Chocolate Chip Banana Bars

Ingredients:

5 Very Ripe Bananas (1 2/3 Cups)

3/4 Cup Brown Sugar

1/4 Cup Oil

1/4 Cup Milk

2 Eggs

1 3/4  Cup All-purpose Flour

1 Teaspoon Baking Soda

1/2 teaspoon Salt

1 Teaspoon Cinnamon

1 Cup Mini Chocolate Chips

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 15×10.5? pan with non-stick spray.

Peel bananas and mash well. Stir in brown sugar, oil, milk and eggs until combined. Add in dry ingredients and stir. Fold in 1/2 the chocolate chips.

Spread the batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle remaining chips on top. Bake 18-22 minutes, until a wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely and cut into squares.

Notes:

You can substitute all-purpose gluten free flour pretty easily to make this for any crowd, or if you would rather you can use almond flour. However if you use almond flour add a rounded teaspoon of baking soda instead.

Feel free to freeze these bars once they are cooked and cut into 2” or 3” inch squares and place them in small baggies, then place them in a bigger bag and use as needed.

If you want to use frozen bananas just thaw them ahead of time and drain the liquid off and use them as directed.

You can also ripen bananas in the oven by baking them at 350 degrees F for 30 to 40 minutes until the peels are black and shiny. Let them cool for 1 hour and proceed as usual.

Yields: 24 bars Prep: 15 Minutes Cook: 22 Minutes Total 37 minutes 

Sugar Cookies

Ingredients

½ cup butter

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 ½ cups flour

1 ½ tsp. baking soda

2 Tbs. cornstarch

½ teaspoon salt

Sugar for rolling dough

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F    grease 2 cookie sheets with non-stick cooking spray.

2. In a large bowl cream sugar and butter until smooth and fluffy. Add in the egg and mix well.

3. In another bowl combine the dry ingredients. Slowly add dry ingredients to creamed sugar and mix until combined

4. Scoop cookies and roll in extra sugar if desired. Place on cookie sheet with a small amount of space for cookies to spread. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until slightly golden around the edge.

5. Cookies will be soft when they come out but will set up as they cool.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

1     cup (2 sticks) butter

1     cup brown sugar

1/2  cup white sugar

1     large egg

1     large egg yolk

1     tablespoon vanilla extract

2     cups all-purpose flour, lightly spooned into measuring cups and leveled with a knife

1     cup quick-cooking oats

1     teaspoon baking soda

1     teaspoon baking powder

1     teaspoon kosher salt (or 3/4 teaspoon table salt)

2     cups (or more if you like lots) chocolate chips (I used half milk chocolate and half semi-sweet)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325. Spray baking sheets with non-stick spray or if desired you can line your pans with parchment or sheet liners

Beat the softened butter, sugar, and brown sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and mix until fluffy and combined.

In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients (except the chocolate chips). Add to the butter/sugar/egg mixture and mix until combined. Add the chocolate chips and mix until just combined.

Using a cookie scoop, scoop mounded dough balls and drop onto the prepared baking sheets. You should be able to get about 6 cookies per sheet. Bake in the preheated oven for 12-15 minutes or until they begin to turn light brown around the edges. Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire cooling rack and cool completely. Yields 18-20 large cookies

Note: If during summer time they would make great ice cream sandwiches or smookies (toasted marshmallow between 2 cookies with extra chocolate if desired)

Chicken Pot Pie Crescent Braid

Ingredients

Seamless crescent roll dough

1 cup cooked chicken

1 cup frozen peas and carrots

1/2 cup cream of chicken soup

4 oz cream cheese

1/2 cup cheddar cheese

1 tsp garlic finely chopped

½ cup onion

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine the frozen veggies, cheddar cheese, and chicken. In a separate bowl mix together the cream cheese and the condensed soup. Add it to the chicken-veggie mixture.

Spread the crescent roll dough out on a silicon mat or parchment paper and place that on a baking pan. Leaving three inches in the middle, make cuts down the side of the dough an inch apart on both sides.

Spread the chicken-veggie-soup mixture down the middle of the dough. Take a strip of dough from one side and fold it over the middle mixture. Then take a strip from the other side and fold it over the middle. Continue down the dough, alternating sides until it is completely folded over.

Pinch the ends of the dough to keep the filling inside while it bakes.

Bake for 18 to 25 minutes so that the top is nice and golden brown.

Let stand about 10 minutes before cutting in to it.

One Pot Beef Stroganoff

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

½ medium onion, chopped (about ½ cup)

1 pound lean ground beef

2 teaspoons minced garlic (or 1 tsp garlic powder)

1-15 oz can beef broth

1-10 oz. can Cream of Mushroom Soup  

1 cup milk

½ pound (about 2-2/12 cups) small, dry pasta

½ cup sour cream, room temperature

2 tablespoons freshly chopped parsley

Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Heat olive oil in a 4-5 quart pot or 12" skillet. Add onions and cook for 3-4 minutes, until they just start to become translucent.

