Coconut Banana Bread with Lime Glaze

Original Recipe HERE

I had this on my "to try" list for a long time, but it kept getting bumped because I thought it might be just another banana bread recipe and nothing to get excited about.  But I had another case of Browning Bananas, and since I always have all the ingredients for this on hand, I decided to go for it one night.  So glad I did.

I considered skipping the glaze, because I'm not always a fan of lime flavoring, but luckily I didn't.  It brings the bread "to another level" (for lack of a better way to say it).  I think this would be even better as muffins, since you'd get a hint of lime in almost every bite, as well as some of the toasted coconut (because the coconut flavor of the bread wasn't very pronounced - all I tasted was banana).  The bread was moist without being gummy or having that combination of slightly-undercooked texture in the middle and a little too browned on the edges.  Definitely a do-again.

Update: These turned out fabulously as muffins.  I baked them for 22 minutes and got 18 muffins.  I made extra glaze and used it all.  Also, since the coconut flavor in the bread wasn't easily detectable the first time, I added half a teaspoon of coconut extract to the batter when making muffins.  I don't know how much it changed the taste, but it certainly didn't harm it.

Ingredients

* For Bread:
2 cups white flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup white sugar

1/4 cup (4 Tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened

2 large eggs

1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 4 large bananas)

1/4 cup sour cream or plain yogurt [I used light sour cream]

3 Tablespoons apple juice or milk [I used 2% milk]

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup shredded coconut

2 Tablespoons shredded coconut (for topping)

* For Glaze:

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 1/2 Tablespoons lime juice (fresh preferred)

Directions

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease 9x5" loaf pan (or spray with non-stick spray).  Line bottom with parchment for added ease of bread removal.

2) Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt.

3) Mash banana.

4) In large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar until blended. Add eggs and beat to combine.

5) Add banana, sour cream or yogurt, apple juice or milk, and vanilla. Beat until blended.

6) Add flour mixture and beat on low speed until just combined. Stir in 1/2 cup coconut.

7) Pour batter into loaf pan. Sprinkle additional 2 Tablespoons coconut on top.

8) Bake 60 minutes or until knife or skewer inserted in center comes out clean, but check bread after about 40 minutes. If top has browned and coconut pieces look toasted, cover top of bread lightly with piece of foil. Continue baking until done.

9) Remove loaf pan from oven and place on cooling rack for 10 minutes.  Carefully remove bread from pan and place back on cooling rack with piece of wax paper (or foil, parchment, or paper towel) underneath rack.

10) Thoroughly whisk powdered sugar and lime juice together.  Use a spoon to drizzle glaze over top, letting excess drip below. Cool for another 15 minutes before slicing.

Kid Participation:
* Whisk dry ingredients
* Mash banana
* Crack eggs
* Add coconut to batter and stir
* Sprinkle coconut as topping
* Whisk glaze
* Drizzle glaze (if you don't mind it being very unevenly distributed)

Watermelon Sugar Cookies

Original Recipe HERE

Can you tell which one she decorated?

We made these on a whim after seeing their picture in a blog sidebar.  We had all the ingredients, and it seemed like something *N* would enjoy doing because don't all kids like food-that-looks-like-something-it's-not?  They were somewhat time-consuming, but they can be broken up into steps throughout the day: 1) make dough, 2) make cookies, 3) glaze cookies.  The two difficulties I had were that rolling out the dough between two sheets of parchment made it slide all over the counter.  Perhaps there's a better method, but I didn't bother figuring it out - just held the paper steady with one hand and awkwardly used the roller with the other.  Also, I worked as fast as I could when cutting out shapes and applying chocolate chips, but the dough still got somewhat soft and a little tricky to transfer because I didn't put the cookies on the baking sheets until after the chips were on.

I used the sugar cookie recipe listed in the original recipe, I'd think any other could be substituted.  I doubt it's possible to make healthy sugar cookies, but the amount of butter and sugar in these things had me on the phone to pre-arrange a triple bypass for next week.  Still, they were a nice treat and a fun "novelty food" to bring to a summer party.  Husband brought most of them to work, and he emailed me to tell me comments included, "These are very good," "Bakery quality!," and "Can I have another?" The recipe yielded approximately 36 cookies.

Ingredients for Cookies

3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 Tablespoon slices

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

8 drops red food coloring

1 cup miniature semi-sweet morsels

Ingredients for Glaze

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

2 1/2 Tablespoons milk

15-20 drops green food coloring

Directions

1) In medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

2) Add butter slices, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and red food coloring to mixing bowl. Beat on medium speed until incorporated (don't be concerned if there are small lumps of butter still visible).

3) Turn mixer to low and gradually add flour mixture. Mix until incorporated and no traces of flour are left. Gather all dough together using a sturdy rubber spatula.

