Healthy Banana (chocolate chip) Cookies

Block schedule...90 minute periods...4 periods per day.  Just my luck, both study halls land on the same day! Back to back!  Oh yeah, three hours of What should I do now?

What did I do?  Well after finishing an English project, typing a scholarship essay, finishing a scholarship application, and doing a blog post, I decided to make some PB2 Oatmeal Bites.  All that work made me hungry!

So I strolled down to the foods room.  The teacher is super nice and lets me come in and experiment. She must not know how dangerous that is...shhhh, don't tell her! 

After the snack I was all ready to roll up my sleeves and do some baking!  The Menu: Healthy Banana (chocolate chip) Cookies and an Egg Wrap

A couple days ago I found this recipe on Pinterest for Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies.  There's a catch.  They have no sugar, just bananas.  The lady promised "you will NOT miss the sugar in these cookies at all!"  I just had to try it for myself... 

The first batch was good.  I did alter the original recipe a little bit. They were more cake-y than cookie-y.  A good thing for breakfast! And giving up sweets I had to leave out the chocolate chips.  That probably would have made them more like a cookie.  Overall though, not bad. Next time I may add a little cinnamon, honey, or a second banana. But seriously, try them for yourself!  They were much better than I was expecting!

Start by creaming your butter.  

Add in the banana and vanilla.  You're supposed to mash the banana, but I'm to lazy to do that.  I just sliced it and threw it in.  Turned out fine!

When that's all combined stir in the flour and baking powder...

...until a dough forms.  Then if your adding chocolate chips or raisins or something stir them in now by hand.  

Roll into balls and place on your cookie sheet.  Sample some if you must, it's pretty good!  Shhh...I won't tell :)

Bake 10 minutes or until done.  Cool on a cooling rack.

So one batch makes about 14 cookies, depending on how much dough you eat. I gave away 5, ate 1 out of oven, 1 before gymnastics....let's just say I woke up with 2 left.  Whoops!  Hey, they're healthy right?

Healthy Banana (Chocolate Chip) Cookies

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Ingredients

• 1/4 cup butter or margarine
• 1 large banana, mashed
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips, cinnamon chips, raisins, etc. (optional)

Instructions

Cream butter or margarine.

Stir in banana and vanilla.

Add flour and baking powder. Stir until combined.

Roll into balls and and place on cookie sheet.

Preheat oven to 350º F.

Bake 10 minutes.

Cool on wire rack.

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Baked Potato Bar

Baked Potatoes...idea number nine on my meatless meals challenge for Lent.  I did a little research (aka googling) of the best toppings for a baked potato.  Obviously not all of these are "Lent-friendly", but hey!  I may serve this for dinner some other time too!  Football season maybe?

50+ Baked Potato Toppings

Bacon

Sausage

Pepperoni

Chicken

Steak

Pork

Ham

Cheese

Tortilla Chips

Nuts

Seeds

Dried Fruit

Apples

Marshmallows

Quinoa

Scrambled Eggs

Chili

Beans

Onions

Mushrooms

Spinach

Lettuce

Broccoli

Peppers

Tomatoes

Olives

Avocado

Guacamole

Salsa

Sour Cream

Cottage Cheese

Barbecue Sauce

Spaghetti Sauce

Alfredo Sauce

Honey

Yogurt

Butter

Herbs

Cinnamon

some interesting combinations...

Pepperoni Pizza Potato

Grilled Vegetables and Sausage Potato

Sweet Potato with Cranberries, Apples, and Pecans

Sloppy Joe Potato

Breakfast Potato

Please note, these are not my images.

Broccoli Cheese Omelet

Another snow day yesterday.  Don't get me wrong, I love a day off, but they're becoming the norm.  Not quite as special as they used to be.  I can't remember the last time we had full week of school!  A five day streak is gonna be rough!

Five days without sleeping in...and relaxing...and having no homework...and making myself nice breakfasts.  I take that back! They're still special!  Bring on the snow days!  Really, who needs to go to school?  

This particular morning I was in the mood for eggs.  Well, I guess every morning I eat eggs.  But this morning I wanted something other than scrambled.  Leftover broccoli, american cheese....omelet?  Let me tell ya, it was delicious!

Heat your pan over medium heat and add the eggs, salt and pepper.  Cover and let em' cook.

When the top is almost set, like so, take your flipper and flip em over.  

It takes some skill to do it like this.  :)  Years of practice!  Hint: shimmy the flipper to get it under the eggs

Now add your fillings and cheese and fold in half.  I'm going to invent half-circle shaped american cheese slices.  Please tell me why they don't sell them already?  They'd go like hotcakes!  At least I'd buy them.  No more ripping up the slice of cheese!  

