My son was home sick from school yesterday, and I thought I would make some curried chicken noodle soup with the leftover roasted chicken that was in the fridge.  As many of you have experienced in your own home with your own teenagers, containers in the fridge may or may not contain the leftovers that you put in them 2 days before.  Cracker boxes may or may not contain crackers...and when you are hankering for ice cream...the gallon in the freezer really just is tiny remains in a giant container... Needless to say, we didn't have curried chicken and rice noodle soup, with (crackers)...or dessert....but I had a good laugh...so thankful for our kids!


We had the above titled soup...

1 red onion or whatever you have... diced
4 or 5 carrots peeled and sliced
3 medium potatoes peeled and diced
Garlic diced

Saute onions in a pan with a little of olive oil...throw in some diced garlic...fresh or powdered ginger, cumin seed, brown mustard seed, cumin, red curry powder, tumeric a lil garam masala,and as much cayenne pepper as you like....til fragrant add the potatoes and carrots while this is happening as well....

3-4 ? cups of vegetable or chicken broth

I had a bunch of canned beans that I rinsed and drained...lima, red kidney and great northern beans...you totally could use whatever...lentils would be great too...
My kids like more muscle/meat added so I threw in sliced  brats, (the precooked kind)..sounds gross but it worked.  If you don't add something salty like this you will want to add some sea salt to it.

I love to make soup in the winter, because for me it is like making a salad…the more you put in it the better it is.  My family hunts so we always have venison on hand, and I am always trying new flavors to add to it for variety.  This is just a basic no frills yet flavorful good and hearty soup, and soon to become a family favorite…so I am keeping track of the ingredients so I do not forget.

  Oh...No Stew was created out of...Oh, No...its noon and I haven't thought of dinner yet, and I will not be home when it is time to make it.
1-1/2 lbs of ground beef
1 small onion diced
sweet red pepper diced
1 small hot pepper diced
2 large potatoes peeled and diced
a couple carrots peeled and sliced
2 stalks celery sliced
1-2 cups frozen corn
small can of diced tomatoes
small can tomato sauce or V-8
1-1/2 cups beef broth
Couple dashes of Worcestershire sauce
minced garlic
Slap your mamma seasoning

salt 
pepper
hot sauce

Brown the ground beef, drain grease add onion, minced garlic, celery, red pepper, hot pepper, add Worcestershire, sea salt, fresh ground pepper, a dash or 2 or more of your favorite hot sauce...this time I used Frank's,  1/4 to 1/2 tsp of Slap Your Mamma seasoning...
Add some flour(for thickening)
Put it in your crockpot and add the remaining ingredients. Stir. Cook on low  for 4-6 hours.

We served it with a handful of mozzarella cheese on top and a slice of potato bread.

I am not a fan of just plain burger in dishes...This I did not have to gag down.  I would prefer Italian sausage...but with the spices this filled the gap.

Making banana bread for me...well, it never looks right. I have a problem getting it to either not be burned and raw at the same time; or having it come out of the pan without leaving the whole bottom half in the pan. This dilemma has led me to try muffins or different pan options.  I think I probably would be able to do it if I followed the recipie to the T but what fun is that?

So with that being said....here goes....all measurements are eye-balled.

3 or 4 over-ripe bananas
2 eggs

approximately:

2 cups sugar
1-3 tsp vanilla(poured straight from the bottle)
3/4 to 1 cup canola or vegetable oil
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 or 1/8 tsp salt
2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups choc chips


Grease and flour 13x9 in pan.  Heat oven to 350. Mix ingredients together, pour into prepared pan. Bake until golden brown on top and contents aren't wiggly. A great way to use up stockpile of bananas...my family loves this unhealthy recipie!

Did not want to cook...and everything was frozen solid...

Frozen chicken breasts
almost 2 cups barbecue sauce
a blob of honey
2 spoonfuls of brown sugar

spray 13x9 pan with cooking spray
put chicken breasts in pan, pour mixture over the top bake at 375 for approx 45 min...cook up some rice in the rice cooker...steam some veggies.
Walah! The boys liked the sweet and spicy sauce on the rice...and it was as easy as a frozen pizza...

Our church does a supper club thing for Wednesday night service, and I recently had the privilege to cook for and serve the families that participate in the supper club.  I never know what to cook, and I am always trying to find something that is filling and meets the needs of some of our gluten free guests at the table.  The dish above had rave reviews, however, recreating what I did exactly…well let’s just say, I do not think you can mess this up, and so have fun with it.

So... I was craving chocolate, and making another batch of cookies was not going to get rid of the bananas I had in the freezer.  Bananas around my house have been turning black way to fast lately, and I needed to do something with them.  For some crazy reason, I have a ton of instant plain oatmeal in my cupboard, and a lot of homemade applesauce.  So...create a muffin...why not, right?

9 freezer bananas
3 eggs
1 cup or more homemade no sugar added applesauce
At least 3 teaspoons vanilla
At least a tsp and ½ salt
1 ½ tsp baking soda(I measured this)
6 tsp baking powder(I measured this too)
3 tsp cinnamon(And this)
At least 1 ½ cups brown sugar plus a little more like 2 ish
At least 3 cups instant oats
At least 3 cups flour(would be great to not use white maybe do 1/3 whole wheat flour or all…)
Almost whole bag or whole bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Measurements are approximate, because I usually just pour it in, and whatever order works the best.  Remember that it is good to do your salt, flour and baking soda and baking powder together...so it doesnt clump.

My oven is funky, so to not burn my muffins, I grease the pan, and put the rack on the second to lowest rack and bake at 300. When the mix doesn’t stick to your fingers and it springs back they are done…you can always stick a cake tester in to double check.  Enjoy !

This batch made 2 dozen regular size muffins and 1 dozen jumbo muffins.