The sun peaked through a break in the gathering clouds to shine down on some bananas I had ripening as if sending a message from heaven…must…make….chocolatey good banana muffins!  How could I not heed the heavenly call when so obviously the bananas were perfectly ripe for baking.

My mother in-law shudders whenever she is over and spots ripe bananas such as these on my kitchen counter.  She will only eat a banana if it is slightly green at the top and does not have a blemish of any kind on the skin.  Sadly my husband is a banana from her tree.  Once a banana skin shows signs of browning he will not eat it.  I can eat only so many bananas so needless to say I have come up with many creative ways to serve up the ripe fruit.

Ripe Bananas are not just used for Banana bread.  Four days ago I served Bananas Foster for dessert using three bananas from this bunch.  They weren’t as ripe as the ones pictured above.  The skins were brown but the fruit inside was still firm.  Some butter, sugar and a splash of good dark rum and mother in-law and hubby had no idea of how ripe a banana they were eating…and I might add they didn’t seem to care one whit as they shoveled back the treat served over ice cream.

But now almost a week later, the remaining three bananas are ready for today’s treat, Banana Nut Chocolate Chip Muffins!

This recipe produces a nice cake like muffin that is a snap to make up.  A blender, a bowl, spatula and muffin tin is all the equipment you really need!  If you don’t have a blender, a mixer will work just as well.

Banana Nut Chocolate Chip Muffins

Preheat oven to 400F

Grease the cups of a muffin tin.

In a medium size mixing bowl, stir together the following  ingredients:

1 3/4 cup flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup chopped walnuts, or nut of your choice

1 cup mini or regular size chocolate chips

In a blender add the following ingredients and mix until well blended:

3 very ripe bananas (to make about 1 cup of mashed banana)

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1/4 cup milk

1/4 vegetable oil

Add the wet ingredients from the blender to the dry ingredients in the bowl.  Using a spatula stir just until the ingredients until mixed but do not over beat.  Divide the mixture between the 12 muffin cups and then bake in the 400F oven for 20-25 minutes.  Cool on wire rack.

The muffins are baked, and the house is filled with the warm aroma of bananas and chocolate.  The sun is behind the clouds for good now, but after having eaten two muffins I don’t care.  Sometimes you have to make your own sunshine and if it takes a really yummy muffin (or two or three)…so be it!

Good Day and Good Eats!

A Good Morning Quiche

Eat Breakfast!

A new year resolution that I consistently make every year.  A resolution that I in fact make and break several times over the course of the year…every year.  In fact today, while I am writing this post, I have on the desk a cup of coffee…my third so far this morning…and not a crumb of breakfast food in sight…except for the picture I have just inserted into this post.

In fact, this picture of the delightful quiche I made and had for breakfast just a few days ago is now but a fond memory.  It turned out so well, that within two days, between my husband and myself we had finished off the pie!  I had it for breakfast, we dined on it for lunch, and my husband was dipping into it for dessert after dinner.

Yesterday I bought the supplies so that today I could make another.  With any luck it will be around long enough to supply me with more than one breakfast.

Back to breakfast….I love breakfast foods, but not necessarily eating them at breakfast.  If there are leftovers about, that is what I love to eat in the morning.  Previous breakfasts I have eaten have ranged from spaghetti to turkey and mashed potatoes!  I have come to realize that while I love to cook…I don’t especially like to do it first thing in the morning.  If there is food handy I will eat it for breakfast.  If not, it’s coffee for breakfast, because it is ready made.  I have a coffee pot with a timer, so no thought is involved to make it in the morning.  With my eyes shut I can pull a mug from the cupboard and pour myself a cup.  It’s satisfying, if not filling.

~Leaving the writing for a moment to put in a slice of bread into the toaster~

Talking about food is making me hungry, and it is after all already 10 a.m., so I have resorted to putting a slice of fruit bread into the toaster.  I have some wonderful leftovers in the fridge from last night’s dinner, but I have opted to save those for lunch and my next post…so toast it is.

Returning to the quiche…it really does make a great breakfast.  Hot or cold and served with fresh fruit, you have a complete meal and a breakfast you can feel good about eating.  Not only that, if you are on the run it is fast making it easy to eat before you head out of the house, or quick to pack and take with you.

This quiche is made with bacon and Gruyere cheese but can one can easily replace the bacon with other meat or seafood, and the Gruyere can be replaced with another cheese like cheddar if you like.

Try it!  I think you will like it and if you are like me trying to hurdle the ‘eat breakfast’ resolution, you might just find this to be one of the solutions!

