No Butter Banana-Walnut Muffins

I was trolling the Internet to find a recipe for Banana muffins that are not loaded with butter/sugar. So after browsing through a few recipes from different sites, I came up with this one and the muffins turned out moist and yummy.

Prep Time: 40 mins (15 minutes prepping and 25 minutes baking)

Serves: 10 muffins

Ingredients:  Bananas - 3 overripe, Eggs - 1, Sugar - 1/3 cup, Applesauce - 1/4 cup, Vanilla extract - 1 tsp, All purpose flour - 1 cup, Baking soda - 1 tsp, Baking Powder - 2 Tbsps,  Walnuts - 1/4 cup, roughly chopped

Bake Away...
> Preheat the oven to 350 F
> In a bowl, mash the bananas and sugar until there are no big chunks. Add the egg and combine well
> Add applesauce and vanilla and fold into the banana mash
> In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking soda and baking powder
> Add this to the banana mash and gently combine everything
>Fold in the walnuts
> Line the Muffin pan with paper liners and scoop in about 2 Tbsp of mix into each tin
> Bake at 350 for about 20-25 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean

My Thoughts..
> You could add a little more sugar if you want, I found that this was just right but most may find that they want more sweetness

Enjoy the delicious and healthy muffins for Breakfast or as a dessert!

Whole Grain Spaghetti with Ginger-Peanut Sauce

Last night, I wanted something peanut-y for dinner. At the same time something not too heavy in the tummy. And something that's quick and easy to make. And healthy...somewhat..So I do a quick glance around the pantry and I see some Peanut Butter and whole grain spaghetti pasta. So I throw this quick pasta together in less than 10 minutes and it turned out quite yummy.

Prep Time: 10 minutes (includes pasta cook time)

Serves: 2

Ingredients: Spaghetti  - 1/2 package (so around 7 oz??), Peanut Butter - 1/3 cup, Soy sauce - 2-3 Tbsps, Honey - 1.5 Tbsp, Hot water - 1/2 cup, Ginger - 1/2 inch , Red chilli flakes - 1 tsp, Toasted Sesame seeds - 2 Tbsps

Cook Away..

> Cook the Spaghetti according to the instructions on the package (The whole grain variety takes about 7-8 minutes to al-dente, so it's more than enough time to make the sauce)

> In a mixing bowl, add the peanut butter, soy sauce and hot water and whisk thoroughly until all the ingredients combine into a smooth creamy paste

> Now add the honey, red chilli flakes and grate the ginger on top and whisk some more

> Add the cooked pasta to the sauce and fold gently until all the sauce sticks to the pasta

> Garnish with toasted sesame seeds and serve hot!

My Thoughts..

> I didn't have any green onions on hand, but adding sliced green onions or bean sprouts will add that crunch to this pasta

> You can skip the chilli flakes if you don't want any heat in the dish

Enjoy!

Cranberry Orange Pancakes

The inspiration to try out this recipe came from Denny's! Yes, the diner Denny's. The hubs, daughter and I went to Denny's for a Sunday brunch not too long ago and they had a new item on their menu..Cranberry Orange pancakes and it sounded yummy. So I went ahead and ordered it and loved it. So of course, it was time to try it out at home a week or two later. So here's what I came up with..

(Will post the picture as soon as I can upload )

Prep Time: 10 minutes (for about 7 pancakes)

Serves: 2.5 (the half for a toddler)

Ingredients: Pancake mix - 1 cup, Dried cranberries - 1/2 cup, Orange zest - 1 tsp, Orange Juice - 1 Tbsp, Butter - 1-2 tsp

Cook Away...

> Make the pancake batter from the mix according to the instructions on the package

> Add the zest of a fresh orange to the batter

> Add freshly squeezed orange juice

> Mix the batter so everything combines well

> Add the dried cranberries and fold in gently

> Heat a girdle or pan on stove top and add the butter

> Pour about 1/4 cup of batter for one pancake

> Enjoy it with some maple syrup (or even without the syrup...since there is so much flavor in the pancake you will not miss the syrup on this one!)

Yum-my!