TMTT--Banana Cinnamon Chip Cake

I love looking at the recipes from TMTT, there's a great group of bloggers there that share some yummy recipes!  Check out Lisa's Strawberry Cupcakes, I'm drooling. 

The second recipe I tried this weekend was Banana Cinnamon Chip Cake (from Two Peas and Their Pod). We always have bananas around (Small Fish loves them) and this is delicious! Keep an eye out for cinnamon chips (usually located right by the chocolate chips) at your local store.

Banana Cinnamon Chip Cake
from Two Peas and Their Pod

3 very ripe bananas
2 large eggs
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup cinnamon chips

For topping:
3 Tbsp. granulated sugar
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray an 8-inch square pan with cooking spray.

In a medium mixing bowl, mash the bananas well with a fork or potato masher. Add in the eggs and vanilla and mix until combined. Stir in the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and sugar.

Add ¾ cup of the cinnamon chips, and stir briefly. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and set aside.

In a small bowl, stir together the topping ingredients. Sprinkle the mixture evenly over the batter in the pan, and top with the remaining ¼ cup chips.

Bake for 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan on a wire rack for at least 15 minutes before serving.

TMTT-Stuffed Border Burgers

I missed TMTT, I love blogs for recipes! Go visit everyone and see all the yummies they came up with! Lisa's post is about her friend's lasagna. We had lasagna too this weekend. MMM!

Ok, a disclaimer here. I did not follow this recipe exactly.

I did make the TexMex sauce, but didn't like it...I'm a plain ole ketchup and mustard gal or flavored mayo gal when it comes to my burger...oh, I do like pizza sauce if I'm making Italian Burgers. So I didn't use that. I don't know if it was the combo of sour cream and ketchup or what.

I also did not use the olives, as we don't like olives.

I also did not stuff the burgers, but mixed everything together and topped it with the cheese. For some reason I found it difficult to make 12 burgers from 1.5 lbs of ground beef (one for the bottom, one for the top).

Stuffed Border Burgers
Southern Living magazine, May 2004
1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 (4.25-ounce) can chopped ripe olives, drained (omitted)
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon fajita seasoning
6 (1-ounce) slices Monterey Jack cheese with peppers (sold as Pepperjack round here)
6 onion rolls, split and toasted
Tex Mex Secret Sauce (recipe follows)
Toppings: shredded lettuce, sliced tomatoes, guacamole

Combine first 6 ingredients.
Shape mixture into 12 (4-inch) patties.
Fold cheese slices into quarters; place cheese on each of 6 patties.
Top with remaining 6 patties, pressing to seal edges.
Grill, covered with grill lid, over medium-high heat (350° to 400°) 4 to 5 minutes on each side or until done.
Serve on rolls with Tex-Mex Secret Sauce and desired toppings.
Makes 6 servings

Tex Mex Secret Sauce
Southern Living, May 2004
1/2 cup sour cream
1/3 cup ketchup
1 (4.5-ounce) can chopped green chiles
1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro
Stir together all ingredients. Cover and chill until ready to serve. Makes 1 cup

Tempt My Tummy Tuesday!

Isn't the Thanksgiving TMTT too cute? Visit Lisa & Lana and the rest of us for other TMTT ideas!

Next month everyone will start sharing their favorite cookies and other goodies! Whoo-hoo! Can't wait for that!

One of my favorite fall recipes is my Chili recipe. It's easy and makes a bunch! Usually I can feed DH dinner twice, make chili dogs twice and some nachos out of one batch.

Meg's Chili

1.5-2 lbs ground beef

2 (29oz each) cans tomato sauce

2 (10-15oz each) can tomatoes and chilis/jalepenos (I say 10-15 oz, because I find them in all different sizes)

1 can (15oz) dark red kidney beans, undrained

1 can (15oz) chili beans, undrained

2 packets chili seasoning (I like to use one hot, one mild--depends on your family)

1 tsp sugar

a sprinkle of Old Bay if you have it

I just dump everything in my crockpot (bean juice and all)! Cook on low all day, 8-12 hours, leave the lid off the last few hours to thicken. I don't bother browning the meat, if you like to, feel free! It's versatile, if you want to add more beans, do so! Enjoy!

Tempt My Tummy Tuesday

It's my first time and Lisa asked for quick meals. I try to remember to do a protein, veg and starch...usually the sides are no problem, it's the protein that gets me! Stop on by for other TMTT ideas!

Some of my favorite quick meals are:

Best Grilled Pork Chops, I freeze the marinade with the chops so all I have to do is take it out and defrost. By the time I cook the chops on the grill, I can cook off a box of rice pilaf and heat up some peas.

Crescent Dogs (Tube of crescent rolls, 4 slices cheese, some mustart and hot dogs. Cut cheese in half diagonally, unroll the crescent rolls, split them up into 8. A squirt of mustart on each, half a slice of cheese and roll up. Bake at 350 for 15-20 min, til done.)

Frozen ravioli or stuffed shells...cook according to directions, add some pasta sauce (doctor it up or use your own) and cook some garlic bread. Add a salad and you are set!

Hamburgers are easy, as are hot dogs or turkey cheddarwursts along with baked beans, tater tots, etc.

Sloppy Joes are quick and one of my faves!