Banana Waffles

3 cups flour

1 tsp salt

4 Tbsp baking powder

1/2 Tbsp cinnamon

1 1/2 cups milk

2 large eggs

1Tbsp honey

1 Tbsp vanilla extract

4 ripe, mashed bananas

Mix dry ingredients, mix wet ingredients and add to dry, stir until just blended.

Mushroom Sushi

2 cups, fresh shitake mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
1/2 avocado
2 sheets of nori
pickled ginger (optional)
1 Tbs fresh ginger root, grated
1-2 Tbs tamari
1 Tbs olive oil
water as needed

• Heat the oil in a skillet, add the ginger and sautee lightly
• throw in the mushrooms and tamari, as water as needed so mushrooms will cook without sticking to the pan
• Once mushrooms shrink up a bit and get slightly dark, you know their ready, remove from heat.
• Lay out your seaweed on a sushi mat (here are my sushi rolling directions)
• Spread avocado either in slices or mashed up, along edge of sushi paper
• Add in optional pickled ginger and then make a row of mushrooms
• Roll, slice, eat. Yum!

Veggie Quin-iche

1 cup dry quinoa(rinsed)
2 cups water
2 Tbs tamari
2-3 Tbs sesame oil
2 cloves minced garlic
1 inch fresh ginger root, grated
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 celery stalks, finely chopped
2-3 leaves of kale
2 carrots, grated
1 large sweet potato, grated
2 eggs
pinch of sea salt

• Preheat oven to 350
• Cook quinoa in water for 15-20 minutes until all water is absorbed.
• While grains are cooking, saute onion, garlic and ginger in sesame oil and tamari over medium heat until softened then add celery and carrots.
• Once grains are cooked, mix in grated sweet potato and finely chopped raw kale.
• Add in two eggs and pinch of sea salt, and mix thoroughly.
• Take parchment paper and cut into circles to line a muffin tin.
• Using a 1/2 cup meausure, scoop out the quiche mixture and place in parchment lined muffin tin.
• Bake for 20 minutes. Quin-iches should feel firm to the touch. Depending on your oven, you may want to give them an extra 5 minutes.
• Switch oven to broil for 3-5 minutes to add some extra crispy to the tops.
• Remove from oven, allow to cool. Remove form tin, discard parchment and serve warm or at room temperature.

Cafe Rio Chicken

3 chicken breasts

1 can green chile sauce

1 cup chicken broth

1 Tbsp cumin

1/2 onion, cut in rings

3 cloves of garlic, minced

juice of 1/2 lime

chopped fresh cilantro to tast

Place chicken breasts in crock pot, pour green chile sauce and chicken broth over the top and add cumin, garlic, lime juice and cilantro. Place onion rings on top of chicken, they will be removed and discarded when chicken is cooked. Cook for 4 hours, shred meat and cook for another hour.

Cafe Rio beef

3 lbs chuck roast

1 can green chile sauce

1 cup beef broth

1 small can tomato sauce

1 Tbsp cumin

1/2 onion, cut in rings

3 cloves of garlic, minced

Place chuck roast in crock pot, pour green chile sauce, beef broth and tomato sauce over the top and add cumin and garlic. Place onion rings on top, they will be removed and discarded once the roast is cooked. Cook on low for 8 to 9 hours or until meat falls apart easily.

Shred beef into a different container, strain juices and pour over shredded roast.

Cilantro Lime Rice

4 cups chicken broth

2 cups rice

2 cloves of garlic

1/2 bunch cilantro

1 can green chilies

1/4 onion

juice of 1/2 lime

Blend garlic, cilantro, green chilies and onion together in food processor. Add all ingredients to your rice and cook rice as directed.

Banana Bread

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 5 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup margarine
• 1 cup mashed bananas
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

1. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
2. In a large bowl, cream sugar and butter or margarine. Beat the egg slightly, and mix into the creamed mixture with the bananas. Mix in sifted ingredients until just combined. Stir in milk and nuts. Spread batter into one greased and floured 9x5 inch loaf pan.
3. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) until top is brown and cracks along the top.

