Peanut Butter Banana Overnight Oats



I'm currently hooked on Overnight Oats. It's a quick and filling breakfast that lasts all day. The flavor combinations are endless, but my current favorite is this Peanut Butter Banana one.

1/2 cup old fashioned oats

1 6 oz container of banana yogurt

1/2 cup milk

1 medium banana, sliced

1 heaping tablespoon Peanut Butter

Add all ingredients in a mason jar, stir and cover. Store overnight in the fridge and enjoy cold in the morning.

Other flavor combos include vanilla yogurt with an apple and a sprinkle of cinnamon, blueberry yogurt with fresh or frozen blueberries blueberries, strawberry banana yogurt with fresh strawberries and bananas, raspberry yogurt with fresh or frozen raspberries....you get the idea.

I don't always have time to make breakfast in the morning, and hot oatmeal isn't very appealiong to me. This is perfect because I can grab the jar in the morning on my way out the door and eat it at my desk.

For a little crunch, you can top with some granols right before you eat it.

Note: If you use greek yogurt you might need to add a little more milk. I use light yoplait yogurt. They have a ton of flavors and are usually pretty cheap.

If you don't have a mason jar, any bowl with a lid will do.

Ham and Swiss Breakfast Casserole

I really like Panera Bread's Ham and Swiss Souffle. I checked online for the recipe and found a copy cat take on it using crescent rolls. Genious! I decided to make it casserole style since I'm too lazy to make individual souffles.

Ingredients:

2 packages of regular crescent rolls

10 eggs beaten with a splash of milk

2 ham steaks

10 oz Swiss cheese, grated

Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375. Spray your favorite casserole dish with Pam. Open the crescent roll packages but do not separate. Pinch the seams together and lay in your dish, with extra dough laying over the sides of your dish.

Cube ham and cook with a little butter in skillet. When just starting to slightly brown add in eggs (reserving a small amount for an egg wash for the crust) and half the cheese. Let the eggs firm slightly. You don't want to fully cook the eggs, as they will continue to cook in the oven. Gently stir the eggs from the bottom for a few minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. The goal is to about half cook them so they don't get soaked up in the crust.

While the egg mixture gently cooks, sprinkle a little cheese on top of the dough in the pan. Add the egg mixture, followed by the rest of the cheese. Fold the edges over the mixture and brush with the reserved egg mixture.

Bake in preheated oven and check after about 15 minutes. The dish is done when the crust is golden brown.

Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies

These brownies are one of my favorite treats.  By using a box mix you save a lot of time.

Ingredients:

Family size dark chocolate brownie mix

ingredients on box to make brownies

1/4 cup peanut butter

2 heaping teaspoons of powdered sugar

Preheat oven and make the brownies as directed; pour in prepared 9x13 pan. In the measuring cup you used to measure the oil, spoon in 1/4 peanut butter and heat in microwave for about 15 seconds, just to melt it a little. (The left over oil in the glass measuring cup helps to prevent the peanut butter from sticking.)

Use a teaspoon (not the measuring kind, the coffee stirring kind) and add two spoonfuls of powdered sugar to peanut butter. Mix well.

Drop the mixture by spoonfuls evenly on top of brownie batter.

Use a knife and gently swirl/drag through the batter.

Bake as directed on box.

Weeknight Creamy Mushroom Chicken

Ingredients:
Olive Oil
2 large chicken breast halves
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup Marsala cooking wine
2 tsp dried shallots
2 tsp dried parsley
Salt and Pepper

I really like quick dinners during the week. This chicken dish comes together in 30 minutes and is great served over steamed rice to soak up the sauce. Add a side of your favorite steamed veggies and dinner is done. Set a sautee pan on medium high heat and heat a little olive oil. You just need enough to brown your chicken in. Sprinkle salt and pepper on chicken breasts and brown each side. Add Marsala cooking wine and stir, scraping up brown bits from pan. Add dried shallots and parsley. Cook for a minute and stir well. Add one can of cream of mushroom soup and 1/4 cup milk. Stir well until combined. Cover with a lid and cook about 20 minutes more on medium heat, until chicken is cooked through. This makes a lot of sauce, so you could easily cook four small chicken breasts instead of two large.

