Year: 2013

I have been experimenting with some banana bread recipes.  My goal has been to try to make one that I can make from things that I have around the house and to not need to run to the store for anything.  (Ok so I did have Alex pick up some walnuts but by the time I got around to making it, they had been in the cupboard for a few days!)  We eat a lot of bananas in this house.  We usually pick up two bunches at a time.  One ready to go and another that is nice and green and will be ready by the time we get through the others.  I have never been a huge banana fan.  They are ok, but they are definitely growing on me!  I like them when they are perfect but once they start to brown they gross me out!  Too slimy for my taste!  That’s why I have been on the hunt for the perfect banana bread recipe!

I made some banana muffins last week that my Instructional Coach told me about.  I was getting ready to go out of town, so I did not get a picture or anything but they were pretty good for a healthy alternative!  You can find this recipe at 100 Days of Real Food.  I am always looking for something even more delicious, so I decided to hunt on for some new recipes.  The one I based this one off of can be found at Fit Sugar.  This one is a bit different than what I came up with but that is just how I do it!  Come to think about it, the banana muffins recipe I added applesauce for a kick and this one already called for it.  I decided to substitute an extra banana for the diced apple, though I may have to try that sometime.  I just needed to use up all of the bananas.  The recipe also called for sugar and I decided to use honey and brown sugar instead to give it more of a rich taste.  I was going to just use honey but I decided the brown sugar would kick it up a notch.

Ingredients:

3 ripe bananas

1/2 cup apple sauce

1/3 cup honey

1/3 cup brown sugar (a little extra for topping if desired)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 3/4 cup flour

1 cup crushed walnuts

Instructions:

This turned out even better than I would have guessed!  I was very happy with the flavor.  If I were to do it differently, I would add half of the walnut/brown sugar mix to the batter and just top it off with the other half.  It came out almost overflowing with walnuts and they were not sticking to all of it.  Other than that I would actually use this one again!  It was delicious.  I would like to try some chocolate chips in my next one but that is the fat girl in me!  I will at least make it dark chocolate since I LOVE LOVE LOVE that anyways and it is a bit better for you.

 

 

So I have been eying quinoa recipes for awhile. I made some meatballs a a few weeks ago with quinoa in place of rice or oatmeal. They were pretty delicious. In fact, now that I think about it…I think I made those one of the last few weeks of school and I haven’t blogged about it yet… I cannot express how much fun I am having getting my blog on! I was missing it! I do start summer school tomorrow. I will be working four days a week and will be off by 12:30…so it’s not a terrible gig. As much as I would have loved to take the summer off, I am working on getting my lovely credit card paid off. I will be teaching first grade math, so that will be a little bit of a change for me!

Anyways back to what was for dinner tonight! I asked Alex this morning what he was wanting for supper. He didn’t really have much to say, but I needed to be the chef tonight, as he had made me breakfast the past 2 mornings in a row…Thanks baby!! As I shifted through our freezer, I decided we had not made fish in awhile. Last summer, we started buying Swai. It is very much like Tilapia, in fact I do not see much of a difference.

Ingredients:
Swai
cajun seasoning
soy sauce
2 minced garlic cloves
salt & pepper
olive oil
aluminum foil

Instructions:

Place the thawed fish in a pan season both sides with the Cajun seasoning, salt, and pepper. Let marinate for 30 minutes. If using a Traeger Grill, turn the Traeger on to smoke with the lid open for 5 minutes. Take some aluminum foil and fold the sides up creating a makeshift pan. This will help the oil and soy sauce not drip off. Place this aluminum foil pan on the grill and turn the heat up to 325. Drizzle pan with soy sauce and olive oil. Place fish on pan. Drizzle the fish with soy sauce and olive oil as well. Close the lid and let cook 15 minutes before turning it over once. Cook another 10-15 minutes or until fish is flakey.

Fried Quinoa

Ingredients:
1 cup quinoa
1 cup chopped carrots
1 medium white onion, diced
4 tablespoons soy sauce
1tablespoon butter
2 eggs
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 cup chopped green onions
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt & pepper

Instructions:
Start a pot of quinoa with 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 15-20 minutes or until the quinoa is clear in the middle. While this is working, start cooking the onions and carrots with a little salt and pepper and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. When the veggies are cooked, add 2 eggs and scramble. Set the veggie and egg mixture to the side in a separate bowl. When the quinoa is cooked, use a handheld strainer (most noodle strainers are too small. You need one that has a small net-like screen). Add 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter to the pan on medium. After it is melted, add the quinoa to the pan and cook for 4 minutes. Add the carrot and egg mixture to the quinoa and cook over medium for 2-3 more minutes. Add cilantro and green onions right before serving.

Results:
This was a great meal! Alex liked it too! The fish was absolutely delicious and the fried quinoa was a great alternative to one of my all time favorites…fried rice. I would like to try a few more recipes to see if there is a better one out there on Pinterest that I need to be aware of! Overall I was pretty satisfied with the turnout! I am pretty excited for my leftovers for lunch tomorrow!

I had the most amazing weekend with my family!! I was definitely ready to relax after school got out. Originally, my mom was thinking about coming up my way. She has been on the hunt for something to wear for my sister’s wedding coming up here in August. I had talked to my cousin Cally and she was planning on heading home for Memorial Weekend. I have not seen my cousin for five years, which is crazy because we used to be joint at the hip! It is crazy how life gets as we all grow older,it seems like we just can’t find the time to get together anymore. I need to be better about that! It’s funny though because even though we have not been together for so long it was like yesterday! Her brother Trevor was home too, along with her husband Stevo. We had a great night out catching up!

While I was home, I also got some quality time in with the rest of my family. I wish I were closer to them. My mom and Troy had planned on getting the pool up while I was home but that good old Kansas wind had another idea! We had a BBQ Saturday which turned out amazing! The weather was perfect by the time we started. I spent some time with my dad looking through old family photos.

Monday was a busy day for me, as I also got to have dinner with my Grandma and Grandpa Underhill. It was a special evening as they have been married for 35 years! It was so cute listening to them tell about how my grandpa asked her out and when they started dating. I cannot tell you how special their relationship is and how much I look up to their love!

On Monday my Grandma Bloesser and I spent the day planting flowers and moving around her “craft studio”. I had been wanting to plant a garden a few weeks ago but once we got down to it, I couldn’t believe how much $ goes into starting a garden. Unfortunately I have a card that I am trying to get paid off this summer so I decided not to do it.

I decided I wanted to makeover the flowerpot to something that was more geared towards both of us! I have not played with vinyl on my Cricut yet and decided it might be cool make it into a Nebraska Huskers watering can. Alex did not like the idea of me spray painting anywhere at the house. I was not planning on making a mess but I do know what a mess spray painting can be.