Banana Crumb Muffins

When I have overripe bananas, which is a regular occurrence, I usually make my go-to banana bread . I had some overripe bananas that I needed to use and I wanted to do something different. I started looking through my recipe folder and found this banana muffin recipe that I had printed out from allrecipes.com in 2007. Oh, well. Better late than never, right? The sweetness of the brown sugar/cinnamon topping with the moist banana muffin was really good. We've been enjoying them every morning for breakfast (and snack and dessert).

Click here for Banana Crumb Muffin recipe

Enjoy!

Mom's Cooking Club Lesson: I use an ice cream scoop to place my batter into the muffin cups. It's the perfect size, quick and much easier than using a spoon.

Chopped Vegetable Salad with Garlic Dressing

Here is a quick post to a salad alternative. There's no lettuce in this salad but a wonderful mixture of vegetables and a perfect dressing to go with them. This was such a tasty side salad and it was just as good the next day. My daughters raved about the dressing even though they only ate the cucumbers (they don't like tomatoes or bell peppers).

This recipe came from the website Myrecipes.com. So simple to make and so good for you. Click here for the recipe.

This salad paired up nicely with some rice and Italian Herb Grilled Chicken from Aggie's Kitchen.
We really felt good eating this healthy dinner.

Enjoy!

Mom's Cooking Club Lesson: This salad only has 39 calories and 1.1g of fat for a 1 cup serving. You don't have to sacrifice taste to eat your daily serving of vegetables.

Southwest Shredded Chicken Three Bean Chili with Corn Bread Muffins

If you like chili, you have to make this chicken and bean chili. This recipe comes from Jenny at Picky Palate. She has an amazing food blog. I want to try all of her recipes. They are family friendly and just great everyday meals. She also makes fantastic desserts and I LOVE dessert! But back to the main dish. The flavors of this chili are so good...I mean really good. This meal will make a regular appearance in my dinner rotation. The list of ingredients may seem long but they are mostly canned items and seasonings. Really easy to put together. I let it simmer as I made the corn bread muffins (recipe below).

Click here for the Southwest Shredded Chicken Three Bean Chili recipe

Note: the recipe calls for 4 cooked medium boneless skinless chicken breasts. I picked up a cooked rotisserie chicken from the grocery store. I cut off the legs and wings (my picky eater Mariah ate those). I used the remaining thigh and breast meat for the chili. It was perfect.

Top with your favorite cheese. We used Monterey Jack cheese.

Look at all those healthy ingredients.

These corn bread muffins were a perfect match with the chili. We really enjoyed them. Another great recipe from Cooking Light.

Click here for the Corn Bread Muffins recipe on Myrecipes.com website

Enjoy!

Mom's Cooking Club Lesson: I have always made my chili with ground beef. This is the first time I have used chicken in chili. Well, this is my new favorite chili. So, try different versions of your own standard meals. You may just discover a new favorite!

Blueberry Muffins

Blueberries, Blueberries, Blueberries! My husband's brother has a vacation home in South Carolina. We just came back from a week long vacation there. What a wonderful time we had! I made these muffins for the "family crew" one morning. They are so light and moist. I know there are plenty of really good blueberry muffin recipes out there. This one was quick to put together and there's nothing better (in my opinion) then freshly baked muffins. Give this one a try. I know you'll like it.

This recipe came from the cookbook Tate's Bake Shop Cookbook. I've featured a few recipes from this cookbook and everything I have made is really, really good. One note: the recipe calls for salted butter, I used unsalted. Click here for the Blueberry Muffin recipe. (you can view recipe by searching inside book. It's on page 7)

Enjoy!

Mom's Cooking Club Lesson: Skip the store bought muffins and make your own. They taste better and they don't take long to make. In addition you know exactly the ingredients that go into making them. Just natural, everyday ingredients. Now, that's the way to enjoy a muffin!

Low Country Boil

Shrimp, corn, potatoes & smoked sausage.....that's a Low Country Boil. When my brother, Larry and his family came to visit over the 4th of July weekend, we made this meal. It is a fabulous dinner to make for a crowd. It's easy to make and easy to serve. My sister-in-law, Aggie, suggested it. She made it last year and loved it. See Aggie's Kitchen for her post from last year. Fun summer meal and really delicious!