Chicken Stir Fry

• DOUBLE FOR LEFTOVERS!
• 1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast halves
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 3 tablespoons cooking oil, divided
• 1 red pepper, julienned
• 1 1/2 cup sliced celery (1/4 inch pieces)
• 2 small onions, cut into wedges
• 1/2 cup water

1 head lettuce, prepared

1 can mandarin oranges in wedges

1 can water chestnuts

1/2 cup nuts (cashews, almonds, peanuts)

1. Cut chicken into 1/2-in.cubes; place in a resealable plastic bag. Add cornstarch and toss to coat. Combine soy sauce, ginger and garlic powder; add to bag and shake well. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2. In a large skillet or wok, heat 2 tablespoons of oil; stir-fry chicken until no longer pink, about 3-5 minutes. Remove and keep warm. Add remaining oil; stir- frypepper, celery and onion for 4-5 minutes or until crisp-tender. Add water. Return chicken to pan. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly.

Serve over lettuce, topped with mandarin oranges, water chestnuts and nuts as desired.

Chinese Chicken Salad

2 chicken breasts (grilled and chopped)
1 head of lettuce
4 stalks of celery
2 stalk of green onion
4 8 oz. cans of mandarin oranges
2 8 oz. can of water chestnuts
8 oz. of slivered or sliced almonds
1 cup of sugar

Dressing:

1 cup of canola oil
2/3 cup rice vinegar
2 T soy sauce
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar

Heat almonds and sugar at medium heat in a small pan. Stir continuously until the sugar has heated through and coated the almonds with a nice caramelized coating. (Don’t worry if the sugar gets all clumpy and seems to not be working. Just keep stirring…..it will melt.) Then spread over foil and let cool completely. Chop up all of the remaining salad ingredients and mix together in bowl. In a cruet, mix in all the ingredients for the dressing. Shake until completely blended. The dressing isn’t soluble so you’ll have to shake again right before pouring over your salad.

One last note: The dressing made is a bit too much for the amount of salad. So I always pour the dressing over individual portions of salad. But if you’d like to pre-mix your salad if you’re headed to a pot luck, make sure to watch how much you’re using in the salad. Sample it before serving.

French Beef Stew

• 1 1/2 pounds cubed beef stew meat
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 (14.5 ounce) cans Italian-style diced tomatoes
• 1 (14 ounce) can beef broth
• 4 carrots, chopped
• 2 potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 3/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 2 tablespoons Dijon-style prepared mustard
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Combine meat and flour in a large plastic food storage bag and toss to coat evenly.
2. In a 6 quart saucepan brown meat in hot vegetable oil. Season with salt and pepper, if desired.
3. Add diced tomatoes, beef broth, carrots, potatoes and thyme. Bring to boil; reduce heat to medium-low, cover; and simmer for 1 hour or until beef is tender.
4. Blend in mustard and serve.

Banana Waffles

3 cups flour

1 tsp salt

4 Tbsp baking powder

1/2 Tbsp cinnamon

1 1/2 cups milk

2 large eggs

1 Tbsp honey

1 Tbsp vanilla extract

4 ripe bananas, mashed

1. Preheat waffle iron.
2. Place the first 4 ingredients in a bowl and combine.
3. Place the remaining wet ingredients in a separate bowl and combine.
4. Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet until combined. Do not over mix, its ok if there are a few lumps.
5. Pour 1/2 cup of batter into a greased waffle iron and cook for about 3-4 minutes (or according to manufacturer’s directions).
6. Serve with desired accompaniments.*

* Place leftover waffles in labeled freezer bags. Pop in the toaster until warmed through to serve.