Crumble ground beef into the pan and cook until no long pink; about 5-6 minutes. Soak up most of the grease from the pan with paper towels. Season meat with a little salt and pepper.

To the pot or skillet add beef broth, cream of mushroom soup + one can of nonfat milk, garlic and pasta. Stir to combine and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 15-20 minutes, or until pasta is tender.

Sauce will be thin, but will thicken as it sits. To speed up the thickening, increase heat to medium-low and bring to a low boil for a few minutes, stirring often, until sauce is thickened to your liking. Stir in sour cream, chopped parsley and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Divide into bowls and serve immediately.

Moo Goo Gai Pan

Ingredients

1 tbsp peanut or canola oil

½ pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, sliced into thin bite size piece

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1½ cup mushrooms chopped

1½ cup snow peas

½ cup canned bamboo shoots

¼ cup canned water chestnuts

1 tbsp cornstarch mixed with 2 tbsp water

ground pepper

For the sauce:                    For the Marinade: 

1/2 cup chicken stock         1 tbsp soy sauce

1 Tbsp. Soy Sauce               1 tsp rice vinegar

1 Tbsp. Rice Vinegar           1 tsp cornstarch

 1/2 tsp. sugar

 1 tsp. sesame oil

Put all the ingredients for the marinade in a bowl, add chicken, mix well and let sit for 10 minutes.

In a pan over medium high heat, add peanut oil and chicken and cook for 5 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through. Transfer chicken on a plate and set aside.

In the same pan, add garlic, mushrooms and snow peas and cook on medium high heat for 5 minutes.

Add bamboo shoots, chestnuts and chicken and cook for 2 minutes.

Add ingredients for the sauce and stir. Add cornstarch and water mix and stir until sauce thickens.

Turn the heat off, season with pepper and serve immediately.

Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

1 1/4 cups white sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

2 1/2 cups blueberries (if frozen, thaw and drain)

Directions:

With a mixer, cream butter and sugar until fluffy.

Add eggs, one at a time.

Mix well after each. Separately, sift dry ingredients together or mix well with a fork. Add dry ingredients to creamed butter mixture, alternating with milk and vanilla. (If blueberries were frozen, thaw and drain, then sprinkle with an extra tablespoon or two of flour to absorb the blueberry juice.)

Fold in the berries very gently. Grease muffin pan well and carefully grease the top of the muffin pan also If you would like you can use liners

Fill muffin cups ¾ the way full. (A cookie scoop works nicely)

Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes or 'til golden brown. Cool in pan for 20 minutes.

Peanut Butter Oreo Cream Pie

Ingredients:

Crust:

25 Oreos

4 tablespoons butter, melted

Filling:

1 cup creamy peanut butter

One 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened

1 1/4 cups powdered sugar

One 8-ounce package whipped topping, such as Cool Whip, thawed

Directions:

For the crust: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Crush the cookies until they're fine crumbs. Pour the melted butter over the top and stir with a fork to combine. Press into a pie pan and bake until set, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. 

For the filling: Beat the peanut butter with the cream cheese until smooth. Add the powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Add in the thawed whipped topping and beat until smooth, scraping the sides as needed. 

Pour the filling into the crust, evening out the top with a knife or spatula. Chill for at least an hour before serving.

Café Rio Pork

Ingredients

2 pounds Pork Roast

1/2 cup Zesty Italian Dressing

1/2 Tbs Lime Vinaigrette

1/2 Tablespoon minced Garlic

1 ( 1 oz ) packet Ranch Dressing Mix (mixed with 1/2 cup of water)

1/2 Tablespoon Chili Powder

1/2 Tablespoon ground Cumin 

Instructions

Place all ingredients in a crock pot. Cover with lid. Cook on High 3 hours OR on Low for 5 hours. Shred pork with fork serve with rice and beans over a salad or in a fresh tortilla.

Note: This is Pork in the Café Rio Chicken sauce due to family members not caring for sweet pork.

One Pot Cheesy Chicken Alfredo

Ingredients

3 chicken breasts, cut into pieces

4-6 Mushrooms sliced to desired thickness

Salt and pepper, to taste

1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 (14 oz) can chicken broth

1 cup heavy cream

2 cups small pasta, uncooked

1/4 teaspoon dried basil

2 cups grated Parmesan cheese

3/4 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

Instructions

Add oil to large skillet pan and heat over medium-high heat. Add chicken and sauté for 2-3 minutes or until chicken starts to lightly brown. Add in garlic and sauté for another minute.

Pour in chicken broth, cream, pasta and basil and mix to combine. Bring to a boil, then cover pan and reduce to a summer. Let simmer for 15-20 minutes or until pasta is fully cooked.

Remove from heat and add parmesan cheese and mozzarella cheese. Stir until cheese is melted and fully mixed in, then serve.