Fried Bananas with a Honey and Cinnamon Glaze

This was SO GOOD. I feel like I say everything on this blog is "so good", but if you make one thing, make this! (And maybe the Cookie in a Cup... I'm a big dessert person). I also used coconut oil, which I think is the weirdest thing because I use it for moisturizer but you can also eat it... but it has crazy health properties so I thought why not?

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp. coconut oil (could use olive oil if you don't have it)
• 1 under-ripe banana
• 1 tbsp. honey
• 1 tbsp. water
• Dash of cinnamon

Directions:

1. Cut up banana into slices
2. Heat coconut oil over medium heat on a skillet
3. Add slices of banana to hot skillet and make sure both sides are cooked until brown
4. Remove from heat
5. In a separate bowl, whisk together honey and water
6. Pour honey mixture on top of banana
7. Dash cinnamon on top

We ate this on top of vanilla ice cream. Amazing. The hot banana paired with the cold ice cream, and the glaze of the honey. Yum.

Enjoy!

Kelsey

Original recipe here

Chicken Caesar Wrap

There is a place called Chief's Pub in Lake Forest that has one of the best chicken caesar wraps I've ever had. Whenever we go out to dinner and the restaurant has a chicken caesar wrap (which most places these days do), Andrew and I always wonder if it's as good as Chiefs. Living in Chicago, we don't make it to Chief's very often, so I decided to try to make my own. Good... but still not as good as Chief's.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 c. shredded chicken (I used rotisserie chicken)
• 1/4 c. Caesar dressing (I like my wraps to have a lot of dressing in them)
• 1/8 c. Parmesan cheese
• Croutons
• Romaine lettuce
• Tortilla 

Directions:

1. Mix chicken, dressing, and cheese
2. Roll out onto tortilla
3. Rinse lettuce and tear into pieces
4. Top with croutons and lettuce

What I like about Cheif's is their shell because it's a lot crispier (it might be fried?) and this was pretty chewy, so I think next time I might grill the tortilla first like I would for a quesadilla with butter. I'll let you know if I try it and if it's better!

Enjoy!

Kelsey

Steak Fajitas

Whenever Andrew and I go out to dinner at a Mexican restaurant, he always orders the steak fajitas, so I wanted to make this for him. We got the meat from this butcher down the road called Paulina Meat Market. Our neighbor works there and everything we've ever gotten has been fresh and delicious. I can't wait to make this meal again!

Ingredients:

• One pound skirt steak (when you buy the skirt steak, ask the butcher to tenderize the meat for you)
• Two red bell peppers
• Two green bell peppers
• Two onions
• Taco seasoning
• Fajitas
• Shredded cheddar cheese
• Sour cream

Directions:

1. Cut up skirt steak into strips
2. Clean and cut up bell peppers and onions into thick strips
3. Cook meat according to taco seasoning directions
4. While meat is cooking, saute onions and peppers over medium heat with olive oil
5. After draining meat, add back to pan with onions, peppers until meat is fully browned and peppers and onions have softened and cooked a bit in the meat and seasonings
6. Add meat, peppers, and onions to fajita shells with any topping you wish

Enjoy!

Kelsey

Pancake Dippers stuffed with Brown Sugar Crusted Bacon

As my friend Natalee said, "Anything 'stuffed with brown sugar encrusted bacon' is just fine by me." That's all that needs to be said.

Ingredients:

• One pound thick cut bacon
• 1/4 c. brown sugar
• Bisquick pancake batter (plus ingredients to make pancakes) (I used a waffle mix which is why I think my "dippers" didn't brown as much as I wanted... use Bisquick!)
• Syrup

Directions:

1. Make Brown Sugar Crusted Bacon 
2. Heat griddle to 300 degrees
3. Make Bisquick
4. Put the Bisquick into a Ziploc bag and seal
5. Cut one corner of the Bisquick bag
6. Pour a long strip of Bisquick onto griddle the length and width of bacon
7. Press one piece of bacon in each Bisquick strip, and cover with more Bisquick
8. Cook until brown
9. Cook and flip until brown
10. Take off of griddle and dip into syrup

Enjoy!

