Frozen Banana Bites

Every Sunday evening, my stepmom and stepsister come over to my house to watch our very favorite TV show, True Blood. It doesn't start until 9:00, which is too late for us to eat dinner together, so at the beginning of the season we decided to make sweets to eat during the show instead. We're supposed to be taking turns, but I've selfishly made the snack two weeks in a row. Last week we enjoyed strawberry pretzel squares, and this week I made these absolutely delicious frozen banana bites.

This is an idea I originally saw in Bon Appetit magazine a couple of months ago, and I've had it in my mind to make my own version ever since. You can roll the chocolate-dipped bananas in any coating you want; I chose miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips, peanuts, hazelnuts, and vanilla wafer crumbs.

This is the perfect summer treat, hands-down. The frozen bananas are somehow still really creamy, almost the texture of ice cream. Add in the chocolate and the salty-sweet coatings, and this is truly a heavenly -- and simple! -- dessert. I can see myself making these for my kids in a few years!

Frozen Banana Bites
Source: inspired by Bon Appetit

1 cup milk chocolate chips
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 ripe bananas, peeled and cut into slices (about 12 slices per banana)
Assorted coatings for bananas (peanuts, hazelnuts, miniature chocolate chips, vanilla wafers crumbs, toasted shredded sweetened coconut, chopped candy, etc.)

1. Melt chocolate chips in a double boiler over low heat. Meanwhile, place each coating in a separate dish and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

2. Using a fork, dip a slice of banana in the melted chocolate, shaking off the excess. Immediately drop banana in coating, using your fingers to sprinkle more coating over the top of the banana. Place on prepared cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining bananas, chocolate and coatings.

3. Freeze for about 3 hours, or until firm.

Honey-Teriyaki Chicken

Inspired in equal parts by Lisa and Jessie, I've been working on implementing a new meal planning system in our house over the past week or so, and so far it's working pretty well. It involves assigning "themes" to each night of the week that are consistent from week to week. It's really helped me organize the recipes I want to cook, and I've been doing a lot better at actually cooking dinner rather than opting for frozen pizza or a quick sandwich. My husband is part of a spring softball league that's been occupying the better part of his Monday and Thursday nights, which makes cooking on those nights pretty tough, but after his games are over I'll definitely start sharing my meal plans with you.

Anyway, the theme I've decided on for Saturday nights is international cuisine, and this week I made a fantastic meal brought to you straight from the pages of Everyday Food. Joe and I both really enjoyed this honey-teriyaki chicken. I thought it had great flavor, and although I worried it would be too sweet, it wasn't overwhelmingly so. I love cooking with chicken thighs; they're always so tender, and this dish was no exception.

I would suggest cooking the chicken in a casserole dish, or anything with high sides, rather than on a cookie sheet as the recipe suggests. The honey mixture bubbled up quite a bit in the oven, and it could have easily run over the sides of the cookie sheet and made a real mess that I wouldn't have enjoyed cleaning up at all. The skin on the chicken got a bit darker than I would have liked, so if I make these again I may cook them at a lower temperature for a little bit longer. Apparently the skin was still edible, though. I peeled the skin off my chicken, but Joe seemed to enjoy crunching through his!

I served this with Asian cabbage slaw, and it was a delicious accompaniment. This meal is definitely a keeper!

Honey-Teriyaki Chicken
Source: slightly adapted from Everyday Food, May 2009

1/2 cup honey
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons peeled and finely grated fresh ginger
Coarse salt and ground pepper
6 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 2 pounds total)

1. Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. In a large bowl, mix honey, vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Add chicken and toss to coat. Transfer chicken and sauce to baking sheet.

2. Bake chicken, skin side up, basting occasionally with pan juices, until well browned and cooked through, 25 to 30 minutes. Serve chicken drizzled with pan juices.

Asian Cabbage Slaw

I love cole slaw, so when I saw this recipe in the May issue of Everyday Food, I was intrigued by the idea of doing an Asian twist on something so quintessentially American. And I have to say that I really, really enjoyed this version. The cilantro gave it a sharpness, the jalapeno provided just the right amount of heat, and the dressing was perfectly tangy. I used a few of handfuls of cole slaw mix instead of fresh carrot and cabbage, just for convenience's sake. This is a wonderful alternative to a typical run-of-the-mill cole slaw.

Asian Cabbage Slaw
Source: adapted from Everyday Food, May 2009

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 teaspoons sugar
Salt
3 handfuls cole slaw mix
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves
4 scallions, cut into matchsticks
1/2 fresh jalapeno, minced

1. In a large bowl, combine lime juice, rice vinegar, vegetable oil, and sugar; season with salt and whisk.

2. To dressing, add cole slaw mix, cilantro, scallions, and jalapeno, and toss to combine.

Fancy Scrambled Eggs

One of the major pregnancy cravings I've been having consistently is eggs. Typically I'm a fried over-medium kind of girl, but lately I'll take eggs any way I can get them. To satisfy my craving and to use up some leftover ingredients in the fridge, I concocted these fancy scrambled eggs for dinner one night last week. They were delicious! Even Andrew liked them, which is a miracle considering that they were full of spinach (and spinach is most assuredly not one of Andrew's favorite things). Served with buttered sour dough toast and some crispy bacon, this was an inexpensive and yummy meal!

Fancy Scrambled Eggs
Source: Cassie

1/4 cup butter
Half a small red onion, finely chopped
Half a red bell pepper, finely diced
Salt and pepper to taste

6 eggs
Splash of milk
1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
Dash of hot sauce
Salt and pepper to taste

2 cups fresh baby spinach

1. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and bell pepper and season to taste. Cook until vegetables begin to soften.

2. Meanwhile, combine eggs, milk, parmesan cheese, hot sauce, and salt and pepper in a separate bowl. Add to vegetables and cook, stirring frequently, until eggs are almost completely cooked through.

3. For the last minute or so of cooking, add spinach to skillet to wilt.

Mini Corn and Pepper Cakes

Last night was Joe's night off, which means only one thing around our house in the summer months: Time to fire up the grill. Joe makes the best steak I have ever had, I think mostly because of his ultra-secret rub recipe that he won't share even with me, and last night was no exception. I found a couple of gorgeous T-bones at our local butcher's, which he grilled to juicy, delicious, smoky perfection. He also grilled a bunch of asparagus, which I prepared with salt, pepper and brown sugar (thank you, Jessie, for the brown sugar inspiration) and slathered with olive oil.

For my part, I made these delicious mini corn and pepper cakes. I thought they'd be a nice alternative to some kind of potato, and they took no time at all to prepare. They were so good! They'd probably be even better with a little bit of shredded cheese mixed in. I halved the recipe, which gave us 10 cakes, and we ate all of them. This was truly one of the best meals we've had for a long time.

I've listed the full recipe for you here. These little corn cakes would be perfect for a backyard barbecue!


Mini Corn and Pepper Cakes
Source: adapted from Betty Crocker Country Favorites

2 cups frozen corn kernels, thawed
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
2 eggs, separated
1 small bell pepper, any color, finely chopped (about 1/2 cup)
1/2 cup vegetable oil

1. Beat flour, milk, sugar, salt, pepper and egg yolks in medium bowl. Stir in corn and bell pepper.

2. Beat egg whites until stiff and glossy. Fold corn mixture into egg whites.

3. Heat oil in 10-inch skillet. Drop corn mixture by tablespoonfuls into hot oil. Fry about 30 seconds on each side or until golden brown. Serve with sour cream, if desired.