Let set just until the cheese is warm and melted.  Perfect time to push down your toast!  Voila!  Perfect(ish) broccoli cheese omelet!  

Broccoli Cheese Omelet

by Simple and Sweet Creations

6071144

Ingredients (1 omelet)

• 1 egg
• 2 egg whites
• 1/4 cup broccoli, chopped
• 1 slice american cheese

Instructions

Heat pan over medium heat.

Add eggs, cover and cook until almost set.

Flip. Add cheese and fillings and fold in half.

Let set until cheese is warm and melted.

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Banana Nutella Muffins

WARNING: If you like bananas and Nutella then be prepared to become addicted to these muffins.

Long story short, my friend is obsessed with the hazlenut spread. Her and I started a board on Pinterest where we can pin all our Nutella recipes.  Dangerous and wonderful all at the same time! Occasionally we'll get together at one of our houses, each choose a Nutella recipe from our board, and have a "baking day".  I don't think we've made a bad thing yet!  

On our first "experiment day" I choose these Nutella Banana Swirl Muffins.  That was over a year ago. Guess how many times I've made them since?  Bigillions!  We ALWAYS have at least a dozen in the freezer...just incase something terrible would happen to bananas or Nutella.  Help us all if either one becomes scare...

Banana Nutella Muffins

by Simple and Sweet Creations

6071143

Ingredients (24 muffins)

• 4 over-ripe bananas, mashed
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup Nutella

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350º F. Grease or line two regular muffin pans with liners.

In a large bowl, combine bananas, sugar, and brown sugar. Beat in egg, vegetable oil and vanilla.

Slowly stir in flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt until no lumps remain.

Fill tins 3/4 full and top with about 1 teaspoon Nutella. Using a toothpick, swirl Nutella into batter.

Bake 15-17 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

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Microwave Egg Sandwich

I could eat eggs everyday.  Scrambled, omelet, in a sandwich, the possibilities are endless.  This morning I was feeling an egg sandwich.  It was cold and I needed something hardy to keep me full until lunch.  

Like my microwave scrambled eggs, it took a long time to prefect an egg sandwich.  My first attempts were in a frying pan...  I'm just not going to tell you about those ones...

I'd pour them in my little mold really slow but no matter what I did they just never cooked in the right shape :(  One day I looked at my cereal bowl full of eggs and thought Why can't it just stay like that... 

Then it hit me!  Duh!  Cook it in the cereal bowl!!  

I have to laugh at myself sometimes...  Does anyone else do stupid things like that too?  I sure hope so.

So after I perfected the cooking I started experimenting with the add-ins.  When we have it, I like to mix in broccoli and mushrooms.  Recently I tried cauliflower.  Wasn't bad!  I actually really liked it!!  Oh..and you always have to add cheese!  Mixing in shredded or topping with a piece of american.  They're both good. Don't be afraid to try mixing in something crazy :)

Start by cracking your eggs into a regular cereal bowl and add any mix-ins or shredded cheese.  (We didn't have any broccoli, cauliflower, or mushrooms!) :(

Cover and microwave 40 seconds or until egg(s) are mostly set.  You may need to go longer if you have more eggs or a less powerful microwave.  Just experiment!

Flip egg over and microwave another 12 seconds or until cooked to your liking.

Place on a toasted Sandwich Thin, english muffin, bagel, or piece of toast!  And don't forget to add the slice of cheese if you didn't use shredded!!

Look how delicious :)

Microwave Scrambled Eggs

Over the last several years I've mastered cooking with an oven. The grill...that's another story. And the crock pot (as long as you remember to turn it on) is pretty hard to mess up. 

Unfortunately, college dorms permit none of these kitchen appliances. :( Microwave cooking?

My lack of appliance resources has inspired me to perfect some of our favorite comfort foods in the microwave. It only seems fitting to start with breakfast. Eggs anyone?

This took a lot longer to perfect than should have. I won't tell you how many times I blew them up and was left scrubbing the microwave. But now I got it! Yay!! And it must be your lucky day because I'm going to share it with you too! The hardest part is choosing whether you want your eggs scrambled or in a sandwich...

Start by cracking your eggs in a cereal bowl.  Add cheese and any other mix ins. I like broccoli, but you could also use onions, peppers, ham, sausage, bacon, etc.

Cover and microwave 20-25 seconds.  

Stir and continue microwaving in 20-25 second intervals, stirring each time.

Stop when the eggs reach your desired consistency.  

(Perfect!)

Serve with toast, a bagel, piece of fruit, etc. for a well-rounded, filling breakfast.