Low Country Boil

Recipe by Paula Deen

1/4 pound fully cooked smoked sausage per person, cut into 1-inch pieces (I used smoked turkey sausage)

1/4 cup Old Bay seasoning, or more to taste

2 small new potatoes per person

1 ear fresh corn per person, shucked, silked and broken in half

1/2 pound large fresh shrimp per person, shell on

Fill a large pot ( I used 2 pots - I divided the ingredients up evenly) with enough water to cover all of the ingredients. Add the sausage and Old Bay seasoning (I used 1/4 cup per pot) and allow to boil for about 20 minutes so that the sausage can flavor the water. Taste, and add more Old Bay if you think you need more.

Add the potatoes and boil for about 15 minutes. Add the corn and boil about 10 minutes more. Finally add the shrimp and allow to cook for 3 minutes. Check shrimp and if it is cooked through, drain immediately and serve on an oversize platter.

"King" Larry ready for his FEAST!

Aggie made these 3 sauces to serve with the Low Country Boil. We had Tartar Sauce, Cocktail Sauce and Potato Sauce. It was really fun to dip each food item in the different sauces.

Tartar Sauce

Recipe by Paula Deen

1/2 cup chopped green onion

1/2 cup chopped dill pickle

1 1/2 cups mayonnaise

1/2 tsp House Seasoning ( mix 1 cup salt, 1/4 cup black pepper, 1/4 cup garlic powder)
1 tsp dried dill weed

In a small bowl or container, stir together all of the ingredients. Cover and refrigerate until serving time. Make about 2 cups.

Cocktail Sauce

Recipe by Paula Deen

2 cups ketchup

1 tablespoon prepared horseradish

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

In a small bowl or container, stir together all of the ingredients. Cover and refrigerate until serving time. Makes about 2 1/4 cups.

Potato Sauce

Recipe by Paula Deen

3/4 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup sour cream

2 cups finely chopped yellow onion

Salt and Pepper

In a small bowl or container, stir together the mayonnaise, sour cream and onion. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cover and refrigerate until serving time.

Enjoy!

Mom's Cooking Club Lesson: This is a great time saver meal for a crowd. It cooks all together and it is served on large platters or bowls. People can pick what they like best and there's plenty to go around. To save even more time, make the sauces earlier in the day or even the night before.

Barbecue Pulled Pork Sandwich

Family Visitors

Vacation time. Sand in the toes. Beach. Unbelievable neighborhood fireworks. Searching for cool shells. Joe Patti's Seafood Market. Naval Aviation Air Museum. Shrimp Boil. Boogie Boarding. Kids playing Clue with Uncle Larry until midnight (every night). Wet towels. Peach and Blueberry Crumble with vanilla ice cream. Laughing. Taking pictures. Hot tea at night. Blackened Red Fish. Singing Michael Jackson songs in the van. Lunch at Peg Leg Pete's on Pensacola Beach. Boston Terriers enjoying all the love and attention. Homemade Pizzas. Ice Cream Cones. Jelly fish. Bagels in the morning. Inflatable slip and slide. Smiles. Fun.

Family Memories

My brother Larry, his wife Aggie, their 2 children and my niece Janey, came for a 4th of July weekend visit. It's a long drive from Central Florida to Pensacola FL so I wanted to have dinner ready and waiting for them when they arrived. This barbecue pork is made in the Crock-pot and couldn't be more easy to make. And it couldn't be more delicious.

First thing you need is to select your Boston Butt.....oops not these Boston Butts.......

But use this Boston Butt pork cut

Barbecue Pulled Pork Sandwich

Recipe by Jamie (adapted from Aggie's Kitchen)

4-5 lb Boston Butt pork

small onion - sliced

3-4 garlic cloves - peeled and smashed

Pork Rub seasoning (I used McCormick Grill Mates Pork Rub)

water

salt & pepper

Barbecue Sauce - your favorite (I used Sweet Baby Rays)

Sandwich buns

Sprinkle pork rub seasoning all over meat. Rub in well. Cut onion in large slices. Place pork in Crock-pot. Add onion & garlic. Add water to cover about half of pork. Add a little salt and pepper if desired. Cook on low for 9-10 hours. Remove pork and place in large pan or cookie sheet. Remove water and other ingredients from Crock-pot. Shred pork with 2 forks. Remove any bones or fat. Add some barbecue sauce to pork, about 1/2 cup. Place pork back in Crock-pot to keep warm. Serve on buns with extra barbecue sauce.

