Banana Stuffed French Toast w/Nutmeg Sauce

I told you I reeeaally like bananas:) I have often made stuffed french toast similar to this one, but just alter the fruit filling each time. For this recipe I wanted to make the Nutmeg sauce that I remembered learning how to make in High school home ec class..so I came up with this similar sauce from scanning different recipes on the internet.

When I made the stuffed french toast this time, I think there was too much cream cheese filling, so for the recipe I will halve the amt used.
MAKES 3 SERVINGS (Random # of servings, but made it for my parents and I)
Ingredients:
FRENCH TOAST-
6 slices whole wheat bread
1/2 c egg beaters
1/4 c egg whites
1/4 c skim milk
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 cups crushed cereal (I use rice krispies b/c it's what we had-can opt for corn flakes)
FILLING-
2 oz fat free cream cheese
2 oz 1/3 less fat cream cheese
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 T milk
1/4 c splenda
Sliced bananas (2-3)
SAUCE-
1/4 c butter
1/4 c packed brown sugar
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cinnamon
Directions:
For Filling:
1. Soften both cream cheeses.
2. Add milk, vanilla, splenda.
3. Stir to combine; set aside.
4. Slice bananas; set aside.
For french toast:
**Preheat griddle to 350 degrees.
1. Place cereal in ziploc baggie. Crush w/ rolling pin.
2. In shallow bowl, combine egg, milk, vanilla, cinnamon for the toast egg wash.
3. Dip bread first in egg, then in cereal.




























4. Place toast on griddle.
5. Grill one side until golden brown, then flip.














For sauce:
(This only takes a couple minutes, so wait until one side of french toast slices are browned to start heating the sauce).
6. While french toast is browning, place small saucepan on stove top and add butter, brown sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon.














7. Over low heat, melt mixture; stirring often.
8. Once fresh toast is browned, remove from griddle and spread cream cheese mixture on one piece.
9. Layer banana sliced over cream cheese.
10. Top w/ second piece of french toast.














11. Slice
12. Drizzle with sauce, sliced bananas, powdered sugar.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

This recipe comes from the Lifetime TV show Cook Yourself Thin.
Can you tell Trevor and I like chocolate chip muffins? 2 of my first 6 recipes are chocolate chip muffins..(Not to mention I had a c.c. muffin flop in there that I chose not to post haha)

Both these and the zucchini muffins I put on here earlier are winners. Of course I modified this recipe b/c there were WAAAY too few chocolate chips in the recipe..I guess that's why it was on a Cook Yourself Thin show :/...It only called for a total of 2 T chocolate chips to sprinkle on the tops of the muffins. Are you kidding me? So I chose to put dark chocolate chips in the batter and then sprinkled some mini chocolate chips on top. Muuuch better.
Ingredients:
1 c all-purp flour
1 c whole wheat flour
1/2 rolled oats
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 ripe banana, mashed
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 c brown sugar, packed
2 T vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 1/4 c reduced fat buttermilk (I didn't have any so used 1 T vinegar+skim milk instead)
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 c chocolate chips (can sprinkle w/mini chips if desired)
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400
2. In large bowl, combine flours, oats, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, salt + mashed banana. Blend on low 2 mins
3. Add walnuts, brown sugar, oil, eggs, buttermilk and stir to combine.
4. Add vanilla and stir.
5. Use ice cream scoop to portion the muffins out into the tin. Bake for 15 mins. Remove and let cool.

Garden Vegetable Skillet Medley

This recipe comes from a local magazine (Cooperative Connections) and was in a recipe section called Garden Creations. It was a perfect recipe to utilize a bunch of vegetables and fresh rosemary from my mom's garden. This is definately a budget friendly meal! It's full of vegetables and gets a lot of flavor from rosemary and a package of tomato pesto flavored tuna..Easy!

This meal was definately a taste of summer!

