Banana Brownies

Carissa's gluten free recipe from her sister. 

They all love it!

Pineapple Upside Down Cheesecake

Going with the theme of combo desserts the past 6 months, 

for Easter I took the pineapple upside down cake Ian has 

been requesting, and combined it with cheesecake.

I saw them sitting side by side in a store refrigerator space,

and thought "Why not?". I went back to two old cookbooks.

First of all, my mom's 1950s cookbook:

This is the only one I ever remember her cooking from.

The food photography is definitely dated!

The recipe has spatters over it, so that's always a good sign.

I did the bottom part (which becomes the top) in my mom's old cast iron skillet.

Next I turned to the cookbook we got for a wedding present in 1982.

Scott, Kyle and Ian have all made this recipe

with a graham cracker crust, and without the sour cream topping.

Check out Scott's penciled notes.

I put this over the pineapple 'bottoming',

and topped it with graham cracker crumbs and butter.

Scott helped me turn it over. It was tasty!

The only difference I would made would be to add the butter

and brown sugar mix as a drizzle after the cake is done.

It was in hard—but yummy—pieces.

Spinach Cream Cheese Enchiladas

While visiting Brittany recently, we hit a Mexican restaurant in Sedona with some friends.  I ordered spinach and cream cheese enchiladas and fell in love.  This is a recreation I found online; everyone in my house enjoyed them tonight.   

SPINACH AND CREAM CHEESE ENCHILADAS

        INGREDIENTS

1 (16 ounce) bag frozen spinach

1(8 ounce) package cream cheese cups shredded monterey jack cheese cup chopped green onion

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

10 white corn tortillas (you may need more or less depending on how much filling you put into each enchilada)

1 (10 1/2 ounce) can green enchilada sauce

1 1⁄2 cups sour cream

1 cup shredded monterey jack pepper cheese

         DIRECTIONS

Mix spinach, garlic, green onions, cream cheese, and monterey jack cheese in large bowl.

Place approximately 3 tbsp of spinach mixture into the center of each tortilla and roll them up.

Place filled tortillas side by side seam side down in casserole dish. Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 30 minutes.

Meanwhile mix enchilada sauce and sour cream in small saucepan simmer over low to medium heat stirring frequently.

Cover with Shredded Pepper Jack cheese and return to oven until cheese is melted and bubbly.

 

 Remove enchiladas from oven and cover with sauce mixture serve immediately.

Classic Blueberry Pie

It was Pi Day on Sunday, so we had to comply. 

Our pie didn't look as yummy as the one above, 

but Scott did a great job at cutting out the symbol

 on our 'cheater' store bought pie crust

image and recipe from here

We just got a good deal on a bunch of blueberries so that was our pie of choice. 

It would have been better to do a homemade crust, but the filling was good!

Classic Blueberry Pie
Pastry
2 c. all-purpose flour
1 t. salt
2/3 c. plus 2 T. shortening
4 to 6 T. cold water

Filling
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. Gold Medal™ all-purpose flour
1/2 t. ground cinnamon, if desired
6 c. blueberries
1 T. lemon juice
1 T. butter or margarine, if desired

Preparation
In medium bowl, mix 2 c. flour and the salt. Cut in shortening, using pastry blender (or pulling 2 table knives through ingredients in opposite directions), until particles are size of small peas. Sprinkle with cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing with fork until all flour is moistened and pastry almost cleans side of bowl (1 to 2 teaspoons more water can be added if necessary).

Gather pastry into a ball. Divide in half; shape into 2 flattened rounds on lightly floured surface. Wrap in plastic wrap; refrigerate about 45 minutes or until dough is firm and cold, yet pliable. This allows the shortening to become slightly firm, which helps make the baked pastry more flaky. If refrigerated longer, let pastry soften slightly before rolling.

Heat oven to 425°F. With floured rolling pin, roll one round into round 2 inches larger than upside-down 9-inch glass pie plate. Fold pastry into fourths; place in pie plate. Unfold and ease into plate, pressing firmly against bottom and side.

In large bowl, mix sugar, 1/2 cup flour and the cinnamon. Stir in blueberries. Spoon into pastry-lined pie plate. Sprinkle any remaining sugar mixture over blueberry mixture. Sprinkle with lemon juice. Cut butter into small pieces; sprinkle over blueberries. Cover with top pastry that has slits cut in it; seal and flute. 

Cover edge with 2- to 3-inch strip of foil to prevent excessive browning.
Bake 35 to 45 minutes or until crust is golden brown and juice begins to bubble through slits in crust, removing foil for last 15 minutes of baking. Cool on cooling rack at least 2 hours.

Tips
You can taste the difference! Pie crusts made with self-rising flour differ in flavor and texture from those made with all-purpose flour.
Bake this pie in a fun pie plate, or use a disposable pie pan to take this dessert anywhere.
Rise to the occasion! If using self-rising flour, there is no need to add salt.
Of course you can use canned or frozen blueberries. Use 6 cups of either, choosing unsweetened frozen blueberries and partially thawing.

SWEET POTATO BLACK BEAN BUDDHA BOWLS WITH MANGO TAHINI SAUCE

recipe and image from here

Both Cheryl and I tried these bowls within the last month and loved them

Not so much for my family members, but they could pick and chose their ingredients.

I wouldn't roast the beans as they recommended as they just dried out.

I just mixed the sauce with some frozen kale as part of the bowl.

