Category Archives: Revisited

Helpful Hints with printable shopping list

This week I was asked to speak at my MOPS group (Mothers of Preschoolers) about cooking, recipes and a little about my blog. It was such a honor to address my friends and fellow MOPS mommies!

Being a very awkward public speaker with minimal experience, I was a little nervous but I got in a groove. Especially since this a topic I feel comfortable talking about with good friends. I thought I would put some of my talking points and printed pages out there so others might benefit as well!

Cooking and prep tips

-do a little prep work at home on day you shop. Find the recipes, browse your fridge and pantry and write down the specifics on your list.

– make weekly shopping list and menu items
(use below shopping list) forecast all meals

– do shopping only 1 time a week to lower costs

– wash and prep fruits as needed (apples grapes berries strawberries in sink full of water and Tbl of white vinegar for 20-30 minutes)

– prep/make dinner when your time is available. You don’t always have to do it 30 min to an hour before dinner time.

– make meal prep a fun family activity- turn on music, age-appropriate kitchen tasks, ask kids to smell or taste some ingredients.

– eat dinner as a family as often as possible where everyone eats the same thing.

– don’t give up on kids that don’t eat certain things. Sometimes it takes 30 times before they eat.

– set the table to eat

– blogs that I enjoy cooking from or give me ideas to make something similar

– do what works for your family with your time

– get kids involved in your shopping prepping and cooking

**This is a shopping/prep list that I made from an E-meals list and a weekly calendar. Its helpful to write down the meal, whether it be breakfast, lunch or dinner and where that recipe is found. That way, you can post the paper at home to alert your hungry family member of the meal and find the recipe quickly when its time to start.**

Shopping list

This list is great from those wanting a fresh start to meal planning or just a reminder of things you will need to have on hand to make a variety of great meals. I find it helpful to glance over every once in a while to keep a good stock of staples in case you need that corn starch (or whatever) and thought you had it in the back!

pantry-essentials

This is also a wonderful list to consult to get out of a rut of foods that you always eat. Need something new? Try a food in the current season since it will be ripe in season and more nutritionally good for you. It might also be helpful to try and cook a food you know your family loves, Broccoli per say and try roasting it if you usually always steam it.

food by season

My favorite recipes that I printed and included in my presentation were:

Easy Cauliflower Puree

Cider Oatmeal

Chicken with sweet potatoes and spinach

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Taco soup

Honey grilled chicken 

Thanks again to the Point Baptist Mops group for asking me to speak!!! I loved it 🙂

Banana Chocolate Chip Bread

Banana Chocolate-Chip Bread- Revisited

Today was my daughter’s 4th birthday! It was such a fun day since I asked her what she wanted to do and then we tried to fit it all in! We went to IHOP in our pajamas, ate lunch at the pool (picnic lunch!) and then out to dinner at her favorite restaurant. Oh we also made a cake too. I was really loving all the ideas she came up with this year.  I couldn’t help but think how different this year was than all the birthdays past since this year she really had an opinion about it. Happy birthday my sweet baby girl!

banana-chocolate-chip-bread-birthdaybanana-chololate-chip-bread-beach

However, I made this recipe below a few days ago. (It’s all gone now; it doesn’t ever last long!) But I made it into a bread loaf instead. We went over to my cousin’s house and brought this as a dessert… it did not disappoint! I made a few changes to my original banana chocolate chip muffin recipe based on what I had and what I thought sounded good. Here are my changes in the revisited version:

Banana Chocolate-Chip Bread

Ingredients:

  • 1/4 cup greek yogurt, honey flavored
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 1/2 cup flour
  • 1/4 cup flaxseed meal
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 cup mashed banana (usually 2 meduim size)
  • 1 cup dark chocolate morsels
  • 1 tsp vanilla

*Revisited! I used a honey-sweetened yogurt so I lessened the amount of sugar and just replaced it instead of the sour cream in the original recipe. Also, dark chocolate morsels instead of semi-sweet chips were used. (I had a friend so ingeniously suggest m&m’s as well! Gotta try that next!)

