Banana Brownie Special

During the colder months when most fruits are out of season and just don't taste all that good bananas become a staple in out house.  We can go through a couple a day, but with the warmer months here and so many fruits coming into season they tend to get a little over ripe for my families liking.  And that is where I found myself today, with three bananas that were riper then any of my family cares to eat.

I began to think about what I could do with them.  I did have a fleeting thought that I could peel them, put them in a freezer bag, and freeze them for later use.  I have done this before and it works out beautifully, but this time of year I would rather fill my freezer with other things then bananas.

So,  I starting thinking about what I could make.   I knew that I wanted something really moist and chocolatey.   I began to wondered if I could combine two of my favorite desserts Chocolate Guinness Cake and Chocolate Chip Banana Bread.  This is when Banana Brownie Special was born!

Banana Brownie Special

2 boxes family size Brownie Mix

3 ripe bananas
1 bottle Guinness Beer
2 eggs
Chocolate Chips

Pre-heat oven to 350F.  In a mixing bowl mash your bananas.  Add your eggs, brownie mix, and beer.  Mix till well combined.   Pour your batter into a 9x13 baking pan.  Sprinkle the top with chocolate chips.  Bake for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick comes our clean.  Enjoy warm with a scoop of ice cream!

Grub's on!

Memorial Day

Growing up I remember Memorial Day marking the beginning of summer.  It seemed like it was the day to start having barbeques, opening the swimming pool, and getting ready for weekends at the cottage.  Now that I am an adult it has taken on even more meaning!  Yes, it still marks the beginning of summer festivities, but it is also a time to honor those who have served and continue to serve our country.  A special thank you goes out to my Dad and Hubby for their service to our country. 

Also, as we honor our countries soldiers, we also need to honor their families.  So often the sacrifices of the families of our soldiers goes unnoticed!  So today I would like to recognize the men and women who stay behind while their soldier goes to war.  To the mothers and fathers who are left to be single parents while their spouse is deployed.  To the women who go through child birth while their spouse is away. To those who keep the home fires burning so that our soldiers have a reason to come back.  And to those families whose soldiers have made the ultimate sacrifice!

I have heard it said that it is often harder on the families of the soldiers then on the soldier themselves when they are deployed.  So as you thank and honor those who have served and those that continue to serve, remember to thank their families as well.  They also sacrifice so that we can live free.

God Bless!

Kim

Re-purposing Leftovers!

At this point in the week you maybe looking in the refridgerator wondering what are you going to do with all those leftovers?  It may have also crossed your mind that you really don't want to have to do a lot of cooking over this holiday weekend, well have I got some ideas for you!  You can take your leftovers add them to a few odds and ends and make meals your weekend meals a breeze.  Here are my top 5 ideas for re-purposing leftovers:

1) Stuffed Braided Crescent Rolls - This is a simple and easy way to use up a multitude of leftovers.  On a cookie sheet lay out your crescent rolls so that the pointed ends are out and all the flat ends meet in the middle.  After that get creative.  If you have taco leftovers layer them in the middle and then braid the dough over the top.  You can do the same with some leftover chicken, veggies, and cheese or even leftover roast beef and carrots with some gravy over top once it is cooked.  Once you stuff and braid the crescent roll, bake for about 15-20 minutes or until golden brown and enjoy! 

2) Leftovers Chili - A lot of leftovers can very simply be converted into a chili without the long simmer times.  Taco meat or even chicken can be the start of a great chili. Take and saute some onions, garlic, peppers, and celery (often you can find celery and onions pre-chopped in the produce section of your grocery store) then add your meat, tomatoes, and beans (for beef chili I use kidney beans, but for chicken I use northern beans).  Taste to see if you want to add any additional seasoning like cumin, chili powder, hot sauce, or taco seasoning and then allow to simmer for 15-20 minutes. I would plan on checking this about half way through just to see how the spices are blending.    Also, if you are feeling adventurous try adding just a little dark chocolate to it.  It helps to deepen the flavor.

