Archive by Author | Life With The Mcgavins

Homemade Banana Bread

I always seem to have over ripe bananas because I only eat green bananas! So what’s a girl to do with all these yellow and over ripe bananas?!?!? Bake banana bread of course!

This recipe produces a dense, moist loaf with lots of banana flavor. Kevin likes it best when I add chocolate chips. It’s a versatile recipe and works well with other additions like nuts, coconut, dried fruit, etc. Today I will share with you the basic no fail chocolate chip banana bread recipe.

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter
1 cup of sugar
2 eggs 1 tsp vanilla 3 to 4 ripe bananas to equal one cup mashed

2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
Pinch salt
1 cup chocolate chips

Method
Cream together butter and sugar once creamed add in eggs one at a time. Add vanilla.

Once these ingredients are combine add in banana and combine again.

In a separate bowl combine dry ingredients. Once dry ingredients are mixed add to wet and mix.

Fold in chocolate chips, transfer to greased loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for 60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack.

I always like to have this banana bread slathered in peanut butter, however I can tell you from experience it makes delicious French toast!

Pumpkin Spice Muffins

Apr18

Want to bake the easiest muffins ever? Six ingredients, no mixer, extremely low fat, and delicious! These pumpkin spice muffins are moist and taste awesome. Here’s the secret….the base is a boxed spice cake mix! Don’t judge! I won’t tell if you don’t! These muffins come out of the oven tasting like they were baked right from scratch!

Ingredients
1 box Spice cake mix
1 can pumpkin purée
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup of raisins
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Method
Dump cake mix into a bowl, add pumpkin purée and water, mix well. Fold in chocolate chips, raisins, and pecans.

Divide evenly into 18 regular lined or sprayed muffin tins and bake for 18-20 minutes at 350 degrees until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.

These muffins are so quick and easy you will be amazed something so simple can taste do good.

Cilantro Lime Tilapia

Apr16

Happy Tuesday Blog Friends! My consumption of lime and cilantro is seriously out of hand! I think I’m edging dangerously close to the need for an intervention!!!

Earlier today I decided to make cilantro lime marinated tilapia for dinner and luckily I remembered to document the super easy process!!! (Blog fail/slack that Katie)

So with minimal time, effort and ingredients you can whip up a tasty healthy dinner and knock a fish serving off the must eat list for the week! I used Tilapia but this would also work on cod, halibut, salmon, etc.

Ingredients
1 cup cilantro leaves
Juice and zest from 2 large limes
1 garlic clove
Fresh jalapeño – base amount on how much kick you want your fish to have
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Fresh ground pepper and salt to taste
Fish of choice -This amount of marinade will work for 4 filets of fish as well.

Method
Place filets in a shallow baking dish and dust with salt and pepper. Zest limes directly over fish. Set aside.

In a mini food processor, Magic bullet or blender place cilantro, lime, jalapeño, olive oil and blend until combine.

Pour over fish and place in refrigerator to marinade for a few hours.

Bake covered in 350 degree oven for 20 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork.

I hope you enjoy this recipe, it’s fresh, easy, healthy and filling. Plus it’s a pretty color! I promise to lay off the cilantro lime inspired recipes.

Mini Apple Pies

Apr12

So as I no longer sleep past 7 am because my body hates me, I decided to make some mini pies!

This is a recipe I created and quite enjoy as is. Feel free to add more cinnamon or nutmeg to your liking. I keep the cinnamon content low as my Dad can’t have much cinnamon. I however love cinnamon but find the amount in the recipe while mild is still enough. Enjoy!

Ingredients

12 Tart shells

Filling
3 cups peeled and chopped apples
1/8 brown sugar
1/8 cup white sugar
1/8 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Lemon zest
1 teaspoon vanilla

Crumble Topping

1/2 cup oats
1/2 brown sugar
1/4 flour
1/4 butter
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch of nutmeg

Glaze (optional)
1/2 icing sugar
1-2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Method
Place frozen tart shells on a cookie sheet and set aside to defrost.

Peel and chop apples into small cubes mix medium bowl with remaining filling ingredients and set aside.

Note: I use vanilla sugar instead of plain white sugar and fresh ground cinnamon and nutmeg. These are options but not necessary .

Mix all ingredients for crumble topping together until mixture resembles course breadcrumbs.

I use my hands for this as I find working the butter with my fingers yields the best results.

Divide apple mixture equally among the 12 tart shells. Do not over fill the tarts.

Divide crumb mixture equally among
the tarts to top them.

