Clean Banana Bread

I have been using the same banana bread recipe for several years.  It is a family favorite so I was very hesitant to try anything different.  Every time I make it I think about subbing in different ingredients to try to make it healthier.  I had a couple of very ripe bananas, so today is the day!  I could have started simple and just traded out the oil for applesauce, but instead I decided to really overhaul it!  This recipe has no sugar and no oil and uses whole wheat flour instead of all purpose flour.

Ingredients:

• 2-3 (depending on size) Bananas- mashed
• 3/4 Cup Honey
• 2 Eggs
• 2 Cups of Whole Wheat Flour
• 3/4 teaspoon Cinnamon
• 1 teaspoons Baking Soda
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 Cup of Sugar Free Apple Sauce

Makes one loaf

Preheat the oven to 350.  In a large bowl combine flour, salt, cinnamon, and baking soda.  In a medium bowl beat 2 eggs.  To the eggs add the applesauce and honey.  Stir until combined. Add the mashed bananas and gently stir.   Then pour the batter into a lightly greased loaf pan.  Bake for 55-60 minutes or until you can insert a toothpick in the center and it comes out clean.  Let bread sit in pan for 10 minutes then flip the pan over to remove the bread and let it cool on a wire rack.

Sweet Sriracha Beef Lettuce Boats

I used to look at the bottle of Siracha and think "what would I ever use that for?"  Now after following a few recipes that included it, I can see how some people (who like it hot) could put it on everything!  I love the sweet and spicy combination on the beef and that the lettuce cools it all down.  In my opinion this is the PERFECT summer meal!

Ingredients:

• 3 Tablespoons Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce
• 3 Tablespoons Honey
• 1/4 teaspoon Cumin
• 2 Tablespoons Canola Oil
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 1/4 teaspoon Cinnamon
• 1 Tablespoon Soy Sauce (I used reduced sodium)
• Cucumber
• 2-3 Tablespoons of Greek Yogurt
• 3 Tablespoons of Cilantro
• Dash of lime juice
• salt and pepper
• Romaine Lettuce
• 1 lb of Sirloin cut into cubes

Serves about 5

In a small bowl, combine Sriracha, honey, cumin, canola oil, salt, cinnamon, and soy sauce.  Mix them well.  Pour over beef and let marinate for 30-60 minutes.

Peel cucumber, seed, and dice.  Place cucumber in bowl and mix with Greek yogurt (adjust amount for size of cucumber and desired creaminess).  Stir in chopped cilantro and dash of lime juice.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Refrigerate until ready to use.  

Place grill pan on grill and add meat.  Cook until desired temperature is reached.  I usually cook these to medium well because it makes the most people in my house happy.  And well... a happy family = a happy mom!

Place beef on lettuce leaf and top with cucumber salsa.  And eat it like a taco!  

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Banana Blueberry Bread

Banana bread is DEFINITELY a favorite around here.  Sometimes I even throw is chocolate chips.  My go to recipe isn't exactly healthy so I needed to put a little spin on it.  

Bananas are always on my grocery list, sometimes my kiddos eat one every day and sometimes they will go almost a week with out one.  Having very ripe bananas is the perfect excuse to make a yummy loaf of bread!

Ingredients:

• 2 Ripe Bananas (about a cup mashed)
• 3/4 Cup Blueberries
• 1 1/2 Cups Flour
• 1/2 Cup Sugar
• 3 TablespoonsVegetable Oil
• 1 Tablespoon Brown Sugar
• 3/4 Cup Quick Oats
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1/4 teaspoon Baking Soda

Preheat oven to 350 Degrees.  In a large bowl, combine flour, oats, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and sugar.  

Take 1 tablespoon of the flour mixture and toss with the blueberries to coat them.

In separate bowl, beat the eggs.  Add in mashed banana and vegetable oil.

Pour into flour mixture and mix until well combined.

Pour half of mixture into greased loaf pan.  Layer on blueberries.  Then pour on remaining batter.

Sprinkle top with 1 tablespoon of brown sugar.

Bake for 50 minutes.  Serve warm or cool and store covered

Orange Chicken and Fried Rice

My husband has been emailing me Orange Chicken recipes for months now.   I looked over all of the recipes that he sent me and came up with one of my own.  Since he had been requesting it for so long, I decided that Father's Day would be the perfect day to make it.  I don't normally like to create new recipes for special occasion meals, so I was a bit nervous the whole time I was making it.  The orange chicken that my husband normally gets for take-out is fried.  I wanted to create a much healthier version that still had the take-out feel.  This recipe got his stamp of approval!