3) Soups or Stews - This one is a lot like the chili, but goes outside of the tex-mex flavors.  Left over mashed potatoes, corn, cream/milk, salt and pepper and you have yourself a simple corn chowder.  Some chicken, broth, carrots, celery, and noodles a quick soup.  Take left over roast beef, some frozen mix veggies, barley, gravy and beef broth for another simple soup.  The possibilities are endless.  I once took left over jerk chicken and made a really hearty chicken stew!

4) Meat & Gravy over noodles - This is one of my favorite ways to use up left over roast beef dinner.  I will chop up the roast beef, mix it with gravy, simmer and pour over egg noodles.  If I don't feel I have enough gravy left over I will add a can of cream of mushroom soup.  I have also been known to do this with left over chicken, cream of mushroom soup, and a little milk.

5) Quiches - This is one of the best ways I have found to use up all kinds of leftovers.  Start with a store bought pie crust.  Mix a ratio of 4 eggs to 1 cup cream or milk to make about 1-2 quiches depending on how much mix-ins you add to your pie crust.  The more mix-ins you use the less room you will have for eggs.  I have been know to use leftover ham, chicken, bacon, broccoli, shish-kabobs, spinach, mushrooms, and the list could go on.  Pretty much anything is fair game.  I like to have a good mix of cheese on hand.  Parmesan is good in here as well as colby jack, gruyere, you can pretty much use any good melting cheese that you like.  If you don't want to have a big pie or you want a variety of quiches, muffin tins with a refrigerator biscuit flattened in the bottom also makes a great quiche crust.  For the pie plate you will want to bake them at 350F for about 20-30 minutes or until cook through and golden brown, the muffin should bake at the same temp for 15-25 minutes or again until cooked through and golden brown.  The other great part about these is that you can also freeze them after you have baked and cooled them and bring them out for another time.  Just thaw in the fridge and reheat in the over!

Leftovers can sometimes seem so over whelming and very unappealing, but with a little dash of creativity and courage you can turn those plain old leftovers into a whole new meal!

Grub's On!

A taste of Summer

There are times when I make a meal that causes the tastes of summer to floats across my tongue and awaken my tastes buds with anticipation for all the wonderful flavors to come.  There is nothing like farm fresh local vegetables to add an extra zing to our meals!  I made Bruschetta Grilled Chicken for dinner this evening and my taste buds sang in anticipation of great things to come!

Bruschetta Grilled Chicken

4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast
1 small bottle Sun Dried Tomato Dressing
2 Tomatoes, seeded and diced
2 tbs. Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing
1 tsp. dried basil or 3 minced leaves fresh basil
1 cup Shredded Monterey Jack or Mozzarella Cheese

In a ziplock bag place the 4 breast and enough dressing to coat the chicken.  Allow to marinade at least 30 minutes, but no more then 24 hours. 

Just before you are ready to put the chicken on the grill mix the tomatoes, basil, and vinaigrette dressing, allow to marinade. 

Place the chicken on the grill and cook on low heat for about 2-3 minutes on each side.  You just want to get nice grill markets on each side.  Once the chicken has been grilled on each side, move it to the side so that you can place aluminum foil on the grill.  Lightly spray the foil with cooking spray and then place the chicken on it.  On each piece of chicken cover with the tomato mixture and sprinkle with cheese, cook for another 10 minutes or until the chicken is no longer pink inside and the cheese is nicely melted. Serve immediately!

Enjoy!

This was great with noddles and sauteed asparagus.  What a great introduction to the fresh summer vegetables that are on the way!

Grub's On!  

Mother's Day! A day to honor Mom and family

What a great way to spend Mother's Day!  I spent today honoring those wonderful women that have inspired my life.  I am very blessed to have my not only my own Mother, but also my Mother-in-law and Mama K in my life.  These three wonderful women provide me with great inspiration and advice  both in and out of the kitchen.  All three have shared many of their life experiences with me, in addition to some really wonderful recipes!  Today, we are enjoying a great backyard barbeque, with tons of delicious food!

This tradition of celebrating Mother's Day with both of our families started about 4 years ago when my husband and I invited them all to our house for a barbeque!  My husband and I provide the meat, which is usually steak for Brazilian BBQ, and everyone else brings a dish to pass.  This works out great, because not one Mom has to do all the cooking!