Place in preheated 375 degree oven on the middle rack and bake for 25 minutes.

At 25 minute mark place on lowest rack and bake for another 5 minutes

Pies are done when topping and tart shells are nicely browned and apples are soft!

Hello Blog!

Apr9

Never fear I still love you! I just had a busy weekend that sort of got away from me time wise! I will post very soon I promise! Until then I will leave you with a Muffin and random food fix 😉

The Cowboy Burger

Mar29

So the weather has been spectacular and it got Kevin and I thinking about making some burgers on the barbecue. So last night when we went grocery shopping we made sure to pick up all the ingredients!

I got to thinking a stuffed burger was what I wanted so I went to work and came up with these honking burgers! They are stuffed with all sorts of good stuff but the key is the cheese and the bacon!

Like with the Turkey burgers I posted I suggest making these burgers in advance and letting them sit covered in the fridge so the flavors can really come together.

Ingredients
1 pound lean ground beef
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
1/3 cup finely chopped pepper
1 egg
1/2 cup real bacon bits
1 cup cubed jalapeño jack cheese
1/4 cup barbecue sauce
1/3 cup oats
1/4 cup crushed nacho chips
1/4 cup crispy onions
4 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon salt free seasoning
Pepper to taste

Method
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and combine well. Form into patties and cover then refrigerate.

Cooking
I would imagine these could be pan fried but barbecued is best! I started them on foil liberally sprayed with cooking spray and then transfer to grill for the last five minutes of cooking. Be sure to cook to a safe internal temperature.

I served these burgers with maple bacon, havarti cheese, hot peppers, mini pickles and sautéed onions and mushrooms!!!

Ummmm delicious!!!!

Spinach Salad With Warm Bacon Dressing!

Mar25

So I survived my first shift back at work. I feel mostly better but still have a bit of a cough. I am however extremely cranky! Never a good thing!

Anyways tonight I made spinach salads for dinner at work, complete with homemade warm bacon rosemary dressing. I am not going to lie to any of you and say this salad is healthy! It isn’t! The main ingredient is bacon (fat)! Proceed with cation! While it may be high on the fat scale it is even higher on the delicious scale! It is a super quick meal to throw together and yet impressive enough to serve at a dinner party. It can be served with chicken breast as a meal or as a simple side salad.

Ingredients
-For two good size dinner salads-
4 to 6 cups baby spinach
2 hard boiled eggs (cooled)
4 strips of bacon (reserve grease)
4-6 mushrooms sliced
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
1/4 cup vinegar
1/4 cup brown sugar
Sprig of thyme
Sprig of rosemary

Method
Pan fry bacon to desired crispness. Meanwhile assemble spinach, dliced mushrooms, onion on plate or bowl. Remove bacon from pan and chop, add half to each salad. Add one sliced egg to each salad.

To make dressing leave about 1/8 of a cup of the bacon grease in the frying pan and add in chopped rosemary, thyme, brown sugar and vinegar. Whisk all ingredients together over medium heat. Cook long enough to allow mixture to come together and heat through.

That’s it! It’s as simple as that! Drizzle warm dressing over salad and serve.

Sometimes if I’m feeing adventurous i’ll add some smoked Gouda or mozzarella cheese into the mix. If I’m feeling especially ambitious I will lightly sauté the mushrooms and onions before adding them to the salad.

Homemade Strawberry Jam

Mar23

Every Summer when the strawberries are ready I go out to the farm and pick a few buckets full. Okay fine, I eat my weight in strawberries while picking a few buckets full, don’t judge me!!! The farm berries are fresh, juicy, sweet, and a perfect red color.

Upon bring my bounty home I always make sure to freeze a few bags for making out of season Strawberry jam! Well that out of season jam making adventure occurred yesterday because I had finally run out of the jars I made in the late Summer. The thing about homemade jam is the jars seem to disappear quickly once your friends and family learn of their presence in your pantry!

Making jam isn’t difficult as long as you do your prep work and work quickly once you start the process. There are many jam recipes out there but I always stick to the tried and true recipe that my Mom used growing up.

Ingredients
7 cups of White sugar
3 1/4 cups crushed Strawberries
1 package liquid Pectin
1/4 fresh Lemon juice
1/2 tsp butter

As you can see I like to prep everything before I start and that includes sanitizing my jam jars. This is as simple as boiling a large pot of water and letting the jars “cook” for three to five minutes. I leave them in the hot water bath until I’m ready to use them.

I repeat the hot water bath with the lids and rings, much later after the jam has a chance to set up and I’ve sealed the jars with wax.

