{SRC} Breakfast Quesadillas

Do you ever find yourself stumped as to what to feed your kiddos?  I am constantly on the hunt for new meal ideas for my girls that are not only appealing to them but also healthy and well balanced.  This month my wishes were granted for a fantastic breakfast/snack to offer the girls.  It was through my fantastic Secret Recipe Club assignment for the month of May that I discovered, Breakfast Quesadillas on My Hobbie Lobbie. 

Trisha of My Hobbie Lobbie has a wide variety of recipes on her blog.  They range from a vast amount of delicious Goan food from India to healthy options for breads and even sinfully rich dessert recipes.  A well rounded collection of recipes. Honestly, it really wasn't easy for me to pick a recipe from Trisha's collection.  Just as soon as I picked one I would then find yet another one that I wanted to make.  But, as I stated above I am constantly keeping my eyes peeled for new, fun and healthy recipes to make for my precious girls. Breakfast Quesadillas won!  Winner for me and winner for the girls too.  They LOVED these delicious wedges of yumminess.  

The recipe calls for a tortia that is slathered with peanut butter and then layered with banana slices and sprinkled with dark chocolate chips.  Once the tortia has been folded in half it is then cooked in a frying pan on both sides until the insides become all warm and melty and the tortia is a pretty golden brown. Delicious.  And yes, healthy. 

I had lots of fun with this recipe as the second time I made it I switched it up a bit and made my own variation.  I made a scrumptious almond butter, maple cream and strawberry version.  Devine.  Deliciously devine.  

The possibilities are endless with these breakfast quesadillas.  Imagine making one with Nutella, almond butter and banana slices or even cream cheese and green olives for a savory version. Yum!  What version would you like best? 

Breakfast Quesadillas 

(recipe from My Hobbie Lobbie)  

Ingredients:

1 tortia - white or whole wheat

3 Tbsp peanut butter, smooth or crunchy

1/2 banana, sliced

10-15 dark chocolate chips 

non-stick spray, butter or coconut oil - for greasing your frying pan 

Spread peanut butter on 1/2 or all of tortia.  Place banana slices over PB and then sprinkle evenly with chocolate chips.  Fold tortia in 1/2 and place in a heated medium size frying pan that has been greased well.  Lower heat to medium-low and cook each side until golden brown, about a minute on each side.  Cut into wedges and serve.  Enjoy! 

Happy Breakfast Quesadillas Making!

An InLinkz Link-up

Banana Bread x 2 = Happiness! :-)

I just love banana bread!  Actually I just LOVE anything baked with bananas.  I always get excited when I discover a couple of ripe bananas.  This means I get to challenge myself to find a new "banana baked goodie" recipe.  I have found wonderful recipes for banana bread.   I have also found a fabulous recipe for Banana Coffee Cake.  Cupcakes are fun to make too with bananas.  Like the Banana Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting I have made.  My most recent banana recipe discovery has granted me with TWO great recipes for banana bread.  One that show cases the combo of raisins and bananas along with combining white and whole wheat flour in the batter (Banana Raisin Bread) and then the next recipe is SWEET and super pretty with a nice light yellow color of a bread (Buttery Blonde Banana Bread). 

Try these two recipes out and let me know which one you liked best.  For that fact share with me some of your favorite "banana baked goodie" recipes....I can never have enough!

I liked the Banana Raisin Bread because it was not only full in banana flavor but also had a nice chewy texture.  I loved having slices of it with good natural PB...yum! I felt like I was doing my "healthy deed" of the day by eating this bread. :-)

Banana Raisin Bread

(recipe from Cooking During Stolen Moments)

Ingredients:

1/3 cup butter, melted

2/3 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup (2 medium) mashed ripe bananas

3 Tbsp milk

1 cup AP flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

 1/2 (heaping) cup raisins

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease a 9x5 loaf pan and set aside.

2. Cream together butter and sugar for 5 minutes.  Add in eggs and vanilla extract - mix well all together.  Add in mashed bananas and milk - again, mix well all together.

3. In a medium bowl combine flours, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.  Slowly add in flour mixture to the banana mixture.  Stir in raisins.

4. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake for 55-60 minutes.  Cool, slice,serve and enjoy!

*********

The next banana bread recipe is sweeter than the Banana Raisin Bread.  It definitely reminds me of a Blonde Brownie as it is has a soft light yellow color and has a wonderfully comforting taste about it similar to such a brownie.  All you need is a nice hot cup of tea along side a slice of this bread and you've got a perfect afternoon snack.

Buttery Blonde Banana Bread
(recipe from the fabulous Jaime @ Jaime Cook's it Up!)
Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs, well beaten

1 cup (2-3 bananas) mashed bananas

4 Tbsp buttermilk

1 3/4 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

dash of baking soda (that's right a dash)

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp vanilla extract


Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Generously grease 9x5 loaf pan and set aside.