It is on afternoons like this that I am so grateful for our families.  To be able to spend time with our parents and see them spend time with our daughter is wonderful.  There are so many lessons for her to learn while spending time with her grandparents!  She is learning to respect her elders, enjoy life, and value family.  This is also time for our family history to be shared, passed on, and added to!  I couldn't think of a better way to do this then through our parents!

I do finding it interesting how becoming a Mom myself has caused me to value my time with our parents even more.  I think this is because I am now realizing how much of themselves they gave up to raise me and guide me to be the person I am today.  I love being a Mom and want to thank my Mom for doing all that she has for me and my daughter!

My mother is one of the biggest reasons I took the initiative to learn how to cook.  My father is the one that taught me to cook, but my Mother was the inspiration.  She would get frustrated trying to figure out what to do with leftovers and that is when I would help out.  In addition to being my inspiration in the kitchen, she taught me how to garden.  My mother has always taken a lot of pride in how her yard and flowers beds looked.  She was even honored one summer for having the most beautiful yard in our neighborhood, it was really neat!  So, thanks to both my parents not only can I cook the food, but I can grow it as well!

I truly hope that you enjoyed your Mother's Day!  I know that for me I really felt the love today as we honored our Mother's and family today!




Grub's on!

Mexican Night Leftovers?

Taco night has to be one of my favorite meals, however, sometimes the leftovers get to be too much.  How many times in a week am I supposed to eat a taco salad, taco, or burrito for lunch? 

Fortunately, I recently came across a recipe for making taco cupcakes.  As I looked the recipe over, I thought that it could easily be adapted to use up the taco night leftovers that I had, not to mention use up some leftover wonton wrappers as well.  That is when Taco Bites were born.

These little guys went like hot cakes, my nephew downed ten of them all on his own! 

Taco Bites

Ingredients:

1 cup leftover Mexican meat
24 wonton wrappers
1 cup leftover refried beans 
1 cup leftover Spanish rice (optional)
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
optional toppings: sour cream, diced tomatoes, cilantro, onion, salsa

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375F. Spray 24 mini-muffin cups with cooking spray.
Place one wonton wrapper in the bottom of each muffin cup.

Layer about 1/2 tbsp of refried beans on top of each wonton.  Top with 1/2 tbsp of taco meat, 1/2 tbsp rice and 1/2 tbsp of shredded cheese. Repeat the layers again with a wonton wrapper, refried beans, taco meat and cheese.

Bake for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown.

Remove the bites from the tin and top with your favorite taco toppings (e.g., sour cream, diced tomatoes, onion, or cilantro) and enjoy!

These were really very good, could be adjusted to use any type of taco fixings you may have on had, and would even make a great appetizer for parties. Especially since you can prepare all of the ingredients ahead of time and then assemble and bake them the day of!

Grub's on!

Not your traditional Potato Salad

As of late I have been on a mission to try out new recipes. I have a great affection for potato salad, especially one that is chucked full of hard boiled eggs and mayo, but I am trying to watch the amount of fat in my diet. That is when, again thanks to punchfork.com, I stumbled upon a very different type of potato salad recipe on steamykitchen.com. This warm bacon potato salad was a great alternative to a traditional salad and a lot lighter too. It was great accompanied with grilled chicken and sauteed asparagus.

Warm Bacon Potato Salad

Servings: serves 4-6
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:

2 lbs. red potatoes, quartered
2 Tbls. olive oil
8 ounces bacon, cut into 1" pieces
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 red onion, chopped (I used a Valida onion instead)
1/4 cup red wine vinegar (I used Balsamic vinegar)
1 Tbl. grainy mustard
salt and pepper
1 stalk green onion, chopped (optional or just use for garnish)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375F. On a baking sheet, toss the potatoes in olive oil. Roast for 25 minutes or until tender.

Fry bacon for 2 minutes, add the garlic and the red onion. Saute for an additional 3 minutes or until the bacon is crisp.

In a large bowl, whisk together the red wine vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper. Stir in the bacon mixture, then add the roasted potatoes. If you want you can add green onions now or save them to garnish afterwards. Toss gently and serve immediately.

Enjoy!

Grub's On!

Checking In...

Hey there Forkers!