Quiche

• Pastry for one pie crust
• 6 to 12 slices of bacon, chopped (or I purchase bacon ends from our butcher. I cut off the overly excess fat to make the pieces meatier and chop it up to use in my quiche.) You want at least one cup of cooked bacon pieces.
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups whipping cream
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 cup grated Gruyere cheese

Line your pie plate with the pie crust.

Break the eggs into a bowl and beat with a whisk.  Brush the pie crust with some of the beaten egg and bake for 3-4 minutes in a preheated 375º.  Set aside the pre-baked pie crust to cool while you are preparing the filling

In a skillet over medium heat cook the chopped bacon pieces until browned but not overly crisp.  Drain the bacon pieces and sprinkle onto the pie crust.  To the bowl with the eggs, add the cream, salt and nutmeg, and blend together well with the whisk.

Pour the egg and cream mixture over the bacon in the pie crust.  Sprinkle the cheese over top.  For an added pop of flavour you can sprinkle smoke paprika over the top of the pie filling before putting in the oven.

Bake the quiche in a preheated 375º oven for 25 to 35 minutes, until the filling is puffed up and lightly browned, and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.  Cool on a wire rack.  The filling will settle down as it cools.  Serve warm, at room temperature or cold.

Options:

Crumbled cook sausage meat like Italian or Chorizo, ham, crab, shrimp or smoked salmon, or just sautéed vegetables like onion, celery, spinach and peppers if you prefer a vegetarian take on your quiche.  Try different cheeses like cheddar, Swiss, or something with zip like a Jalapeno Harvarti.  The variations are endless and you will soon discover your own family favorite!

Good Day and Good Eats!

Life had a quirky way of interrupting my writing last year and Christmas was no exception.  Mother in-law took ill the week leading up to Christmas which had most evenings spent in the hospital emergency room so they could administer her medication.  It was tiring for us all, but most especially for this 92 year old lady.  Just in time for the Christmas weekend the arrangements were finalized and we were able to give her her medication at home.  Daily I had to hook her up to an intravenous but at least it could be given to her while she was comfortably ensconced in a recliner and visit with family while it was being administered.  This episode was a reminder that at her age of 92, time with her grows shorter each day, and you have to grab life’s moments while you can.

Now that we are into a new year I look forward to sharing more stories and recipes from my kitchen, which I am most especially looking forward to since I also had to buy a new oven before Christmas.

Happy New Year friends!  I wish you much health, wealth and happiness in this new year of 2012!

Good Day and Good Eats!

Thankfully the only change in my life today is the weather.  This morning we had our first real snowfall of the season.  The wintery scene outside had me thinking ahead to Christmas, and I was creating a list of food to buy so I can bake up some goodies for the festive season.  I hadn’t intended on baking cookies this afternoon, but while rummaging through the cupboards to see what I had lurking in there and what I would need to add to my list, I ended up spilling an opened bag of chocolate chips.  They were the mini ones, and so that meant I had a lots of picking to do to gather them up.  Since cleaning up the chocolate chips led to cleaning out the cupboard I also ended up coming up with a small bag of dried sweetened cranberries were not the freshest when I bought them, so instead of getting eaten they were just moved about.  The chocolate chips and the found cranberries were calling to be used up, so I decided some cookies were in order.  Besides on a wintery day what could be more better to bake and fill the house with the sweet rich aroma of Oatmeal cookies with chocolate chips?

As added incentive, these Oatmeal cookies are a one bowl deal, so there is no excuse not to whip up a batch!

Oatmeal Cranberry Chocolate Chip Cookies

Preheat oven to 375F

In a electric mixer bowl, stir together the following ingredients:

2 cups flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup brown sugar, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon salt.

When mixed, add 1 cup shortening or margarine and 2 eggs.  Beat mixture until well combined.

Stir in 1-1/2 cups rolled oats, 3/4 mini chocolate chips, 1 cup dried sweetened cranberries and mix well. You can also add nuts or substitute the cranberries for nuts.

Using a teaspoon, measure out a heaping spoonful of dough about the size of a walnut.  Roll into a ball and flatten slightly with the palm of your hand and place on ungreased cookie sheets.  Depending on the size of your cookies you should get between 4 and 6 dozen of cookies.  Bake in a 375F oven for 10 to 12 minutes. Cook on wire rack.

Well, as I finish writing this while munching on a warm cookie that’s leaving the melty goodness of chocolate on my lips, I am thinking I really should clean out another kitchen cupboard and see what else I can come across to cook up…stay tuned!

Good Day and Good Eats!

