Veggie Bake.

I love to cook! I don't like to clean it up though... ahh.. ya win some ya lose some... here is a couple recipes I've made over the past few days! Both are really good!!

My cousin Amandas sister in law made this wonderful sausage, veggie bake that was unreal how good! I found a recipe on pinterest that looked good as well so I mixed the recipes and It turned out so good! I made a huge pan but you can 1/2 the recipe:

 

At the end I have the recipe with measurements and you can copy and paste to print off. Haven't got this fixed to send you to a printable link yet! 

Start with Chopping up some Veggies: Onions, Peppers, Red Potatoes, Celery, and Carrots
Toss them in a pan

Mix up some Oil, A packet of Ranch seasoning, and some chicken stock or broth in a small bowl





Pour over your veggies with some salt and pepper and toss them around

This already looks edible to me! Yummmmmm! Next tightly wrap with aluminum foil and put in a preheated 450 degree oven.

I know, I know, all the pics are unnecessary and my oven desperately needs cleaned. But I like taking pics and pretending I'm Pioneer Woman.

This veggie bake is good by itself but you can just add it to anything your cooking! I made it with Smoked Turkey sausage and spaghetti squash! Spaghetti Squash is fun to make!! Just cut it in half and spoon out all of the seeds. Season with salt and pepper and lay cut side down on a foil lined baking sheet.

Cover with another piece of foil and throw into a 425 degree oven. For 25 minutes. After that remove the foil, let it cool a little bit, and then take a fork and just start scraping and you get this!

So cooooooooooooooooooooool!

 

I sliced up my turkey sausage and once it was close to done I tossed the spaghetti squash in with it.

Yum.





Now back to the veggies. After about 45 minutes take this goodness out and if your veggies are fork tender then leave them uncovered and pop them back into the oven for another 15 minutes! Then indulge!

Ya'll this was so good!



 





 

Ingredients:
2 Celery Stalks roughly chopped
Couple of handfuls of baby carrots or less but I love them so I added quite a few
5-6 Red potatoes chopped, leave the skin on!
1 Onion cut up in wedges
1/2 Of Red or Green Pepper, if you really like them use a whole one, sliced
1/4 Cup of Chicken Stock/Broth
1 packet of Hidden Valley Ranch Seasoning
2 tbs. Olive Oil (Vegetable or Canola is fine)

Preheat your oven to 450
Once all your veggies are chopped up toss them in the 9x13 pan and salt and pepper.
In a bowl mix up your seasoning, oil, and chicken stock/broth and pour over veggies.
Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes. Check your veggies if they are fork tender then keep the foil off and pop them back in the over uncover for about 15 minutes.
Then Eat!

Saturday.

Saturday is actually my Monday,  I go to work at 4:00pm. I usually wake up early so I just have a really low key day and most Saturdays I spend the day cooking. This past Saturday I made "healthy" banana bread and some chicken fajitas. I thought I'd share this my banana bread adventure with you all and if you want my chicken fajita recipe then you can find it on my recipes tab.

Now let me start off with this. I'm not a baker. I can cook but I usually ALWAYS mess up whatever i'm baking. Even if I follow the recipe to a T. I'm not sure what goes on but the stars just don't line up when it comes time for me to bake. BUT I was able to pull this bread off. So its easy peasy.

I found a recipe on pinterest for healthy banana bread and the only unusual ingredient was whole wheat flour. I don't like recipes where I have to buy a ton of random ingredients and then the entire dish ends up costing a great deal of money. Aggravation! So this was a very simple recipe and it turned out good. It definitely isn't as good as regular banana bread but its a good healthier alternative. Your gonna need these guys:

It would help if your bananas are a little more brown but ehh... I didn't care to wait for that. That cup of applesauce is sugar free. Preheat your oven to 350 and grease a loaf pan.

Start "smooshing" your bananas, its kinda fun. My mom gave me that weird kitchen utensil and it worked out perfect! Smashing with a fork would work just fine as well.

Mix together 2 cups of whole wheat flour, 1tsp. baking soda and 1/4tsp. salt. The whole wheat flour made me feel so healthy and kind of like a hippie. 

Mix together 1/2 cup of sugar free applesauce with 3/4 cup of honey. 

Then add 2 eggs to your banana mixture and combine it really well and then add to your applesauce honey mixture.. looks pretty gross! We gotta think long term here now..

Now this wasn't part of the original recipe but roughly chop some walnuts to throw in the mix, just eyeball it, however much you like if you choose to use them. I also added a little bit of cinnamon. That wasn't in the original recipe either. I am a rebel.

Dump it into your loaf pan and bake around an hour. Take a toothpick to check and if it comes out clean then your ready!

and VOILA! Healthy Wheat Banana Bread!

Ingredients:

2 C. Whole Wheat Flour

1 tsp. Baking Soda

1/4 tsp. Salt

3 Overly Ripe Bananas

2 Eggs

1/2 C. Sugar Free Applesauce

3/4 C. Honey

*2 tsp. Cinnamon

*1/4 to 1/2 cup chopped Walnuts

-Preheat oven to 350 and Grease a loaf pan

-Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. In a seperate bowl smash your bananas up and then add eggs and combine. Stir in honey and applesauce. *If you want add your cinnomon and walnuts here as well.

Once all of that is combined really well pour batter into your dry ingredients and stir until everything is combined. Pour into your loaf pan and bake for an hour. About 50 minutes into your baking time start checking with a toothpick, once the toothpick comes out clean your finished!