Banana Bread

Perfect for a mid-week dessert or snack.

Ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup white sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 ripe mashed bananas
walnuts to taste

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl cream together the butter, sugar, and vanilla. Stir in flour, cinnamon, cloves, baking soda, and salt. Blend in the mashed bananas. Add nuts. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan. 3. Bake for 70 minutes or until knife inserted into center of loaf comes out clean. Enjoy!

Oven Fried Chicken

I don't like deep frying. When I have a recipe that calls for deep frying, my husband normally does the honors. This mid-week recipe normally satisfies our craving for fried chicken.

Ingredients

6 chicken drumsticks skinned
4 chicken breast halves skinned
1/2 cup low fat buttermilk
2 cloves fresh garlic
1 tsp paprika
3 cups panko crumbs
3 tsp cajun seasoning
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp fresh ground black pepper
cooking spray

1) Combine buttermilk, garlic, and paprika in small bowl. Place chicken in large bowl. Pour buttermilk mixture over chicken. Marinate for 8 hrs.(shake it up to ensure its thoroughly coated)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2) Combine panko crumbs, garlic powder, cajun seasoning, and black pepper in large zip lock bag. Place chicken in bag one, by, one. Shake to coat. Place chicken on cooling rack placed on cookie sheet. Repeat with all pieces of chicken. When finished, spray all pieces of chicken with cooking spray. Place pan on lowest oven rack and cook for 45 minutes.
Enjoy

Vegetable Quesadillas

Perfect for lunch or a mid-afternoon snack

Ingredients

1 Tbsp olive oil
4 slices red bell pepper
6 mushrooms sliced
1 cup fresh spinach
1 tsp minced garlic
salt to taste
1 cup chedder/mont. jack cheese blend
Mrs. Dash Southwest Chipotle Seasoning Blend
4 corn tortillas
cooking spray

1. Heat olive oil over med-high heat. Add mushrooms and saute for 1 minute. Add garlic and red bell pepper. Cook until pepper and mushrooms appear almost fully cooked. Add spinach and salt to taste. Cook until spinach is wilted. Transfer mixture to a small bowl. Drain liquids.
2. Lower heat to medium. Spray pan with cooking spray. Place corn tortilla on pan. Flatten and evenly distribute half of mushroom mixture on corn tortilla. Sprinkle half of cheese mixture over mushroom mixture. Sprinkle approximately 1 teaspoon of seasoning blend over mixture. Lay a corn tortilla over mixture. While cooking, flatten quesadilla with spatula. Flip quesadilla and cook other side until tortilla is brown and crispy
3. Repeat with remaining ingredients
4. Serve with sour cream and guacamole.
Serving Size: 1 meal for 1 individual.