Monday, April 29, 2013

Banana oatmeal chocolate chip bars


A great bar recipe to use those ripe bananas sitting in your counter! Plus you can have them for breakfast or snack, instead of that protein bar that comes in a box :)




Ingredients

2 ripe bananas
2/3 cups chocolate chips
1/3 cup oil
2/3 cup light brown sugar
3/4 cup of flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups quick or old fashioned oats


Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray non stick 8x8 or 9x9 pan.
2. Mash the banana with a fork. Then add the oil and brown sugar until no lumps are left in the mix.
3. In another smaller bowl, mix flour, cinnamon, salt, and oats.
4. Mix into wet ingredients and add chocolate chips.
5. Bake for 15 min or until edges are golden. Let cool before cutting. (I ommited this step because they looked too good :)



Saturday, April 20, 2013

Papaya Mango Smoothie


One of the things that I miss the most about Honduras is our wonderful mango season. I used to wait the whole year for this time of the year to come. Every year around March, one could start seeing mangos being sold in the streets, at every stop light, at the supermarkets, in the market, they are all around! Oh I miss mango season and I miss the price of mangos down in Honduras. Three mangos for $1 !
I find it crazy that so many people here have never tried a mango! But then again, I had never had a real raspberry until I moved over here (btw, rasperries just taste like raspberry flavored candy to me). Mangos are hard to find around here and feel like a luxury in my opinion at one mango for $1. But it is a price that I am willing to pay because I LOVE MANGOS!
Now papaya I am not crazy about, but in this smoothie it is awesome! If you have never seen or tried one google it. They are great for your digestive system. If you can't find any at your local supermarket substitute for banana or pineapple.
If you love mango or papaya or both you should definitely give this smoothie a try! It was awesome!!!


Papaya Mango Smoothie
Adapted from Pinch of Yum
Ingredients
1 ripe mango, peeled and diced
2 cups of papaya, cubed (you could use pineapple here too)
1/2 cup orange juice or juice of 1 orange
1/4 cup of milk of your choice
Sweetener of your choice (I used splenda)
1/2 cup of coconut milk, from a can or box
Ice
Directions
Put all your ingredients in your blender and blend until smooth! Enjoy!
Note: for a quick breakfast, I left my fruit ready in the blender the night before and just added the liquids in the morning. I didn't use any ice.

Sunday, April 14, 2013

Mango & Corn Pico de Gallo

Pico de gallo is the name for fresh salsa in Latin America. It is really good with tacos, quesadillas, chips, beans, nachos, burritos, and the list can go on. One of the great things about pico de gallo is that you don't have to stick to a recipe. You can add onions or leave them out, add less lime juice or more, make it spicy or mild. It's a great recipe for a hot day when you don't want to use your stove.

Hope you enjoy it!



Mango & Corn Pico de Gallo


Ingredients

1 tomato, diced
1/2 red onion, diced
1 jalapeno, diced
1 cup corn
juice of 1 lime
cilantro to taste
1 cup mango, diced
salt and pepper to taste
cumin to taste


Directions

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and adjust seasonings to taste. Enjoy!

P.s. If you have any pineapple in the refrigerator, go ahead and add some. It makes it even better!






Tuesday, April 9, 2013

BBQ Chicken Calzone

BBQ Chicken Calzone

Let me start by saying that I have yet to be successful at making homemade pizza dough. I have tried several times and I can't seem to ever get it right. We have therefore settled to eating homemade pizza whose crust consists of a flour tortilla (more on that to come soon.)

Walking around Trader Joe's last weekend, I ran into their ready to use pizza dough in their salad/cheese/fruit section and I though this would make for a perfect Sunday night dinner.

I apologize for the only picture we took. We were starving and the house smelled wonderful!




Bbq Chicken Calzone 


Ingredients

Pizza dough of your choice (I used Trader Joe's whole wheat)
1-2 cups shredded chicken
Bbq sauce to taste (I used Stubbs)
2 cups Mozzarella cheese (more or les)

Optional
Browned onions
Cilantro


Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Prepare a baking sheet or pizza stone.

1. Follow the instructions on how to thaw or prepare the pizza dough. When it is ready, divide the pizza dough in 4 balls or more if you have more dough. Roll each ball until it is 1/2 inch thick.

2. Combine some bbq sauce with the chicken. If you are adding browned onions add them to the chicken at this point.

3. Add a spoonful of sauce to one half of the dough, then add some chicken (as much as you want), top with some cheese and extra sauce. Throw in some cilantro and fold the calzone in half, making sure you seal the edges tightly. Poke with a fork on top once or twice. Repeat this step for each calzone you are putting together.

4. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the calzone look brown. When ready take out of the oven and let sit for 10 minutes or so. Serve with extra sauce!

Enjoy :)