2. Cream together butter and sugar.

3. Add in eggs, mashed bananas, buttermilk and vanilla extract to the creamed butter and sugar.

4. Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl and then add to banana mixture.  Mix just until combined - you don't want to overmix this batter.

5. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 55-60 minutes.  Cool, slice, serve and ENJOY!

Happy Banana Raisin Bread and Buttery Blonde Banana Bread Baking!

WINNER of Tate's Cookies Giveaway and The FASTEST Cookies EVER

Drum roll PLEASE! - In honor of the New Year I'd like to announce the winner of the Tate's Cookies and Cookbook Giveaway! I punched in the appropriate numbers (1-42) into random.org and the lucky number that was chosen was......

#5!!!  Yes,  the WINNER is Laurie!  The wonderful Laurie from cookin' up north.  Congrats Laurie!!!

Along with the above happiness of announcing the winner of Tate's Giveaway I want to share a lovely cookie recipe.  One of the very FASTEST cookie recipes ever.....and yummy too! - full of cinnamon-y flavor, studded with oatmeal and plump raisins.  Yes, Oatmeal Raisin Cookies is what I'm about to share with you made and baked in a flash.

All you have to do is blink because once you do this recipe is mixed together and ready to be scooped into little balls onto cookie sheets and thrown placed into the hot oven.

Here we go....

Fastest EVER Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

(recipe discovered on TK and slightly altered from TK member carolinacollegcook)

Ingredients:

2 eggs

1/2 cups veggie or canola oil (I used canola)

1 box (18oz) Yellow Cake Mix (moist variations work best)

1 1/2 Tbsp cream - 1/2 and 1/2, light or heavy will all work well (I used heavy)

1 tsp ground cinnamon

3/4 cup raisins

3/4 cup oatmeal

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Beat eggs in a large bowl.  Add in oil then cake mix and cinnamon and stir/beat until thoroughly incorporated.

3. Add in cream and then raisins and oats.  Make sure everything is incorporated fully.

4. Place scoops of cookie dough on lightly greased or parchment lined cookie sheets.  Bake for 8-10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.   Cool cookies for a couple minutes on cookie sheets and then remove to cooling racks.

Enjoy with a nice cold glass of milk!

Happy FASTEST Ever Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Baking!



TWO Last Minute HOMEMADE Yummy Gifts

How are your holiday preparations coming along?  Have you finished all your shopping, wrapped all your presents, sent out your cards and started to bake and cook for your holiday meals?  Goodness, that all sounds sounds overwhelming!!!  I may have about 1/2 of the above finished....one project at a time is all I can continue to say to myself  in an effort to keep my stress level down.  So in light of reducing stress I am here to offer you TWO simple and scrumptious recipes for HOMEMADE food gifts.  You are going to LOVE them!

I am going to start with a fabulous fudge recipe (a rich, smooth and decadent treat)...

 and then I will follow it up with a colorful and sweet popcorn treat (coated with white chocolate and studded with M n M's and Honey Roasted peanuts)....

Get your napkins ready....you will be drooling over both recipes I can tell you that. :-)

Nutella Fudge

(recipe from Let's Dish - also found on Cookin' Canuck)

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp butter - for buttering pan

1 (14oz) can sweetened condensed milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

8 oz. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup Nutella - at room temperature

3 Tbsp unsalted butter - at room temperature, cut into 1/2" pieces

sprinkles or sparkled sugar (optional)

Directions:

1. Grease the bottom and sides of an 8x8 square baking pan with 1 Tbsp of butter.  Line pan with parchment paper...make sure 2" of overlap exist on the sides of pan from the parchment paper.

2. In a medium heat proof bowl combine sweetened condensed milk, vanilla extract, chocolate chips, Nutella and 3 Tbsp butter....

3. Set heat proof bowl over a simmering pan of water.  Make sure simmering water does not touch bottom of heat proof bowl - this will cause the chocolate mixture to burn if not watched carefully. 

4. Stir mixture occasionally until chocolate chips  are melted fully and the whole mixture is smooth.  This takes about 5-7 minutes....

5. Pour mixture into prepared pan.  Spread with a spatula to smooth over the top....

 Sprinkle with sprinkles or sparkling sugar if you wish.....

  Cover and refrigerate fudge until firm - at least 2 hours if not longer.

6. Lift fudge filled parchment paper out of pan and cut into small squares.  Package as you wish and giveaway with happiness!

Happy Nutella Fudge Making!

Now onto the yummy popcorn....

White Chocolate Popcorn

(recipe discovered on Jaime Cooks it Up! -one of my very favorite blogs!)

