CHOCOLATE GINGER BANANA BREAD

My sister-in-law shared this recipe with me.  She had seen it in a local paper where she lives and made it one afternoon.  She sent me me the recipe and said it was really delicious.  What makes this loaf different than a regular chocolate chip banana bread is that it has ginger.   I used the sweetened dry ginger that is shaped like a dried apricot.  You could also used the dry ginger that is packaged in strips.  The loaf turned out well and the ginger is a nice addition to the taste of bananas and chocolate chips.  It won't get take long to consume this loaf.

The ingredients have been mixed together.

Ready to go into the oven.

Ready for sampling.

Chocolate Ginger Banana Bread

INGREDIENTS:

2 cup flour            

1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt            

¾ cup chocolate chips

½ cup chopped ginger            

½ cup butter, softened

¾ cup sugar            

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla           

2 very large bananas (1 cup)

½ cup sour cream or plain Greek yogurt

DIRECTIONS:

In a medium size mixing bowl, mix the flour, baking soda and salt.  Stir in the chocolate chips and ginger. 

Using an  electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in the eggs and vanilla, then add mashed banana and sour cream.

Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture.

Pour into a 9x5 inch sprayed loaf pan; bake at 350°F about 50 minutes or until a toothpick tests clean.  Cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes and then turn out of the pan. 

TOMATO VEGETABLE BEAN SOUP

This soup is a hearty soup and can be a meal by itself.  You can vary the beans but you would need to use beans that have similar cooking times.  The lentils and split peas really thickened the soup along with the sprouted brown rice quinoa combination that I used.  I ended up adding a bit of water once the soup was finished cooking.  I used an electric pressure cooker to cook the soup but stove top and a slow cooker are other options that you could consider.  Friends dropped by after the soup was finished cooking so several of us enjoyed a mug of soup.  We all enjoyed this soup.

INGREDIENTS:

1 garlic clove, minced

1/2 cup dry split peas (yellow)

1/2 cup pearl barley

1/2 cup red lentils

2 tsp Italian seasoning

1/2 cup rice or rice quinoa mixture

1 medium onion, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 - 28 oz diced tomatoes OR 6 to 8 tomatoes skinned and quartered

1 - 5 1/2 oz can tomato paste

8 to 9 cups broth (vegetable, chicken or beef)

salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Stove Top: Place all of the ingredients into a large soup pot. Bring to boil and then reduce the heat to simmer.  Cook for 1 1/2 hours to two hours or until tender.

Slow Cooker: Place all of the ingredients into the slow cooker crock pot.   Cook on low for six to eight hours.

Electric Pressure Cooker: Place all of the ingredients into the pressure cooker container.  Cook on medium pressure for 19 minutes.  

VEGETABLE OMELET IN A MUFFIN TIN

I like some variety in my food choices for breakfast.  Eating the same thing for a week can be boring.  I was also thinking about options for work day breakfasts that could be taken to work or already prepared ahead of time if I was eating breakfast at home.  This recipe is a cross between a crustless quiche and a vegetable omelet.  You use a muffin tin to cook the eggs and you can use muffin tin liners instead of greasing each individual tin.

I also like this recipe in that it includes vegetables which are good to eat with every meal.  It is a mixture of eggs, egg whites, cubes of back bacon and vegetables.  The combinations are endless.  I used back bacon instead of regular bacon as it is leaner and it has less salt.  I did add a small slice of aged cheddar cheese to each muffin cup before baking.  That is also optional if you are following a dairy free diet.  I consider myself about 95% dairy free in the food I eat.  Occasionally I will have some cheese.  I did add some salsa to my plate as a condiment for spicing up these eggs.  Both the DH and I enjoyed this for our breakfast and there are leftovers for breakfast this week.

Before baking and addition of cheese.

Ready to eat. 

INGREDIENTS:

4 eggs
1 cup egg whites
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 coloured pepper, diced
5 asparagus stalks, thinly sliced
2 big handfuls of spinach, chopped
5 thin slices of Canadian back bacon, cubed
salt and pepper to taste
2 ounces of sliced cheese

muffin tin liners
12 size muffin tin

DIRECTIONS:

Add the onion, pepper and asparagus to a small bowl.  Add a little bit of water and microwave for two minutes.  This is to soften the vegetables.   In another bowl beat the eggs and egg whites. Add the  salt and pepper.  Add the microwaved vegetables, bacon and spinach to the eggs.  Mix thoroughly.

Using a tablespoon, spoon the mixture into each well in the muffin tin.  Add enough to each well so that the mixture is close to the top.  Add a small amount of cheese to the top of each muffin tin well.  Bake for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees F.   Makes 12 muffin servings.