Overripe Bananas? We have you covered!

There are SOOO many things to do with a bunch of overripe bananas, of course there's banana bread, banana muffins, smoothies, banana pancakes, banana fritters, but here is a recipe that will knock your socks off!

Banana Pudding (made with ACTUAL bananas!)

I went looking for recipe for actual banana pudding, made from scratch using real bananas and it was

hard to find. Fortunately for all of us, my friend Jen, who lives on a vineyard in Chile has invented this luscious, creamy version. ENJOY!

My Mother-in-Law's Famous Banana Fritters

1 1/4 C Flour (I use whole grain all purpose)
1/4 t salt
1 t baking powder
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 C milk
1 t oil
As many bananas chopped up as you can manage :)
Oil for shallow frying

Sift dry ingredients together, make a well in the center, add wet ingredients and mix to form a batter. Add in your chopped bananas. Drop by large spoonfuls into hot oil in a heavy skillet. Cook only on medium heat so they don't burn on the outside and remain raw on the inside. It may take you a couple of fritters to get the temperature correct. When they are done transfer to a plate covered with paper towels to drain and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve hot with butter and syrup if desired.

You can tweak the batter to use 1/4 C of bran to it if you just need it to be healtheier.

Banana Smoothie/"Ice Cream"

Peel over ripe bananas. Keep in a freezer bag in the freezer until needed for smoothies where they add a creamy smoothness. Or simply blend with a bit of honey and yogurt in a blender until you get a consistency like soft-serve ice cream for a refreshing fruit dessert. Honestly, it is a delight.

Chicken Quesadillas

Quesadillas of all kinds are a healthy, quick dinner for nights when no one wants to cook much. You can go vegetarian by just using cheese and perhaps sauteed vegetables like peppers and onions or even roasted corn. You can have a vegan quesadilla by using vegan cheese of course (many tortillas are already vegan). You can have any type of thinly sliced and cooked meat inside of course, but I love a good chicken quesadilla. Here's how you make them. Heat a pan over medium high heat and add 1 TB of oil to the pan. Take strips of chicken and season them with adobo or if you lack that then use salt, pepper and cumin. Place them in the pan, not too many at one time or they will not brown properly. You can do the chicken in batches if you like, just do not crowd the pan. When the chicken is cooked through (will not take long since the chicken is cut up into strips, maybe 5 minutes. Do not stir the chicken, simply turn it over when it gets brown on one side. Set chicken aside when cooked and place sliced bell peppers, sliced onions, thinly sliced strips of carrot. If you'd like to add sliced fresh mushrooms, cook them last and cook them separately so they can get browned, taking care again not to overload the pan. Cook all the vegetables until they get some brown color on them and are uniformly soft. Turn down heat to medium and wipe out the pan and place a tortilla in it. Quickly add some shredded cheese to the center of the tortilla, add some chicken strips and cooked veggies, top with more cheese, but do not overload the tortilla or it will be difficult to flip. Add another tortilla to the top and let the bottom tortilla brown and cheese melt, then flip and let cook on the other side. Serve with pico de gallo, sour cream or plain yogurt, and a simple mixed green salad. YUM! As far as amounts go for my family of 4 we need about a dozen tortillas (we use the smaller 6 inch size), half an onion, one bell pepper, half pound of mushrooms (if using) 1 carrot thinly sliced, 1 C of shredded cheese and about 1 good sized chicken breast, pounded flat with a rolling pin and cut into thin strips.

How to Make Chiles Rellenos

Okay, so I decided to make a dish I had seen my Mom make a million times before, chiles rellenos! They were easy and delicious! Here's how you do it. Take several types of peppers, I chose some miniature bell peppers but you can use anaheim or poblano chiles. First things first you roast the peppers either over open flame on a gas burner or under the broiler on high for a few minutes. When the peppers are black and blistered all over place them in a bowl and cover with a plate or some plastic wrap and let them steam till the peppers cool enough to handle. The skins should slip right off. If the pepper has not already split from the heat cut a small slit down one side of the pepper, pull out the seeds and the membranes as best you can and set the peppers aside. In a small mixing bowl beat 2 egg whites till light and foamy then fold in the 2 beaten yolks. Heat an inch or two of vegetable oil in a heavy bottomed skillet over medium heat. When a tiny bit of the egg batter dropped into the oil cooks and floats to the top immediately it means the oil is at the right temperature. While the oil is heating place some white mild cheese into each pepper, taking care not to over stuff. Possible cheeses you could use are queso fresco, queso blanco or even mozzarella. Take each pepper and place it into the egg mixture and then put the pepper into the hot oil. Turn the pepper once so that it gets browned on both sides, when cooked place pepper on a paper towel lined plate to drain. Sprinkle with a large grained salt like kosher or sea salt. EAT! Wash it down with a nice hard apple cider for maximum effect!

Meatless Monday: Pasta Primavera

Just threw together a primavera sauce over some whole wheat pasta for Meatless Monday. It was a busy night. Chopped up some multicolored bell peppers, onions, carrots, garlic and sauteed them in olive oil. I added a can of spaghetti sauce to the pan and then 2 teaspoons of Italian seasoning and heated it up. I used whole wheat thin spaghetti and we served it with a side of green beans. Easy peasy dinner on a hectic school night.

Tonight's dinner: Au Gratin Potatoes and Ham One Dish Main Course

Made some au gratin potatoes that I layered with thin slices of ham and baked for a hearty main course. We had steamed green beans on the side. I would post more but I worked today, did laundry, and cleaned out the car for our trip tomorrow, so I'm going to turn in early.

Enchiladas and rice and berries, oh my!

Made enchiladas tonight, using my usual technique, warmed up and re-flavored some leftover rice and made a quick strawberry shortcake from a children's book. Great night actually!

We had some leftover white rice from a weekend trip to a Japanese restaurant that I needed to use up, I put 1/4 C of water and 2 TB of butter, 2 threads of saffron and a pinch of salt into a sauce pan and then added in half of my rice and stirred it all together till it was warm and heated through then I added half a teaspoon of tomato paste and the rest of the rice (about 2 cups in all). It made a very nice side dish, flavorful but mild, perfect for enchiladas and you know it saved the rice.

I made a very nice oil and vinegar coleslaw too, nice and acidic and tangy to offset the cheesy enchiladas. I had about half a head of cabbage so I slivered it up finely and then grated some carrot, sliced some colorful bell peppers, thinly sliced half an onion and tossed it with 2 teaspoons of salt, 1 teaspoon of salt, 3 TB of red wine vinegar and about twice as much olive oil. Toss and let it sit and mingle while you make the rest of dinner.

And last but not least my favorite homemade strawberry shortcake recipe "Great-Granny's MAGNIFICENT Strawberry Shortcake" from the adorable children's book "Cook-A-Doodle-Doo" by Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel. We picked up the book on a whim one day from the library and fell in love with it's charming adaptation of the story of The Little Red Hen. Of course the kids insisted that we make the recipe the same day and it was so good it has become my go-to for shortcakes.

My Husband Makes Dinner too, of course.

And he found a tasty recipe online last night. You can see it here at Deep South Dish. I love this website!