I am just wondering if anyone has tried any of the recipes that we have posted thus far or has any suggestions on ones we should try???  Would love to hear your feedback!

Also, wanted to let you know that we now have a twitter account as well, so feel free to follow us there as well!  Kim & Sara @2ChicksNaFork!

Have a great night!

Grub's On!

BBQ Bacon Chicken Bites

It is not uncommon for me to have different types of leftovers in my refrigerator since I attempt to make about 90% of our meals here at home. Due to this I feel like I am always trying to figure out something to do with the leftovers!

Leftover chicken seems to be one of the most common in our house hold.  There are many times that I am looking at it and have no idea what to do.

On this occasion I didn't want to make sandwiches or a casserole, on top of that I wanted this to be a quick and easy lunch.  That is when I remembered reading about a recipe that took chicken and buffalo sauce to create a savory cinnamon roll type bite.  As I am not a fan of buffalo chicken I began to wonder what else I could use in place of the buffalo sauce and thought barbeque sauce would be a great replacement.  Then I remembered that I also had some leftover bacon from breakfast and voila, I had these savory BBQ Chicken Bites!

BBQ Bacon Chicken Bites

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

Yield: 18 rolls

Ingredients:

• 1 roll refrigerator pizza dough
• 1 1/2 cup left over chicken,  cut into small pieces 
• 1 cup Bacon
• 1 cup shredded cheese
• 1/2 - 3/4 c Barbeque Sauce

Instructions:

In a bowl mix together chicken and all but about 2 tbs. barbeque sauce.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Prepare a baking sheet or muffin tins with parchment paper or non-stick spray.  (I used muffin tins)

Divide dough in half, roll each half into large rectangle roughly 1/4 inch in thickness.  Spread the barbeque sauce over each half, sprinkle chicken, bacon, and cheese evenly across each piece of rolled out dough.

Starting from long side of dough, begin rolling the dough up like a cinnamon roll. Pinch ends when done. Slice into 1 1/2 to 2 inch rolls. Place on the baking sheet or in muffin tins.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until cheese is bubbling and dough is lightly browned. Serve and enjoy!

These were great dipped in ranch dressing or on their own and were really simple to make.  As we were enjoying them, my husband said that they could be very versatile.  If you are not a barbeque sauce fan, like him, you could do Mexican bites (refried beans, cheese, taco sauce, and meat), pizza bites (pizza sauce, cheese, and meat and/or veggies), the possibilities are endless! Hope you enjoy these as much as my family did!





Grub's on! - Kim

Double Chocolate Pumpkin Cake with Pumpkin Spice Buttercream

The night that I created the post about Punchfork.com, I decided that I needed to find some recipes on there and make them.  This was very fitting as I was in search of some really good dessert recipes for a cake auction.   During my search I found delicious looking loaf cake on Picky-Palate blog at picky-palate.com.  I have to say this was an extremely easy cake to make and is one of the best I have made in a while.  I was actually sad to see them go and then one I did keep only lasted about 24 hours in our house!

If you are worried about the pumpkin flavor, in the cake you can not taste it and as for the frosting a simple can of cream cheese frosting or none at all would taste just as good!

Double Chocolate Pumpkin Cake w/ Pumpkin Spice Buttercream Frosting

Cake Batter
1 box devils food cake mix
1 small box instant chocolate pudding
1 stick butter, melted or 1/2 c oil
1/2 cup buttermilk or milk ( I completely forgot to add this and it turned out great!)
4 large eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
15 ounce can pumpkin (reserving 2 Tablespoons for buttercream)
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Pumpkin Spice Buttercream Frosting

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
2 tablespoons reserved pumpkin
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 to 5 cups powdered sugar
2 to 4 tablespoons milk

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Spray two 9×5 inch bread pans, 24 cupcake tins, 9x13 cake pan, or 2 9 inch cake rounds with non-stick cooking spray. 

2. Mix together cake mix, pudding mix, oil, buttermilk/milk, eggs, sour cream, pumpkin, and chocolate chips.  Mix all until well combined. Divide cake batter evenly into prepared pans. Bake for bread pans for 55-60 minutes or until cooked through. (24 cupcakes, bake 15-20 minutes; two 9 inch cakes rounds or 9x13 cake pan, approximate bake time is 30 minutes check often after.

