Miriam's Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

Large Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins:

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

¾ cup sugar

1 stick butter – melted

¼ cup milk

1 whisked egg

3 mashed bananas

1 cup dark chocolate chips

Instructions:

1.      In a large bowl, mix together the 2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon salt, 2 teaspoon baking powder, ¼ teaspoon baking soda, and ¼ teaspoon cinnamon.

2.      In a medium sized bowl, mix together the ¾ cup sugar, melted butter, ¼ cup milk, 1 whisked egg, and 3 mashed bananas.

3.      Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients bowl and mix.

4.      Measure out 1 cup chocolate chips and stir chocolate chips into the batter

5.      Line a large muffin pan (muffin pan for 6 muffins rather than 12) with large cupcake liners

6.      Preheat oven to 350 degrees

7.      Fill the cupcake liners evenly with batter

8.      Bake for 30-35 minutes until golden brown

Mark's Notes:

The original recipe called for 3/4 cup brown sugar.  I changed this to 3/4 cup regular sugar.  If using brown sugar then you don't need the 1/4 teaspoon baking soda.

We had to buy extra large liners for the larger muffin pan.  You can also grease the muffin pan with cooking oil if you do not have muffin liners.

Mark’s Story: 

For 4H, Miriam wanted to make Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins.  I found a Martha Stewart recipe.  We made 6 large muffins rather than 12 smaller muffins.  Miriam did all the work making them.  These were some of the best muffins I have ever had.  I’m not saying this because my daughter made this.  I’m saying this because these were far better than anything I could buy at a bakery.  They were most excellent.  So, I hope you try this recipe.  Enjoy.  Remember Jesus loves you!!

Here is a link to the original Martha Stewart recipe:

https://www.marthastewart.com/1117164/banana-chocolate-chip-muffins

Turkey Chili Casserole

Ingredients:


3 tablespoons Olive Oil
1/2 cup onions
2 garlic cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup green peppers
1 15 ounce can diced tomatoes
1 can black beans
1-2 pounds turkey meat
1/2 cup frozen corn
2 tablespoons chili powder (or taco seasoning)
1 cup cheddar cheese
2 boxes jiffy cornbread mix


Instructions:

1.  Cook turkey meat in large frying pan
2.  In a smaller frying pan, add olive oil
3.  Pour onions and garlic into olive oil and cook for 5 minutes
4.  Once turkey is cooked, add the onions and garlic to turkey meat
5.  Add green peppers, tomatoes, black beans, corn, salt, and chili seasoning.
6.  Stir together and let cook for 5 minutes.
7.  Pour contents of frying pan into a casserole dish.
8.  Sprinkle cheddar cheese over the top
9.  Mix the two boxes of cornbread together along with the eggs and milk as required per the box instructions.
10.  Spread the wet cornbread mix over the top of the casserole.
11.  Bake casserole for 25 minutes at 350 degrees (or before cooking, you can cover it and store in refrigerator for 24 hours and then cook in oven).
12.  Give thanks to God for sending his Son, Jesus, to be our Savior.
13.  Enjoy your meal.


Mark's Notes:
This is a very versatile recipe.  You can add corn or not add corn.  I have one daughter that doesn't like tomatoes so I took out the tomatoes and added another can of beans.  You can use chili seasonings or taco seasonings or other seasonings or no seasonings.  Depending on how many people you are feeding, you can use 1 pound of turkey meat for a lighter meal.  The cheese is also very optional.  You can basically cook the turkey meat, add whatever vegetables you want and seasonings and at that point for a turkey-vegetable stir-fry.  Our kids love the cornbread topping though.


Mark's Story:
Every year in February, our work place has a Chili day.  Everyone brings in their best Chili recipes for everyone to enjoy.  This usually involves a lot of crockpots.  I decided to do a casserole.  I was looking for recipes online and found two recipes where I liked certain parts of one and parts of the other.  So, I combined the two into this.  I like the part of the cornbread topping.  So, I made it.  I brought it in.  I kept it warm to lunch as I also brought in a portable electric skillet that I could place the casserole dish on rather than keeping it in a crockpot.


When I made it, I also made a second batch and put that in the refrigerator for dinner for our family.  The kids loved it.

