Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

I had a very happy husband yesterday when he came home for lunch and he saw fresh banana bread out of the oven! Banana bread is so yummy and it was a nice change from the muffins I make every week! On the topic of muffins...I made these super yummy flax flour&seed muffins. They were super healthy and super big...The only problem is...I didn't write down the recipe so I can't share them with you guys! I will show you the picture of these badboys..and hopefully I will be able to make them again...

Don't they look great! Anyways...back to banana bread..

This recipe is super easy and can be made super fast!

Preheat your oven to 350F

In a large mixing bowl mix
-2Cups of flour
-1/2 cup of sugar
-1/2 tsp baking soda
-1/2 tsp baking powder
-dash of salt
(Make sure it is combined well)
 Add, and mix well...
-1/2 cup of chocolate chips
-1 egg
-3/4 cup of milk
-1/3 cup of oil
-2 bananas ( I use old bananas that I froze... and I just defrost them before using them)

Mix well.
Butter your bread pan...and then add the mixture.

Bake for one hour.
TADA> Yumminess

xo enjoy!

Candy Cane Oatmeal Cookies

The other night I decided to make a bunch of yummy food for when Dan and I set up the Christmas tree. I had a bunch of candy canes in our kitchen so I decided to do something with them! I thought about making cupcakes.. but I knew we would only eat one each and then I would have to freeze the icing..and blah blah blah. So cookies sounded much easier and they freeze well! So cookies it was! The cookies turned out great..probably because its pretty hard to mess up an oatmeal cookie! Here is what you do:

1- Preheat oven to 350F
2-In a bowl beat 1 cup of butter with an electric mixer on medium for 30secs.
3-Add 1 cup of brown sugar and 1/2 cup of white sugar
  -1 tsp baking soda
  -1 tsp cinnamon
  -1/2 tsp salt
Beat until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl.
4-Beat in 2 eggs and 1 tsp vanilla
5-Stir in 1 1/2 cups of flour
6-Crush and add 3 candy canes to the batter. Mix.
7-Stir in 3 cups of regualr or quick cooking rolled oats.

see the pink candy cane?

8-Time to scoop your desired cookies and place them on a greased baking sheet.

9-Bake for 8-10 minutes (longer if you made large cookies)
VOILA> YUMMY COOKIES...with a christmas-y touch!

xo

Red Velvet Cupcakes Again

I made some yummy red velvet cupcakes awhile back on my blog, and I wanted to show you some pictures of the second time I made them! While I was visiting my parents in Ontario I was blessed to be able to see some of my closest friends! A good friend of mine came to stay with me at my parents place for a night and we decided to make these lovely red (deep pink?) cupcakes! I have decided to share these photos on my blog because I am MUCH happier with how these ones turned out :) haha If you read the other post about these cupcakes you will see that I burnt them... :( So maybe these pictures will encourgae you to make them scrumptious cupcakes! mmmm. With cream cheese icing of course!

mmm look good right?

try them out!
http://thejoyfullkitchen.blogspot.com/2011/06/red-velvet-cupcakes-with-cream-cheese.html

xoxo

Pumpkin Muffins

Here I go again with the pumpkin! I LOVE pumpkin if I haven't already said that enough on this blog! This will probably be the last pumpkin recipe for awhile because I finished all of the pumpkin today :(  These pumpkin muffins were an expirament for me to try and make normal pumpkin muffins a big healthier. They are very moist and yummy so I think they turned out well!

(Preheat your oven to 400F, makes 12 muffins)

To get started mix all of your dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.
-2 cup of flour
-1/4cup of white sugar
-1/4 cup of brown sugar
-1 1/2 tsps baking powder
-1/2 tsp baking soda
-1/4 tsp salt
-1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
-1 tsp nutmeg

Mix your wet ingredients together:
-3/4 cup of buttermilk or sourmilk
-1 to 1 1/2 cups of pumpkin
-3 tbsps of olive oil
-2 eggs, lightly beaten

Now Add your wet ingredients to the dry and mix.

Next add some dried cranberries or raisins. Also some chopped walnuts are a nice touch.

Grease your muffin tin. Fill each to about 3/4 full...Like so...

Now mix a bit of cinnamon and brown sugar together in a small bowl.

Add it to the top of each muffin!

mmm

Bake the muffins for 15 to 18 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.



ENJOY!
xoxo

Taco Seasoning and Taco Dip

This taco seasoning is great! It comes from the Guindon Family Cookbook ( which is amazing! My mother and law put it together!) The seasoning is super easy to make!
Here is what you do!

