Banana Muffins (coconut flour)

I love banana bread. Unfortunately, my regular recipe is currently off limits. Driven by a strong craving, I modified Comfy Belly's pumpkin muffin recipe to recreate the flavor I longed for. Success! I will be making these often.

Peanut Butter Cup Bars

These are so easy to make and incredibly delicious. Definitely an indulgent treat, there is little health value left after adding all the powdered sugar. But you won't have to worry if you bring these to your next get together - virtually everyone will love them and I would be shocked if you bring any home.

These bars are extremely fast to prepare if you don't mind using a microwave. In fact, all you need is a microwave, a fridge, a hand mixer, a few glass bowls and measuring cups.

Peanut Butter Cup Bars
1c peanut butter
1c butter
3.5c powdered sugar
1 sleeve graham crackers, crushed
12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

1. Melt butter in a 2c glass measuring cup. Add peanut butter to the butter until the total volume is 2c. Pour into a large mixing bowl and add the powdered sugar and graham cracker crumbs. Mix well. Spread evenly in a rimmed cookie sheet.

2. Melt chocolate chips. To do this in the microwave, pour chocolate chips into the 2c glass measuring cup. Microwave on high 2 minutes. The chips will look moist and glossy. Stir vigorously and they will finish melting. Alternatively, you can melt the chocolate in a double boiler or very carefully in a saucepan over low heat.

3. Spread melted chocolate over peanut butter mixture. Cut into small bars while the chocolate is still warm. Place entire pan in refrigerator to harden.

We are still eating... mostly

It's been a long time since I last posted a recipe here.  This past year has been a whirl wind.  Just over a year ago we learned we were adding a surprise baby to our family.  Morning/noon/night sickness started soon after and didn't let up until well past the midpoint of my pregnancy.  By the time that was over and I was actually able to eat what I cooked, I was running out of energy and constantly sidetracked with nesting type projects.  Then sweet girl number 4 arrived and wow the days fly past with little tangible progress to show for it.  Let's just say there has been a lot more survival cooking going on in our household than typical.  Thankfully my girls love "snacky" lunches... and sometimes suppers too.

So in an effort to rekindle my love for the kitchen, I'm going to attempt to post a minimum of two recipes per week.  One recipe will have more detailed pictures, and the other recipe will be something fairly straight forward that will be quick for me to cook (and to write out).  I actually have a backlog of recipes that I photographed during the past year, hopefully as I work through those I can get back into the blogging habit.

Sweet & Sour Porcupine Meatballs

I'm not sure why meatballs made with rice are referred to as porcupine meatballs? I'm assuming it's due to the irregular appearance but still thought it was funny. Anyway. On to the recipe. I wanted meatballs but couldn't have Swedish (because baby reacts to the dairy) or barbecue (baby is also sensitive to tomatoes). So I made this recipe up as I went and I loved it. Baby girl not so much - turns out citrus does her in also.