Green Bean Casserole

Green Bean Casserole

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon white sugar

1/4 cup diced onions

1 cup sour cream (1/2 cup sour cream will also work.  See Mark's Notes)

4 cans cut green beans (or French style green beans) drained

2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

Topping:

1 to 1 1/2 cups buttery round crackers - crumbled

4 tablespoon butter

Instructions:

1.  Melt 2 tablespoons butter in large skillet.

2.  Stir in flour.

3.  Stir in the salt, sugar, onions, and sour cream.

4.  Add green beans.

5.  Stir green beans until coated.
6.  Pour green bean mixture into casserole dish.
7.  Sprinkle 2 cups cheddar cheese over green bean mixture.

8.  In a small bowl, mix the crumbled crackers and butter together.

9.  Sprinkle topping over the casserole.

10.  Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees - cheese should be bubbly.

11.  Enjoy

Mark's Notes:
This is a very simple recipe.  In hindsight, the 1 cup sour cream was a bit overwhelming.  If this got cut in half to 1/2 cup sour cream, that should work out a little better.

Mark's Story

We were hosting Christmas this year.  I was looking for some sides to make.  At Thanksgiving, I made a traditional green bean casserole with mushrooms and topped with onions.  My kids don't like mushrooms or onions very much.  They do like green beans.  So, I started looking for a green bean casserole without mushrooms or onions.  I came across this one.  It's really easy to make and quite delicious.  Enjoy.  Merry Christmas.  Jesus was born to bring us peace and forgiveness.  

Creamy Corn Casserole

Creamy Corn Casserole

Ingredients:

1 15 ounce can whole kernel corn, drained

1 15 ounce can cream style corn

1 8 ounce package corn muffin mix

1 cup sour cream

1/2 stick butter, melted

1 to 1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar

Instructions:

1.  In large bowl, stir together the 2 cans of corn, corn muffin mix, sour cream, and melted butter.

2.  Pour into a 9x13 inch casserole dish.

3.  Bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown.

4.  Remove from oven and top with Cheddar cheese. 

5.  Return to oven for 5-10 minutes - until cheese melts

6.  Let stand for five minutes and serve warm.

Mark's Notes:

This recipe is from Paula Deen from the Food Network.

Other recipes similar to this suggest that the ingredients could be easily doubled without much more cooking time.  I will need to try that later.

Mark's Story:

Well, there are two parts to this story.  Most recently, we were hosting Christmas 2017.  I was looking for sides to make.  Trish suggested a creamed corn casserole.  So, I started looking for recipes.  The second part to this story is that when I was a kid, my grandmother made a creamed corn casserole that I really really liked.  Unfortunately, I'm not sure what her original recipe was.  However, this creamed corn casserole is very easy to make, doesn't take a lot of time, and is really good.  Enjoy.

I made it.  Everyone ate it.  And I didn't get a picture of it.  I'll just have to make it again.  Merry Christmas.  Jesus was born to bring peace and forgiveness to all that believe in him.

Apple Slab Pie

Apple Slab Pie:

This recipe has 3 layers to it.  For each layer, I list the ingredients just for that particular layer along with the corresponding instructions just for that layer.

1st Layer:

Ingredients (just for the 1st layer):

1 1/2 cups flour

1 3/4 cups sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup butter softened

2 egg yolks

4 tablespoons water

Instructions:

1.  Mix flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder together

2.  Use pastry blender to cut in the butter

3.  In a small bowl, mix egg yolks and water together

4.  Pour the egg-water mix into flour
5.  Mix until it forms a ball

6.  Grease a 10x15 inch pan

7.  Spread the dough mix across the pan

2nd Layer:

Ingredients (just for 2nd layer):

8 peeled apples (we prefer Fuji apples; use whatever apples you enjoy)

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons flour

1 1/2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Instructions:

1.  Peel apples

2.  Place peeled apples in a large bowl

3.  Add 2 tablespoon lemon juice, 2 tablespoons flour, 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

4.  Mix it well

5.  Spread evenly over 1st layer

3rd Layer:

Ingredients:

1 cup flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2/3 cup brown sugar (or 1/2 cup white sugar)

2/3 cup to 3/4 cup butter softened

Instructions:

1.  Mix flour, cinnamon, and sugar together

2.  Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until it is crumbly

3.  Spread evenly over the apple layer

Baking Instructions:

1.  Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

2.  Bake for 60 minutes or until topping is golden brown

Mark's Story:

My wife's workplace was having everyone bring a dish for homecoming week.  One of the items on the list was an Apple Slab Pie.  Trish asked me what an Apple Slab Pie was.  I had to look it up.  I explained what it was.  At first Trish told me that she would find something easier.  I kept reading over different recipes, and I told her that I could do this.  So, I made a batch.  I did not get to sample it.  Trish texted me the next day telling me that everyone at work loved it.  Now, I need to make another batch for us to enjoy at home. 