Ingredients:

1/4 c olive oil

2 c diced red potatoes (make sure to dice fairly small to ensure they get fully cooked)

1 onion, sliced julienne strips

2 c fresh green beans, trimmed

2 yellow squash, sliced

2 zucchini, sliced

3 cloves garlic, minced

Dash of salt..to taste

2 tsp fresh rosemary (more to taste)

2 (4 oz) packages Starkist Albacore Creations-Tomato Pesto

-->The recipe called for 2 cans Bumble Bee Sensations Sundried Tomato Basil Tuna

undrained, but our grocery store was out of that..The Starkist brand worked great!
--> I also chose to add a few sprinkles of Mrs. Dash tomato basil seasoning

Directions:

1. In large skillet, heat oil over medium high heat.

2. Add potatoes, green beans. Saute 6 mins, turning frequently

3. Add remaining vegetables, garlic, salt, rosemary.

4. Add tuna. Cook mixture for approx. 10 mins.

5. Serve from skillet

Olive Chili

Today was a "chili" day for August, so we had chili for supper tonight. I hope "You Love" this chili as much as "Olive" this chili...(super cheesy, I know, but really there are olives in it). You may be thinking..."Olives? And Chili? And Mushrooms??" (that's what Trevor says about it), but I promise you it's good! It's a sweet chili, because my fam is pretty wussy when it comes to spice, and it's loaded with a lot of 'chunky' stuff!

Ingredients:

1 can tomatoes

1 can kidney beans, drained

1 can cannellini beans, drained (for these first 2 cans of beans you can use any kind you like!)

1 can Bush's pork n' beans

1 lb browned hamburger

1 medium onion, chopped

green/black olives or both

mushrooms, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 tsp cumin

1 1/2 tsp chili powder (more to taste)
pepper to taste

salt to taste (I usually leave this out)

shredded cheese/sour cream for topping (optional)

Directions:

1. Throw it all in the crock pot!! Put on Low for @ least 8 hrs (8-12hrs)

We had this chili with some sweet corn from my brother-in-law's parent's garden and "Old Mom's Cukes." -->(Recipe for the cukes is posted earlier)

Hungry Girl's Crazy Delicious Danish

This recipe is one I helped develope! (I had to brag a little..go to the link below and they give me a shout out:)) I had seen the new Pillsbury Recipe Creations refrigerated dough at the grocery store (and had also seen it on Hungry Girl's website listed as a lower calorie alternative to a standard dough) and I decided to get a little creative. Growing up my mom always ordered what were called 'Butter Braids' from different fund raisers and they were G-O-O-D! I would look forward to waking up to them on a weekend morning. This memory sparked me to come up with a healthier alternative. So, the Hungry Girl's Crazy Delicious Danish was born.:) I experimented on my family and friends and came up with a pretty dang good recipe. I then emailed Hungry Girl's website and within a couple of weeks the recipe was posted on their site!! I was shocked that they actually liked it enough to make it part of the site.
Here is the link: http://www.hungry-girl.com/chew/chewdetails.php?isid=1731

