"Leftover Banana" Muffins

You know that banana that gets forgotten, only to be noticed a few days later when it's black? This is a recipe dedicated to that banana.

2 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1 (or 2) meduim banana, mashed

1/2 cup milk

1/3 cup oil

1 egg, slightly beaten

Combine the first group of ingredients. Add remaining ingredients and stir only until moistened. (Over-mixing makes the muffins tough!) Spoon into lined muffin bans, and bake at 375° for 15-20 minutes.

Rachael Ray's Pretzel-Crusted Chicken

Ingredients

4 quart-size plastic food storage bags
4 small, boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 5-ounce bag of salted pretzels, any shape
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 eggs
Vegetable oil, for frying
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups milk
3/4 pound, about 2 1/2 cups, sharp yellow cheddar cheese, shredded
2 heaping tablespoons spicy brown mustard
1/4 cup flat leaf parsley leaves, a generous handful, chopped
1/4 small yellow onion, finely chopped
1 large sour dill pickle, finely chopped
1 lemon, cut into wedges

Preparation

Preheat a large non-stick skillet with a 1/4-inch of vegetable oil over medium-high heat.
Sprinkle a little water into four medium food storage baggies. Place 1 chicken breast in each bag and seal it up, pushing out excess air. Use the bottom of a heavy pot or pan and pound each breast until flat, just shy of busting out of the bag. Repeat with the other 3 chicken breasts.
Place the pretzels in a food processor or blender and grind until fine. Transfer the ground pretzels to a shallow dish, add the thyme and some salt and pepper. Crack and beat 2 eggs in a second shallow dish with a splash of water. One at a time, coat each chicken breast in the egg and then the ground pretzels.

Add the pretzel-coated chicken breast to the hot oil. Cook in a single layer, in 2 batches if necessary, about 3 or 4 minutes on each side, until the juices run clear and breading is evenly browned.

While the chicken is frying, in a medium saucepot over medium heat, melt the butter and add the flour to it. Cook flour and butter for 1 minute and then whisk in the milk. When the milk comes to a bubble, stir in the cheese and mustard with a wooden spoon. Season with a little salt and pepper, and remove cheese sauce from the heat.

Transfer the fried pretzel-crusted chicken breast to a serving plate, drizzle with the mustard cheddar sauce, then sprinkle with a little parsley, finely chopped onion and sour dill pickle. Serve lemon wedges alongside.

Serves 4.

Montana's Favorite Taco by Cristin

THE TACO
Burrito sized soft shells
1 pound of ground beef
1 packet of HOT taco seasoning mix
1 can of Nalleys HOT chili
Louisiana Crystal Hot Sauce
Cayenne Pepper

Brown Ground beef-drain fat-follow the instructions of taco seasoning mix.
Add Chili, Simmer
Cover the top of the meat with cayenne pepper (I do it so you can visibly see it well) Don’t be scared, I promise-it’s good.
Add Hot Sauce I put in a lot, like probably ¼ cup-maybe a little less.

THE DIP
Now THE DIP is VERY IMPORTANT-this is what makes the taco good-it counteracts the hotness of the taco, and makes it all around amazing. Yes, it is a ranch dip, but is so much more, I promise.

8 oz of PLAIN yogurt
8oz of mayo
8oz of Sour Cream
This is VERY IMPORTANT-Must be –Uncle Dan’s SOUTHERN ranch.

Add your favorite Taco Fixing’s and you are good to go!

My assembly usually goes like this:

Warm Burrito shell (I put them in the microwave for like 10 seconds)
Meat
THE DIP
Cheese

Sidenote: The meat will have a “chili-ish” texture, but don’t worry, I would never lead you astray.
Extra Side note: They are very messy, and we always play a game where whoever has the cleanest plate at the end wins.

Microwave Peanut Butter Fudge

This is the easiest recipie I've ever seen for fudge, and it tastes just as good as if you had spend an hour standing at the stove! I've made it twice in the last week, it takes less than 10 minutes to throw everything together, and the confectioner's sugar makes is super creamy!

2 sticks of butter
1 cup of peanut butter
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 lb. of confectioner's sugar

8x8 baking dish (or a similar size)
waxed paper
butter

Put the butter and peanut butter in a big microwave-safe bowl. Put the bowl in the microwave uncovered on HIGH for 2 minutes. Stir the mixture to distribute everything evenly. Put the bowl back in the microwave uncovered on HIGH for 2 minutes. Stir in vanilla and sugar with a wooden spoon (it works best if you stir in the sugar in two batches... this will take some elbow grease!). Line the 8x8 dish with waxed paper and butter the sides. Pour the fudge in the dish and spread it out evenly using spoon and/or fingers (careful... it's really HOT!). Place another sheet of waxed paper directly onto the fudge to seal it. Place in the refridgerator to cool until hardened.

*Tip - Make sure that you butter your dish before you start or while your bowl is in the microwave. Once everything is mixed together, you want to move pretty quickly to get it in the dish while it's hot.

Chili

1 lb. hamburger meat (I've done 1/2 hamburger, 1/2 turkey and it still tastes good)
1 green pepper
1 onion
1 large can crushed tomatoes
1 large can B&M baked beans
1 small can BBQ baked beans (usually B&M has them, but sometimes I"ve used Bush's grillin' BBQ beans and they work just fine)
1/2 tsp. chili powder (I prob. do a little more, I don't measure it, and then when it's close to done FI puts some more in and just tastes until he likes it).

Fry hamburger, pepper, and onioin until meat is browned. Add tomatoes, beans, and chili powder. Cover and cook 1 hour.

Chicken Divan

double recipe)
4 chicken whole or breasts
2 fresh bunches of broccolli or 4 frozen spears pkges
4 cans of cream of chicken soup
1 1/2 cups of mayo
4 tbs of lemon juice
2 bars of sharp chedder cheese-grated
1 large can of bread crumbs
2 sticks of butter

-cook chicken-break into bitesized pieces-cook broccolli-not too soft-mix 4 cans chicken soup with mayo and whip till fluffy add lemon juice and whip well-melt butter on low and mix in bread crumbs, stir -must be dry mixture-not moist-line bottom of pan with chicken, layer broccolli, mayo +soup mix, cover well with a lo0t of cheeselayer of bread crumbs coever top completely BAKE 350 for 45 mins to 1 hour serve over rice

chicken francese (no exact measurments)

Chicken breast sliced thin-coat in flour and then egg them and fryem up in oilin a saucepan-combine two cans of chicken broth pr boullion (1 pt. water per cube) with water and the juice of 1 1/2 lemons and a bit of spicescook for 15 mins or so, stir occasionally. Remove from heat, stir in softened butter (1/2 stic) If you feel the sauce is too thin add tblspn of corn starch and mix very wellPour the sauce over the meat