Tomato Cheese Pie

In an attempt to change our diet to a more healthier one I decided that Mondays would be meatless.  I figured that way at least one day out of the week our meals would be higher in fiber and also be more of a cooking challenge for me.  I am not a full fledged vegetarian, but I have had times in my life when I have eaten as one.  I know people who are vegetarians for all sorts of reasons.  They run the gamut from saving the animals to health and dieting.

I myself am a meat eater and I am not ashamed to admit it.  I don’t argue that some animal farming practices could be improved and I am sure that in time they will be.  In fact, there are more and more places now sprouting up that are raising and butchering animals in a most respectful way and we should be supporting their efforts whenever possible to encourage changes.

I don’t dwell on the life and death of my food for it would put me off of it all together.  I am still not convinced that even broccoli doesn’t cry when cut off at the stem!

Whatever we choose to eat, whether it be meat, vegetable, fruit or dairy, we should always respect our food.  Say thank you to the plants in your garden when you harvest their fruits…say a little silent prayer for food exchanging their life for yours.  Respect keeps us all healthy and wise!

That being said, when I announced to my husband that Mondays would be meatless from now on, his reply was that he would have the previous nights leftovers for dinner. They contained meat of course.

‘That’s fine’, I replied, ‘but you will be missing out on a very good Tomato Cheese Pie.’ He remained non committal as he ate his dinner…the pie was still in the oven.

‘You didn’t say it was Quiche!’  He exclaimed when he saw the pie cooling and then proceeded to eat two wedges of the Tomato Cheese Pie…ahem… Quiche.

This recipe is very delicious and made for a great meatless dinner.  I had some fresh crispy green onions with my pie and found it a very satisfying light meal.

Tomato Cheese Pie

1 unbaked 9 inch pie shell

5 medium size firm ripe tomatoes, peeled and sliced

2 cups grated cheddar cheese

3 eggs

1/2 whipping cream

1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Dip tomatoes into boiling water to soften skins for peeling.  Peel and slice tomatoes, removing the seeds and membranes if they are not real meaty otherwise your pie will be too runny.

Fill unbaked pastry shell with alternate layers of tomato slices and cheese.

Beat eggs, add milk, cream, pepper and salt; pour over tomato-cheese mixture.

Bake in hot oven (450 F) for 15 minutes.  Reduce heat to 325F and bake 40 minutes longer or until set.

Let stand 10 minutes at room temperature before cutting.  Enjoy!

Good Day and Good Eats!

Busy with fall cleaning I thought I would leave you with a few wise words that I discovered in an old cookbook published by the Ladies’ Axillary to our local  Canadian Legion Branch.  I don’t know the publication date, but my guess would be that it was put together sometime in the 1960′s.  In any event, until I finish my cleaning and get around to some serious cooking I would like to share with you what I think is a Recipe for Life.

Take Time for 10 Things

1. Take time to Work – it is the price of success.
2. Take time to Think – it is the source of power.
3. Take time to Play – it is the secret of youth.
4. Take time to Read – it is the foundation of knowledge.
5. Take time to Worship – it is the highway of reverence and washes the dust of earth from our eyes.
6. Take time to Help and Enjoy Friends – it is the source of happiness.
7. Take time to Love – it is the one sacrament of life.
8. Take time to Dream – it hitches the soul to the stars.
9. Take time to Laugh – it is the singing that helps with life’s loads.
10. Take time to Plan – it is the secret of being able to have time to take time for the first nine things!

Good Day and Good Eats!

What’s that got to do with my diet you may ask.

Well, two days of my time spent in Calgary were with me in the hospital.  After the recent passing of a friend from a heart attack at the young age of 57 and news of another friend that experienced a heart attack at the age of 48, when I awoke one night with an odd and painful feeling in my chest, there was no doubt about visiting the hospital to get checked out especially since I was to fly off to Vegas in two days time.

The nurses and doctors checked all my vital signs. Things were looking okay.  Blood pressure and cholesterol are good.  No previous problems to report.  The smoking gun for me however, is the history of heart problems on my mothers side of the family.  That was enough for the doctors to take their time and leave no rock unturned as far as checking me over.  I had a stress test done, and then because they told me that women often have a false positive on one part of the test, they admitted me to the hospital so that they could put me through another stress test, this time the test would involve being given a nuclear isotope and then have a CAT scan to make sure I didn’t have a blocked artery.  To make a long story short…I passed the tests and was given the okay by the doctors in time to head off to Vegas.  At least I know that the old ticker is in good shape for now, but that had me thinking of the future.  As the kindly cardiologist said to me with a smile, perhaps this was my mid life crisis and the wake up call for me to make a few lifestyle changes like shed a few pounds and exercise more.