Ingredients:

• About a Pound of Chicken Cut into Bite Sized Pieces
• 1 Tablespoon Honey
• About 1 1/2 Tablespoons Sesame Oil
• Orange- 1 Tablespoon Zest and 4-5 pieces of peel
• a couple dashes of ginger
• a pinch of Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
• 2 teaspoons corn starch
• 1/2 Cup Orange Juice
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1Tablespoons of Soy Sauce
• Salt and Pepper

Salt and pepper the chicken.  Heat sesame oil in skillet.  Add in orange peels and stir for about a minute.  Next, add in the chicken stirring and flipping to make sure it is cooked throughout.  

While chicken is cooking, mix together ingredients for sauce.  Place minced garlic, soy sauce, orange juice, ginger, orange zest, crushed red pepper flakes, and honey in a small food processor and mix well.  Pour mixture into small bowl and whisk in cornstarch.  Remove orange peels from chicken skillet and discard.  Pour sauce mixture into chicken skillet and simmer for about 5 minutes sauce will thicken.  

Fried Rice

• 1 Egg
• 2 Cups of Rice
• About 1 1/2 Cups Broccoli- cut into bite size pieces
• 1 small to medium Carrot- diced
• 1/4 Cup diced Onion
• 1 1/2- 2 Tablespoons of Soy Sauce
• 2 Cups of Water
• 1 Chicken Bouillon Cube
• 1/2 Cup of Frozen Peas
• Drizzle of Olive Oil

Drizzle olive oil into bottom of medium sauce pan and heat.  Add onions and lightly saute for about a minute. Pour in rice and stir to coat.  Add in water and bouillon cube, cover and simmer about 12 minutes or until all of liquid is absorbed.  In a large skillet drizzle a small amount of olive oil and heat.  Add carrots and saute for about two minutes.  Add broccoli, peas, and a couple tablespoons of water and cover.  This will steam the broccoli.  It will only take a few minutes so don't let your broccoli turn to mush.  Push the veggies to one side of the skillet.  On the other side crack an egg and scramble it.  

Once it is cooked all the way, combine the veggies and scrambled egg.  Make sure the egg is in really small pieces.  When the rice is done cooking, dump it into this large skillet and mix with the veggies.  Add soy sauce, turn heat to high and "fry" the rice, stirring throughout.  This will only take about 2 minutes.  

Place a layer of rice on plate and top with the Orange Chicken and Sauce.  Enjoy!

This recipe was featured on the Marvelous May Menu be sure to check out all of the other recipes and menus for recipes, ideas, and inspiration.  

Tracy's personal favorite take-out recipe is our Teriyaki Beef and Broccoli.  

Grilled Zucchini and Yellow Squash

I love making vegetables on the grill, because it is one less pan in the kitchen.  Which means one less thing for me to wash!  And that always makes this mom happy!!!  This is a very basic recipe that can be served with just about any meat from the grill.  

Ingredients:

• Olive Oil
• Lemon Zest
• Salt 
• Pepper
• Pinch of Crushed Red Pepper
• Zucchini
• Yellow Squash

Wash the outside of the vegetable.  I usually use a potato peeler and take of a few strips of the skin.  Cut zucchini and yellow squash into uniformed size pieces.  This helps to make sure that they cook evenly.  Place in large bowl.  Drizzle with olive oil (you want the veggies to be very lightly coated) and salt and pepper.  Sprinkle on a pinch of crushed red pepper and about a 1/2 teaspoon of lemon zest.  Toss until coated well.  

Place the zucchini and squash on the skewers.  Remember if using wooden skewers you need to soak them in water first.

Place on the grill for about 8 minutes turning throughout to make sure that all sides are cooked.  

I served this with Tequila Lime Shrimp and Cumin Brown Rice... definitely the perfect combination!  They take just about the same time to cook so there is no worries about timing.

This recipe was featured on our 30 Days of Dinners June Menu, Make sure to check out all of the other great recipes on this month's menu!

Magical Mom's June Menu- 30 Days of Dinner

This month's menu includes lots of new recipes including several of my favorites including Tequila Lime Shrimp with Cumin Rice, Spicy Bacon Carbonara, Pesto Chicken, and Honey, I ate the Pork Tenderloin.  My tummy is rumbling just thinking about all of the delicious things we are having this month.  Be sure to check out our other monthly menus for even more ideas.

Magical Moms March Madness Menu

Appetizing April Menu

Marvelous May Menu

Just click on the menu item to go directly to the post with recipe, directions, and pictures.  ENJOY!

