Tasty Tuesday

I love the combination of chocolate chips and oats, or maybe it's because I try to trick myself into thinking it must be healthier for you! Anyways, these muffins were awesome. As you can imagine, the boys loved them. I wasn't sure what white whole wheat flour was, so I used 1 cup whole wheat flour and 1 cup unbleached white flour.

Banana Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Muffins (or Bread)

Ingredients

• 2 cups White Whole Wheat Bread Flour
• 1 cup Rolled Oats
• ½ cups Organic Cane Sugar
• ½ cups Brown Sugar
• 2 teaspoons Baking Powder
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
• ½ teaspoons Salt
• 1-½ cup Buttermilk
• 2 whole Eggs, Lightly Beaten
• ¼ cups Unsalted Butter, melted
• 1 cup Ripe Bananas, Mashed (about 3 Medium)
• ¾ cups Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray two 9×5 inch pans with non-stick cooking spray; set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, oats, both sugars, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.

In a medium bowl, mix together buttermilk, eggs, butter, and bananas. Pour into dry ingredients and mix until well combined. Stir in chocolate chips.

Pour batter into prepared pans and bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Note: you can also use the batter to make muffins. The muffins will need to bake for about 20 to 25 minutes.

This recipe has been on my "to make" list for a year, and I finally made it. It was really tasty and perfect to use up some getting past their prime corn tortillas. I doubled it and Ryan's taking the leftovers for lunch this week. I served it with some fresh guacamole.

Black Bean Tortilla Bake

Ingredients

• 1 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 cup chopped onions
• 1 cup chopped tomatoes
• 1/2 cup chopped green onions
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 2 teaspoons cumin powder
• 1 (8 ounce) cans tomato sauce
• 1 (16 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
• salt and pepper
• 12 soft corn tortillas
• 8 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Spray a large skillet with cooking spray.
3. Add garlic, onions, tomato, green onion, cumin, and chili powder.
4. Cook on medium heat until onion is tender.
5. Add tomato sauce and cook 5 minutes more.
6. Stir in beans, cilantro, salt and pepper.
7. Spray a 9 inch square baking dish with cooking spray.
8. Layer 4 tortillas, 1/3 cheese, and 1/3 of the bean mixture; repeat 2 more times.
9. Top with reserved 2 tablespoons of cheese.
10. Bake 20 minutes, covered, then 10 minutes uncovered or until bubbly.

Back to School

The boys were very excited to get started back at preschool on Thursday. This year they are at a new school, the Montessori School of Greater Lafayette. Brooks is in the Bilingual Class on M/W/F and Hudson is in the pre-primary class next door. On Tuesday and Thursday they are together in the Cultural class. In this class they will learn about the whole world, starting with the US.

Wordless Wednesday

Friday the 13th

I awoke at 1 am to hear Hudson in the bathroom. He had been coughing on Thursday and when I checked on him before I went to bed his breathing sounded not too good. I got up and checked on him and his breathing was very labored. I gave him a breathing treatment and his breathing did not improve. So, I got him in the car and headed to the ER at 2 am.

We were quickly in a room and my observations were confirmed that he was in respiratory distress. They got him x-rayed, dosed up and on oxygen and when he was not rebounding they said we needed to be admitted. Apparently the virus he had set off his asthma big time.

They wheeled us over to the Pediatrics unit and got us a room. A tiny room. This is a new hospital and I wondered, how is this any better than the old hospital? A pediatrician from our office came in to look at Hudson and told us that we would be at least staying overnight because they needed to see how his oxygen levels looked, plus he was very wheezy. Hudson napped most of the morning and ate a good lunch. After lunch we got moved into a new room. It was huge, like 4 times the size of the old room and it had windows that overlooked the courtyard. Hudson was able to stay off oxygen all afternoon and evening and was sounding much better.

I spent the night with him (and got more sleep than the 3 hours the night before) and he only had to have a minimum amount of oxygen overnight. They also increased the amount of time between breathing treatments.

He did well Saturday morning, no oxygen needed. When the pediatrician came in at 2pm he decided to release us.

He's been doing great at home. He's still on the steroid and getting breathing treatments several times a day, but pretty much back to his goofy self.

Tasty Tuesday

Our tomatoes haven't been great this year, but we still have plenty. I made this for dinner the day Hudson came home from the hospital. The flavor was great and was easy. We ate it along with Caesar salad and ghetto garlic bread.

Pasta with Roasted Garlic and Cherry Tomatoes

Ingredients

• 4 cups cherry tomatoes , cut in half
• 12 garlic cloves , cut in half (don't be shy)
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon hot pepper flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
• 1 lb pasta your favorite *I used penne*
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley chopped *I used fresh basil*
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese freshly shaved

Directions

1. In a bowl toss sliced tomatoes, sliced garlic, oil, basil, salt, hot pepper flakes and ground pepper.
2. Place in a 9 X 13 metal cake pan and roast at 400°F for approximately 30 minute.
3. The tomatoes should be shriveled and the garlic tender.
4. Cook pasta in a pot of salted boiling water while tomatoes and garlic are cooking.
5. Drain and return pasta to pot.
6. Add garlic tomato mixture and parsley, tossing to coat.
7. Serve with sprinkle freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

I'm still buying a farmers dozen of sweet corn each week from our local corn wagon. (Gotta enjoy it while it's fresh, right?) We always grill it. I came across this recipe and we gave it a try. Don't be put off by the mayo, this corn is awesome! The boys loved it, it was not too spicy for them.