To that effort I have started reading up on heart healthy diets.  So far it has been a pendulum of information..going from one extreme to another.  Some recommendations for heart healthy diets call for no fats whatsoever, being picky right down to removing all the yolks from eggs and being strict vegan, to others that are more vegetarian and high fiber.  I have determined that one has to look at their own health and any issues they have to decide on what they need to do.

For me, I have decided that I need to regain a consciousness about my diet and lifestyle, instead of just moseying through life.  I don’t want to run into a wall and then try to figure out afterwards why I didn’t see it before hand.  I will choose to change the things I can and learn to work around the things I can’t!  Life is too short not to make the most of it.

One decision is to serve a what I consider is a fat free meal at least once a week.  The easiest way to accomplish this is to serve fish.  Now there will be some die hard anti fat folks out there that would cringe at this because there are oily fish out like salmon that would have them running out the door.  But in my book there is good oil and bad oil.  They say that fish oils are good for the heart and yet I have read some diets that have you avoiding the fatty fish.  Again I think that one has to remain logical and look to themselves to decide.  If you have blocked arteries or high cholesterol, I should think that any consumption of fats and oils should be gravely considered.

Last week the local market had a sale on Basa fillets and so I bought a couple of packages.  I had never bought Basa before and until I looked it up on Wikipedia, I didn’t know that Basa is a type of catfish found in Vietnam and Thailand. A vegetarian fish at that!

To keep with my fat free idea, I had a hankering for steamed fish, but with our daily temperature running about 32C during the day, I wanted to cook outside on the barbeque rather than in the house.  My barbeque has a side burner and I could have steamed my fish in my bamboo steamer, but since we don’t have a canopy over our deck, it would be pretty hot to stand outside and have to keep an eye on my cooking.  I decided to season the frozen fillets and wrap in tin foil to create a steam cook environment that could be baked inside my barbeque.About an hour before cooking, I placed the frozen Basa fillets in a pan lined with tin foil and gave them a splash of light soy sauce, fresh ground pepper, chopped green scallions, diced red pepper, thin coins of carrots and a sprinkling of red pepper flakes.  Then I covered the pan with another piece of tin foil, sealing the edges to make a tight fitting lid.  I put the pan in the refrigerator until it was time to bake the fish.

The fish will take about twenty minutes to a half hour to cook depending on the heat of your barbeque and how frozen the fillets are when you go to bake them.  I heated the grill to 400F and then baked my fillets for 25 minutes at that heat in the covered grill.  While the fish was baking, I cooked up a pot of Basmati rice and a small pot of green summer peas.  When the rice was cooked, I added the strained peas to the rice and kept the dish hot while we waited for the fish to finish cooking. After 20 minutes, remove the fish from the grill and carefully open a corner of the tin foil to check to see if the fish is fully cooked.  Be careful when opening the foil as lots of hot steam will escape.  Return to cook for another 5 to 10 minutes if required. The sight of the steamed fish was heavenly and the aroma to die for!  When served with the Basmati rice with peas it made for a very satisfying fat free summer meal.  My husband was very complimentary by stating, ‘It’s not a steak dinner but it’s still pretty good.’

Despite everything it was a great holiday.  I got to knit and watch old movies with my daughter.  I had a wonderful time with my sister and friend in Las Vegas.  I didn’t win big in Las Vegas, but I figured my luck happened while I was in the hospital.

Life lesson learned….takes chances in Las Vegas or the lottery and not on your health!

Good Day and Good Eats!

Tommy in the sun

Life.

Family tragedy and drama, the family cat off to kitty heaven after a good old life of 13 years, and a friends sudden passing way before her time have pretty well summed up the major events of the month since my last post.  On top of that the first two weeks of July had me fending off the remnants of the awful flu bug that got me back in May!  However, despite it all I feel like I am back in the saddle again and ready to take on life.

Life.

For some reason,  every so often, life tends to smack us up on the head.  Yeah, there are tragic things that happen around the world and in our cities that have us appreciate our own little worlds, but when they knock on your own front door…well there’s no escaping reality.  We can’t turn back time to find what we missed along the way, we can’t do things over to make changes, we can only learn and hang on to the new appreciation for the family, friends and things around us.  Life is way too short to waste it!

After a good nights sleep, I suggest starting a new day pondering life over fresh Baked Cranberry Walnut Oatmeal.  Feeding the mind is one thing but the stomach is a whole different matter.  I was thrilled to come across recipes for  Baked Oatmeal and couldn’t believe I had never heard of it before.  One recipe contained a fruit mixture of blueberries, chopped apple and peaches and eggs.  The other recipe had nothing added to it and did not have eggs.  I took the liberty of taking what I liked from each recipe and came up with my own of sorts.  I had small portions of leftover dried cranberries and chopped walnuts that I used in place of the fruit, used brown sugar instead of white, added vanilla and cinnamon and one egg.