MAKES 9 SERVINGS
Ingredients:
For Danish:
1 package Pillsbury Crescent Recipe Creations refrigerated dough
Half an 8-oz. tub fat-free cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup frozen dark sweet cherries, thawed
1/4 cup regular oats (not instant)
2 tbsp. Splenda No Calorie Sweetener (granulated)
1 tbsp. light vanilla soymilk (or skim milk)
1/4 tsp. almond extract
For Icing:
1 tbsp. Jet-Puffed Marshmallow Creme
1 tbsp. Cool Whip Free, thawed
1/2 tbsp. Splenda No Calorie Sweetener (granulated)
1 tsp. powdered sugar
1 tsp. cornstarch
1 drop vanilla extract
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. To make the icing, combine Splenda, powdered sugar, and cornstarch in a small microwave-safe bowl. Add 1/2 tbsp. cold water and the vanilla extract, and mix until ingredients have dissolved. Add Marshmallow Creme and microwave for 5 seconds, or until creme is soft enough to fold into mixture. Stir until smooth. Add Cool Whip and stir again, until evenly combined.
3. Refrigerate icing until you're ready to ice the Danish.
4. In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese, oats, Splenda, soymilk (or skim milk), and almond extract, and stir until thoroughly mixed.
5. Fold in cherries and set aside. This is your filling.
6. Spray a large baking sheet with nonstick spray.
7. (I'll post pics of this part later)..Lay out your dough on the sheet and (using a rolling pin, a can, or your hands) lightly roll it out into a long rectangle of even thickness. Arrange baking sheet in front of you so that the short sides are on the left and right and the long sides are on the top and bottom. Spoon cherry filling lengthwise across the middle third of the dough, leaving 1-inch borders on the left and right of the filling. Along the top third of the dough, cut slits down from the top of the dough toward the filling, stopping about 1/2 inch away from the filling -- space slits about 1 inch apart from each other. Repeat on the bottom part of the rectangle, cutting upward toward the filling. This will create 1-inch-wide strips of dough on both the top and bottom of the filling.Starting at one side, alternate folding the 1-inch strips from the top and the bottom over the filling, covering filling completely and creating a criss-crossed, "braided" appearance. After all the strips have been folded, fold the short sides of the dough in toward the filling, so filling cannot escape, and pat firmly to seal.
8. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes, until pastry is crispy and golden brown.
9. Allow to cool for at least 15 minutes.
10. Just before serving, drizzle entire Danish with icing. Cut into 9 slices and indulge! (P.S. Refrigerate leftovers.)
Nutrit. Info:
Serving Size: 1/9th of Danish
Calories: 118 Fat: 4.25g Sodium: 275mg Carbs: 17g Fiber: 0.5g Sugars: 5g Protein: 3.5g

Cinnamon Zucchini Muffins

I found this recipe on Myrecipes.com, from Cooking Light Magazine. It is a good way to use up some zucchini and is a healthy way to sneak some veggies into your muffins:) They are really moist and have a great cinnamon flavor. The chocolate chips were my own addition, but couldnt resist, cuz I l-o-v-e chocolate. I made half the recipe w/chips and half w/out.















MAKES 12 MUFFINS
Ingredients:
1 c whole-wheat flour
2/3 c all-purpose flour 1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/3 c shredded zucchini
1/2 c skim milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 T canola oil
2 T honey
1 large egg or 1/4 c egg substitute
-Chocolate chips(optional)
Cooking spray
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400°.
2. Combine whole-wheat flour and next 6 ingredients (through salt) in a large bowl; stir to mix. Combine zucchini, milk, vanilla, oil, honey, and egg in a small bowl; stir until blended. Make a well in center of flour mixture; add milk mixture, stirring JUST until moist. This is where I added chocolate chips, but once again, optional. Spoon batter into 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray.
3. Combine 1 tablespoon sugar and 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon; sprinkle over tops of muffins. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until golden. Remove from pans immediately; cool on a rack.














Nutrit. Info:
Calories: 145 Fat: 3.1g (sat 0.4g,mono 1.6g,poly 0.9g) Protein: 3.5gCarbohydrate: 27.1g Fiber:1.8g Cholesterol: 21mg

Makin' Banana Pancakes

Makin' Banana Pancakes, Pretend That It's The Weekend NOW!

First off, let me just say this for the record. .Bananas are definately my favorite food in the entire world! I usually eat a banana every day, or something with banana in it. YUM. Most say that's a weird fav food, but I can't get enough. Ok, ok...Banana and chocolate are my TWO fav foods. Put them together and I'm in heaven.

This banana pancake recipe comes from the Hungry Girl Cookbook series. They are made with whole wheat flour and are very low in calories/fat. (I promise you can't tell!)
These pancakes use whole wheat flour so are a good source of fiber and get a sweet flavor from cinnamon, vanilla, and Splenda. Speaking of Splenda...I have mixed feelings right now about using artificial sweeteners in recipes. I was hooked when they first came out, but try not to use them as often as I once did. (I used to sprinkle it on everything!) Soo..in this recipe feel free to use sugar or a brown sugar mix instead, as it does not call for much sweetener at all.















