Peanut Butter Banana Cookies

So I had one of those "Omg my bananas look sordid" moments and really wanted to make something with them ASAP. Also, since I was running out of pantry space, I decided to use some peanut butter (my 3 remaining jars will suffice for now).

So I did my usual Google thing and found this recipe for peanut butter, banana, and honey cookies. Seeing as how I misplaced my honey, I omitted that ingredient from this baking experience.

I just have to say, I don't think these cookies need honey as they're flavorful enough. I have to warn you though, since this recipe requires quite a bit of flour, the cookies will turn out more muffin-top-like than crispy crunchy cookie-like. It's still ridiculously delicious though, seeing as how everyone I shared a cookie with really liked them. The only thing I did with mine is that I made my glaze a little too thin so I fixed the recipe accordingly...at least it still tasted delicious as a cookie dip :P

Peanut Butter Banana Cookies - Yields about 2 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

Cookies:

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon

3 1/2 tbsp margarine, slightly melted

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup smooth peanut butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 large egg

~1 cup of mashed banana (about 2 medium sized ripened bananas)

Glaze:

3 tbsp smooth peanut butter

1/2 cup sugar

2 tbsp almond milk (or soy/regular, whatever you prefer!)

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Using a stand mixer or whatever method you can use to mix a tough batter, mix the butter and sugars until smooth. Then mix in the peanut butter, vanilla, and egg until smooth. Finally, add the banana and mix until smooth.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. When evenly mixed, combine with banana/peanut mixture. Mix until evenly distributed.

4. Drop the cookie dough 2 inches apart in ~1 tbsp heaps (which I totally didn't do...) onto baking sheets that have been greased. Bake for about 12-15 minutes or until golden. Remove cookies from pans and cool completely before adding glaze.

5. To make the glaze: combine the peanut butter, sugar, and about 1 tbsp of your milk of choice in a small bowl. Whisk until smooth. Adjust the thickness by adding more milk or sugar. Drizzle glaze over cooled cookies and enjoy! :]

Turkey Taco Quinoa Stew

I originally wrote this in February...and was so proud because I was going to post up two entries in a week!...and then life kicked in. I'm really sorry >.<

But!!! - in order to make up for my sporadic posts, I have decided to post up one of my favorite dishes. It's not new to me, but it's really just so delicious that I had to share.

The original recipe from greenlitebites.com was so great that I mostly only changed the addition of cheese (because you really don't need it in the stew). I changed the proportions of the other ingredients based on personal preference and replaced some ingredients based on what I had on hand...no big differences but still, enjoy!

Turkey Taco Quinoa Stew - Serves 6

Ingredients:

1/2 lb Ground Turkey

1 package of taco seasoning

2-3 tbsp of canola oil

1 small onion, chopped

1 medium zucchini, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 cup of Quinoa, rinsed

1 14oz to 15 oz can of chicken broth

1 14oz to 15 oz can of black beans

1 14oz to 15 oz can of diced tomatoes with jalepeños

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a large pot over medium to medium-high heat. Brown onions and turkey until turkey is no longer pink.

2. Add zucchini, bell pepper, and taco seasoning to pot, stirring ingredients until seasoning is evenly distributed.

3. Add chicken broth, black beans, tomatoes, and quinoa to pot. For a wetter stew, fill tomato can with water, swirl, and dump contents into pot as well.

4. Stir to evenly distribute ingredients, bring to a boil, then cover and let simmer for about 20 minutes (until quinoa soaks up most of the liquid...or until you can see the sprouts from the quinoa). You might want to stir up the bottom once or twice to keep the quinoa from sticking to the bottom and burning.

5. Enjoy!

Vegan Mexican Pizza

Oh gosh it's been a while since I've posted hasn't it...really sorry! >.<

On a good note, this blog has been the motivation that I intended it to be; to the point that I find myself looking at a recipe and thinking "ohh, this will be awesome to make for my blog." Only thing is, once I cook and enjoy my meal, I don't have the energy to post a blog about it >.< I will revisit those recipes though. Don't worry~

But for today, I have a yummy post that is so easy to make and so easy to customize: pizza!

The main difference between this Mexican pizza and regular pizza seems to be the dough, not needing any time to rise at all.

College-level simplicity. Loving it.

The only thing wasn't easy was having to get the veggies. You know, those things that college students never buy because they seem to go bad so quickly? Yea.

Anywho, my friend Mairead and I were going to go to a local vegan cafe to get pizza but their wait time was ridiculous (I called at 3 to pre order a pizza and they were backed up until 8!) so, we decided to make our own! She pulled out this book called The Vegetarian Gourmet's Easy International Recipes by Bobbie Hinman and flipped to page 76 to find "South-of-the-Border Pizza." Now, this politically incorrectly named pizza was completely vegan except for the cheese part...so I bought some almond cheese. I have to say, the worst part about this pizza was the cheese I used. Next time, I'm going with Daiya Cheese. More expensive, but considering how much I paid for the almond cheese, might as well splurge a little more on actual deliciousness. Also, Mairea

Note: the recipe I'm posting will only make one pizza...though I guess you could make multiple small pizzas if you really wanted to.d opted to use real cheese (since she can actually eat it) so that's why we made two pizzas.

Now this recipe may seem complicated, but it's really not. Just a bit ingredient heavy. Also, I left out the tsp of ground cumin and replaced the tsp of dried oregano with Italian seasoning because I'm a college student with a limited collection of spices. Also, when it came to the toppings, we really just threw a whole bunch of toppings on it...no measurements. Just threw stuff on there.

Mexican Pizza - Yields about 3-4 servings

Ingredients:

Crust:

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup plus 1 tbsp water (so particular...)

Sauce:

1 8 oz can of tomato sauce

1/3 cup salsa (spiciness is up to you. I used medium)

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp Italian seasoning (or dried oregano)

1/8 tsp garlic powder

Toppings:

1.5 cups of shredded soy cheese of your choice (mozzarella and/or cheddar works)

half a minced onion

half a very thinly sliced green pepper (my slices were too thick and they weren't soft enough when the pizza was done)

2-3 sliced mushrooms

some freshly chopped spinach

whatever else you want because it's a pizza. just make sure it's thin enough to cook well. if you add meat, like ground turkey, cook it before adding it to pizza.

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F. Lightly oil a 12" pizza pan (or use a cookie sheet).

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine both types of flour, baking powder, and salt and mix well. Add water and mix until all ingredients are moistened. Using your hands, work the dough into a ball. If it's too sticky, flour your hands a bit. Place dough in prepared pan and press to form a crust.

3. Bake the crust for 10 minutes. For the meantime, work on preparing the sauce and toppings. (don't forget to set a timer)

4. Combine all the sauce ingredients in a bowl, mixing well. Prepare toppings as listed.

5. Once the crust is done baking and out of the oven, spread sauce evenly, staying 1/2 in away from the edge of the crust. Sprinkle the cheese and the toppings heavily over the sauce. If it looks like a ridiculous salad right now, remember that most of the ingredients will shrink while cooking.

6. Bake the topped pizza 10-15 minutes or until cheese is melted (since the ingredients are okay raw anyway).

Enjoy! The crust turned out to be quite crunchy in some spots...mmm ^-^