Tea and Blue Ribbon Banana Muffins

Today I want to share with your a family recipe.  I have been making these banana muffins since I was little.  Several times my brothers and I entered them in the county fair and walked away with blue ribbons thanks to my mother's recipe.  My poor recipe card is worn out from the use that it gets.

I have received complimentary samples of these products to review.

 The opinions here are 100% mine!  This post contains affiliate links.

I inherited my grandmother's Kitchen Aid Mixer.  It still works like a champ!

I store all of my cupcake wrappers in a Ball Canning Jar in the baking cupboard.  They keep their shape, and the jar is easier to spot than those little packages they come in.

I use my baking scoop to fill the wrappers in the baking pan. It gives them a better shape and a more even size.

I always let my muffins rest on the counter for a few minutes after scooping and before putting them in the oven.  It gives them much nicer crowns.

While my muffins were baking, I tried out some new Chai tea that we got.

Chai tea lattes (tea with lots of milk) are a favorite at our house. This tea was no exception. One big pot of water and the whole family was happy. It has full flavor and is very aromatic. We added raspberry honey.

I also got a new infuser.  This time I tried it on hot tea, but soon I will be doing some iced tea with it.

We are big loose tea drinkers in our house, so this fancy stainless tea set was a must have for us. 

 It provided the option to get variable strengths to fit all our taste buds while giving us a clean cup of tea. I am not a big fan of lots of sediment in the bottom of my tea cut, but I enjoy my tea strong. This fine mesh strainer provided me with the best of both worlds.

I finished baking the muffins, brewed myself a cup of Chai, and enjoyed the quiet.

Spiralized Roasted Potatoes and Onions

Our family loves roasted potatoes with onions.  I bake them in the winter months and roll them in aluminum foil for the grill in the summer.  The seasoning on the potatoes varies depending on the meat we are having with them.  My basic recipe gets better here because I now have a veggie spiralizer and grinders for fresh salt and pepper.

I have a fairly large spiralizer that suctions to the counter and has multiple blades for slicing and spiralizing in different sizes.

For this recipe I just used freshly ground salt and pepper.  We use a peppercorn mix and Himalayan pink salt.  You can add garlic, chives, parsley, or any other seasoning that you like.

I ran six red skin potatoes through the spiralizer to create long, flat slices of potatoes.  I like this better than hand slicing the potatoes because they come out even, which makes cooking easier.

I then repeated the spiralizing to slice the onions.  Onions don't come out in long spirals, but are thinly sliced.  I did have to cut the potato ribbons into sections, so they were easier to serve.

I finished the side dish with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of salt and pepper.  Baking happened at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes.  You can broil for the last 2-3 minutes if you want your potatoes a little crispier.

Here are the exact products used in this post.

 I have received complimentary versions of these products in exchange for reviews and promotions.  The opinions here are 100% mine!  This post contains affiliate links.

Spinach, Pear, and Smoked Gouda Salad

What is better than crunchy greens, sweet fruit, and smokey cheese?  Not much in my book, which is why this simple salad and dressing make the perfect lunch or a tasty precursor to any dinner.

The salad ingredients:

Spinach

Sliced Pear

Smoked Gouda

Rinse your greens, in this case spinach, first in cold water.  You can buy the pre-washed stuff in the bag, but the bunches are usually less expensive and haven't been treated.  Spinach can be sandy, so sometimes I will soak it in a bath of ice water.  Then dry; you can use a spinner or just let it drip on a towel.

Next core and thinly slice the pear.  I only used half a pear for this salad, so the other half was quartered for Schmurtz's lunch the next day.  Top with sliced smoked Gouda cheese right before serving to prevent the salad and cheese from becoming slimy.  I sliced the Gouda, but you could shave or shred.

Dressing Ingredients:

1 Tablespoon of Balsamic Vinegar of Modena

1/4 Teaspoon of honey

Whisk together.  I did this in a measuring cup before transferring to the dressier table service.  I also prefer to allow each person to dress their own salad as little or as much as they like.  

Both of the girls loved it, and there was even enough for me to take for lunch the next day.

Premium balsamic is worth its weight because a little holds a big punch.  This is the balsamic we used.

 

We received a sample of the balsamic vinegar used in this post for review and use in a recipe, but all words and opinions are 100% our own.  This post contains affiliate links from which we will earn a small commission at no cost to you.  Thank you for supporting our endeavor if you choose to shop.

Cookbook: The Mexican Slow Cooker

The Mexican Slow Cooker by Deborah Schneider provides tasty recipes for authentic Mexican cuisine that can be prepared in any slow cooker.  

Mexican food is a weekly menu item at our house and usually consists of tacos, enchiladas, or fajitas.  It was nice to have new recipes to try out that didn't take any more time that our usual Mexican staples.

Every recipe in this book is very authentic and some are not the recipes you typically find in Mexican restaurants in the United States.  Any home cook can be successful with these recipes while creating authentic flavor. All of Deborah Schneider's recipes provide straight-forward instructions with easy-to-follow steps.

Because the ingredients in the recipes are authentic Mexican (epazote, cotija cheese, etc) and not chain-store substitutions, you may have to visit a Mexican grocer (these exists in most major cities) to gather some ingredients.  There are many options available to substitute ingredients in her comprehensive glossary of ingredients if there is something you cannot find.

One of the best features is the full page, color photographs of the recipes made our mouths water as we tried to choose what to try first in our slow cooker.  Also, she provides the Spanish names of the recipes with an English translation right below, so while you are expanding your horizons, you can also be sure of what you are cooking.

Some of our favorite recipes include:

Sopa Azteca (Chicken Soup with Tortillas and Avacado)

Chili Verde (Pork in Green Chile Salsa)

Torta del Tamal (Tamal Pie)

Carne con Rajas (Slow cooker fajitas)

The Mexican Slow Cooker is perfect for the cook looking to branch out of traditional Mexican-American cuisine.

About the Author

 I have received a complimentary copy of this book to review from the publisher.

 The opinions here are 100% mine!  This post contains affiliate links.