Banana Carrot Muffins

We have been on a muffin kick lately. A couple weeks ago I posted a great recipe for Apple Carrot Muffins and it got me thinking about other ways to use a mix of fruit and veggies in muffins. I wanted something that I could serve our toddler for breakfast and also make a healthy snack. Both of these recipes make a ton of muffins in mini muffin form and freeze great! 

Whole Wheat Banana Carrot Muffins
makes 5 dozen mini muffins

Ingredients:

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 cups finely chopped/grated carrot
• ¼ cup quick cooking oats
• ¼ cup coconut
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1tsp cinnamon powder
• 2 ripe bananas mashed into a paste
• ½ cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup yogurt
• 1 cup brown sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl.

In a separate bowl combine all the wet ingredients and mix well.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix till combines. The mixtures will be quite hard. If it looks too dry add a little more yogurt. Don’t be tempted to make it too watery.

Scoop the batter into the greased mini muffin tray. And bake till done, approximately 10 minutes.

Mardi Gras - Jambalaya, King Cake, Crafts and more!

Happy Mardi Gras! 

I honestly never even knew what Mardi Gras was ... ok I still don't know much about it. However, my husband's family (mother's side) is from New Orleans and so there are a couple fun traditions that we wanted to make sure we shared with our children.

I had never attempted to make any kind of traditional New Orleans food - failure was a huge fear as my husband grandmother is an incredible cook.  After having her Jambalaya several years ago I just never could convince myself to give it a try in our kitchen. This year I dove right in! I just searched for a basic recipe that sounded like it had good flavor. It was a total hit! We all loved it and it made a tons so of course we had plenty of leftovers to freeze for another meal in a month or so.

We also celebrated by making Jester hats in the traditional Mardi Gras colors - purple, yellow and green. Pandora provided a great New Orleans Jazz station to jam to. Finally we enjoyed a store bought King Cake - it will take a while to find that baby but it is always fun to see who will be the lucky winner!

Jambalaya

Ingredients:

• 1 (16-ounce) package spicy hickory-smoked sausage, cut into 1/2-inch slices
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 small green bell pepper, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 cups uncooked rice
• 1 (32-ounce) container chicken broth
• 1 (14 1/2-ounce) can stewed tomatoes, undrained and chopped
• 1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
• 2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
• 1 teaspoon hot sauce
• 1 pound unpeeled medium-size fresh shrimp
• 3 tablespoons chopped green onions
• 
  
• Directions:
• Brown sausage in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Drain, reserving 3 tablespoons drippings in pan. Add onion and bell pepper, and sauté 2 to 3 minutes or until tender. Add garlic, and sauté 1 more minute.
• Add rice and chicken broth. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 20 minutes. Stir in tomatoes and next 3 ingredients.
• Peel shrimp, and devein, if desired.
• Stir in shrimp and green onions; cook 2 to 3 minutes or just until shrimp turn pink.
• 
  
• Kitchen Notes:
• * I used "hot" smoked sausage from Hillshire Farms
• * Subbed green pepper for diced red pepper
• * Used 1.5 cups brown rice instead of white
• * Used Trader Joe's Mixed Seafood (calamari, shrimp, scallops - frozen) 
• * Omitted green onion
• * Makes a Large pot - enough to freeze for 2-4 meals later