Banana Bread/Cake

I used to make banana bread all the time when I was growing up. I even had the recipe memorized or at least I had a general idea for the proportions and feel for the consistency of the batter. Unfortunately the bread didn't have a brown top because either the heat was too low or because I forgot to put a little milk or oil on top. Whatever the case, it turned out delicious.

Banana Bread/Cake
Ingredients

• 3 large, very spotty/ripe bananas
• 2 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 eggs

Procedure

1. Preheat oven to 325 Fahrenheit.
2. Mash the bananas in a medium-sized bowl. Mix in the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, vegetable oil, and eggs. Finally fold in the walnuts.
3. Bake for 30-40 minutes in a greased loaf pan. Check with a tooth pick or fork. Optional, for a brown top, take the bread out after 20 minutes and coat the top with a little bit of milk or oil and bake for the remainder of the time.

Ham and Pineapple Fried Rice

I had a lot of left over rice from what I made for a team potluck. The best thing to do with leftover rice is to make fried rice. But what kind? I had leftover pineapple from last week's kale pineapple and peanut butter stew. Okay, so pineapple fried rice would be pretty delicious. I have done it before. But wait, why not make it even better by adding ham? Why didn't I think of this sooner?! Overall, I think this experiment was a success.

Ham + pineapple = awesome

Finished product

Ham and Pineapple Fried Rice
Ingredients (Warning: proportions are estimated)

• 2 green onions/scallions cut at an angle
• 1 lb boneless ham steak cut into small cubes
• half a 20 oz can of pineapple chunks cut into bite size pieces with juice or 10 oz of crushed pineapple
• approximately 5 cups of cooked rice
• 4 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tsp five spice powder
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 tbsp sesame oil
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder

Procedure

1. Pour the 2 tbsp of sesame oil in a wok and turn on heat to about medium.
2. Add the ham to the wok and stir. When the ham warms up add the pineapple with about a cup of the pineapple juice, five spice powder, garlic powder, and sugar. Mix well. 
3. When the liquid in the wok begins to simmer or boil a little bit add the rice and the soy sauce. Stir contents of the wok frequently.
4. Last, when all the ingredients are well mixed and heated up add the green onions. Stir contents of the wok until everything is well-mixed.

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Banana Cookies

I always have oatmeal around for breakfast or for cookie baking. Luckily I also have organic "Nana Honey Peanut Butter" and leftover chocolate chips. This recipe is similar to the oatmeal banana cookies that I made before after I stumbled a two ingredient recipes webpage. I should always create new recipes when I'm hungry. This recipe is the product of random cravings. Enjoy! (These cookies = breakfast)

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Banana Cookies
Ingredient

• 1 1/2 cups old fashioned oatmeal
• 4 ripe bananas
• 1/2 cup slivered almonds
• 1/4 cup peanut butter
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup sweetened coconut flakes

Procedure

1. Mash the bananas in a small bowl. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Measure out the other ingredients into a large bowl then add in the mashed bananas. Mix all the ingredients together.
3. Bake for 10 minutes (no more than 12 min) and let cool before serving. 

Strawberry Pie

Recipe adapted from Allrecipes

It's strawberry season! I think it's berry season in general. That means it's time for me to bake more pies. I got some strawberries on sale at the store and wanted to make a fresh strawberry pie. Fresh strawberries, sugar, and flour. Simple. No gelatin. No cream cheese.  So much for preparing lunch for the work week. Pie counts as lunch, right? This pie tasted delicious, but it essentially turned into cobbler when I tried to cut a piece. Also, I really wish I had whipped cream.

Strawberry Pie
Ingredients

• 1.5 lbs fresh strawberries, sliced
• 2 unbaked 9-inch pie crusts
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tbsp flour
• 1/4 cup corn starch
• 2 tbsp butter

Procedure

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Arrange crust on the bottom of a glass pie pan.
3. Mix all ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
4. Pour filling into pie pan.
5. Cut holes into top pie crust and then cover the pie. Crimp in the edges of the pie crust with a fork.
6. Bake at 425 for 30 minutes then turn heat down to 350 and bake for 20 minutes.
7. Let cool. Then serve.                                                                                                                    

Very Experimental Hummus

I had a craving for hummus and an itching to buy a food processor to make some fun foods. I love kitchen gadgets! Originally I was going to use plain Greek yogurt instead of Tahini (because Tahini is expensive and I didn't have any around), but then I saw that my avocado had ripened quicker than I had anticipated so I decided to throw that in to see how it would turn out. You be the judge.

This is how I cut my mangoes too.

Look at that beautiful plating!

Serving suggestion. My dinner.

Very Experimental Hummus
Ingredients

• 15.5oz can of chick peas
• 1 ripe avocado
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp sesame oil
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp salt

Procedure

1. Drain the can of chick peas and then rinse them in a colander.
2. Cut the avocado in half, remove pit, and cut each half into small squares. See picture above.
3. Measure out all ingredients and place into food processor.
4. Pulse, blend, processor, etc. until hummus is the consistency you want.
5. Serve over pita, bread, or crackers.

Tuna Pasta Salad with Yogurt Dressing

Short entry today. I am rushing to post something before getting ready for work tomorrow. Just wanted to note that for most of my experiments I guess the proportions and if I use the same quantity for most of the ingredients, it's because I didn't feel like using and washing another measuring spoon. The garbage disposal has a tendency to eat the measuring spoons so I'd prefer to use as few at a time as I can. I wonder if other cooks/chefs do that.

Om nom nom dressing. Looks legit!

Delicious!

Tuna Pasta Salad
Ingredients

• ~1.5 cup frozen broccoli florets, defrosted
• 4 oz of mushrooms cut into small pieces
• 1/4 medium onion finely diced
• 1 can tuna in water
• ~8 oz cooked pasta (I used rotini)
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

The dressing
Ingredients

• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp oregano
• 1/4 tsp basil
• 4 tbsp non-fat Greek yogurt
• 1/2 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes 
• pepper to taste

Procedure

1. Cook the mushrooms and onion in a pan with the olive oil on medium heat until mushrooms are cooked.
2. Mix the dressing ingredients in a small bowl.
3. Drain the water from the canned tuna. 
4. In a large bowl, mix the dressing, tuna, mushrooms, onion, and broccoli.
5. Serve chilled.

Spinach and Mushroom with Yogurt Alfredo

Last week I went to the store and bought a giant tub of Greek yogurt. I figured it's a healthy breakfast item and I am trying to eat more healthy. However, the tub advertised that it's "great for cooking" so I decided to try and make an Alfredo sauce with it. Note to self: next time make sure you buy plain Greek yogurt instead of vanilla flavored. It turned out sweeter than expected, but definitely edible. This is the result.

The smell of mushrooms, onions, and spinach cooking together  made me really hungry.

Looks like regular alfredo to me

Finished product in the pan.

Ingredients

• 1/8 medium onion thinly sliced
• 4 oz baby bella/cremini mushroom thinly sliced
• fresh spinach (as much or as little as you like)
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 3 tbsp shredded parmesean cheese
• 3 tbsp fat free Greek yogurt
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp dried basil
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• salt and pepper to taste

Procedure

1. Cook the onion in a large non stick pan with the olive oil.
2. Add the mushrooms to the pan when the onion has begin to turn clear/see through. Cook until mushrooms have started to shrink and loose some water. Stir occasionally.
3. Wilt the spinach in the pan. Add the garlic powder, basil, oregano, salt and pepper to the pan. Mix /stir occasionally.
4. Add the cheese and yogurt when the spinach has completely wilted. Mix well
5. Serve mixed with pasta or over pasta.