Note:
For the dried shallots, I used Victoria Gourmet brand. I usually find these at T.J. Maxx in the gourmet food section. If you find ANY Victoria Gourmet spices there, buy them. They are all fantastic. Here is a link to their website: http://www.vgourmet.com/Shallots/p/VIC-00134&c=VictoriaGourmet@GourmetIngredients

For the Marsala cooking wine, I used Holland House Brand. You can easily find this in your grocery store. Here is a link to Walmart's website so you can see what it looks like. http://www.walmart.com/ip/17803834?adid=22222222227015528047&wmlspartner=wlpa&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=&wl3=21486607510&wl4=&wl5=pla&veh=sem

Weeknight Ravioli Bake

This Ravioli Bake is perfect for a weeknight dinner. It comes together in a flash and tastes like lasagna. I like to serve it with garlic texas toast and a salad.

Ingredients:

1 large jar of your favorite pasta sauce. I like Trader Joe's Marinara.

1/2 cup water.

1 package of frozen beef ravioli. I get mine from Vons.

1 large bag of shredded mozzarella cheese.

1 jar of pesto. I use Trader Joe's.

1 wedge of Parmesan cheese. You can also use the pre-shredded kind in a tub.

Oven preheated to 375.

Mix your sauce with about half a cup of water. The sauce/water mixture is what cooks the ravioli. No boiling  the ravioli is needed. Spread a little sauce in the bottom of a 8x12 pan or casserole dish. Lay frozen ravioli on top in a single layer.

Top with a little more sauce and shredded mozzarella cheese.

 Add the next layer of ravioli.

Top with remaining sauce and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Place dollops of pesto on top of entire dish.

 Take your wedge of Parmesan, shave with a vegetable peeler and lay on top of dish. You can also sprinkle the pre-shredded kind on top.

 

 Cover with foil and bake until bubbly, about 30 minutes. I like to pull the cover off and bake for another few minutes to help the cheese start to get a little brown.

My son loves this dish and I like how easy and hearty it is. I prefer to cook frozen ravioli this way. When I've tried to boil them in the past they wind up opening in the water and become a soupy mess.

Note: If you prefer to skip the pesto, sprinkle the top with some Italian Seasoning. I prefer the pesto, however, as it's what makes the dish really pop.

Chicken Enchilidas with Green Sauce

Ingredients:

16 corn tortillas

28oz can of Green Enchilada Sauce (I like La Victoira's mild)

1 can of Cream of Chicken Soup

3-4 chicken breasts, diced

1/2 white onion, diced

12-16oz cheese (cheddar or monterey jack work well)

Garlic Salt, Cumin, Salt, Pepper, Parsley or Cilantro (dried), Red Pepper flakes (optional), Olive Oil, Pam or other non-stick spray

Preheat oven to 375

Directions

In a large skillet, heat olive oil and add onion. Cook until soft. Add chicken, sprinkle with salt, pepper, garlic salt, and cumin. If you want them extra spicy, add some red pepper flakes. I leave them out if I'm feeding them to the little dude.

While that cooks, mix the large can of green enchilada sauce with the cream of chicken soup (undiluted) in a large bowl. Add 3/4 tblsp parsley or cilantro. Set aside. Shred the cooked chicken and onion mixture.

Spray a 9x12 baking dish, or casserole dish with Pam.

Spoon a small layer of the sauce mixture on the bottom of the pan. Top with 8 of the tortillas. (If using a 9x12 dish, I cut the tortillas in half so they will fit better.)

Top the tortillas with a little more sauce, then add chicken and sprinkle with cheese:

Top with remaining tortillas:

Finish with the remaining sauce and cheese:

Bake until bubbly and cheese starts to brown:



Chicken and Asparagus with Lemon-Thyme Cream Sauce

-3-4 small chicken breasts
-Chicken broth or white wine
-Half and half
-Butter
-Lemon
-Olive Oil
-Asparagus (I use one whole bundle from the store)
-Garlic Salt, Dried Thyme, Salt and Pepper

Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper, brown on both sides in pan with olive oil, remove and set aside (med-high heat). In same pan, add rinsed and trimmed asparagus. Season with a little garlic salt, dried thyme, salt and pepper. (If more oil is needed add a bit). Cook for about 5-7 minutes, turn often. Remove and set aside (I put on a plate in oven at 200 degrees to keep warm).

To pan, add a little white wine (I prefer wine)or chicken broth. You need enough to cover the bottom of the pan to pick up the brown bits. Scrape the bottom of pan and let it reduce a bit. Add fresh lemon juice (I use a whole one for 4 small chicken breasts), stir. Add a little half and half and some thyme, and stir well. It will try to separate because of the lemon juice/cream mixture. I use a whisk. After it’s combined, add chicken back in, cover, lower heat and continue to cook until chicken is done. Turn off heat, add a pat of butter and stir.

Remove asparagus, put chicken on top and pour sauce over.