Banana Crumb Muffins

Ingredients
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 bananas, mashed
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon butter

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease 10 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers.
2. In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.
3. In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and cinnamon. Cut in 1 tablespoon butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over muffins.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

Low Carb Deep-Dish Pizza Quiche

4 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
4 large eggs
1/3 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon minced fresh chives
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 cup shredded Asiago cheese
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup tomato sauce
2 cups sliced mushrooms, sautéed
2 Italian sausages, casing removed, crumbled, and cooked

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Butter a 13 x 9-inch baking dish.
In a food processor, blend together the cream cheese and eggs until smooth. Add the cream, Parmesan, chives, garlic, and oregano. Blend until smooth.
Scatter the Asiago and 1 cup of the mozzarella in the prepared baking dish. Pour the egg mixture over the cheese. Bake for 30 minutes.
Spread with the tomato sauce. Scatter the mushrooms and sausage over the top. Cover with the remaining 1 cup mozzarella.
Turn on the broiler and broil about 6 inches from the heat until brown and bubbly. Let sit for 5 minutes or so before cutting.

My friend made this for an Enrichment night. It was the biggest hit... we all devoured it!!!

Chicken Parmesan with Pasta

Chicken Parmesan with Pasta

3 c. pasta
10 Ritz crackers, crushed (about ½ c crumbs)
3 Tbsp grated Parmesan
1 tsp dried oregano leaves
1 egg white
1 lb. chicken breasts ( I used 4 tenders and pounded them flat)
2 c tomato-basil (any flavor) spaghetti sauce, divided
1 c shredded mozzarella

Cook pasta. Combine cracker crumbs, Parmesan and oregano in pie plate. Whisk egg white in a second pie plate. Dip chicken in egg, then in crumb mixture.

Spray skillet. On medium heat cook chicken 5 minutes each side. Spoon 1 cup of spaghetti sauce over chicken; top with mozzarella cheese. Cover skillet. Reduce heat to low; simmer 3 minutes until cheese is melted.

Drain pasta. Add remaining sauce. Serve chicken over pasta.

Cafe' Rio's Creamy Tomatillo Dressing

I have gone a little incognito for a little while. Oh well, I am back. Life has just been really busy. Here is a recipe I got from my friend, Carolina. It's a bootleg copy of Cafe' Rio's Creamy Tomatillo dressing. It's not an exact replica, but a good dressing none the less. I like to warm tortillas in the oven with cheese on them until they are warm and crispy. Then, I top them with lettuce, cooked chicken, black beans, corn, tomatos, cheese, and tortilla chips crushed up. Did I forget anything? I don't know. If anyone else has a recipe like this, I would love to try it out and compare.

Café Rio’s Creamy Tomatillo Dressing

Place the following in a blender:
3 fresh tomatillos, cut into quarters
Juice of ½ lime
½ cup buttermilk
½ cup mayonnaise
½ cup sour cream
1 package dry buttermilk ranch dressing mix
1 cup fresh cilantro
5 stalks green onions w/ ends
2 cloves crushed garlic
½-¾ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. crushed cayenne pepper
4 tsp. sugar

*combine well in blender, refrigerate one hour.

Breadsticks

1 TBSP yeast
1 ½ cups lukewarm water
3 cups Flour
2 TBSP sugar
½ tsp salt
Melted butter (about one stick)

Dissolve yeast in water, then add flour, sugar and salt. Knead a little and then let rise til double. Roll out to the size of a cookie sheet. Cut into strips. (or roll pieces of dough between hands) Brush with melted butter. You can add garlic, sesame seeds or parmesan if desired. Let rise to desired height. Bake at 375 degrees for 10-20 minutes or until golden brown.

April Focus?

What kind of recipes do we want to post for April? I am wondering if we should go back to posting whatever recipes we want but putting labels in at the bottom so it's easy to do a search and find recipes for Main Dishes, side dishes, desserts, etc. Any thoughts on that?

Brownie Caramel Cheesecake

I love cheesecake! There are 2 recipes that I will post this month for cheesecake that I've managed to pull off well every single time I've attempted them. I've even made both with reduced fat cream cheese and they still turn out great. This one is great because if it cracks - you can cover it up on top with extra caramel or fudge sauce.

INGREDIENTS
1 (9 ounce) package brownie mix (I just find the smallest package I can find since 9 ounce package is hard to find)
1 egg
1 tablespoon cold water
1 (14 ounce) package individually wrapped caramels, unwrapped
1 (5 ounce) can evaporated milk
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 cup chocolate fudge topping


DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan.
In a small bowl, mix together brownie mix, 1 egg and water. Spread into the greased pan. Bake for 25 minutes.
Melt the caramels with the evaporated milk over low heat in a heavy saucepan. Stir often, and heat until mixture has a smooth consistency. Reserve 1/3 cup of this caramel mixture, and pour the remainder over the warm, baked brownie crust.
In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla with an electric mixer until smooth. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Pour cream cheese mixture over caramel mixture.
Bake cheesecake for 40 minutes. Chill in pan. When cake is thoroughly chilled, loosen by running a knife around the edge, and then remove the rim of the pan. Heat reserved caramel mixture, and spoon over cheesecake. Drizzle with the chocolate topping.