Elote

Ingredients
Grilled sweet corn
3 TB mayonnaise
2 tsp lime juice
2 TB Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp cumin
1/8 tsp salt

Directions
1. Mix the mayo and lime juice together.
2. Mix the Parmesan cheese and spices together.
3. Slather the cooked sweet corn with the mayo combination and then sprinkle with the spice mix.

I've been making lots of corn salad with the leftover grilled sweet corn. Here's a recipe from my mom that I've altered a little.

Frito Corn Salad

Ingredients
4-5 ears grilled sweet corn
1 green bell pepper, diced
2 green onions, chopped
1 cup cheddar cheese
1/2 cup mayo
3 TB ranch dressing
Chili Cheese Fritos

Directions
1. Cut the sweet corn off the ear. Place in bowl with the rest of the veggies and mix together.
2. Mix in the mayo, ranch and cheese.
3. To serve, let everyone crunch up their desired amount of Fritos and sprinkle on top of the salad.

And here's another corn salad recipe if you don't have Fritos on hand!

Creamy Corn Salad

Ingredients

• 1 (15 ounce) cans whole kernel corn , drained *I use fresh grilled corn*
• 1 medium tomatoes , seeded and diced
• 2 tablespoons green onions , chopped
• 1/3 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil *I use fresh basil*
• salt and pepper

Directions

1. Mix all ingredients in a small bowl. Season with the basil or try other herbs. Add salt and pepper to taste.
2. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Enjoy!

Take me out to the ballgame

Ryan took Brooks to his first baseball game last night. They went to an Indianapolis Indians game and had a great time. Brooks said his favorite thing was when someone broke his bat. Not when a fight almost broke out...

Fun Friday

We meet up with some friends at the park the other day. The boys had a great time rock climbing!

Happy Birthday Ryan!

Happy Birthday Ryan! I am so blessed to have you as my husband and the father to our children.

We had a fun day today. We went to a local BBQ joint for lunch and then took the boys to see their first movie in the theater, Toy Story 3 (Great movie and the boys loved it). I made Camarones a la Diabla (Devilish Shrimp, Rick Bayless recipe, yum!) for dinner. We had a great day together as a family celebrating Ryan. When the boys prayed for him at dinner, they said their favorite thing about him was playing Legos.

Tasty Tuesday

I was trying to figure out a quick, healthy lunch when I came across this. Our garden is producing lots of grape tomatoes and I had picked up some fresh mozzarella at Aldi the other week. We ate this along with some toasted Ciabatta bread (to soak up all the yummy sauce).

Balsamic Marinated Tomato and Mozzarella Salad

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• black pepper
• 1 clove garlicminced
• 3 tablespoons fresh basilchopped
• 1/4 cup onions, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese, cubes
• 1 pint grape tomatoes or cherry tomatoes, halved

Directions

1. Mix together first five ingredients for dressing and toss in cheese and tomatoes.
2. Chill until ready to serve.

I always serve limeade at Brooks party and was looking for something easier. This punch fit the bill. It was really close to limonda con soda (limeade w/carbonation) which I drink all the time when I'm in Guatemala. I used all limeade for the recipe.

Margarita Punch

Ingredients

• 1 (6 ounce) frozen lemonade concentrate
• 1 (6 ounce) frozen limeade concentrate
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 3 cups ice, crushed
• 1 liter carbonated lemon-lime beverage
• 2 limes thinly sliced

Directions

1. Combine the concentrates, powdered sugar, and crushed ice in a large freezer proof container.
2. Cover tightly and freeze for at least one hour (or for many days depending on how early you're planning ahead).
3. Place the frozen mixture into a large punch bowl.
4. Slowly pour in the soda and add the lime and/or lemon slices.
5. Serve in chilled (salt rimmed optional) glasses.

I also tried a new Carnitas recipe for the party. Granted, it's not true carnitas since it's not fried, but it had a really good flavor. I had a huge (8 lbs!) pork shoulder. We've been eating leftovers all week. Tostadas, quesadillas, you name it. I used all lime juice and chicken broth for this recipe.

Crockpot Carnitas

2 pounds pork shoulder
1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (about 1 large orange)
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (about 1 large lime)
7 cloves garlic (whole intact)
1/2 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon cumin
1/2 cup beef broth
corn tortillas


The Directions

Use a 6 quart slow cooker. In a small bowl, combine the salt and cumin. Rub mixture all over the pork, then plop into the slow cooker. Add whole garlic cloves. Squeeze on the citrus, and pour the beef broth evenly over the top.

Cook on low for 8-10 hours, or until the pork shreds quite easily with a fork. If your meat is still fully intact after 8 hours, remove and cut into chunks, then return to the crock and flip to high for about an hour or two.
Shred meat fully and serve on warmed corn tortillas with desired toppings.