Chicken, Spinach, Mushroom Quesadillas

These turned out to be quite delicious and simple! All you need is tortillas, chicken (I boiled mine and shredded it), cheese, mushrooms, spinach leaves, and tomatoes (opt.)

Combine all of the ingredients into the tortilla.

And then I used my george foreman to grill them. Yum in the tum!

Moist Banana Bread

I've been wanting to make this for a while, cause we always have overripe bananas lying around that I end up throwing away. I found this recipe online (google search, don't know where), I was looking for one that was relatively healthy but still moist. I heard substituting the butter for applesauce is a good idea too, but I didn't do that.

2 cups plain flour
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
2 eggs (beaten)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 cups mashed overripe bananas (about 3 bananas)
1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
1 tsp vanilla
Optional for topping: sliced bananas, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp sugar
Optional for filling: 1/2 cup of walnut pieces, 1/2-1 cup of chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour a loaf pan.
2. Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs, vanilla, yogurt and mashed bananas and mix well.
3. Slowly stir in the flour, a little at a time. Then mix in the baking soda and salt, mixing thoroughly. (Opt) Fold in the walnuts or chocolate chips. (I chose walnuts)
4. Pour mixture into loaf pan. If too stiff, add more yogurt and mix well. Only add in a little at a time.
5. (Opt)Place banana slices on top of the mixture in the pan and then sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar (I just did the cinnamon sugar, yum!)
6. Bake in the center of the oven at 350F for +- 60 min, checking by inserting a knife or toothpick in center until it comes out clean. (Mine took 60 min exactly)
7. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before placing on wire rack.

The best thing for these kinds of breads is to leave them overnight covered in seran wrap after they cool. It seems they become more dense and moist this way!

Sorry I'd have a picture but our bread is almost all gone already! ;)

.:Pumpkin Muffins:.

My sister gave me this recipe a couple of falls ago, and it has become a traditional favorite at our house! This recipe makes a TON, so I usually do half of it with butterscotch chips and the other half with chocolate chips. They are a great visiting teaching or neighbor gift, or even just to freeze for later, and believe me, you'll have plenty to go around!

INGREDIENTS

3 c pumpkin (be sure not to get the pie filling!)
1 1/2 c vegetable oil
4 c sugar
6 eggs
4 3/4 c flour
1 1/2 t baking powder
1 1/2 t baking soda
1 1/2 t salt
1 1/2 t cinnamon
1 1/2 t nutmeg
1 1/2 t cloves
1 pkg. butterscotch chips (or chocolate chips - or both!)

Pre-heat your oven to 350.

Mix the pumpkin, oil, sugar and eggs.

In a separate bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients (except the chips) and mix.

Stir in with the pumpkin mix.

Stir in chips. (Be sure to set aside half of your batter if you are choosing to do half butterscotch chips and half chocolate chips.)

Line your muffin tin (if you are a liner sort of baker - I despise cleaning out muffin tins, so I always have to line mine!) Fill 2/3 full with batter.

Bake 18-20 minutes. (My oven is more on the 25 minute side, and they were still very moist and soft!)

.:Fluffy French Toast:.

We are having this for dinner tonite so I thought I would share!

FLUFFY FRENCH TOAST

1/4 c flour
1 c milk
1 pinch salt
3 eggs
1 t vanilla
1/2 t cinnamon
1 T white sugar
12 thick slices of bread (Texas Toast works great, but we're using Grandma Sycamore bread tonite)

* Mix all ingredients together

* Soak both sides of bread

* Cook on griddle on medium heat

Cheesy Potato Soup (w/ bacon)

I got this award-winning recipe from my friend Bethany. I made it tonight. It feeds 6-8 people (or more, it is so rich!) and is also great in a bread bowl.

In large pot combine:

4 cubes or 2 Tbs. granules Chicken bouillon
3 Cups hot water
5 cups diced potatoes
1 cup diced celery
1 cup chopped carrots
½ cup chopped onion
Cook above ingredients until tender.

In second pan melt butter and whisk in flour. Add the half and half and mix until smooth. Add Velveeta and grated cheese and mix until smooth and then add to vegetables.

¾ cup butter
¾ cup flour
8 oz cubed Velveeta
4 cups half and half
½ cup grated cheddar cheese

Directions:
You can add milk to it after it is all cooked to make it a little thinner and it helps make it not as rich tasting.
I also added about 8 slices of bacon, cut up and cooked, as I mixed everything together. Good stuff.

Enjoy the yum-yums!