Kelsey

Original recipe here

Brown Sugar Crusted Bacon

I love bacon. While obviously not the best food for you, I like to treat myself to it from time to time. Wanting to spruce my bacon up a little bit, I decided to add a brown sugar crust to it this time. Outcome - delicious!

Ingredients:

• 1 pound thick cut bacon
• 1/4 c. brown sugar

Directions:

1. Line baking sheet with parchment paper
2. Lay out bacon onto the baking sheets (use two if necessary)
3. Sprinkle brown sugar on top of bacon
4. Place bacon in COLD oven (this is the trick to the best bacon!!)
5. Turn oven to 375 degrees
6. Cook about 30 minutes. Check often!! I forgot to set a timer and all of my bacon burned... though that's how I like it so I wasn't concerned. But check often if you don't like it as well done as I do!

Enjoy!

Kelsey

Four Cheese Grilled Cheese

Why only use one type of cheese when you can use four?!

I love cheese. Any kind.  So naturally, grilled cheese is one of my favorite meals. When I went to make this and went to grab the American cheese, I also noticed the cream cheese sitting in the refrigerator and thought, "Well why don't I also add that?!" And then I saw the Parmesan. And then the shredded cheddar. And that's where this meal came from.

Ingredients:

• Two slices of bread (I think white works best with grilled cheese but any kind works)
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp cream cheese
• 2 slices American cheese
• 1/8 c. Parmesan cheese
• 1/8 c. shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

1. Head grill over medium heat
2. Butter one side of each slice of bread and pile cheese on top
3. Grill sandwich about 5 minutes on each side or until all cheese is melted

Enjoy!

Kelsey

Apple Hand Pies

By the time we got to these, I didn't think I could eat another bite, but these were so delicious I managed to eat a few. Warm and crispy and gooey.

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 c. flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 8 oz. cold butter, cut into little cubes
• 1/4 c. sour cream
• 1/2 c. ice-cold water
• 4 tsp. lemon juice
• 1/2 c. raisins
• 1 c. rum, brandy, or water
• 3 tbsp. butter
• 3 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and chopped into 1/4 inch pieces
• 2 tbsp. dark brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 c. toasted pecans
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp. water
• 1/3 c. coarse sugar

Directions:

1. Pulse the flour, salt, and 8 oz. butter in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade attachment jut until it looks like coarse sand
2. In another bowl, whisk sour cream, water, and lemon juice
3. Slowly add the liquid mixture to the flour mixture, pulsing just until a rough ball forms
4. Pour out onto a lightly floured board and knead until just combined. Pat dough into a ball, wrap in plastic and refrigerate 30 minutes
5. Cook raisins and run in small saucepan on medium heat until the raisins are softened and plump. Drain.
6. Melt 3 tbsp. butter in a large skillet on medium heat. Stir in the apples, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Cook 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently, just until the apples start to soften. Remove from heat; stir in raisins and nuts. Spread the apple mixture onto a baking sheet to stop the cooking process and allow the apples to cool quickly. 
7. Divide chilled dough in half. Roll each portion of dough to a thickness of about 1/8 inch. Use a 4 1/2 inch round biscuit cutter to cut out circles of dough. Transfer dough circles to parchment lined baking sheets (scraps can be re-rolled and cut again)
8. Beat egg and water. Brush each circle with a very light coating of beaten egg, going all the way to the edge of the circle. Place about 1 tablespoon of apple filling onto center of each dough circle. Gently fold over, using a fork to crimp edges together. Refrigerate 30 minutes
9. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Removed chilled pies and brush them with the remaining egg. Use a small knife to slash 2 to 3 small steam vents in the top of each pie. Dust each pie with a sprinkling of coarse sugar. Bake 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on wire rack.

Enjoy!

Kelsey

Posted with permission from The Wooden Spoon