** Note about the bananas, I like the kind that are a day or two overripe. So lots of brown spots! Not like the perfect, pretty yellow ones in the background.

*** Another note! (Last one, I promise!) The butter softens so much faster (less than 20 minutes) when left out all cut up like that. I usually warm up the plate with water in the microwave and then cut it up on the plate and leave it out. So much easier than remember an hour before I want to bake with it!

best-banana-chocolate-chip-bread

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir yogurt and soda together in a small bowl and set aside. (I had my special helper do that, so helpful!)

banana-bread-special-helper

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Make sure butter is really soft and room temperature when doing this step. * See above note!

butter-sugar-banana-bread

Add egg, beating well.

add-egg-banana-bread

Beat in sour cream yogurt mixture.

beat-mixture-banana-bread

Stir in remaining ingredients. (Trust me, they are all in there, my helper just dumped them all in.) Don’t over mix it!

chocolate-chip-banana-bread

Eat a few extras.

eating-chololate-chips

Spoon into greased muffin pans loaf pan. (I used the butter wrapper with my pan, I love that thing!)

banana-bread-loaf-pan

Bake for 18-22 44-48 minutes. It will be down when golden brown and toothpick comes out clean. Let cool 15 minutes or so before removing from pan. Slice when just warm to the touch.

banana-bread-clean-toothpickbanana-bread-cutie

Banana Chocolate-Chip Bread
Author: 
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 12 servings
 
An update from my delicious banana chocolate chip muffins! Trust me, they do not disappoint!
Ingredients
  • ¼ cup greek yogurt, honey flavored
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • ½ cup butter, softened
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1½ cup flour
  • ¼ cup flaxseed meal
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 cup mashed banana (usually 2 meduim size)
  • 1 cup dark chocolate morsels
  • 1 tsp vanilla
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir yogurt and soda together in a small bowl and set aside.
  2. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Make sure butter is soft and room temperature.
  3. Add egg, beating well.
  4. Beat in yogurt mixture.
  5. Stir in remaining ingredients. Do not overmix.
  6. Pour into greased loaf pan.
  7. Bake for 44-48 minutes. It will be done when golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.
  8. Cool 15 minutes before removing from pan.
  9. Slice and enjoy!
 

Please let me know what you thought of the Banana Chocolate-Chip Bread! I would love to hear from you! These little people enjoyed it alright!

banana-bread-little-people

Also, it cracks me up the difference between Harper in the original post, and the older Harper! Thankfully, she still loves to help me bake!

Black Bean Chicken and Rice

Black Bean Chicken and Rice- Revisited

This Saturday, we had a busy day planned and so in an effort to alleviate the dinnertime rush, I made dinner in the morning. Hubby requested this dish earlier in the week so I love when I don’t have to plan what to eat, just go on my way to cooking!

I made a different kind of topping this time and I really like how it came out! I buzzed the tortilla chips in a food processor for 2 seconds and added 2 TBL of melted butter and a small handful of cilantro. I nixed the cooking spray this time around and thought the topping was much better! And the cilantro added a greenish tint to the chips. Everything else was the same, chicken, rice, jalapenos, etc. I baked it at 400 degrees for an hour covered and then took off the foil for 15 minutes. Everyone gobbled it up!

Black Bean Chicken and Rice

Ingredients:

  • 3 TBL butter
  • 2 red bell peppers, chopped
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 2 medium jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed through garlic press
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 6 cups chicken broth
  • 1 cup half and half cream
  • 4-5 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless (2 lbs)
  • 1 1/2 cups white rice
  • 8 oz jack cheese, shredded (I used my food processor)
  • 1 can black beans (15 oz), drained and rinsed
  • 1 1/2 cup frozen corn, thawed
  • 2 limes, juiced
  • Tortilla chips, crushed to crumbs
  • cooking spray

Black Bean Chicken and Rice Black Bean Chicken and Rice

Directions:

Melt butter in a large pot (with a lid) over medium high heat.

