PJ Banana Bread

Banana bread from Deep Issue #1, Justin's favorite:

1 egg
3/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. butter
3 bananas, mashed fine
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt

Beat egg in bowl; add sugar and butter. Cream mixture together; add mashed bananas and vanilla. Mix all together. Sift flour, soda and salt; add to banana mixture and stir until well blended. Turn into 6 x 10 in. loaf pan. Bake at 325 to 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes.

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Kale Chips! (yum)

This is how most of the kale disappeared. My almost 3-yr-old said it tastes like popcorn. We went through half of the huge bag in one meal. This stuff tastes 1000x better than it looks.

Kale Chips
by Brooke

• Kale leaves (1-2 inches wide)
  
• olive oil
• salt

Preheat oven to 300-325. In a bowl, toss kale in olive oil. Spread onto a baking sheet. sprinkle with salt. Bake about 15 minutes, turning it halfway. It will turn dark green and very crispy.

Note: I added paprika to one batch, but couldn't taste much difference.

Roasted Kale and Sweet Potatoes

This recipe is from here. Thank you pinterest. I made it just for me but Justin ate half of it. I used coconut oil and it was delectable. I also used dried cranberries.

Roasted Kale and Sweet Potatoes

from She Cooks He Cleans

Ingredients

• 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into ~3/4-inch dice
• Bunch of kale, stems removed, coarsely chopped
• butter/bacon fat/coconut oil (or your fat of choice)
• 2 T dried cherries and/or cranberries
• salt and pepper
• balsamic vinegar

Preheat oven to 400F. In a small roasting pan, toss the sweet potatoes with salt, pepper and enough coconut oil to coat potatoes and pan. Cover with foil and roast 15 minutes; remove foil and continue to cook until potatoes are tender and slightly browned (shaking pan occasionally, about 10 minutes). Remove from oven. [This step can be done in advance and the sweet potatoes set aside until dinner time.]

In the meantime, heat ~2-3 T of butter/bacon fat in a frying pan over medium high heat. Start adding handfuls of kale and toss in pan until wilted. Keep adding kale until you have the amount you’d like, cooking until wilted and to desired tenderness. Add the dried fruit and a dash of balsamic vinegar and mix well.

Add the sweet potatoes to the kale and toss until heated throughout and well mixed. Adjust seasoning and serve!

Mashed Potatoes and Kale

This is how I often ate Kale on my mission. They added tons of butter.

I just steamed the kale like in my last post, added garlic as the spice, then mixed the kale into a bowl of already prepared mashed potatoes. Yummy! Easy! Something different!

Steamed Kale

I've noticed that kale is becoming a trendy food to eat nowadays, so I thought I'd bring it back into my life. I ate it all the time on my mission. Justin did the grocery run and came home with a HUGE bag of pre-washed kale, so I found a handful of ways to prepare it. I like them all. We'll be finishing the bag tonight. I'm excited to have kale back in my diet with all it's nutritional goodness.

Thanks to my ziplock steam bags, this is super fast and simple. It's another equation recipe.

Steambag + kale + spices of choice + splash of veggie stock = leafy green side dish

I zapped it in the microwave for two minutes and it came out perfect. For spices I've tried garlic and basil. Both were good.

Coconut Chicken Poppers

Inspired by this recipe. I changed the original enough that I just rewrote the recipe.

Coconut Chicken Poppers
by Brooke Cheesman Hochstein

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup coconut milk
• 1 cup panko crumbs
• 1 cup shredded coconut
• 1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350. Mix eggs, coconut milk, and salt in one medium bowl. Mix panko crumbs and coconut milk in another medium bowl. Dip chicken pieces in the egg mix, then the crumb/coconut mix, being sure to cover the chicken entirely with the mix. Lay the chicken on a baking sheet (I cover mine in foil). Bake for 25 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and the coconut is toasted.

NOTE: I served this with a sweet chili sauce I made with agave and sriracha - wonderful. I tried turning the chicken halfway through to get an even bake, but the coconut just stuck to the tin and I stopped. The chicken still tasted fine without turning it.

I also mixed the leftover egg mix with the leftover coconut/crumb mix and baked them in a muffin tin and it made a yummy coconut treat.

BBQ Chicken Sandwiches

Justin requested this twice in one week. A tip I learned recently: to make the perfect shredded chicken, bake the chicken and then put it in the kitchen aid using the flat beater. Let the mixer work it for a few seconds, watching for your desired consistency. For these sandwiches I like it a little chunky. It only takes about two seconds to go from chunky to finely shredded so you have to watch closely! Finely shredded is not bad either, Justin actually prefers it to chunky.
I can't call this a recipe, really, more of an equation, since I just use Lefty's Spices, LLC BBQ sauce. It's our favorite here in DC.

BBQ Chicken Sandwiches
by Brooke Cheesman Hochstein

shredded chicken + bbq sauce + hamburger bun = happy husband.

Easy Peasy