Banana Santa

 Want a healthy and fun idea for the little ones for Christmas? Just remember that bananas go brown quickly so make and enjoy right away!

Ingredients:
Bananas
Strawberries
Miniature Marshmallows for top of hat
Regular size Marshmallows cut into slices for hat
M & M for nose
Brown sprinkles for eyes
Wooden Kabob stick for handle

Note: a simple trick to keep bananas from turning brown is to splash lemon juice (fresh or bottled) over the fruit. Keep these in a plastic bag until ready to use the bananas. This works great on apples and pears also.

simply squeeze some lemon juice over them. You can use fresh, or bottled lemon juice (which I usually have on hand). No need to measure a certain amount, just squeeze a generous amount over the fruit and toss the fruit to coat. Make sure to cover the fruit tightly with plastic wrap, or place it in an air-tight container until you are ready to eat it.

Recipe: http://www.centercutcook.com/how-to-prevent-fruit-from-turning-brown/

simply squeeze some lemon juice over them. You can use fresh, or bottled lemon juice (which I usually have on hand). No need to measure a certain amount, just squeeze a generous amount over the fruit and toss the fruit to coat. Make sure to cover the fruit tightly with plastic wrap, or place it in an air-tight container until you are ready to eat it.

Recipe: http://www.centercutcook.com/how-to-prevent-fruit-from-turning-brown/

Thanks to cleanandscentsible for the idea.

Healthy Cookies

My daughter has made these with the help of the granddaughters. Lots of fun for the kids to make and even better to eat.

Kiwi Turtle Cake

A delightful cake with coconut, bananas and dates. We also love Arizona Date Cake from page 140 in Tastes & Treasures cookbook. The recipe was given to the Historical League from the family of Congressman John J. Rhodes.

Fruity Turtle Cake 

Ingredients:
Peeled, and thinly sliced kiwis (as many as it takes to cover shell)

Bananas, thinly sliced, lengthwise

Coconut flesh (1/2 cup)

Coconut water (1/4 cup)

Dates, pitted (1/2 cup)



Directions:
1. Put coconut flesh, coconut water, and dates into a blender, and blend on high until you get an "icing" like consistency (not too liquidy, if it is too thin, add more dates)


2. Start with layered bananas on the bottom, followed by some coconut date "icing", followed by thinly sliced kiwi rounds, and then some more "icing", and then more banana slices. Continue this pattern, moving slowly into the center until you get a 1/2 circle shape on your plate.


3. Next, layer the 1/2 circle with thinly sliced kiwi rounds to make the green colour of the turtle shell.


4. Make the head, feet, and tail, simply by carving out individual kiwis to get the shapes as pictured in the picture below.


from:Live Love Fruit
RECIPE:


Banana Split Bites for Your Valentine

Something fun to make for Valentine's Day. The kids will love it. Tastes & Treasures cookbook also has a delicious dessert - Chocolate Peanut Treats page 162. Yummmm.

Chocolate Covered Banana Split Bites
Makes about 24

• 24 – 1″ pieces from about 1/2 small pineapple
• 2 large bananas, sliced into 24 bite sized pieces
• 12 small to medium sized strawberries sliced in half

• 150g(5oz) good quality dark chocolate (I used 72%) (this is between 3/4 – 1C if using a cup measurement for chocolate chips)
• 2 tsp coconut oil
• chopped nuts or coconut for rolling in (optional)

Chop fruit and assemble into stacks.  Press a popsicle stick through the fruit and freeze until solid.
Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper, wax paper or a silicone mat.  Melt the chocolate along with the coconut oil either in a double boiler or in the microwave using short intervals and stirring frequently to prevent burning.  Once completely melted, remove the frozen fruit from the freezer.  Dip the fruit in the chocolate, let the excess drip off for a minute and then place on the sheet to harden.  If desired, dip the chocolate covered side immediately in chopped nuts or coconut before placing on the sheet to harden.  Once the chocolate is completely hardened (you may need to place in the freezer for it to harden completely), remove from the sheet and place in an airtight container to store in the freezer until ready to serve.
When ready to serve, remove them from the freezer and let sit at room temperature for a couple minutes before serving – if you can wait that long. 
I don’t recommend letting these sit for any length of time at room temperature though as they will thaw and the fruit – especially the banana – will not be pleasant.  Please enjoy these within a few minutes of removing from the freezer.

Need Fresh Fruit for My Oatmeal

Fresh peaches, blueberries and bananas in Steel Cut Oatmeal. Adding yogurt is also delicious. What a great way to start the day.

It's like Yogurt Parfait, page 52 in Tastes & Treasures, recipe from Hassayampa Inn but with cooked oatmeal instead of granola.

Yogurt Parfaits
2 cups fresh blueberries
2 cups fresh raspberries
2 cups granola
Strawberry yogurt
Mix the blueberries and raspberries in a bowl. Alternate layers of the berries and granola in parfait glasses or wine glasses and top with the yogurt.
Note: You can use homemade or commercial granola and low-fat yogurt in this recipe.
Serves 6

Banana, Walnut, Blueberry Muffin

Talk about sharing a muffin . . . This one fed all 6 of us traveling in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Made by the Byzantine Friars from the Society of St John in Eagle River, Michigan, this muffin was filled with banana, blueberries and walnuts. Although a little dry, it was worth it.

The Friars sell their home made jams, jellies, muffins and honey at the Jampot down the road from their Monastery. This store is their monetary support and tourists from all over come to their tiny shop. The line to buy their goods on a sunny Saturday afternoon was to the door.

The blueberry muffins from La Posada, pg 62 Tastes & Treasures, are moist and flavorful. Adding banana and walnuts would make them comparable to the Friar's fare.

Thanksgiving Day with ABC Cake

We celebrated Thanksgiving with friends from Calgary, Alberta and British Columbia even though their celebration was in October. The turkey was done to perfection and Georgia prepared all the trimmings. Eight of us enjoyed the weather with appetizers on the patio, then the BIG meal followed by a hike up the mountain to watch the sunset. A little wine to toast the day was great although I don't know why we carried the stemware up that mountain of rocks. Dessert beckoned us home in the twilight and we enjoyed ABC Cake pg192 on the patio around a roaring fire. A dense, moist cake filled with dried cranberry and dried apricot and hint of banana, it was a great way to end a beautiful November day in Arizona.

Apricot-Banana-Cranberry Cake (ABC Cake)

2 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups sugar
2 large very ripe bananas, mashed
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, melted
6 ounces dried cranberries
6 ounces dried apricots, chopped
1 1/4 cups walnuts, chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together. Beat the sugar, bananas, eggs and vanilla in a mixing bowl until blended. Add the buttermilk and butter and beat until smooth. Beat in the flour mixture. Fold in the cranberries, apricots and walnuts just until combined.
Spoon the batter into a buttered and floured 12-cup bundt pan and bake for 60-70 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Invert onto the wire rack to cool completely.
Serves 16