Banana Bread

We usually don't let Banana's go bad in our household since they are a staple in our breakfast smoothies (That recipe to come next week!)...but once in a while...we will head up to the cottage for the weekend and forget about the fresh bunch of banana's at home. Then we get back and they are brown and overripe. That's when I chuck the bunch in the freezer and wait for a time when we crave some banana bread!! Here is my go to recipe!

In your mixer add 1 Cup Packed Brown Sugar, 2 Eggs and 1/2 Cup Melted Butter

Add 1 Tsp of Vanilla and a 1/4 cup of 2% Milk...start to Mix on medium speed.

In the meantime combine your dry ingredients in a bowl. 1 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flower, 1/2 Tsp Salt, 1 Tsp Baking Powder, 1 Tsp Baking Soda, 1 Tsp Cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg.

Your wet ingredients should be combined by now and creamy

Stop the mixer and add about 2 Cups of Mashed up bananas...these were from the freezer...I let them defrost then mashed them up in a bowl. Combine the banana's into the wet ingredients by hand.

Now fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until combined.

Pour mixture into a greased bread pan (grease with butter...its better!)

Top with a mixture of Brown sugar, chopped pecans and chopped walnuts.

Bake at 350F for about 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow bread to rest for about 15-20 minutes in the oven with the door wide open. Letting it cool down slowly.

Slice and serve..preferably with more butter.

Making the Perfect Omelet

This is one meal that a lot of people have trouble with. They either can't flip it (I don't flip my omelet), or it isn't fluffy and bland.

Here is how I make my omelette's.

 The key to fluffy omelette's is in the egg whites. Separate your eggs. This is a 3 egg omelet and I put the yolks in one bowl and the whites in another.

 In the egg yolks I added 1/4 cup of canned corn (I know...sounds weird...but it was delish!) and seasoned with salt and pepper. whisk to combine.

 for the egg white start whisking the whites until they become white in colour and pretty fluffy and frothy.

 See picture above of the frothy egg whites.

 Lightly fold in the egg whites with the egg yolk mixture. Don't whisk and don't over mix...you just want it slightly combined.

 Your your omelet mixture into a lightly buttered frying pan. I like to cook my omelette's on medium low heat. You want them to cook through, but not burn on the bottom.

 Using a rubber spatula you can check the progress of the bottom but lifting a corner of the omelet and making sure it is slowly browning. Once the middle of the omelet starts to cook through (it will look like solid scrambled egg) you can start adding your filling.

 On one side of the omelet sprinkle your desired toppings. I added Goat Cheese and chopped chives.

 Fold over the omelet and let the filling melt for a couple of minutes.

Slide onto your place and devour. So perfect..so fluffy...so yummy! Try the corn in the omelet sometime...it gives a surprising sweet taste!

Jalapeno Cornbread Muffins

Earlier this week I posted my recipe for chili...now here is the recipe for the part that stole the show. These don't have much heat to them..more of a zing, and are super buttery yet crispy on top if you serve them straight out of the oven. I recommend eating them warm with a little butter. So good!

Jalapeno Cornbread Muffins

 In a bowl combine all your dry ingredients: 1 Cup Flour, 1 Cup Cornmeal (fine ground), 6 Tbsp Sugar, 1 1/2 Tsp Baking Powder, 1/4 tsp Baking Soda, 1/2 Tsp Salt and a pinch of Nutmeg. Whisk together and set aside.

 Finely mince 1 Jalapeno Pepper, removing the seeds and membrane. Set this aside as well.

 In another bowl combine your wet ingredients: 1 Cup Buttermilk, 3 Tbsp Melted Butter, 3 Tbsp Canola Oil, 1 Whole egg plus 1 Egg Yolk.

 Pour your wet ingredients over the dry and gently combine, do not overwork it...you want it just combined.

 Now add 1 small can of creamed corn, 1 can of green chili's and your chopped jalapenos. Gently fold these in.