Ingredients:

  2 bags of microwave popcorn - (I air popped my popcorn and made about 10 cups of popcorn instead of using microwave popcorn)

2 (12oz) bags of white chocolate chips

1 Tbsp shortening

1 cup Holiday M and M's

1 cup Honey Roasted peanuts

Directions:

1. Pop your popcorn - microwave or air pop - into a large bowl.  Set aside.

2. Put white chocolate in a microwave safe bowl.  Heat for 45 seconds then stir.  Continue to heat and stir every 30 seconds.  Heat chocolate slowly for you don't want to burn your chocolate by melting it too fast in the microwave.

3. Once chocolate is completely melted add in the 1 Tbsp of shortening.  Stir well to fully incorporate....

4. Slowly pour white chocolate over popcorn......

 and mix carefully.  (I poured a little over my popcorn and then stirred it through gently and then repeated until all the white chocolate was mixed into the popcorn) 

5.  Add in M and M's and peanuts....

  The peanuts and M and M's will stick nicely to the warm white chocolate popcorn as you stir them into mixture.

6. Line 2 cookie sheets with wax paper.  Divide popcorn between the two sheets and allow the chocolate to set onto popcorn (about 30 minutes).  Break popcorn into chunks and package up into pretty bags or tins.  SUPER yum!

Happy White Chocolate Popcorn Making!!!

A Dessert Dip and a Special Cookie GIVEAWAY

Yahoo!!! - another giveaway!  And what a perfect giveaway for the last week of the 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies because it involves COOKIES!!!  A couple of weeks ago I was sent a lovely box full of treats from Tate's Bake Shop located in the Hampton's, NY.  THREE boxes of cookies and a fabulous cookbook from Tate's was included in that box....everything that you will receive if you WIN!  Yes, a package of 3 boxes of scrumptious kinds of cookies  (Oatmeal Raisin, White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut and  Chocolate Chip) AND a cookbook from Tate's Bake Shop in The Hampton's, NY  goes to the lucky winner of this giveaway.

The cookies were delicious!  The White Chocolate chip Macadamia and Chocolate Chip cookies are tender and sweet with a lovely crispness while the Oatmeal Raisin cookies just melted in my mouth with a softness that can not be resisted.

  And the cookbook is fabulous!  I can not wait to dive into the ear-tagged pages of recipes.  I want to make the White Chocolate Brownies, Raspberry Squares, Hermits, Double Peanut Chocolate Brownies and Toffee Pecan Cookies.....to name a few. ;-) Keep your eyes open for some of these recipes coming your way on my blog in the future.

Here are the rules....

1. All you have to do to enter to win this giveaway is leave a comment at the end of this post.  Tell me anything....what you did this morning, what your plans are for the holidays or even what your most favorite kind of holiday treat there is out there (whether it be a sweet baked goodie or something savory).

2. For an extra entry become a "fan" of Tate's Bakery page on Facebook - just be sure to leave another comment to let me know you have done so.

3. This giveaway is only open to U.S. residents...I'm so sorry to all the foreigners!

4. A 15% off discount at Tate's online store is available up until the 31st of December.  Just enter "cookie" at the end of your purchase.

5. All entries will be accepted up until 12 midnight of Tuesday 12/21/10.  Winner will chosen with the help of random.org.
Now onto my last recipe for the 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies 2010....

Goodness it is the LAST week of the 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies!  How in the world did that happen so quickly?  Wowsers....time flies!  I have had so much fun with this baking group.  I have made many, many new friends, gained access to tons of fabulous blogs and recipes and I seriously can  not wait until next year to participate again!  Many, many thanks to April of Abby Sweets for organizing such a great baking group!

In honor of the last week of this fabulous baking group I would like to share with you a simple and oh-so-d'lish dessert dip called, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip.  I had seen this recipe floating around blog land recently and decided to try my hand at it when I came upon it at one of my very favorite food blogs, Brown Eyed Baker.

Brace yourself for this treat now.  It is super, super easy to whip together and will be a HUGE hit to everyone that dips into it.  They will be begging you for the recipe...yes, begging you. 

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip
(recipe from the very talented, Brown Eyed Baker)

Ingredients:

1 stick butter (I used unsalted)

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 (80z.) package of cream cheese

1/2 cup powdered sugar

3/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions:

1. In a small saucepan over medium heat melt butter with brown sugar.  Stir constantly until the brown sugar has dissolved.   Remove from heat and then whisk in vanilla extract.  Set saucepan aside and cool.

2. Beat together cream cheese and powdered sugar while butter/brown sugar mixture is cooling. 

3. Slowly beat in cooled butter/brown sugar mixture into the cream cheese mixture.  Beat for a full minute on medium speed then with a wooden spoon or plastic spatula gently stir in mini chocolate chips.

4. Pour dip into a serving bowl and refrigerate.  Garnish with more mini chips before serving if you wish.  Serve dip with cookies of your choice - graham cracker sticks or vanilla wafers go great with this dip!

YUM!  Enjoy to the fullest!

Happy Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip Making!

Week 12 Twelve Weeks of Christmas: