Peanut Butter Banana Breakfast Bars

A couple weeks ago I was travelling to North Carolina for work. It was an early flight and, like every other time I've had an early flight, I couldn't sleep the night before. Typical. 

So, like any rational person would do in that situation, I baked.
I am a couple weeks away from leaving Colorado to go back to Iowa, so I am trying to get as much of my food cooked and gone as possible. I took stock of my kitchen. This included some old bananas, a little oatmeal and honey, and whole wheat flour. I decided on Peanut Butter Banana Breakfast Bars, since I wouldn't have anything for breakfast otherwise.
I had never made them before, but I skimmed a recipe and made changes to use up what I had on hand. That's what you should do. Anything you need to get rid of, just throw it in here. It's a very forgiving recipe.

Peanut Butter Banana Breakfast Bars
adapted from Eat. Drink. Love - Banana Oat Breakfast Cookies

Ingredients:

2 mashed bananas

3/4 cup peanut butter - crunchy or creamy

1/4 - 1/3 cup honey

1/2 cup vegetable oil (or unsweetened applesauce for a low-fat option)

1 tsp vanilla extract 

1 cup rolled oats 

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup chocolate chips, nuts, or dried fruit (optional)

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 350F.

Combine bananas, peanut butter, honey, oil/applesauce, and vanilla in a bowl. In another bowl combine oats, flour, and baking soda. Slowly add dry ingredients to wet, until a thick batter forms. Stir in any chocolate chips, nuts, or dried fruit. 

Spoon dough on to a greased or parchment lined baking sheet, about 1/4 cup per bar. Form into bars or cookies. Bake 15-20 minutes. 

UPDATE: I have been making these as an rushing off to class/work/meeting breakfasts. I just make  them according to these directions, bake, and put into individual snack-size freezer bags. I can grab one on the way out the door and it's thawed by the time I get where I'm going. I got a little overzealous with the last batch and made 1/3 cup bars, so I've been splitting them in half and pushing them off on my friends. 

Beef Bites

Today is a very exciting day for me. I am at a photo shoot for my first professionally developed recipe. As an intern for the NCBA, I have been involved in the recipe development and testing process throughout the summer. A couple weeks ago I was finally given my own recipe baby. The concept is a beef version of the McNugget, but using beef cube steak instead of chicken...whatever-nuggets-are-made-of. This recipe will soon be up on http://www.beefitswhatsfordinner.com/, after testing and nutritional analysis have been completed.

Beef Bites

Ingredients:
1 lb cube steak
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt (optional)
1 tsp pepper
2 whole eggs or 3 egg whites
3 cups crushed potato chips - I recommend ruffle-style chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400F
1. Cut cube steak into 1''x1'' pieces. Set aside.
2. To crush potato chips: put chips in a gallon ziplock bag, leaving a small opening to vent air. Crush using a rolling pin, mallet, or large vodka bottle...whatever you have on hand, to about the size of bread crumbs.
3. In a wide shallow dish, combine flour, salt, and pepper.
4. Put egg and potato chips into seperate wide shallow bowls.
5. Dredge cube steak pieces in flour mix, then egg, then potato chips until fully coated. Place on a greased or parchment lined sheet tray.
6. Bake for 7-10 minutes, until internal temperature reaches 160F.
Pictures will be up soon.

Kitchen Chaos

This summer I am living in Denver, Co, while I intern with the National Cattlemen's Beef Association. I was really fortunate and found housing with a cousin of a friend. The woman I am living with is really nice and we get along really well. We both love to cook, which is great. Mostly because I didn't have to bring any of my kitchen gadgets or utensils, but it does cause some logistics issues.

Our kitchen is overflowing. Our fridge, freezer, and pantry and are bursting. I'm not complaining, because it's a wonderful thing. However, I really need to go grocery shopping, but there is no where to put anything in my fridge. Cramping my style. 

Iced Coffee Bliss

Sometime last year between three jobs, being a full time student, and planning a wedding, I fell in love with iced coffee. Big time. It filled a void in my life that I thought only sleep could fill. Since then I have been trying to make the perfect "coffee shop" iced coffee at home, because frankly if I could afford to buy iced coffee every day I wouldn't have had three jobs. And I need it every day.
I NEED IT.
We're in love.

Well I finally figured out how to make it. The Pioneer Woman helped me. Do you know the Pioneer Woman? If not, go and meet her. She's a woman by my own heart. But first finish reading this.
I'm cool too.

Before I tell you the right way, here are the two wrong ways and why they are wrong.
1. Brewing fresh coffee and pouring it over ice cubes - bad life choice. The result is basically lukewarm coffee with little ice chunks floating around. Yuck. The melting ice also dilutes the coffee. Double yuck.
2. Brewing coffee, chilling it over night, and drinking it the next morning. This works pretty well and is what I did for a while, but there are a couple problems with it. The main problem I had with this was remembering to brew my coffee every night. The next problem is you are limited to the amount of coffee your coffee pot can hold, which for me and my little baby coffee pot, is 4 cups. This, for me, meant cleaning my coffee pot every day. I hate dishes more than any other chore on earth, so no, thank you.

The magic, glorious right way. 
Cold brewing. Yeah, that's a thing. I had never heard of this until a couple days ago and it solves all my iced coffee problems.

Acquire a pitcher, jug, tupperware dish, pot, or pan. Anything that is water tight and has a tight fitting lid will do. This can be done in larger batches, but the biggest pitcher I have is 2.25 quarts.

Grab your favorite coffee. I chose this one because it comes in these nifty little filter pack pod things, which means I can make it in one container with no strainers or cheesecloth or extra dishes. 

Put your coffee grounds into your pitcher. If you are using coffee pods, just drop the whole thing in. I use 4 coffee pods in my 2.25 quart pitcher. I find that iced coffee needs to be brewed extra strong or that coffee flavor gets lost in the cold sweetness of the final beverage.

Fill your pitcher with water. 

Put on the lid, leave it in the fridge for at least 8 hours. The longer you leave it, the stronger the coffee.

After your coffee has brewed: 

If you are using coffee grounds, get another container, a mesh strainer, and a couple sheets of cheesecloth. Line your strainer with cheese cloth and pour your coffee and grounds through the strainer into your second container. You will have to use a spoon to push out the last drops of coffee from the grounds. After you have squeezed every last drop of liquid gold from the grounds, dispose of them. 

If you are using pods, take them out and throw them away. 

Store your coffee in the fridge until you are ready to make your iced coffee. 

When you are ready to enjoy your coffee, find a glass. 

Fill it half way full with ice. Now if I was the kind of person that planned ahead, I would make frozen coffee cubes, but I'm not. If you wanted to do that, all you would have to do is take some of the coffee you just brewed, pour it in an ice tray, and freeze it.

Fill your glass about 2/3 of the way full with your cold coffee. 

Now you can sweet and dairy this up however you like it, but here is how I do it. 

WARNING: Not for the faint of heart. 

Sweeten your coffee with sweetened condensed milk, also known as nectar of the gods. You could use sugar or coffee creamer, but it just won't give you the same creamy, delicious sweetness. So do it. You won't look back. 

I use about 1 1/2 tablespoons to start with.  

Add milk or half and half. I used milk, because that's what I had on hand, about 2 or 3 tablespoons.

At this point you can add chocolate, vanilla, or hazelnut syrup, if you have those lying around. 

Stir, taste, and adjust coffee, sugar, or cream levels to your liking. 

Oops. You spilled it on the counter. Just lick it off. There's no shame in that, it's delicious.