Coconut Banana Bread with Lime Glaze

Today I was looking on Pinterest and found a recipe I had to try since I had two VERY ripe bananas and I ALWAYS have limes.  The original recipe came from  Our Best Bites from Cooking Light.  I baked up the bread and took it to Cub Scouts for Pack Meeting.  It was a hit...and very delicious!

2 C flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 C sugar
1/4 C (4 Tbs) real butter, softened
2 large eggs
1 1/2 C mashed ripe bananas (about 4 large bananas...I only had 2 so it worked :)
1/4 C sour cream or plain yogurt
3 Tbs apple juice or milk (I used milk)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 C coconut
Topping: 2 Tbs additional coconut
Glaze: 1/2 C powdered sugar whisked with 1 1/2 Tbs fresh lime juice


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt together and set aside.  In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar until blended. Add eggs and beat to combine. Add banana, sour cream or yogurt, apple juice (or milk), and vanilla. Beat until blended.  Add flour mixture and beat at a low speed until just combined. Stir in 1/2 C coconut.  Pour batter into a 9×5″ loaf pan that has been sprayed with non-stick spray. Sprinkle additional 2 Tbs coconut on top.  Bake in the oven for about 1 hour or until a knife or skewer inserted in center comes out clean. Note: Check bread after about 40 minutes. If the top has browned and the coconut pieces are looking toasty, cover top of bread lightly with a piece of foil. Continue baking until done.  When done, remove pan from oven. Let cool on a cooling rack for about 10 minutes and then carefully remove from pan. Whisk powdered sugar and lime juice together for the glaze and then drizzle over top. Cool for another 15 minutes before slicing.

Pear Salad

I've been on a big salad kick lately.  Last month at our parent meeting for preschool a mom brought a similar salad to our meeting.  I recreated it the best I could.  I add romaine lettuce (torn), a pear (diced), a bit of feta cheese, a handful of craisins, and a handful of walnuts (chopped).  I just use Ken's Steak House Raspberry Walnut Vinaigrette on top.

Grilled Veggies

We weren't really an asparagus eating family until about a month ago.  My favorite way to eat it right now it grilling it in our veggie basket on the grill with zucchini and squash with a bit of olive oil and salt & pepper.  I can't get enough of it right now!  So yummy!

Baked Chimichangas

This recipe is another find from Pinterest....thanks to Six Sisters' Stuff.  Chimichangas are a pretty regular for Dave and I when we choose Mexican food.  This should tell you something.  I remembered to take a picture when I was cleaning up...only a half of one was left :)

2 (10.5 ounce) cans condensed cream of chicken soup

2 (4 ounce) cans diced green chiles

5 pitted green olives  (I didn’t have so I didn’t use)

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped (I didn’t have so I added a green pepper instead)

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese

1 (8 ounce) package shredded Monterey Jack cheese

1/2 (1 ounce) package taco seasoning

1 pound shredded cooked chicken meat

8 (10 inch) flour tortillas

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 (8 ounce) package shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

1 cup chopped green onion

1 (8 ounce) container sour cream

Pour the cream of chicken soup into a blender along with the green chiles, olives, jalapeno, and lime juice. Puree until smooth, then pour into a saucepan, and warm over medium-low heat while proceeding with the recipe.

In a large bowl, stir together the cream cheese, Monterey Jack cheese, and taco seasoning until well blended. Fold in the chicken.  Evenly divide mixture among the 8 tortillas. Fold each tortilla burrito-style (tucking in the sides).

Place all chimichangas in a 9x13 pan, sprayed with non-stick spray. Brush all sides of each chimichanga with a small amount of olive oil. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes, pull pan out and turn over each chimichanga. Bake for 15 minutes more. I actually turned mine one more time and cooked them for another 10 minutes…we love crispy!!

To serve, place a chimichanga on a plate, and ladle the warm sauce overtop. Sprinkle with Cheddar cheese and green onions. Finish with a dollop of sour cream.  The kids just ate them without anything on top.  I liked the sauce…but I definitely could have eaten it without the sauce too.

Chicken and Veggie Stir Fry

Last Wednesday, Sierra attended Activity Days with the other girls her age from church where the girls made stir fry together with their leader.  When they got home about 9:30 p.m. that night, she was anxious to share some of her stir fry (she had saved me some.)   I told her we would just make our own soon.  So tonight was the night, and we worked together to make a delicious dinner.  She's quite the chicken, veggie, and pineapple cutter!  

Here's the very easy recipe:  2 skinless chicken breasts (cut into bite-sized pieces), 4 cups chopped veggies (we added mushrooms, carrots, celery, broccoli, cauliflower, snap peas, zucchini, squash, and red peppers), 1 TBL veggie oil, 2-3 TBL soy sauce, 1/4 tsp. pepper, 2 TBL water.

In a wok or large frying pan, heat oil over high heat.  Add chicken pieces.  Cook until meat is brown and no longer pink.  Reduce heat to low.  Add veggies, soy sauce, water, and pepper.  Increase heat to medium-high. Stir fry mixture until veggies are tender but still crunchy.  Serve over cooked rice or noodles.

We had ours over rice and also served pineapple.

Baked Fried Chicken

I found this great recipe through pinterest.  The only chicken I had in the freezer was drumsticks so I had to use those.  These were yummy and much easier than "frying" each individual piece of chicken.

Placed thawed chicken in a bowl of milk. Soak for 20 minutes.  Mix in a bowl:  1/2 tsp. salt, 1 TBL season all salt, 3/4 tsp pepper, 1 cup flour, and 2 tsp paprika

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Melt 1/2 cube butter and pour in pan.  Shake excess milk off of chicken and completely coat each piece with the seasoning mix.  Coat each piece of chicken and place on pan.  Cook for 30 minutes.  Turn each piece of chicken and cook for another 30 minutes until throughly cooked.