Ingredients:
1 c whole wheat flour
1 c mashed ripe banana
1 c Egg Beaters (you can use real eggs if preferred, these are just lower in fat/cals)
1/2 c light vanilla soymilk or skim milk
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
4 Splenda sweetening packets, or about 4 tsp of sugar if preferred over artificial sweetener
A few dashes salt
A few dashes cinnamon to taste (I like a lot)
--I also serve mine w/sugar free maple syrup, chopped walnuts, and banana slices that I briefly cook on the griddle while the pancakes are browning.
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
Directions:
1. In a small bowl, combine all dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, sweetener, salt, cinnamon) and mix well.
2. In a seperate medium bowl, mash banana and mix all wet ingredients in (egg, soymilk, vanilla) and mix well.
3. Add dry and wet together; mix well.
4. Heat large pan or griddle and spray w/non- stick spray to medium heat. Pour batter on cooking surface to form 12 pancakes. Cook until underside is slightly browned, then Flip! Cook until other side is browned and pancakes are cooked through.
5. Throw 'em on a plate and serve w/ warmed syrup, chopped walnuts, banana slices or your own combination of the 3.

Nutrit. Info:
**This is not including walnuts or banana slices
**And of course stats will be different if sugar or eggs are used instead of their alternatives
PER SERVING: 185 cals, 1g fat, 343mg sodium, 37g carb, 5g fiber, 7.5g sugar, 9.5gprotein

"Old Mom's" Cucumber Recipe

It's still cucumber season, (I know, I know-this is a pic of zucchini & yellow squash, but hey we had a box of it sitting around so I thought it was close enough:)) so I figured I would add this family favorite recipe for using up all those 'cukes.' My parents have a large garden, so 'we have cukes coming out our ears' each year! This is a good thing!

This recipe goes out to my dad. As long as I can remember, every summer he would make this recipe from the abundant cucumbers from my mom's garden. So the story of the title goes....My dad copied down the recipe of my grandmother's collection, meaning to write "Mom's Old Fashioned Cucumber Recipe." Well, he wrote down "Old Mom's Cucumber Recipe" instead. The title stuck and this recipe was always known to me as "Old Mom's Cukes." Hope you all enjoy as much as we do!!....Old or young:)

**This recipe is best made the night before- to allow flavors to marry while refrigerated.

Ingredients:
5 cucumbers, peeled & sliced
1/4 c Apple cidar vinegar

1/4 c Sugar

yellow onion sliced
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 cup fat free mayo

1/4 evaporated milk (or skim milk for lower fat)

1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp garlic salt
1/4 tsp onion salt

Red pepper flakes to taste--a little goes a long way, careful!
Paprika to make it look pretty:)

Directions:

1. Combine sugar, mayo.

2. SLOWLY add vinegar. This is important; if vinegar is added too quickly, sometimes it curdles the sauce.

3. Add all the remaining ingredients.

4. Refrige over night to allow flavors to come together. Serve chilled.

The Ice Breakerrrrr

This is officially my first EVER blog experience! I recently started reading some other user's blogs (mostly to find recipe ideas) and decided I would give it a shot. I never..and I mean NEVER..thought I would be doing this! Just shows you how much extra time I have now that I am in between college and finding a "real" full time job. Okay, here's the real truth...I sort of started thinking about starting a blog to share recipes, because such blogs were the first blogs I started reading and cooking is something I LOVE to do! Compared to many of the cooking blogs I have read and am following, I've got a lot of learning to do:) I am a beginner, but you have to start somewhere right?! Cooking is one of my hobbies, so I figure why not spend some of my extra time and devote it to sharing what recipe's I've discovered and things I have tried. Any recipes I test out I usually try to put a healthy spin on them, but still want them to taste good! I have always grown up cooking with my mom..and dad..and as I've gotten older and lived on my own, have realized I really, really enjoy it. I've experimented on roomates, boyfriends, friends, and family, and now I guess this is an opportunity to write some of them down. Wish me luck!

