This recipe is not only a great breakfast recipe--- but these muffins could also be used as a desert or a mid day snack =0) This is one of my favorite recipes passed down to me from my mom and I always ask her to make them for me when I come home. For some reason food always taste better when someone else makes it… especially your mom=0) I hope you enjoy.

-1 cup of Butter
- 2 cups of Sugar
- 4 Eggs
- ¼ TSP salt
- 4 cups Flour
- 6 Large VERY RIPE bananas
- 2 Tsp. Baking Soda
-1 bag of Mini Choc. Chips

Mix ingredients pour into muffin pan and bake at about 350 for 20- 30 minutes. It should make about 2 dozen if I remember correctly. I hope you enjoy.

Growing up I spent a lot of summers at my family’s beach house in Virginia. Looking out at Colonial beach there was one thing we always had plenty of…. blue crabs and Old Bay Seasoning. While my next recipe doesn’t include crabs, it does have my favorite ingredient, Old Bay. The recipe below is a Rachel Ray recipe and was introduced to our family through my brother-in-law Craig. He’ll be the first to admit he has a crush on Mrs. Ray, but we’re all ok with that because he’s one of the best chefs in our family and if Rachel Ray and Craig say it’s good then we can trust it =0)

Shrimp Orzo Pasta

1 lemon
1 bag of fresh spinach
1 pkg of cherry tomatoes
1 box of orzo pasta
½ cup olive oil
Shrimp (as many as you would like.. I normally use about a pound.)
1 Tablespoon Old Bay

First:
Mix olive oil, lemon zest and old bay together in bag with shrimp and let marinate in fridge.

Then:
Cut stems off of spinach and cut leaves into smaller pieces. Cut tomatoes in half. Cook orzo pasta and drain. Put tomatoes and spinach in pasta and add lemon juice. The heat form the pasta will help cook and wilt the spinach. Then cook the shrimp in a pan about 2-3 minutes on each side and add to pasta. I like to add extra old bay… you can never have too much.

For my next recipe I thought I would venture into the breakfast world. I got this recipe from my sister Erica. I love to make it when I have company staying with us because like the other’s I have shared with you… it is so easy to make and it easily serves 4-6 people. I like to serve fresh fruit with it as well. I hope you enjoy and don’t forget, breakfast can also make a good dinner for a change!!!

French Toast Casserole

1 Loaf of Pepperidge Farm Cinnamon Bread
6 Large Eggs
1 ½ Cups of Half and Half
1 ½ Cups milk
1 Tsp. Vanilla
5 Tsp. Butter

Directions:
Grease 9 X 13 casserole dish. Cut up loaf in squares and save 1 ½ cups in zip lock bag, Mix eggs, vanilla, half and half, milk in bowl. Pour over bread in pan and press down. Refrigerate over night!! The next morning melt butter and pour into your zip lock bag with bread and shake so butter covers all of bread cubes. Then put cubes on top of dish.
Bake for 45-50 minutes at 375. Serve with syrup!

Ok so I realized another reason on why I love food so much. I also love to travel and while I might not be able to go everywhere I would like to go and stay for as long as I would like… food can help take you to other places in the world (at least for a few minutes). It’s true, I’m not crazy. Think about it, a nice Mexican meal can take your mind to the beautiful beaches of Cozumel. And that’s why I like making this next recipe I’m going to share with you. “Aloha Chicken & Rice”. While I have never been to Hawaii this meal reminds me of how much I want to go!! But, what I love most about his recipe is how easy it is to make.

Aloha Chicken & Rice

2 cups of white rice, uncooked
2 cans (8 oz. each) pineapple tidbits in juice, undrained
1 can (14 ½ oz.) chicken broth
½ cup chopped green pepper
½ cup Shake ’N Bake Original Seasoned Coating Mix
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, or chicken strips

Preheat oven to 400. Mix rice, pineapple with juice, broth and green peppers in 13x9 inch baking dish.
Measure ½ cup coating mix and place in plastic bag; coat chicken as directed on pkg. Place chicken on rice mixture
Bake for 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked.

For extra flavor try a little Teriyaki sauce too! =0)

Have you ever really thought about how much our lives revolve around food? It almost completely does!  After all, food is one the 3 essentials of life.  Going to dinner is probably one of the most popular dates… Just think of the number of hours you spend at the grocery store every year and I hate to admit it but a lot of us ask the question “what are we doing for dinner?” right after lunch. With that said, I think we should enjoy food as much as possible!! =0)

My husband and I have a new favorite snack food at the house. Fresh Homemade Salsa. It’s pretty healthy too!

Here’s what you need:
3 tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup finely diced onion ( I use a sweet onion)
5 Serrano chiles, finely chopped
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons lime juice
Directions:
Just mixed together, serve with chips. I really like the lime Tostitos.

I am so excited about my new blog. There are very few things in life that I love more than food. By no means am I an excellent chef but the purpose of my blog is to share some of the good recipes that I have made and eaten through the years. Let me first be very honest and say that many of the recipes I plan on sharing with you are not ones that I have created or thought of on my own. However, I have sampled or cooked them and I would love to pass on my favorite delicious and easy recipes to you. Please feel free to post any comments or ideas about similar recipes and what you think works well too. I hope you enjoy.

My first recipe I would like to share with you is Paula Deen’s Green Bean Bundles. It’s extremely simple but very delicious.

Ingredients:
2 bags of frozen whole Green Beans.
1 Package of Bacon (not turkey bacon)
Brown Sugar
Tooth picks

How to make it:
Make sure beans are thawed. Grab about 8-10 beans and wrap one strip of bacon around them. Place a tooth pick in the bundle to hold it together. Place as many as you can/want in a baking dish. Sprinkle with brown sugar (as much as you want, in my opinion you can never have too much). Depending how many you make bake at 375 for about 30-40 minutes or until bacon is cooked. Take out of oven and eat!!!! =0) Delicious with most dishes!