Shredded pork


Serve with fries and coleslaw for a complete barbecue meal

Enjoy!

Mom's Cooking Club Lesson: This is a great meal to serve for a group of people. Put it in the Crock-pot in the morning with very minimal prep work and by the evening you have dinner ready. I like to have a variety of barbecue sauces that people can use and add to their sandwich.

Cousins

Gina, Sammy, Mariah, Marissa & Janey

We love you guys!

A Summer Time Drink, A Snack & An Award

First, this refreshing summertime drink - Raspberry Lemonade. It's only 3 ingredients and I love that it has fresh raspberries in it. Click here for recipe on MyRecipes.com. Even my daughters loved this lemonade.

I doubled the recipe and it filled up this 2 quart pitcher. Perfect for a 4th of July barbecue or anytime this summer!

Enjoy!

Mom's Cooking Club Lesson: Raspberries are low in fat and calories. They are a great source of Vitamin C as well as folate and iron. This refreshing beverage will add healthy benefits to your diet.

Next, comes a wonderful snack. When MyBlogSpark asked if I would like to try the new Nature Valley Granola Nut Clusters, I had to accept. We love nuts, granola & granola bars in our household. We've been eating Nature Valley Granola Bars for years. I always take some type of nuts to work as a snack. I couldn't wait to try them when we received our samples. The sample flavors are: Nut Lovers, Honey Roasted Peanut, Roasted Cashew & Roasted Almond. The granola and nuts in these round clusters are crunchy and very flavorful. They are fun to eat and perfect for a snack or your child's lunchbox. I found my husband sneaking handfuls from the pantry. My 2 daughters really liked the crunchiness and taste of these nut clusters. I've been enjoying them at work as a midday snack. I think they would be great in yogurt or even in ice cream.

How cool are these.

This is one of the Nut Lovers clusters.

Thank you MyBlogSpark for letting us enjoy these new snacks!


Last, but not least, I want to thank Kathy from Three on Food
for giving me the Kreativ Blogger Award. That was so sweet of her to think of me. Thank you Kathy!



Now, I just can't accept my award and be done with it. There are rules to this award that I will follow strictly.

The Rules:

1. Thank the person who nominated you for this award.

2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog.

3. Link to the person who nominated you for this award.

4. Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting.

5. Nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers.

6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.

7. Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know they have been nominated.

Here are 7 things about myself that others might find interesting (or not)

1. I will be married 18 years later this year and it all started with a blind date. My sister, Paula, arranged this blind date. Way to go Paula!

2. I collect cookbooks. At last count I had over 40 cookbooks. This doesn't include all my food magazines and hundreds of printed copies of recipes.

3. I have twin daughters who will "officially" become teenagers towards the end of this year. (should I be scared?)

4. All 3 of our pets are black and white. Two black and white Boston Terriers and a black and white cat.

5. Something I don't like to do......exercise. I know it's something I should do regularly but I just can't get in an exercise routine. I have been trying to walk more so maybe it's a start.

6. I come from a very large family. I have 6 other sisters and brothers. What's funny is that my husband also comes from a large family and he has 6 other siblings as well.

7. I love to read. I read anything: books, magazines, newspapers, on-line articles, cookbooks :) I'm currently reading "Barefoot" by Elin Hilderbrand. It's a great summer read.

I am nominating this Kreativ Blogger Award to the following 7 bloggers:

Ginger from Once Upon a Gourmet Gin

Jamie from Life's a Feast

Bridgett from La Bella Cook

Sydney from The Crepes of Wrath

Amy from Dinners for a Year and Beyond

Julia from Sometimes Lucid

Amy from Eggs on Sunday

Thank you for all the wonderful blogs out there.