Bananaberry Fabulous Muffins

See that little girl in the header?

I named this blog after her because when she was two years old she took an interest in cooking and insisted on pushing her own cart.

She also took a liking to blue cheese at an early age.  The girl is a foodie!

We took her to California last March and made the mistake of feeding her some Porterhouse steak from our plate.  Now....she's won't eat steak, unless it's a high quality.

Now the girl is dreaming recipes and insists that we make them!  The latest one involved muffins made of raspberries and bananas.  I only added baking soda and powder because apparently...a five year olds mind doesn't realize these are important.

Please note we only added the raspberries to a small portion of the muffins because The Rookie Foodie's brother was not so sure about how this was going to turn out.  Six year olds have little faith in their sisters.

P.S. The raspberry muffins were awesome.

Mallory has named these:

Bananaberry Fabulous Muffins

3 Large ripe bananas, mashed

1/2 cup white sugar

1  egg

1/3 cup melted  butter

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups flour

In a mixer, mix the mashed banana, sugar, egg and butter together. Set aside. In a separate bowl, stir together baking soda, baking powder, salt and flour. Mix wet and dry ingredients all together! Pour into greased muffin tins, place a fresh raspberry in each cup and push down into the batter. Bake in 350 degrees F oven for approximately 20 minutes.

Debate Watching Party

I'm excited to watch the debate tonight between President Obama and Mr. Mitt Romney.  We've talked about the election with our Kindergarteners and they are excited to watch with us. 

Of course, I took this as an opportunity to plan a party.  A debate watching party!

My original theme was All-American Foods.  I discussed it with Mallory and we'd decided on Hot Dogs, Chips and Apple Pie.  Once we got to the store, she changed her mind and wanted bologna sandwiches. 

I agreed and knew there was going to be a shift to my theme when I saw the big cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon.

Our theme is now.....What the 47% eats!

Our Menu:

Bologna,  Salami and Cheese Hoggies
Chips
Carrot Sticks with Ranch
Little Apple Turnovers
Orange Soda and bottles of Coke
Pabst Blue Ribbon

Enchilada Showdown

My daughter has a favorite show.  The Pioneer Woman on the Food Network.  Every Saturday morning, she gets her blanket and her bean bag and begs to watch it.

I'm more than happy to watch it with her!

A few weeks ago, Ree made Simple Enchiladas and Mallory got very excited.  She wanted to make them too so I challenged her to a Enchilada Showdown.

She'd make The Pioneer Woman's Enchiladas and I would make mine.

We waited patiently for the boys to try each one to see which one they liked better.

Here's a hint:  I didn't win, although the boys said they did like mine. 

Here is the recipe for Creamy Chicken Enchiladas....in case you want to try them for yourself.

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

1 pound of chicken breasts, boiled and shredded
1 block of cream cheese
1-2 jalapenos, finely chopped
2 tbsp milk
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 28 oz can of green enchilada sauce
2 cups of monterey jack cheese, shredded
10-12 corn tortillas
oil

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.   Bring the cream cheese to room temperature.  Boil the chicken breast (or use left over chicken from another meal) and shred.  

Mix together cream cheese, jalapenos, milk, garlic powder, cayenne and salt.  Add the chicken.  Stir until combined.

In a small pan, heat some oil and lightly fry the tortillas until soft by not crispy.  Set them aside.

Pour some of the green enchilada sauce into a 9X13 pan.  Lay the tortillas on a work surface.  Place a small amount of chicken mixture in the center of the tortilla and then roll it up.  Place in the pan and continue rolling tortillas until finished. 

Pour the remaining sauce over the rolled up tortillas and then sprinkle the cheese over the op.

Back for 30 minutes.

You can find The Pioneer Woman's recipe here.

I Love AeroPress Coffee

My birthday was a few weeks ago and my five year old daughter decided that she was going to plan my party.  She enlisted my husband to help her but it was less about his abilities and more about the fact that he had money to make her plans a reality.

I'm not sure that she'll ever hire him again because he totally dropped the ball a cake she had wanted made.

Her theme was based on something that I love and talk about all the time.

Coffee.

My little Rookie Foodie had my husband take her to Sur La Table and talked him into a number of lovely gifts to make all of my coffee dreams come true!

 One of my favorite gifts is the AeroPress Espresso Maker.  It's like a french press but it uses air pressure and the grounds are totally saturated in the water.  It makes for an incredibly smooth cup of coffee or espresso.

I'm mostly using it on the weekends when I have more time to boil water (note to self: get a kettle). 

Disclaimer:  I have not been paid to talk about the AeroPress or Sur La Table. 

Bonnie Brae Ice Cream

I knocked a bunch of things off my foodie bucket list today ( more on that later) and it reminded me that I've been remiss in posting my adventures in ice cream.

In July (i think) we visited Bonnie Brae Ice Cream on a whim.   As in, I said....hey!  Who wants some ice cream and we drove like bats out of hell to another part of town without checking the weather and found ourselves at Bonnie Brae.

We got caught in a major downpour and I was glad I wasn't wearing a white shirt that day.

We loved the ice cream and my husband was VERY happy with all of the choices of flavors.  I'm easy.  I had the mocha.

I don't remember what the kids had but they loved it.

Come to think of it....it was probably Rocky Road and Chocolate.  Their stand by order.  Maybe someday they'll branch out.  Oh what am I saying....I get Coffee most of the time.

Cilantro Jalapeno Sauce

I think my favorite herb to cook with has to be Cilantro!

I love it in all kinds of food and if it's in salsa, then I can't control myself and will eat an entire bowl.

I add it to so many dishes and love it as a garnish. Luckily, my husband loves it as much as I do or we may have a little problem.

You do know that some people don't like Cilantro.  I took a poll on facebook the other day and I was amazed at how passionate folks can be about their like or dislike or this special herb.

You either love it, or hate it.

If you love it....you're going to go crazy for this.  It takes no time to whip up and lasts for 2 weeks in the fridge.  Do you save your sauce jars?  I'm having fun finding things to put in them.  Soup and now this sauce.

We've put it on fish, grilled chicken and my new favorite....EGGS!  It's fantastic!

Cilantro-Jalapeno Sauce
adapted from Culinate

2 cups fresh cilantro leaves
2 jalapenos, chopped
1/4 cup white onion chopped
2 tbsp honey
3 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp olive oil
salt

Combine all ingredients in a food processor or blender and blend until liquidy.  Season with more salt if needed.  More jalapeno can be added if you want more heat.

Chilled Avocado Soup

I have a love affair with avocados. And cilantro but we'll save that for another day.

 I love making guacamole and sitting on the patio with a cold beer and a bag of chips.

 This soup is a perfect light summer meal and tastes like my favorite appetizer! I'm going to make this when my in laws are visiting and serve it in little jars.

Chilled Avocado Soup
adapted from Cookin Canuck

2 tsp olive oil
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
1 large jalapeno pepper, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp fresh mint leaves
3 avocados, peeled and cut into chunks
2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1/2 cup coconut milk

Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat and add onion and jalapeno.  Saute until soft for about 10 minutes.  Add the garlic in the last few minutes and don't let it burn.

Get out your food processor and add avocados along with half of your vegetable broth.  Pulse.

Add the remaining broth, the onion mixture, salt and pepper and mint.  Blend until very smooth.  Thin with more broth if you need to.

Refrigerate the soup for at least an hour. If you'll be chilling longer, make sure to cover the soup completely or it will turn brown.  Putting it in little jars solves this problem!

When serving, add a drizzle of coconut milk.