Hash Brown Breakfast Casserole

--30 oz package of plain frozen hash brown (shredded) potatoes
--4 already-been cooked sausage, or leftover diced ham (I used chicken and apple sausage)
--1/2 onion, diced
--1 green bell pepper, diced
--12 eggs
--1 cup skim or fat free milk
--1 tsp kosher salt
--1 tsp black pepper

Spray the inside of your crockpot with cooking spray. Dump in the whole package of hash browns. Spread them out with your fingers, and break up any clumps.

In a mixing bowl, mix the dozen eggs with the milk, salt and pepper, cheese, cut up sausage, and diced vegetables. Pour everything on top of the hash browns.

Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 3-4. This is done when the eggs are fully cooked and the edges start to brown a bit. If you want the cheese to brown and get a bit crispy on the sides, cook it longer.

For a vegetarian version, substitute 1 red and green bell pepper and one cup of mushrooms for sausage. Cook for last 30 mins without lid to release condensation.

Breakfast Potatoes with Sausage

-- bunch of red potatoes
-- 1 yellow onion
-- package of breakfast sausage, precooked and chopped
-- 2 T olive oil
--a sprinkle each of kosher salt and black pepper
--wash potatoes well, and chop them into chunks.
--chop up the onion
--toss the veggies with the olive oil, salt and pepper.
--layer the sausage on top.
--cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Serve with applesauce

Falafel

1 15oz can garbanzo beans (chick peas)

- 1/2 onion, chopped

-1 T dried parsley

- 2 cloves minced garlic

- 1 egg

- 1 t kosher salt

- 1/4 t black pepper

- 2 t ground cumin

- 1 t ground coriander

- 1/4 t cayenne pepper

- juice from 1 lemon (that's a lemon. a weird looking lemon, but a lemon nonetheless)

- 1/2 to 3/4 cup bread crumbs (I have bread crumbs made from a loaf of Trader Joe's brown rice bread that I keep in the freezer)

- 2 T olive oil (for the bottom of your crock)

Drain garbanzo beans. Dump them into a mixing bowl and smash them with a fork. Set aside.

Get out your blender or food processor (I used our vitamix. I love that thing!). Blend together all of the spices, the onion, the garlic, the egg, and the lemon juice.

Pour on top of your smashed garbanzo beans. Use your fork to mix together, and add the breadcrumbs slowly until the mixture is wet and sticky but can be formed into balls nicely. I needed 3/4 of a cup of breadcrumbs.

Pour 2 T of olive oil into the bottom of your crockpot stoneware insert.

Form squished golf-ball sized patties of falafel. Dip each side into the olive oil and then nestle into your crockpot. It's okay if they overlap or are on top of each other.

Cook on high for 2-5 hours. Ours cooked on high for 3.5 hours--you will know that the falafels are done when they turn brownish-golden. You can flip them halfway through the cooking time if you feel like it, but they will brown on top even without flipping. (I know. I don't get it either.)

Serve with yogurt sauce or mayonnaise. I made a quick yogurt sauce with Greek yogurt, celery seed, dill, salt and pepper and lemon juice

Flourless Nut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 cup nut butter

1 large egg (I used Flax Seed Gel: heat 1 Tbs. Ground Flax Seed with 3 Tbs. Water over medium-low heat until you get an egg white consistency)

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup chocolate chips

• Stir together first 5 ingredients in a medium bowl, using a wooden spoon. Stir in chocolate morsels.

• Drop cookie dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet.

• Bake at 350° F. for 12 minutes or until puffed and golden brown (cookies will be soft in the center).

• Cool cookies on baking sheet for 5 minutes, remove and finish cooling on a wire rack.

Chocolate Chex Breakfast Sticks

1/2 cup Peanut Butter

1 1/2 Tbs. Agave Nectar

2/3 cup Crushed Chocolate Chex cereal (or other gluten free cereal)

1/3 cup almond flour

• Mix everything together in a bowl. Form into 6 sticks and wrap individually in wax paper.