The kitchen smelled wonderful as it baked and I couldn’t wait for it to come out of the oven.  The texture of the Baked Oatmeal is light thanks to the baking powder and not at all muffin like in texture as I had imagined it might be.  You could certainly use your choice of raisins, nuts or other fruit to create other tasty variations, but I must say I loved the tang of the cranberries and the warm walnuts…it was like having a cookie in a bowl for breakfast!

Baked Cranberry Walnut Oatmeal...cookie in a bowl for breakfast...yum!

Baked Cranberry Walnut Oatmeal

In a bowl combine the following:

1 1/2 cups quick cooking oats

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/2 chopped walnuts

In another small bowl or measuring cup, stir together the following ingredients:

1/2 cup milk

1/4 melted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 beaten egg

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until blended.  Pour mixture into a greased 8-inch square pan or casserole dish.  Bake in a preheated 350F oven for 25-30 minutes or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.  Spoon hot oatmeal into bowls and pass the milk or cream!  Serves four to six.

If you love oatmeal you have to try this recipe!  It might also be a good way to coax the kids into eating porridge for breakfast.  Whoever you choose to enjoy breakfast with may you appreciate the moment and have a sunny day!

Good Day and Good Eats!

The natural beauty of Tomatoes, Basil and Garlic

During my research on the healthy benefits of garlic I came across an article on Medical Herbalism that contained a recipe for a garlic cocktail one could make and drink.  The cocktail contained the same ingredients that one would use to make a salad dressing, and while it seemed like it would be a reasonably palatable thing to drink, I would still rather eat foods than drink them.  The article stated that raw garlic when blended with water, olive oil, vinegar and alcohol seemed to make it considerably more beneficial to ones health by drawing out certain constituents contained in garlic.

Bruschetta came to my mind and made with fresh garlic, olive oil and aged Balsamic vinegar it contained most of the ingredients in the cocktail list.  I decided that sipping a nice glass of wine with it would cover the alcohol part.  Now while these ingredients weren’t necessarily blended into a health drink, I figured consuming them this way couldn’t hurt either.

After a couple of  ‘medicinal’ (*wink, wink*) glasses of local wine along with a plateful of toasted baguette slices heaped with fresh Bruschetta I can assure you I was feeling very well, thank you very much!From the bright red of ripe tomatoes, the heady aroma of fresh, lush basil and the exotic sweet taste of crushed garlic, one is enchanted.  The addition of olive oil and a good aged Balsamic vinegar marry every scent and flavor together  into a thing of beauty.  Toast it with a tasty wine and you have a snack or meal made in heaven!

Fresh Bruschetta

6 Roma tomatoes, finely diced

4 garlic cloves, chopped fine and crushed

3 large leaves of fresh basil, minced

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

1 loaf of French bread, large or baguette size, cut 1/2-inch thick

shaved Mozzarella slices, cut to fit bread slices

About one hour before serving, combine the tomatoes, basil, garlic, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Stir gently and allow the mixture to stand at room temperature, stirring once or twice. Add salt and pepper to taste  if necessary.

Toast the bread slices in the oven under the broiler until lightly browned. Top with the thin slices of mozzarella cheese, returning to the oven to melt the cheese if necessary.  Top the toasted bread and cheese pieces with the tomato mixture and serve.

Bruschetta is a wonderful recipe to adjust to your taste, just change up the amount of garlic and basil to your liking.  Don’t toss out the sauce from the bowl, it makes a great salad dressing, or snack when soaked up with a piece of fresh bread!

Enjoy!

Good Day and Good Eats!

This recipe for garlic mashed potatoes is a real tasty way to start incorporating more of this healthy food into your diet.

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

4 very large Yukon Gold potatoes or potato of your choice

4 cloves fresh garlic

1 tablespoon butter

4 tablespoons sour cream

Salt and pepper to taste

Peel and quarter potatoes.  Put into a pot with the garlic cloves and cover with cold water.  Bring to a boil, and then simmer until potatoes are tender.

Drain the water from the pot leaving the potatoes and garlic in the pot.  Add the butter and sour cream.  Mash the potatoes until well broken up.  Then using a hand mixer beat the potato mixture until smooth and creamy.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Serve with your favorite dish.

Garlic Mashed Potatoes served with Oxtail casserole

Enjoy!

Good Day and Good Eats!