Kids' favorite - Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

It's one of those foods that take no time to make, but - rather unfortunately - take no time to disappear off the table...

Here is the recipe I use all the time:

First get your dry ingredients together in a big bowl:

• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 3/4 cup sugar (or less... I usually go with less)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Then get to the other ingredient in a different bowl:

• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt (or buttermilk, or sour cream, or applesauce... I've done it all and it works just fine... I know, I know... I am a very undisciplined cook ;))
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix the liquid ingredients well and add them to the flour mixture. I usually just give it a couple of stirs with a spatula and leave it to moisten until I get ready the final set of ingredients:

• 1 cup mashed ripe (overripe even better!) bananas. It's about 2 medium bananas.
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips. I always use miniature ones as I find that the regular sized are too big for my kids and they get super dirty with them (don't get me wrong, they still get dirty, just not super dirty :D).

Ok, now add your banana-choco mixture to the other bowl and mix. They always write in recipes "do not over mix" and I'm always afraid to not over mix but I still don't really know when that is so I just give it a couple more stirs with the spatula and it's ready to go into the muffin pans.

So now you're ready to put your mixture in the pans and off they go into the oven: 375F for about 20 minutes.

This will make about 16 regular sized muffins. I double the ingredients, bake a whole lot of them, leave some (a lot - in my opinion, not enough - in my kids' opinion!) on the table and freeze the rest. Then when we need them, I'll pop them into the microwave for 15 sec (one muffin) and they're just like out of the oven!

Bon appetit!

The food I love... Meatballs Bonanza

So this it how it goes... It does not mean that it's the right way, it's just the way I do it :).

I start with the meat. I either buy the trio ground meat (beef+pork+veal) or I buy separately beef and pork, cut them into portions when I get home, mix half and half and freeze them for later.

So take your ground meat, put it in a big bowl and start adding stuff. To about 2.5-3 pounds of meat I will add:

• about 1.5 tsp of salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• dried parsley flakes
• dried garlic (or garlic powder)
• dehydrated onion flakes
• some paprika (smoked paprika)
• breadcrumbs (I like more than less, even though my mom always says that people used to add lots of breadcrumb because they were too poor to fill the meatballs with meat :D)
• 2 eggs
• some milk (you'll have to eyeball that. The idea is to make the meat a bit smoother. So you might start with about 1/2 cups of milk and see from there)

At this point it will look something like that: 

(Ignore the bowl with the dough, the picture was meant for another recipe)

Once you have all our spices in, get down and dirty with it :D. Dip your hands and mix it all very well. I make this big ball in my hand and kind of throw it from one hand into another to “beat” it into a very smooth mix (my kids adore this part!).

And this is how I like it:

(Ignore the other bowl once again ;) ).

Now get your baking sheets ready. Line them with parchment paper.

Get your plate with breadcrumb ready (I also add some crushed Kellogs corn flakes yummy!)

Get your bowl of water ready. You will dip your fingers in it while making the meatballs to keep the meat sticking to your hands (don't overdo it though, cause your hands will be too slippery if they're too wet).

Now start shaping them. Take a bit of meat and roll it between your palms. Once you like what you see put it in the plate with breadcrumb and roll it on all the sides. Put it on a baking sheet one close to another.

When you're done, place them in a pre-heated to 395F oven for 35-40 minutes.

Now they're out of the oven:

Done!

When the meatballs are cooled, place them into ziplocks and they go into the freezer until you need them. I add them when the dish is almost ready as they only need to be heated through, not cooked :).

Still frozen, waiting to be added to the pasta sauce:

Bon appetit!