Banana Bread

This is one of my favorites! With only two of us in the apartment, we constantly have left over bananas so this is the perfect way to make use of them.

1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup of sugar

6 tbs of butter (3/4 of a stick)

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp cinnamon 

1 lg egg

3 ripe bananas

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (f) and grease a 10.5 x 5.5 bread pan.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt, and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, mix together with an electric mixer the sugar, butter, vanilla and cinnamon, until creamy.

Beat in the egg and ripe banana until well blended. Then add the dry ingredients, from the small bowl you set aside, in 3 parts. At this point if you like, you can also add nuts or dried fruit. Gently pour the batter into your greased pan and let it cook for about an hour. 

Test the bread with a toothpick before you take it out and if it comes out clean, your bread is done! 

Left Over Veggies

I constantly have left over veggies from various meals, such as a half of pepper, quarter onion and a bunch of jalapenos I didn't use in a recipe. Instead of these going to waste, they go perfect in a weeknight quesadilla.

1 onion 

1 red or green pepper 

2 jalapeno peppers 

1/2 cup 50-70% reduced fat cheddar cheese

1 tbs olive oil

4 quesadilla shells

Take your leftover veggies and dice them into equal sizes. Feel free to use any type of left overs you have on hand. Crunchier vegetables tend to hold up the best. Saute them with 1/2 tbs of olive oil for about 8 minutes on medium heat

While that's cooking, take a quesadilla shell and put about a handful of cheese on it, add more or less cheese based on your liking. After your vegetables are cooked, place about a handful of them on the quesadilla shell and cheese. You can either fold the quesadilla in half to make a half-moon or add another shell on top for a full quesadilla. 

Add 1/2 a tbs of olive oil per quesadilla and cook evenly on both sides. Cut each quesadilla into even triangles and serve alone or with sour cream, guacamole and salsa.