On to the fun part!

Method
Combine strawberries, sugar, lemon juice and butter in a large pot and continue to stir over high heat until mixture reaches a hard boil. Once the mixture is boiling hard add your pectin while stirring and continue to let mixture boil hard for 60 to 90 seconds. Be sure to stir the entire time to avoid scorching the jam. Remove from heat

At this point you hopefully don’t have too much foam formed but if you do just skim it off. Once you’re done you can fill your jars. I use a funnel to fill my jars to avoid contaminating the rims of my jars. Fill your jars being sure to leave space for a wax seal.

Allow your jam a few hours to set up and then seal with melted food grade wax and apply lids!
Number of jars will depend On the size you decide to use. I get four medium size jars out of a batch.

I Lived

Mar20

Hi everyone! Sorry about the lack of updates this week, I’ve been insanely sick. Bronchitis is not fun. In fact it is painful and depressing. I pretty much haven’t left the couch since Friday except for two hours on Saturday and yesterday for doctors and Starbucks.

On Saturday against my better judgement I went to High Tea with a group of girlfriends and the little ladies. I thought about not going but couldn’t disappoint Emma. I slapped on a smile and did enjoy myself but felt awful afterwards.

The food was delicious and the company was wonderful. It is fair to say it was the highlight of my week!

I’ve spent a stupid amount of time on the couch playing Angry Birds. Yes I know! I’m not proud of this! But I was sooo bored! I also had a lot of cuddle time with Muffin.

I really have nothing else exciting to report thanks to my lack of doing anything. Oh we got a new front loading laundry pair and it was delivered today. So pretty!

You know you’re an adult when you get excited about a new washer dryer pair and pretty kitchen towels!

As you may have guessed I haven’t spent much time in the kitchen. Kevin however has done a fine job of feeding me!

I know right! Spoiled!

Well my friends I am going to have a hot shower and call it a night. Hopefully I will have a banana bread recipe for you soon!

Homemade Perogies!!!

Mar18

Hello Blog world! I’m most definitely still taking up residence on my couch. No work for me again today! Also no adventures in the kitchen either. Bronchitis sucks!

However I do have a recipe to share with you! Last week I made Perogies from scratch and Kevin said they were the best Perogies he’s ever eaten!!! Making perogies isn’t extremely difficult, just time consuming with the folding and the pinching. Don’t let the time investment deter you. These yummy bites of potato deliciousness are worth it!

Filling Ingredients
4-5 Large potatoes
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon garlic
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1/4 cup sour cream
6 strips of bacon cut into pieces
3/4 cup chopped sweet onion
1 cup shredded cheese of your choice
Salt and pepper to taste

Dough Ingredients
3 cups of flour
Pinch of salt
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon pepper
3/4 cup water
1 egg
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Method
Start by peeling and chopping your potatoes and cooking them as though you were making mashed potatoes.

Next start pan frying your bacon pieces and then chop your onion. Once bacon begins to crisp add the onion to the pan and cook for another 3 minutes.

Once your potatoes are done cooking drain and return to large bowl to mash. Mash with butter, sour cream, garlic, and spices. Once mashed mix in cheese, bacon and onion. Set aside to cool.

Dough Prep
In bowl, mix together flour and salt,garlic,Italian and pepper.

In another small bowl beat together egg, water and oil. Stir into flour mixture, adding a touch more water if needed to make dough soft but not sticky.

Turn out onto lightly floured surface; knead until smooth. Rip dough in half and cover with plastic wrap or damp towel and let rest for 20 minutes.

Now for the fun part! Take one ball of dough and rip it in half. On a lightly floured counter roll out dough very thin, about 1/4 inch thick. Using a round biscuit or cookie cutter cut dough into 10 rounds. Re-rolling as little as possible.

Fill each round with a small amount of filling. Fold perogie in half and gently pinch edges of dough together. If you’re having issues making the edges stick moisten edge with a tiny amount of water.

Place perogies on a flour dusted cookie sheet and cover with a dry, clean tea towel. Repeat process with each portion of dough. You should get 40 – 50 perogies out of this recipe.

You are now ready to cook your perogies or freeze them at this stage. To cook them bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and place some perogies into the water and allow to boil for a few minutes until they pop to the surface. Be sure to do this in batches as to not over crowd the pot.

Once they surface transfer them to a frying pan with some butter and cook until golden and crisp.

I served these with barbecued locally made farmers sausages, sour cream and fried onions. I really think the addition of spices to the dough really gives these perogies something extra.

Life With The McGavins

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