• I store mine in an airtight container in the freezer.

Green Eggs and Ham Quiche

For the crust:

4 cups of Frozen Shredded Hash Browns, thawed

1 Tbs. Oil (I used Grapeseed Oil, but Olive, Canola, etc. would work fine)

Salt and Pepper, to taste

• Toss together the thawed hash browns, oil and seasonings.

• Press into a 9 x 13 pan.

For the filling:

8 oz. of fresh spinach

1 cup smoked ham or breakfast sausage

10 eggs

2 2/3 cups of milk

Salt and Pepper to taste

To make the filling:

• Process eggs. Add fresh spinach. Puree until smooth.

• Add milk to the spinach/egg mixture and puree until combined.

• Season with salt and pepper, set aside.

To assemble the Quiche:

• In the shredded hash brown lined pan, sprinkle with ham (or sausage).

• Pour the spinach/egg custard over the hash brown and ham or sausage layer.

• Bake at 325º F. for about 55 minutes, then check for doneness. A knife inserted in the middle should come out clean.

Chipotle Chicken with Green Peppers

2 medium green bell peppers, cut into strips
1 large onion, thinly sliced
4 chicken thighs and 4 chicken drumsticks (or any combination thereof..I just fit as much chicken as I can in one layer in my crockpot)
1 TBSP chili powder
2 tsp dried oregano
1 jar (16 oz) chipotle salsa
1/2 cup ketchup
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt
Rice or noodles to go along

Place the peppers in onion in your crockpot. Then add the chicken. Sprinkle the chicken with the chili powder and oregano. Then cover it with chipotle salsa. Cook on high for 2-3 hours or on low for 7-8 hours until the chicken is cooked through. Remove chicken from crockpot, leaving the sauce. Add the ketchup, cumin, and salt to the sauce and cook on high for 15 minutes, uncovered. Pour sauce over chicken. Serve over rice (my fav) or noodles.
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Taco Spice Mix

1/4 cup red pepper flakes or chili powder (I did mostly chili powder and some red pepper flakes)
1/4 cup ground cumin
1/4 cup oregano
2 T. cayenne
1/4 cup garlic powder
1/4 cup onion powder
3 T. salt
1 T. cloves

Quick Crustless Quiche

8 slices bacon

4 oz mozzarella cheese, shredded

2 tablespoons butter, melted

4 eggs, beaten

1/4 cup finely chopped onion

1 teaspoon salt

Black pepper to taste

1/2 cup flour

1 1/2 cups milk

First, melt your butter and set it aside (this gives it a chance to cool). Then, fry up your 8 slices of bacon (NOT in the butter!). This is the most time-consuming part of this recipe (i.e. this is an easy recipe).

Then finely dice the onion. I like it very fine.

In a mixing bowl, combine the eggs, butter, onion, salt, flour, and milk.

Add freshly ground black pepper.

Then crumble the bacon into your lightly greased pie pan, covering the bottom.

Then add the cheese. I like mozzarella, but the original recipe called for Swiss. The cheese and bacon at the bottom serves as your "crust."

Then gently pour the egg mixture over your "crust." Go slowly so that the bacon and cheese does not mix with the rest and stays on the bottom (but if it mixes, no biggie really).

Then put it in the oven! 350 degrees for 35 minutes, or until set.

Enjoy this quiche hot out of the oven or chilled. This recipe is versatile, so feel free to add broccoli, sausage, tomato, or ham...or whatever! My recent favorite addition is 5 oz of spinach.

Black Bean & Mango Chicken Salad

1/2 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, grilled, cut into bite-size pieces

1 can (15 oz.) black beans, rinsed

1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen corn, thawed

1 cup chopped mangos

1/2 cup chopped red peppers

1/3 cup chopped red onions

1/3 cup chopped cilantro

1/4 cup lime juice

1 env. (0.7 oz.) GOOD SEASONS Italian Dressing Mix