Spoon into a muffin tin and bake for 15-17 minutes in a 400F oven until edges start to turn a nice golden brown and the muffins puff up.

Not gonna lie...I ate these for breakfast all week. So awesome!

Oatmeal Pancakes with Whipped Strawberry Butter

Don't you just feel awesome when you make a perfectly healthy meal..then ruin it by adding an unhealthy topping (a la whipped butter and maple syrup as I did below!). I am going to show you how to accomplish this feat!

First make your Oatmeal as per package instructions. Instant Oatmeal would work for this too!

Make about 4 cups worth for this recipe.

 Add any of your favourite flavours to the oatmeal. I like to add Cinnamon, Vanilla extract, 1 scoop of Protein Powder and organic honey. But you can also add some dried fruit and nuts...anything that you would normally put in your oatmeal. Stir to combine.

 Let your oatmeal cool down a bit (about 5 minutes or so) and add about 1/3 cup of liquid egg whites. I buy the cartons of them and freeze them until i am ready to use them. Stir to combine and get your frying pan ready.

 Set the temperature to medium low and ladle in about 1/2 cup of the oatmeal mixture at a time. These do take longer to set up than regular pancakes, so be patient and cook slowly.

 Once the bottom has set up and is lightly browned, you can flip very carefully. The pancake will fall apart if the bottom is not cooked enough.

 There you have it...a nice healthy breakfast...great to take to go in the mornings too! But if you want to go over to the dark side...follow me.

 Take 3/4 cup of room temperature unsalted butter and whip using a hand held mixer or a whisk until the butter is light and fluffy.

 Add 2 Tbsp of either fresh finely chopped strawberries or strawberry preserves. I used some of that runny homemade jam I made.

 Mix to combine and place in your fridge for about 5 minutes to set.

 Top your Oatmeal pancakes with the Whipped Strawberry butter

and pure Maple Syrup...mmm mmm good!

Enjoy your weekend!



Breakfast Muffins

As much as I love breakfast and all the foods that come with it...I am pretty limited to either toast and peanut butter or buying something in the food court in my building during the week. Getting up at the crack of dawn and zombie walking around the house getting ready is really not safe for being around a hot stove, never mind the toaster! There have even been mornings where I made toast..and forgot it in the toaster.

I am not a morning person at all.

So I came up with these amazing, genius, breakfast muffins. I love eating them cold and they are wonderful for a nice brunch with family too! You will LOVE how easy and versatile these are. Make them this weekend!

 Choose the veggies you want in the muffins. I used finely minced onion, green peppers and chives (not pictured). I have also used chopped broccoli in the past. Really, anything that you would put in a quiche can go in these.

 Cook up some bacon. We like to cook our bacon in the oven in a broiler pan. I leaves the bacon less fatty and more crisp. You can also use Ham or sausage or even no meat. I love everything bacon...so bacon it is! Chop this up and set aside.

 This recipe made me 12 muffins. I used 8 Extra large eggs. Whisked.

 Add 1 tsp baking powder, your veggies, 1/4 cup milk, 1 tbsp vegetable oil, salt and pepper to taste, and 1/4 tsp Garlic Powder.

 Add about 1 cup shredded old cheddar cheese

 And lastly add in the chopped bacon

 Ladle the mixture into your muffin tins. I have a non-stick muffin tin and these babies just slid right out when they were done cooking.

 Pop in a 375F oven for about 10-15 minutes or until the muffins are puffed up and cooked through. To test you can just press a finger down on one of the muffins. They should feel spongy.

 All Done and ready to scarf down!

 I made these in the evening and kept them in an airtight Tupperware container all week while we munched on them. They lasted 2 days (most likely because we would each eat about 3 at a time for breakfast!)

Perfect Bacon and Eggs to go!

Enjoy your Canada Day/Fourth of July LONNNNNNNG Weekend!