*Recipes coming soon

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
			1 Key Lime BBQ Chicken, Better than Rice-A-Roni Rice Pilaf, Honey Grilled Pineapple	2 *Parmesan Panko Tilapia, 2-Step Potatoes with Loaded Sour Cream	3 French Onion Salisbury Steak with Crunchy Cheese Toasts, Herb Butter Corn on the Cob	4 *Sausage Stuffed Shells, Ceasar Salad
5 Maple Dijon Chicken, Oven Roasted Asparagus, Crispy Parmesan Potatoes	6 Braised Sirloin Tips with Portabello Mushrooms	7 Pretzel Crusted Honey Mustard Chicken,  Cheddar Broccoli Bites, Parmesan Pilaf	8 *Super Sloppy Joe Sliders, Skinny Spinach Mac & Cheese	9 Pesto Chicken and Pasta, Henderson House Salad	10 Blue Cheese Butter Restaurant Style Steak, Spinach and Orzo	11 *Apple Butter BBQ, B.B.B. Bacon Bean Bundles, Lawry's Potato Squares
12 {Caesar} Chicken Salad Pitas, Baked Sweet Potato Fries with Cinnamon Dipping Sauce	13 Disney's 50's Primetime Cafe Pot Roast, Mashed Potatoes, Carrots	14 Honey, I Ate the Pork Tenderloin, Grandma's Green Beans,	15 *Chippy Chicken, Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes, Krazy Corn	16 Spaghetti and Baked Meatballs, *Cucumber Salad	17 Jalepeno and Bacon Cheesy Bread, Grilled Chicken (make and extra piece for tomorrow)	18 BBQ Chicken Potato Skins, Strawberry Spinach Salad with Raspberry Vinaigrette
19 Tequila Lime shrimp, Cumin Rice, Grilled Zucchini and Yellow Squash	20 Steak on a Stick,  Pan Fried Potatoes, Steamed Broccoli	21 The Bread Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms,	22 *Oriental Honey Chicken	23 Pocket Burgers, Crispy Onion Straws, Deviled Eggs	24 Spicy Bacon Carbonara, Caesar Salad	25 *Dorito Chicken Fingers, *Oven Baked Fries
26 BBQ Pulled Pork {Cincinnati Style}	27 Sweet Cajun Chicken, Grilled Zucchini Flats	28 Golden Pork Chops, Noodles, Carrots	29 *Grilled Peppered Steak with Mushroom Wine Sauce	30 Cha Cha Chicken Tacos with Mango Tango Salsa

Parmesan Spaghetti Squash

Ingredients:

• Spaghetti Squash
• Olive Oil
• Garlic Powder
• Salt and Pepper 
• Parmesan Cheese

Preheat oven to 400.  Cut squash in half lengthwise.  Make sure you have a very sharp knife and be careful because they are very hard.

 Scoop out seeds.  Drizzle with olive oil and generously salt and pepper.  Some olive oil will pool in the middle just swirl it around to cover the inside.  Add a couple dashes of garlic powder.

Bake skin side down for 40 minutes.  

 Let the squash cool for about 10 minutes.  Then scrape the squash with a fork.  It will look like spaghetti.  Top with parmesan cheese.

This recipe was featured on the Marvelous May Menu, be sure to check out the rest of the May Menu.

Baked Sweet Potato Fries with Cinnamon Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce

Burgers and fries are a guilty pleasure of mine.  I recently discovered that I LOVE sweet potato fries!  So I gave them a shot at home and I was pretty impressed (and so was my family) that they came out as good as they did.  

Ingredients:
Fries

• 2 Large Sweet Potatoes
• Sea Salt
• Cayenne Pepper (just a little)
• about a tablespoon of vegetable oil

Dipping Sauce

• 2 Tablespoons Honey
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons Mustard
• A couple dashes of Cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400.  Cut sweet potatoes into half inch slices and then cut those into 1/2 inch pieces.  Place a single layer of potatoes on a baking sheet.  Drizzle with vegetable oil- toss and sprinkle with sea salt and a tiny bit of cayenne pepper.

Bake for about 25 minutes flipping them about half way through.

The dipping sauce is incredibly easy to make.  Just mix the honey, mustard, and cinnamon together.
I served these with Red Pepper Turkey Burgers YUM!

This recipe was featured on the Marvelous May Menu, be sure to check out the rest of the May Menu.

Deep Dish Portabello {Pizza}

Pizza is a favorite at our house.  I try to only order pizza delivery when I am really in a pinch.  Traditional deep dish pizza is loaded with fat and calories.  By using a mushroom as the crust you eliminate a lot of the calories but still get your pizza fix.  To keep this even healthier I suggest only filling it with veggies, but you could also add in turkey pepperoni or sausage.  I like to cook mine on the grill but this can easily be cooked in the oven.  My favorite part of the pizza is the toppings so eating this makes me very happy!

Ingredients:

• Large Portabello Mushrooms
• Pizza Sauce (I use my homemade marinara sauce)
• Tomatoes
• Sauteed Onions
• Fresh Spinach
• Mozzarella
• Peppers
• Any of you favorite pizza toppings

Make sure all veggies are clean.  To fit more toppings in your mushroom you can remove the stem or just leave it there.  Put a layer of sauce on mushroom and then pile on the toppings saving the cheese for last or next to last.  Grill for 10-15 minutes

Peppered Steak Salad with Low-cal Blue Cheese Dressing

Blue cheese dressing and blue cheese crumbles are a great addition to a salad, but the amount of fat and calories that it adds are not ideal.  So I decided to come up with a lighter option.  Blue cheese has a very strong flavor so a little bit goes a long way.  By putting the cheese crumbles in the food processor and mixing with another creamy cheese I created a healthier alternative.  