Mark's Notes:

The recipe I used comes from Allrecipes.com.  Although the way they listed the ingredients was confusing as to when those ingredients would be used for which layer.  The way I split it out makes more sense to me. 

Here is the link to the original recipe:

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/19460/apple-slab-pie/

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 tablespoons best quality cocoa

3/4 cup superfine sugar

3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

plus 1/4 cup for sprinkling

1 cup milk

1/3 cup + 2 teaspoons vegetable oil

1 egg

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Instructions:

1.  In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa, and sugar.

2.  Stir in the 3/4 cup chocolate chips.

3.  In a medium sized bowl, whisk the milk, egg, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract.

4.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir together (but don't over-mix it either.  should be a little lumpy)

5.  Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.  

(see Mark's notes - 375 degrees worked better for us).

6.  Take a 12 muffin tin and line it with paper muffin cases.

7.  Spoon the batter evenly into the muffin pan.

8.  Using the 1/4 cup chocolate chips, evenly sprinkle those on top of the muffins.

9.  Bake for 20 minutes or until the muffins have risen and an toothpick inserted comes out clean.  (see Mark's Notes - 15 minutes worked better for us).

10.  Remove from muffin tin and let cool.

11.  Enjoy.

Mark's Story (or Miriam's Story)

For one of her 4H projects, Miriam decided she wanted to make chocolate muffins.  So, I did a Google search and found this recipe from the Food Network.  I gave her the recipe, and she did everything herself.  I just supervised and I was not allowed to help. 

Miriam used the mise en place method - she measured out all of her ingredients into separate bowls before starting.  Once she had everything measured out, she mixed together all the dry ingredients in one bowl, then mixed together all the wet ingredients in another bowl, and then combined the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients.

She did a practice batch that turned out slightly overdone.  The final batch was perfect.  

Mark's Notes:

The practice batch was baked at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, and the muffins were over-done.  So, for the final batch, we decided to bake them for 15 minutes at 375 degrees and that was perfect.

Here is the link to the original recipe from The Food Network:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/nigella-lawson/chocolate-chocolate-chip-muffins-recipe-1947115

Blueberry Granola

Blueberry Granola (not Granola bars...just granola)

Ingredients:
4 cups oatmeal
1 cup flaked coconut
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup chopped almonds
1 cup dried blueberries
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup dried cherries
1/2 cup all-bran cereal
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1/2 cup corn oil
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt

Instructions:
1.  Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees
2.  Mix the oatmeal, coconut, walnuts, pecans, almonds, blueberries, cranberries, cherries, all-bran cereal, and sesame seeds together.  (The first 10 ingredients).
3.  Mix the corn oil, maple syrup, vanilla extract, and salt together.
4.  Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and stir.
5.  Grease a 13x9 casserole dish
6.  Spread the granola mix evenly in the casserole dish
7.  Bake for a total of 35 minutes.  After the first 20 minutes, gently stir, and then bake for the remaining 15 minutes.

Mark's Notes:
1.  I did not use sesame seeds.
2.  I used olive oil rather than corn oil
3.  I used regular raisin bran cereal for the "all bran cereal"
4.  I couldn't find dried cranberries, but I did find a bag of mix of dried cranberries and other dried fruits and so I used that.  
Mark's Story:
We spent the 4th of July weekend camping at Wilderness State Park near Mackinaw.  While there, I bought a baking book where all the recipes used blueberries.  I wanted to make blueberry granola bars.  At first I thought this recipe was the blueberry granola bar recipe.  I made it and it didn't look like it would cut into granola bars very easily.  So, I re-read the recipe, and this is essentially a blueberry-granola mix/cereal.

Everyone loved this.  The kids loved it.  It can be used as a snack. It can be used for breakfast.  It is super healthy.

In the near future, I plan on making the actual blueberry granola bars.