weekend with Trinity Fitness, LLC. Everyone had questions for what to eat for breakfast and all wanted this recipe. A Chef of Your Own found this recipe in a Cooking Light cookbook, Breakfast section

Swiss Muesli

2 ¼ c regular oats, uncooked

2 ¼ cup almond milk

3 Tbls brown sugar

3 Tbls dried fruit

¼ tsp salt

1 ½ cups vanilla low fat yogurt

3 Tbls chopped pecans, lightly toasted

Combine oats through salt in a bowl. Cover and chill 8 hours
or overnight.

Stir in yogurt, spoon into bowls and top with nuts

Read Full Post »

A labor of love!

I don’t know as my kids appreciate this, but I think it’s really cool. I grew  the grapes

         

I harvested them,

And, since there were only 4 cups of juice, I made jelly. 🙂

Read Full Post »