Black Bean Chicken and Rice

Add bell peppers, onion, jalapenos and salt. Cook until soft, about 10 minutes.

Black Bean Chicken and Rice

Stir in garlic and cumin and warm through, about 30 seconds. Add in flour and stir constantly for about 1 minute, until slightly browned.

Black Bean Chicken and Rice

Whisk in broth and cream, stirring slowly to incorporate. Black Bean Chicken and Rice

Add the chicken breasts, cover and bring to a simmer.

Black Bean Chicken and Rice

Reduce heat to low and cook until chicken is cooked completely or thermometer reads 160 degrees, about 15-18 minutes.

Black Bean Chicken and Rice

Remove chicken to cool and add rice to broth mixture. Stirring often, cover rice and cook until cooked, about 22 minutes.

Black Bean Chicken and Rice

Shred chicken when cooled enough to handle. Remove pan from heat and stir in following ingredients: shredded chicken, grated cheese, drained black beans, corn and lime juice.

Black Bean Chicken and RiceBlack Bean Chicken and Rice

Season with salt and pepper. Pour into a 13 x 9 dish. Spread out the crushed tortilla chips on top of mixture. Spray with cooking spray all over top. Cover with foil. Place in 400 degree oven for 45-60 minutes until bubbling. Remove foil and bake until crumbs are crisp, 15-20 minutes.

Black Bean Chicken and Rice

This makes a huge amount of food and its really great leftover! If you have a small crowd, I would recommend freezing half or double it and freeze. Just thaw in the refrigerator for 24 hours and bake as above.

Black Bean Chicken and Rice

Black Bean Chicken and Rice- Revisited
Author: 
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 12 servings
 
While this dish has a little prep time, the end result is totally worth it!
Ingredients
  • 3 TBL butter
  • 2 red bell peppers, chopped
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 2 medium jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed through garlic press
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • ¼ cup flour
  • 6 cups chicken broth
  • 1 cup half and half cream
  • 4-5 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless (2 lbs)
  • 1½ cups white rice
  • 8 oz jack cheese, shredded (I used my food processor)
  • 1 can black beans (15 oz), drained and rinsed
  • 1½ cup frozen corn, thawed
  • 2 limes, juiced
  • Tortilla chips, crushed to crumbs
  • cooking spray
Instructions
  1. Melt butter in a large pot (with a lid) over medium high heat.
  2. Add bell peppers, onion, jalapenos and salt. Cook until soft, about 10 minutes.
  3. Stir in garlic and cumin and warm through, about 30 seconds. Add in flour and stir constantly for about 1 minute, until slightly browned.
  4. Whisk in broth and cream, stirring slowly to incorporate.
  5. Add the chicken breasts, cover and bring to a simmer.
  6. Reduce heat to low and cook until chicken is cooked completely or thermometer reads 160 degrees, about 15-18 minutes.
  7. Remove chicken to cool and add rice to broth mixture. Stirring often, cover rice and cook until cooked, about 22 minutes.
  8. Shred chicken when cooled enough to handle. Remove pan from heat and stir in following ingredients: shredded chicken, grated cheese, drained black beans, corn and lime juice.
  9. Season with salt and pepper. Pour into a 13 x 9 dish. Spread out the crushed tortilla chips on top of mixture. Spray with cooking spray all over top. Cover with foil. Place in 400 degree oven for 45-60 minutes until bubbling. Remove foil and bake until crumbs are crisp, 15-20 minutes.
  10. This can be frozen and defrosted overnight in the fridge. Bake as above after defrosted.
 

Please let me know what you think about the Black Bean Chicken and Rice. I would love to hear any and all comments!