The leftovers were divine as well. 

And, my curious nature wondered why name buddha bowl is a trend. 

So click below the last image for more info.

Also, click below the first image for more tasty and healthy fare 

on the Hummsapien cooking blog.

Sweet Potato Black Bean Buddha Bowls with Mango Tahini Sauce

For the bowls:
1 (15 oz.) can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 medium sweet potatoes, diced
2 T. coconut oil, melted
1/2 t. fine sea salt + freshly ground pepper
4 c. chopped and de-stemmed kale, packed (about 5oz)
2 c. cooked brown rice
1/3 c. chopped green onions, for garnish

For the mango tahini sauce:
3 T. tahini
1 T. extra virgin olive oil
1 ripe mango, diced or 1 c. defrosted from frozen mango*
1/2 c. + 2 T. water
1 1/2 T. apple cider vinegar
1 T. mild curry powder
1/2 t. fine sea salt + freshly ground black pepper


Preheat oven to 400F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silipat.

Place black beans and sweet potatoes in a large bowl. Toss with coconut oil, 1/2 t. salt and several grinds of pepper. Spread onto baking sheet and arrange in an even layer. Roast for 25 minutes (or until sweet potatoes are tender), tossing halfway through.

Meanwhile, place tahini, olive oil, mango, 1/2 c. of the water, apple cider vinegar, curry powder, salt and a few grinds of pepper in a blender. Blend until smooth, adding more water as needed (I did another 2 T.). You may need to add more water depending on how thick your tahini is. You should be able to drizzle the sauce with a spoon. Season to taste with another pinch of salt or a splash of maple syrup if needed to balance the flavors.

Place kale in the bowl you used for the beans and sweet potatoes. Massage 1/4 c. of the mango sauce and a good pinch of salt and pepper into the leaves, until slightly wilted.

Assemble bowls by placing a scoop of rice in the bottom of the bowl followed by a handful of the dressed kale, then the bean and sweet potato mixture. Top liberally with mango sauce and garnish with green onion, if desired.


*If using frozen mango, be sure to fully defrost it in the microwave or over the stove prior to blending.

INSTANT POT: Place 1 c. brown rice, 1 1/4 c. water, and 1/2 t. salt in the pot. Cook on Manual/High Pressure for 10 minutes and then let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes. Release any additional steam, open lid, and fluff with fork.

STORAGE: Store leftovers separately in the fridge in air-tight containers for up to three days. Assemble right before serving

Click here see the image source,
and know more about Buddha bowls.

Giant Fajitas

Check out the video below for this video. Yum!

 

https://www.chefclub.tv/en-us/recipes/original/e0d081e6-a1bb-4933-9299-13986a05bab9/giant-fajita-crunchy-cheesy-smokey-heaven/

We tried a variation of this dish. Ian isn't a peppers fan,

 and neither he or Scott like avocados. Sigh! 

The variation has hamburger and chicken with onion in the middle; 

salsa mixed with sour cream for the dip.

Giant Fajitas
1 green pepper
1 red pepper
1 yellow pepper
4 chicken breasts
2 onions
2 avocados
9 flour tortilla wraps
1 tomato
1 packet of tortilla chips
1 3/4 cups of grated cheese
1/2 lime
Olive oil
Cilandro
Tabasco
1 tbsp paprika

On a tray, add the sliced peppers, chopped onion and chopped chicken. Then pour a drizzle of olive oil over and add the paprika then mix. Bake for 20 minutes at 350°F

On a baking tray, overlap the flour tortillas and sprinkle with grated cheese. Add the chicken and pepper mix, the tortilla chips and sprinkle with more grated cheese.

Place 2 more tortillas on top and fold the edges over inwards. Add another baking tray on top to keep the tortillas folded tightly together. Bake for 20 minutes at 350°F.

In a bowl, make a salsa by mixing the avocados with chopped onion, lime juice, chopped tomatoes, cilandro and a few drops of Tabasco.

Upside-Down Cheesecake Apple Pie, Dessert Lasagna, Baked Alaska

We've spent the last three holidays having layers desserts! 

That's what happens when you are indecisive or creative, I guess

First up: Thanksgiving! 

When we were trying to decide on a pie (really do you need more than one with just three people?!), I found a recipe for an Upside-down Cheesecake Apple Pie, topped with pecans. Really a pecan pie on the bottom...which becomes the top. We gave it a try. It wasn't pretty, but very tasty!! Recipe from here.

Next: Christmas!

Ian made up a dessert it wanted to try. He called it Dessert Lasagna, which I thought was interesting as he doesn't like lasagna (strange kid!). The layers went as follows: ice cream sandwiches, cheesecake, whipped cream, more ice cream sandwiches followed by more whipped cream, topped with strawberries and heavily 'drizzled' with chocolate sauce. He thinks next time he wants it to be more 'strawberry-y' adding strawberries between layers and swirled throughout the cheesecake, and using strawberry ice cream sandwiches. Scott and I thought we'd like the add the strawberries just before serving as they were distracting to the taste frozen.

Finally: New Year's Day!

I decided to make a small and medium-sized Baked Alaska. As you can tell from the ancient recipe, I've had it for a long time but haven't made it for years. I used a Ghirardelli Triple Chocolate brownie mix instead of following the recipe for the base layer. Next came peppermint ice cream. Topped with the meringue layer. Again, chocolate and/or caramel sauce was added. Another collection of sugars we enjoyed.