3. For buttercream frosting, mix butter, reserved 2 tablespoons pumpkin and cinnamon on high until well combined. Slowly add the powdered sugar until thick and creamy.  Add milk until buttercream has a nice consistency. Frost over cooled cakes, slice and serve.


Grub's on!

Oriental Marinade

Marinades are one of those great kitchen weapons that can help spruce up a plain old piece of chicken or add more depth to a cut of red meat.  However, when it came to fish I was pretty much at a loss for what marinades to use.

With all the hype about getting more Omega3's in our diets I wanted to add more fish.  Unfortunately, fried fish was pretty much all I knew and not really the best option!   Thus began my hunt for a good fish marinade.  Fortunately, after only a small search I found one that is great for grilled or broiled salmon.  The best part, it is a hit not only with my husband, but also my 3 year old daughter!

For this one I did saute some small shrimp and toss them with the sauce.

This is a very quick and easy marinade, it take about 10 minutes to put together and then you just let the salmon marinade for at least 4 hours, but no more then 24. 


Ingredients:
2 inches fresh ginger, finally chopped or grated
2/3 c Rice Wine Vinegar
3/4 c Kecap Manis (Sweet Soy Sauce)
1/2 tsp. Chinese 5 Spice powder

Mix all ingredients in a bowl add your fish and wait.  When ready place on a hot grill or broiler pan and cook to desired doneness, keep about 1/3 of the marinade to bast.  The remaining 2/3 bring to a boil in a small sauce pan,  reduce heat, and simmer till it reduced by about half.  This sauce is great to drizzle over your final product.

We like to put our on a bed of udon noddles with some lightly sauteed baby bok choy and then pour some of the sauce over top.

If you are not a fan of fish this marinade also works great with chicken and shrimp, just reduce the marinade time!  I would say at least 30 minutes, but not much more then 10 hours.

Grub's On! - Kim

Something Sweet after a Fun Day!

What a blessing today was!  We had some beautiful weather, the sun was shining and the temperature soared!  My daughter and I enjoyed lunch with my niece, then headed to my 2 Chicks partner, Sara's, house to enjoy some pool side fun.

After fun in the sun and some grilled hot dogs we headed to home.  After we settled in for the night, I thought a fun and easy dessert was in order after the activities of the day, so we enjoyed a simple dessert that is easy and delicious.

I created this because I wanted a dessert that would tame my sweet tooth, but not leave a ton of leftovers in the house.  In my freezer I keep rolls of cookie dough and I thought....  Yum... Hot Cookie Sundaes!

So, I preheated my oven to 350 degrees.  Using a serrated knife I cut three 1 inch slices off the frozen cookie dough. (One for each of us!)  I put each cookie slice into a lightly grease ramekin then baked them for 9-12 minutes ( I baked ours for about 10 minutes, but we like our cookies doughy.  If you want them crispy bake them a little longer).  Allow the cookies to cool slightly, basically I wanted the ramekins cool enough to touch, but the cookie still nice and warm.  Once they cooled we put a scoop or two of our favorite ice cream on top then added chocolate sauce/hot fudge, whipped cream, and a cherry.

The completed goodness!

These little treats were a delicious end to a great day! AND no leftovers to tempt me late in the night!


Grub's on! - Kim

PunchFork, Have you heard of it?

Every cook has their standard arsenal of recipes.  Those tried and true recipes that are easy and work in a pinch.  I have a handful of them and use them often, but there are those times that I just want to try something different or be more adventurous.  This is where the website punchfork.com .com is a great tool.

Punchfork links to other blogs and websites that are posting recipes with pictures.  When you get to this page it is filled with so many wonderful pictures of food, you want to try them all.    There are dinners, breakfasts, desserts, drinks, side dishes.  You name it and you will probably find it on the page.

In addition to being able to view the recipes and visit the other blogs that are linked to this site, you can sign-up and create a virtual recipe box.  I enjoy scrolling through the pages and adding to my recipe box.   It is such a fun and delicious site!

 Check it out, see what fun recipes you can make, and let us know about any that you try!

Grubs on! - Kim