4) Remove dough from bowl and separate into two batches. Place one batch between 2 sheets of parchment paper and roll out to 1/4" thick. Repeat with other batch. Chill in refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

5) Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and have baking sheets (lined with silicon baking mat or parchment) ready.

6) Remove one batch of rolled dough from refrigerator. Cut out circles with cookie cutter or biscuit cutter, then cut each circle in half.

7) Place halves on baking sheet about 1" apart.  Gently press chips into each half to resemble seeds.

8) Bake 6-8 minutes, checking after 6.  Cookies should be slightly puffed but not browned at all on edges.  Remove from oven and allow to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes.  Transfer to cooling rack to cool completely.

* For each batch of dough, after cutting out the circles, gather the scraps together and reroll them, place back in the refrigerator. Repeat until all dough has been used. [I didn't put dough back in the fridge because I needed to get them all done quickly]

9) In small bowl, whisk together all ingredients to form glaze.  Add drops of milk to thin glaze if too thick.

10) Cover counter with wax paper and place cooling racks over paper to catch drips. Roll round end of each cookie in glaze, allow excess to drip off into bowl, and place on cooling rack.  Allow glaze to set before transferring.

Notes: I used a drinking cup (because our cookie cutters seem to have been misplaced since we moved) that was about 3.5" diameter to cut out the shapes.  Next time I'll use a smaller one.  Also, I used 10 drops of green food coloring - approximately, since *N* squeezed the bottle so fast I couldn't count.  The green looked vibrant enough in the bowl, but on the cookies it wasn't bright enough.  Next time I'll use more.

Kid Participation

* Whisk dry ingredients

* Crack eggs

* Roll dough

* Cut out shapes

* Apply chips (watch for grabbing handfuls of chips at once and ending up with a mess of half-melted chips in each palm)

Roasted Roma Tomatoes

Original Recipe HERE

I wasn't sure how these were going to turn out.  I was practically salivating on the keyboard after looking at the pictures and reading the description.  However, I'm not a big fan of sundried tomatoes...and if these were anything like them, I was going to be really disappointed because so much anticipation had been built up.  Thankfully, they were incredibly good: very flavorful, an appealing texture, and easy to make - and eat.  We didn't do anything special; grabbing them with our hands and consuming each wedge whole was our modus operandi.  The entire batch was gone before the night was over.

A note about the cooking time: I had them in the oven for about four hours, but we spontaneously decided to visit a local park.  Not wanting to leave the oven running, I jacked up the heat to 400 for the 10 minutes it took us to get ready, and I turned the oven off completely just before we left.  When I checked after getting home two hours later, a few tomatoes were a little more blackened than others, but nothing was inedible.  So Husband's insistence we go do something fun as a family didn't spoil dinner.

Ingredients

10 to 14 Roma tomatoes

1/3 cup olive oil

2 garlic cloves

salt (kosher, preferably)

pepper

spices [I used oregano and basil]

1/2 to 1 Tablespoon sugar

Directions

1) Preheat oven to 200 degrees F.

2) Finely mince garlic cloves.  Add to olive oil and let sit.

3) Slice tomatoes into 8 wedges per tomato.

4) Arrange tomato wedges on baking sheet, skin side down.  Brush with garlic and olive oil.  Sprinkle with salt, pepper, spices, and sugar.

5) Bake for 4-6 hours.  Can be stored in refrigerator.

Notes: Next time I'll use 1/4 cup olive oil because some of the wedges were too saturated with it.  I mostly solved that problem by putting them on a plate lined with a paper towel and patting them on top with another one.  Also, I'll try to plan ahead so that a consistent cooking temperature is maintained.

Kid Participation:

* Arrange tomato wedges on baking sheet

* Brush wedges with olive oil

* Sprinkle wedges with various spices and sugar

Whole Wheat Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Original Recipe HERE

A basic muffin recipe that's tasty and worth making...that's all.  But make sure you don't take the name for granted and think that because they're made with whole wheat, you can eat twice as many as you'd normally do (which may or may not already be a number to be ashamed of).

Ingredients

1 egg

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup milk

1/3 cup oil (vegetable or canola)

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 ripe bananas, mashed

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease or line 12 muffin cups.

2) Put egg, sugar, milk, oil, vanilla and bananas into mixing bowl or stand mixer. Mix with hand mixer or stand mixer for 2-3 minutes or until smooth.

3) Add flour, baking powder and salt. Mix until batter is smooth, about 3 minutes.  Fold in the mini chocolate chips.

4) Fill muffin cups about 2/3 full with batter.

5) Bake 16-18 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

6) Let cool several minutes before removing from muffin tin.

