Elvis Would Love: Peanut Butter Banana Bread

When I saw the discount bananas I couldn’t pass them by. Seriously, $0.38 for 4 bananas! How crazy is that? I love the discount produce. The discount alone was my motivation to make banana bread.

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When I thought about Banana Bread, I figured I should consult a baker since I am not one. I stopped by Jess’ blog and she even has a whole banana section! Chippy Peanut Butter Banana Muffins (adapted from Noble Pig by way of Flying on Jess Fuel)

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3-4 ripe bananas
1 cup milk
1 cup chunky peanut butter
2 tbsp canola oil
1 tsp vanilla
1 large egg
1 cup cinnamon chips

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Sift together flours, sugars, baking powder, salt and cinnamon into a large mixing bowl.
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In another mixing bowl, mash the bananas. Then add the milk, egg, vanilla, oil and peanut butter and mix well.
Pour the wet ingredient into the dry and mix until just combined.
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Fold in the chips.
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Pour the batter into muffin tins lined with cupcake liners or sprayed with nonstick spray. Depending on how big you like them, the batter will make 12-18 muffins.
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Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Mine made one loaf and 6 small muffins. They were pretty gooey since I upped the banana and peanut butter ratios. I really liked the peanut butter in there…it made it richer. Peanut butter and banana are so great together.
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Cheeseburger Pizza

Sometimes when I have a good thing going I don’t know why I change it up. I have pizza dough I love (Portland Pie Co) that I get at the grocery store. It comes in regular, beer, and basil but I especially love the garlic.

I’m not sure why I haaaad to try making biscuit dough crust. It was terrible. It tasted OK but looked quite sad. It was crumbly and never molded together. I made Cheeseburger Pizza which was phenomenal despite the crust being not so great.
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Ingredients:

Pizza dough
1/3 pound ground meat (I used ground pork)
1/3 cup tomato sauce
1 ½ cups shredded cheddar cheese (or cheddar and mozzarella mixed)
1 tomato, chopped
1 onion, chopped
pickles, chopped
lettuce
ketchup and mayo to drizzle

Directions:

Prepare pizza dough and prebake until crisp at 400 degrees.
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Cook the ground pork until cooked through and drain. Return to the pan and add onions for a few minutes until softened.
Assemble the pizza by topping the dough with sauce, meat, onions, and cheese.
burger_pizza_assembled_590_390 Bake 20 minutes or until heated through and the cheese melts.
burger_pizza_baked_590_390 Top with pickles, lettuce, tomato, and drizzle with ketchup and mayo.
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This was a really good pizza. I liked the flavors and it was a great use of some basic ingredients. I had the pork leftover and frozen from another dinner so it was also a great use of frozen meat. Frozen ground meat isn’t great as a burger but as taco meat, or pizza toppings the lack of freshness isn’t apparent.

I’ll make it again I’m sure. Pizza is such a regular weeknight dinner because the leftovers are so good too. I ate leftovers even though the “biscuit” crust wasn’t great. Here’s the biscuit recipe if you want to give it a go but I recommend sticking to regular dough.

I have another pizza to post soon and I have an idea I haven’t tried yet so stay tuned!

Roxy’s Grilled Cheese Food Truck Fun

In honor of my Momma’s birthday I thought I should be sure to post something she’d think was fun and festive. Happy birthday Momma R!

Good thing we’re up on our social media at work because otherwise we wouldn’t have known Roxy’s Grilled Cheese food truck was in the neighborhood at work! It was a few weeks ago during that almost-spring not-really-still-winter and a walk down the street for a freshly made grilled cheese was JUST what was in order.

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I’ve watched the Great American Food Truck Race and loved the boys of Roxy’s Grilled Cheese from Boston. I really wanted them to win! I get faux-star struck and thought it was fun to see them in action.

I got the Mac & Chorizo. Grilled cheese with mac & cheese and chorizo…how can you go wrong? I was tempted by the truffle fries but abstained. I was glad I did once I saw the size and heft to my sandwich.
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It was really good, very gooey, and buttery. I think I would have liked more varied textures. The bread really held up to the fillings but it was too soft and gooey.
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I should have gotten the Rookie Melt with cheddar and tomato. I just couldn’t go to the truck and not get the mac & cheese one. Now, I’ve tried it and can move on.

Happy Birthday to my Mum!

 

Thanksgiving Sandwich

I have a quick post for today. I have a super long weekend and I’m psyched to get ready for our visiting family!

If we can see Christmas in July, why can’t we have Thanksgiving more often? I randomly thought of Thanksgiving sandwiches one night for dinner when it was rainy and gross out. It was a fun one and super fast. I know nobody needs a recipe but I did want to throw the idea out there. I’ll have to make some more deli-like sandwiches soon.

One of my favorite Friends episodes features a Thanksgiving Sandwich with a Moist Maker. Sooo funny. I’ll have to try soaking bread in gravy for the middle sometime too.

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Ingredients:

seedless rye bread
thick cut turkey
stuffing
cranberry sauce
turkey gravy

Directions:

Assemble and enjoy

I made some maple brussels sprouts and sweet potato puffs alongside the sandwiches. It was a really fun and different dinner. Mr. J loved it.
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We had the rest for lunch the next day. I really like the different textures and temperatures of thanksgiving sandwiches. The warm stuffing and cool cranberry makes this very special.

I wanted whole berry cranberry sauce but that’s hard to find in May.  The carving board turkey worked perfectly and was closer to real turkey than deli meat I’ve had before.

Spinach and Artichoke Calzone

I’ll put almost anything in a calzone. I like to do a few meatless meals sprinkled throughout the regular scheduled items. It is such a cost saving and it is never a bad thing to add more veggies into our lives. This wasn’t my greatest calzone. I think I didn’t like that there wasn’t enough texture for my taste. The inside was flavorful but cheese + spinach + artichoke + more cheese, made for a gooey center.

Ingredients:

1 pizza dough ball
12 oz shredded mozzarella
8 oz ricotta
2 cups baby spinach
8 oz artichoke hearts
1 tbs garlic, chopped

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Mix ricotta, spinach, artichokes, and garlic together.
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Gently stretch dough into a big circle and lay it onto a baking sheet with one half centered aka, the bottom of the calzone (with the other hanging off, aka the top).
Layer some of the filling spreading it out, almost to the edge.
Top it with mozzarella, layer on more filling, then more mozzarella until both cheese and filling runs out.
Carefully fold the top over to meet the other edge. Gently press the edges to seal.
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Brush with eggwash, if desired.
Cut about 4 slits on the top to let steam out.
Bake 30-40 minutes and let stand at least 5 minutes before cutting.
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This is an oozer! I waited and cut but it still oozed a bit. I mean, the inside is very malleable so it started escaping a bit. I can’t even imagine if I cut it immediately! Be sure to fill, fill, and fill the calzone some more. The worst homemade calzones are super doughy without much in the middle. Get that filling all the way to the edges too. The eggwash is optional. It’ll make the top shiny and restaurant-quality looking. I also never recommend trying to transport the uncooked calzone. Load it up right on the pan you’re cooking it on. You’ll hate your life trying to move it since you won’t have enough hands/spatulas/coordination to move it from your counter to the pan gracefully.

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The flavors were good, and the crust was the crunch needed but I thought the inside was too much of the same texture. I think because I had a texture issue with this, I’d stick to spinach and artichoke as dip or maybe I’d do it as pizza. Check out my other calzones I’d recommend in a heartbeat.