I have two new recipes to share.

Strawberry Banana Muffins

I started with a basic muffin recipe and added left over strawberry sauce and bananas. Then I tweaked the recipe so there is less sugar and milk and a tiny bit more flour. At the last minute I decided to throw in some almond extract. You could probably use vanilla or skip it all together if you don’t like almond flavoring.

Ingredients
2 cups flour
¼ cup sugar
2 tspn baking powder
¼ tspn salt
½ cup strawberry sauce
2 bananas
¼ cup milk
1 egg, beaten
1 tspn almond/vanilla (or skip)
½ cup milk


Directions
In a medium bowl mix together dry ingredients. In a small bowl mash the bananas, add egg, strawberry sauce, milk, oil, flavoring, and mix together. Add to dry ingredients. Pour into muffin pan and sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 400 for 18-20 minutes for regular size muffins and 20-25 minutes for jumbo muffins or until inserted toothpick comes out clean. Remove from muffin pan and cool on a wire rack. Makes 12 muffins or 6 jumbo muffins.


Ribolitta

A few days back I was watching the Rachael Ray Show. She made something called Ribollita which is basically a tomato based soup thickened with pieces of bread. It looked really healthy, full of veggies including kale. I of course changed some things – added chicken, left out the fennel, celery, white wine, and the parmigiano-reggiano cheese rind. The reasons I left these things out are either I didn’t have them or in the case of the celery we don’t like it. The nutmeg really brings out the flavor of the Swiss chard.

Ingredients
Extra Virgin Olive Oil 2-3 tbsn
2 boneless skinless, chicken breast cut into small bite size pieces
2 carrots finely chopped
1/2 large yellow onion or 1 small one finely chopped
2 cloves garlic finely chopped
Salt and pepper
3-4 sprigs rosemary, finely chopped
7-8 leaves of sage, thinly sliced
2 tspn Mrs Dash
¼ cup tomato paste
1 15-ounce can of beans, recipe calls for cannelloni, I used white kidney beans. Just pick whatever you like best. Rinse and drain
1 bunch Tuscan kale or Swiss chard very thinly sliced
¼ tspn nutmeg
1 quart chicken or vegetable stock
A piece of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese rind – I skipped this too
5-6 slices of peasant bread or any kind of good crusty bread, torn into pieces
Grated parmesan for the top


Heat a large pan and add olive oil. Over medium heat add the chicken, salt, pepper, sage, rosemary, and Mrs. Dash. Cook for about 3 minutes then add onion, carrots, and garlic. Cook until soft – about 7-10 minutes. Add tomato paste and stir. Add kale/chard, beans, and nutmeg and allow to wilt down. Add stock and cheese rind and bring to a boil. Allow to simmer for about 10-15 minutes. Add bread and garnish with cheese.



In other news….
Ashton has moved on from rice cereal to avocados. He loves them. He ate a lot last night I actually had to cut him off. He is still rolling every where and getting mad when he ends up on his tummy. He actually only got up once last night. It was amazing since he was up every 1 to 2 hours for the last few weeks. Sleep is wonderful!

Chicken Parmesan

I have discovered there are a million and one ways to cook chicken parmesan. I have experimented with quite a few recipes and have found my favorite. It is a combo, fast, tasty, and most important easy.

Ingredients
4 Boneless skinless chicken breast (about 1 per person)
Flour (enough to dust the chicken)
2 eggs beaten
2 cups Panko
1 tablespoon Basil
Salt
Pepper
1/2 teaspoon Garlic powder (or to taste)
Sargento Italiano Mix Cheese (mozzarela, asiago, provolone, parmesan)
Olive Oil
1 jar pasta sauce


Put two chicken breasts at a time in a large ziplock bag. Flatten them with a mallet to about a 1/4 inch. The thinner they are the faster they will cook. Dust the chicken with flour then dip it in the egg.
On a large plate mix the panko, salt, pepper, garlic, and basil together. Add a handfull or so of the cheese mix. Coat the chicken in the panko mixture and place on a plate.
Heat olive oil over medium heat. You will know if the oil is ready if you put the tip of the handle in the oil and it starts to bubble right away. Don't let the oil get to hot - it will burn the outside and leave the inside raw.
Place the chicken in the pan and cook for 3-5 minutes each side or until the juices run clear. In the last minute sprinkle with more cheese and cover with a lid so the cheese will melt.
Serve over your favorite pasta (I like penne) smothered in pasta sauce and enjoy!

We were successful! We found lots of rocks for our retaining wall. Yay, for free rocks.

Rock Hunting

Ty and I are leaving to go hunting for rocks to finish our retaining wall! Wish us luck, I will write how it goes.

Here is a picture of Bomber

Solids

We started solids with Ashton yesterday. I mixed rice cereal and milk - he ate about a teaspoon. It was really fun seeing him smear it all over his face. The look on his face as he tasted the cereal was priceless.

Tonight we gave him the same cereal again. It went well he seemed to really anticipate the spoon. He leaned forward and tried to help guide it into his mouth.

He is making all sorts of new sounds and rolling all over the place on the floor. Last night he slept much better only getting up twice. He is also inching across the floor. So fun to see the changes every day.

I have decided to try making cupcakes. They seem so cute and fun. Tomorrow is waffle sunday... yummy!

First Post Ever!

I love this time of year because I can got to the grocery store and get a bunch of super cheap flowers. So far I have bought tulips and daises. I put them in mason jars.

Strawberry Sauce

Ingredients:

• Strawberries



• Sugar to taste - I use 1/3 cup, you can always add more later



• 1 Cap full of almond flavoring

Cut tops off strawberries. Put all ingredients into a pot and cook over low to medium heat until soft. Allow to cool, put in a blender and puree. Then enjoy! I found this recipe on my favorite blog: ourbestbites.com. Their recipes are so good!!

Of course this makes a lot of strawberry sauce so I decided to use it in muffins. Strawberry Blueberry muffins...mmm. Just follow a regular muffin recipe as far as the dry ingredients go. Put in the suggested egg and oil. Add about a cup of strawberry sauce and slowly add milk until it is normal muffin consistency.