In a small bowl mix together:
-1 Tbsp all purpose flour
-1 Tbsp cornstarch
-1 Tbsp dried onion flakes
-1 Tsp beef bouillon granules
-1 Tsp garlic salt
-1 Tsp ground cumin
-1 Tsp paprika
-1 Tsp chili powder
-1/2 Tsp onion salt
-1/4 Tsp Cayenne pepper
-1/4 Tsp granulated sugar

Mix it up!

STEP ONE: To make the taco meat you take 1 lb of ground beef and cook it in a skillet over medium high heat , and drain off the fat.

I love how retro our stove is! haha
STEP TWO:  Add the taco seasoning and 3/4 cup of water. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to meduim low. Simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally. This recipe is equivalent to a 1.25 oz packet of taco seasoning.
( We use this recipe ALL THE TIME...It's great! We use it for tacos and all sorts of things! Today I am showing you guys how to use this recipe to make a taco dip)

STEP THREE: Mix 8oz of cream cheese softened and 8 oz of sour cream together. Put it in your dip dish as your first layer.

STEP FOUR: Add the delicious beef to your dip.

STEP FIVE: Add some veggies. Veggies of your choice. Green peppers, red peppers, lettuce etc.
STEP SIX: Add a layer of salsa.

STEP SEVEN: Add your grated cheese and TA DA yummy taco dip! Good for any party!

Do you guys have a favourite dip? Maybe its a family recipe or a party favourite! Let me know! I would love to try out some recipes this holiday season and I can share them on here! Feel free to send me the recipe on fb or on my email at britt_britt12@hotmail.com!

Thanks so much and happy eating!

xo

Tex Mex Chicken and Rice Bake

I found this super easy recipe in a Canadian Living magazine. It was super easy to make and was really tasty! I should say IS really tasty because I am eating the leftovers right now for lunch!
Here is what you need:
-1 can of condensed low fat cream of chicken soup
-1 soup can of milk
-3/4 cup of uncooked long grain white rice
-1 1/2 tsp chili powder
-1 chopped onion
-1/2 - 1 red pepper ( use how much you would like)
-1/2 -1 green pepper
-1/2 cup frozen corn
-1 tomato chopped
-handful of sliced mushrooms
-4 boneless, skinless chicken breats
-shredded cheese on top, as you desire

Preheat your oven to 400F
1-Mix soup, milk, rice, and chili powder in a baking dish. Spread the veggies in evenly.
2-Top with your 4 chicken breasts. Sprinkle with cheese and additional chili powder.

3-Cover, and bake for about 45 minutes. You want the chicken to be cooked and the rice to be tender.

Enjoy this easy dinner for 4!
xo

Pumpkin Loaf

I love pumpkin. I also love fall. I am not going to lie...I have made about 6 loaves of pumpkin loaf this fall. I promise that I shared! haha. I love all fall foods. Pumpkin, apple, pies, soups and stews..are all my favs..and I have been eating delicious fall foods all fall long! I'm sorry that I haven't been sharing the recipes!
This recipes is a good one. It is bad for you though...I must warn you. So make this if you are having company and you are going to share...because if not.. you will probably eat ALOT of it yourself!
This makes 2 loaves.

Here is what you will need:
-3 cups of sugar
-1 cup oil
-4 eggs
-3 1/3 flour
-2 tsps baking soda
-1 1/2 tsp  salt
-1 tsp ground cinnamon
-1 tsp nutmeg
-1 15 ounce can of pumpkin...or your own 15 ounce cooked pumpkin

First thing that I did was chop up my pumpkin and boil it.

I boiled it then drained the water out. I then mixed the pumpkin with a hand electric mixer. A food processor or blender would probably work best.

STEP ONE:
-Preheat oven to 350F
-Grease 2 loaf pans and set aside
-In a large mixing bowl beat sugar and oil with an electric mixer on medium speed
-Add the eggs and beat well
-Set the suagr mixture aside

STEP TWO:
-In a large bowl combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg
-Alternately add the flour mixture and 2/3 cup of water to the suagr mixture, beating on low speed after each addition just until combined
-Beat in the pumpkin, spoon the batter into the prepared loaf pans

STEP THREE:
-Bake for 60 minutes. (Or more..mine have taken an hour and 20 minutes before. Keep an eye on them and poke the center with a tooth pick or knife and see if it comes out clean. When it comes out clean, it's done)
-Cook on a wire rack for 15 minutes

We couldn't help ourselves...we started to eat it before I took the pictures!

ENJOY
xo