Banana Bread

1/2 cup crisco shortening
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
3 mashed ripe bananas
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups flour
pinch of cinnamon
cinnamon sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Oil and Flour 9x5x3 inch loaf pan.

Cream shortening and sugar. Add eggs one at a time. Mix. Add the bananas, mix well. Add the baking soda, salt, flour, and cinnamon. Mix thoroughly. Dough will be sticky. Pour into prepared pan and sprinkle top with cinnamon sugar.

Bake 1 hour or until center is brown and set.

I found this recipe a few years ago on foodnetwork and it is amazing! The cinnamon sugar makes the top of the bread flaky and sweet and absolutely amazing. I hope you give it a try and enjoy!!!

Green Beans with Cherry Tomatoes

Green Beans with Cherry Tomatoes

1 1/2 lbs. green beans, trimmed and cut into 2 inch pieces
1 1/2 cup water
1/4 cup butter
1 TBS. sugar
3/4 tsp. garlic salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 1/2 tsp. chopped basil
2 cups cherry tomatoes, cut into halves

Place beans and water in a large saucepan.  Cover, and bring to a boil.  Set heat to low and simmer until tender, about 10 minutes.  Drain off water and set aside.
Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat.  Stir in sugar, garlic salt, pepper and basil.  Add tomatoes, and cook stirring gently, just until sugar is dissolved. 
Pour the tomato mixture over the green beans and toss gently to blend. Serve.

Eggplant Pizza

2 eggs

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1 large eggplant, sliced into 1/2 inch rounds

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 (14 ounce) can pizza sauce

1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Pizza toppings of choice

Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Beat the eggs in a bowl. Mix the flour, salt, pepper, and oregano in a 1 gallon resealable plastic bag. Dip each eggplant slice in the egg, then drop the eggplant in the flour mixture one at a time, shaking the bag to coat the eggplant. Heat the vegetable oil in a large, deep skillet over medium heat. Place the eggplant slices in the skillet to cook, turning occasionally, until evenly browned. Drain the eggplant slices on a paper towel-lined plate. Arrange the eggplant in one layer on a baking sheet. Spoon enough pizza sauce to cover each eggplant slice. Top each eggplant with mozzarella cheese. Bake in the preheated oven until the mozzarella cheese is melted, 5 to 10 minutes.

This was suprisingly good. I would recommend cutting the eggplant thinner than what the recipe says...the thicker ones were a little more chewy and weren't as good. I added garlic flavored crushed croutons to my flour mixture. We topped with chopped sausage (the kirkland italian sytle meatballs), green bell pepper, red bell pepper, onion, mushroom, and tomoato. And of course cheese! Sorry, I didn't get a picture of this.

Chicken Fajita Pizza

1 (10 ounce) can refrigerated pizza crust
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into 2 inch strips
1 TBS olive oil
1 cup sliced green pepper
1 cup thinly sliced onion
2 tsp chili powder
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup salsa
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Unroll the pizza crust onto a greased 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan; flatten dough and build up edges slightly. Prick dough several times with a fork. Bake at 425 degrees F for 10-15 minutes or until lightly browned.
Meanwhile, in a skillet, saute chicken in oil for 5 minutes. Add the green pepper, onion, chili powder, garlic, cumin and salt; cook 3 minutes longer or until vegetables are crisp-tender. Spoon over crust; top with salsa and cheese. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until crust is golden brown and cheese is melted.

Garnish with sour cream and diced tomato.

I tweaked this recipe a little. For the dough, I used Rhodes Rolls (I took 14 Texas style rolls, put them in the microwave for 2 minutes, then rolled them together to form my pizza dough) Also, I added red pepper and doubled the salsa. And I didn't have any fresh garlic, so I added a small amount of garlic salt. And something I always like to do when I make pizza crust is dust the bottom of the pan with yellow corn meal and pepper.

This is a great recipe! I think it would also be delicious to skip the pizza style and use the fajita mix in tortillas.

Enjoy!

Super Soft Snickerdoodles

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
3 cups flour
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

cinnamon topping:
1/4 cup white sugar
1 TBS cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Heat oven to 450. Gentlly melt butter in a saucepan or microwave and let cool while mixing dry ingredients. Stir together sugars, flour, spices, baking soda, and salt. Wisk eggs into cooled butter and add vanilla. Sitr wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir just until it comes together.

Roll into balls and roll in cinnamon mix. Place on unlined ungreased sheet and flatten slightly. Bake 7 minutes, cool on pan 5min.

Dough can be refrigerated 5 days. It can also be frozen in logs.

I got this recipe from my day care provider. It is incredible! Be prepared to eat many!!

Sauted Cabbage

1 medium onion, chopped

2 TBS butter

4 medium carrots, thinly sliced
6 cups cabbage, chopped
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar

In saucepan, saute onion in butter until tender. Add carrots. Cook 2-3 minutes, stirring often. Stir in remaining ingredients. Bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 5-7 minutes or until veggies are tender, stirring occasionally. Serve with slitted spoon.

I got this recipe off allrecipes.com. We ate this with barbeque chickin and loved it! It's very easy, healthy, and yummy!

Cheddar Baked Chicken

1/4 cup butter, melted1/2 cup flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 egg
1 TBS. milk
1 cup shredded cheese (cheddar)
1/2 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
1 cup crispy rice cereal
3 chicken breast halves
2 TBS. butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat baking dish with 1/4 cup melted butter.

Mix flour, salt, pepper and garlic powder.  In a separate bowl, beat together the egg and milk.  In a third bowl, mix the cheese, bread crumbs and cereal.  Dip chicken pieces in the flour mixture, dip in the egg mixture, then press in the breadcrum mixture to coat.  Arrange in the prepared baking dish.  Drizzle 2 TBS. butter evenly over chicken.

Bake 35 minutes in preheated oven, or until coating is golden brown and chicken juices run clear.