First... A little about Laurena Doone:
My real name is Lauren. NOT Laurena Doone ;) The name goes back to when I was a little tyke and my dad, Greg, used to call me Laurena Doone after the cookies called Lorna Doone. I thought it was fitting for my page, because he still calls me it every once in a while. Also, because it's after COOKIES:) It seemed fitting since I will be sharing recipes.

Anyway..I am 22 years old, graduated May '09 from University of South Dakota with a Dental Hygiene degree. Now..I am on the job hunt for a full time Dental Hygiene position and working part time in the mean time.




I love my family! My parents are two of my favorite people and I am realizing as I get older just how LUCKY I am to have them.(I have always known they are great parents of course). My sister, Hilary is 29 and has 3 kidos who keep her busy day in and day out!

(My parents, sister, and I--Greg, Hilary, Me, Lynn)





This is my boyfriend Trevor and I.
I am so blessed to have met such an amazing person that shares the same interests, viewpoints, and values that I do. I met Trevor this past January and have spent nearly every day with him since. I have made so many memories with him so far, have had a blast, and can't wait for our future together.







My first posted recipe!!! ......
I might as well start my first post with a recipe...so here it goes:
I have been looking for a pre/post workout bar recipe and I found it! This is from Eatingwell.com, plus a few modifications. This bar is great for before going to the gym, before heading out the door to work, or just for a snack. They are full of oats, nuts, dried fruit, and are peanut buttery! YUM..can't go wrong with that combo... They taste pretty sweet and remind me of a chewy store bought granola bar.
It works well to keep them in plastic baggies to store, either in the fridge for up to a week, or in the freezer for longer.
Peanut Buttery Energy Bars:














You'll need:

1/4 cup dry roasted salted peanuts
1/4 cup roasted sunflower seeds or other chopped nuts
1 cup chopped craisins or raisins
1 cup old fashioned oats
1 cups toasted rice cereal, such as Rice Krispies

1 Hershey's Special Dark chocolate bar (optional)
1/4 cup creamy or crunchy natural peanut butter
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Coat a 8x8 square, glass baking pan with cooking spray.
2. Combine peanuts, sunflower seeds (or other nuts), raisins (or other dried fruit), oats, rice cereal, and dark chocolate in a large bowl.
3. Combine peanut butter, brown sugar and honey in a large microwaveable bowl; microwave on High until bubbling, 1 to 2 minutes. Add vanilla and stir until blended. Pour the peanut butter mixture over the dry ingredients and stir until coated.
4. Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan. Cover with plastic wrap, directly over the bars. (just so you are able to press down on the bars w/out them sticking). Press down FIRMLY..and I mean firmly. It is important to press the bars down as much as possible, or they will not stick together. I used another square pan that fit inside the 8x8 pan and put all my weight on it to pack the bars. Place bars in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Cut into 8 rectangles. ENJOY

Here are the rough stats for each bar:
NUTRITION INFORMATION: Per serving: 255 calories; 9 g fat (1 g sat, 2 g mono); 0 mg cholesterol; 42 g carbohydrate; 5 g protein; 3 g fiber; 95 mg sodium; 242 mg potassium.2 Carbohydrate Servings

***Also, I chose to add a scoop of chocolate Whey protein powder to my peanut butter mixture. I knew my boyfriend would be eating these bars, and he is a college football player in the middle of his pre-season training. It tasted great and is a good way to add some more protein!

***This recipe is a fun one to experiment with. Lots of different combinations can be used. Examples: cheerios or a bran cereal instead of rice krispies
dried cherries or blueberries instead of raisins/craisins
walnuts or almonds instead of peanuts