Ingredients:
Low Calorie Blue Cheese Dressing

• 1 1/2 Tablespoons of Blue Cheese Crumbles
• 1 Laughing Cow Wedge
• 2 Tablespoon of Skim Milk

Makes enough dressing to serve 3-4 people

For dressing- combine all ingredients in mini food processor and blend for about 20 seconds.  Refrigerate for at about 30 minutes.  You may want to add another splash of milk if the dressing is too thick.

Makes 2-4 Servings depending on salad size you are dressing

Marinade for Steak

• 2 Tablespoons Fat Free Italian Dressing
• 2 Tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 Tablespoon Montreal Steak Seasoning

Combine marinade ingredients in ziploc bag.  Marinate the steak for about an hour.  Grilled to desired temperature

Salad

• Romaine Lettuce
• Pepperocinis 
• Tomato
• Cucumber

Gluten Free Bacon, Onion and Garlic Pizza

This recipe is an adapted one from Udi's website. Their website calls for what I think is a ridiculous amount of cheese, onions and bacon. This recipe is so delicious and just a little bit spicy, know one will even know it is a healthy meal! Using uncured bacon greatly reduces the sodium and sugar content of the bacon. You can substitute uncured turkey bacon for even less fat.

  Ingredients

•  1 Udi’s Gluten Free Pizza Crust
•  1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
•  1/3 cup thinly sliced Vidalia onion
•  Dash kosher salt
•  1 tsp. minced garlic
•  1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
•  3 strips uncured, gluten free bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
•  Dash of crushed red pepper flakes (more depending on your spice preference)
• 3 thinly sliced fresh basil leaves

Heat the olive oil in a skillet and add onions. Stir to cover onions in oil and cook over medium heat for about 15 minutes or until nicely browned.

Add the vinegar and garlic and remove from heat. Meanwhile cut the bacon into 1/2 inch pieces and cook until crispy in another skillet.










Brush the pizza crust with olive oil and sprinkle cheese, red pepper and basil.

Then top with onion mixture and bacon. Bake at 424 degrees for 5-7 minutes or until cheese is lightly browned.

This recipe was featured on the Marvelous May Menu, be sure to check out the rest of the May Menu.

Baked Meatballs

Meatballs are one thing that I can always count on my boys eating so when I make them I make I make extra to put in the freezer.  The Lewis Family often uses them for Spaghetti and Meatballs or Meatball Subs.  To make them a little healthier I broil/bake them instead of frying them.  

 Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 lbs of Ground Beef
• 2 teaspoons Minced Garlic
• 1/2 cup Seasoned Bread Crumbs
• 1 Tablespoon Parsley
• 1/3 Cup Parmesan Cheese
• 2 eggs
• 1 Tablespoon Oregano
• 1 teaspoon Basil
• 1 teaspoon Onion Powder
• 1/2 Cup Milk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Salt
• 1 teaspoon Black Pepper

**Makes about 36 Meatballs

In small bowl combine dry spices and bread crumbs, mix together.  In large bowl beat eggs, add in milk and minced garlic, and add in dry ingredients.  Pour over ground beef.  Mix gently until evenly distributed.

 Loosely form into golf ball sized meatballs, be careful not to compress too much because that will cause the meatballs to be tough.  Broil for 8 minutes.  Then switch oven to bake at 300 for 10-12 minutes.

**To Freeze- Completely cool meatballs and place in freezer bag.

This recipe was featured on our 30 Days of Dinners June Menu, Make sure to check out all of the other great recipes on this month's menu!

Better than Rice-a-Roni (and healthier) Rice Pilaf

I try to incorporate whole grains as much as possible in our house, and that means whole wheat pasta and brown rice. But I love the boxed rice flavors. So I experimented and came up with a great alternative to the preservative loaded box stuff. It's only half whole grain because I couldn't find whole wheat orzo, but it is made with brown rice instead of white, so it's a healthier alternative.

Ingredients:

- 1 cup brown rice
- 1 cup orzo pasta
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/4 cup chopped onion
- 2 cup chicken broth

Directions:

1. Heat oil in pan and add rice, orzo and onion.
2. Cook on medium heat until mixture is golden brown.
3. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil.
4. Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes or until tender.

Easy peaty and much better for you (especially if you have a  corn or yeast allergy- you can't use the boxed stuff).

This recipe was featured in Two Magical Moms March Menu Madness and our 30 Days of Dinners June Menu. Make sure to check out all of the other great recipes on these menus!