Notes: Since this recipe doesn't use much sugar or oil (in comparison to some other baked goods), I'll substitute honey and applesauce, respectively, next time to see how they turn out.

Kid Participation:

* Mash bananas

* Mix dry ingredients together

* Mix all batter ingredients together

Chicken with Italian & Soy Marinade

Original recipe HERE

I'll never turn down a recipe for an easy marinade.  This one comes in handy when I don't really know what else to do for dinner, but there's a bunch of chicken breasts in the freezer I really need to use up.  So Husband gets chicken (again), but at least it's tasty.  This can be eaten as an entree with side dishes, but it's also good chilled and used the next day: chopped for chicken salad or sliced for an Asian-inspired vegetable salad. 

Ingredients

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 cup Italian salad dressing

¼ cup reduced sodium soy sauce

1 teaspoon garlic powder

Directions

1) Whisk together dressing, soy sauce, and garlic powder.

2) Place chicken in a covered container and pour marinade over it.  Let it sit in refrigerator for at least two hours (longer if possible).  Occasionally shake container to redistribute marinade.

3) Cook chicken with preferred method (grilling, Foreman-ing, or baking) until juices run clear.

Notes: None.

Kid Participation:

* Stir marinade ingredients

* Shake container with meat and marinade

Stuffed Eggplant

Original recipe HERE

I've been making this for years.  It's an easy, one-dish (one-plant?) meal that can stand on its own.  But the filling can be baked separately (sans eggplant shells) and served over pasta or as a small entree.  Since I only make it for two people, one eggplant is used.  Obviously the ingredients can be easily doubled, tripled, etc.  It's a go-to dinner that I usually make when I have a lackluster meal plan for the week.  As I walk the produce section, I spy the eggplant...and since I always have the other ingredients on hand, I feel a little relief that at least one night's offering will get a thumbs up.

Ingredients

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 medium eggplant
1/2 cup finely chopped onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

black pepper, to taste

4 Tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup bread crumbs

1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley [optional]

1 cup tomato sauce

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions

1) Cut eggplant in half, length-wise.  Make several incisions (leaving a 1/4-inch eggplant shell) that allow you to lift out the insides (scoop if necessary).  Dice eggplant centers into 1/2-inch cubes.

2) Put in a collander and sprinkle generously with salt.  Place in sink to sweat for 30 minutes.  Rinse and thoroughly dry.

3) Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

4) Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium high heat.  Add eggplant cubes, onion, garlic, oregano, and pepper.  Cook and stir until lightly browned.

5) Add eggplant mixture to a bowl and stir with parmesan, bread crumbs, and parsley.  Scoop into eggplant shells.  Place in a shallow baking dish.

6) Top with tomato sauce and mozzarella.

7) Bake 30 minutes or until eggplant is fork-tender and cheese is bubbly.

Notes: None, since I've made this so many times.  One variation is to mix the tomato sauce and mozzarella directly into the eggplant mixture.

Kid Participation:

* Sprinkle eggplant cubes with salt (because a heavy hand won't do any harm)

* Stir eggplant mixture and other ingredients

* Sprinkle cheese on top

Garden Chicken Delight

Original Recipe HERE

I tried the recipe word-for-word, and it was a bust.  The chicken was still mostly raw after the allotted cooking time, so I had to improvise to ensure I was feeding my family a salmonella-free meal.  It turned out fine in the end, though I can't say much for its presentation, and it's an easy and pretty healthy meal no matter which way it's made.

The thing that caught my eye and made me want to make it was its use of Jane's Krazy Mixed-Up Salt.  This was a mainstay on the table during my childhood - especially with corn-on-the-cob.  Husband doesn't understand its sentimental value to me, but *N* likes it on her hardboiled egg, so I've got a disciple.

Ingredients

4 chicken breasts [to serve 4 people]

1 summer squash

1 zucchini

1/2 onion [optional]

Jane's Krazy Mixed-Up Salt [or regular salt & pepper]

olive oil

1 cup marinara [or favorite pasta sauce]

1 cup low-fat mozzarella cheese

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

Directions

1) Preheat oven to 350.

2) Season both sides of each breast with Jane's.  Sautee in olive oil for a few minutes on each side until lightly browned and juices stay sealed in.  Place them in lightly greased baking dish.

3) Peel squash and zucchini.  Cut in half length-wise, then slice each piece into 1/4-inch half-circles.  Thinly slice onion, if using.  Arrange vegetables over and around chicken.

4) Pour marinara over contents of baking dish.  Sprinkle with both cheeses.

5) Cover and bake 30-40 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.

Notes: Next time I'll make it my way from the get-go and see how it goes.

Kid Participation
* Toss vegetables into baking dish
* Pour marinara
* Sprinkle cheeses