Pumpkin and Banana Bread with Walnuts and Raisins

Ingredients

• 2 ripe bananas, mashed
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 1/3 cups canned pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 cup raisins (optional)
• 1/2 cup walnut pieces (optional)
• What I added: 1 cup walnuts, 3/4 cups raisins, more of pumpkin pie spice and ground cinnamon, applesauce INSTEAD OF honey, an extra egg, and more sugar substitute INSTEAD OF sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease an 9x5 inch loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl, stir together the mashed banana, eggs, oil, pumpkin, honey and sugar. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, pie spice and cinnamon, stir into the banana mixture until just combined. Fold in the raisins and walnuts if desired. Pour batter into the prepared pan.
3. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Cool loaf in the pan for 10 minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool completely. 

Attempt at Meatloaf and Green Bean and Mushroom Casserole

Meatloaf topped with Turkey Bacon

 

 

2 lbs. ground beef
1 can tomato sauce
onions and green bell peppers chopped
seasoning: caldo de tomato
BBQ potato chips broken
broken crackers
strips of turkey bacon on top

Green Bean and Mushroom Casserole

1 can green beans
1 can cream of musroom soup
1 can mushrooms
french fried onions
milk

Harlingen Raspa Stand

When i go down to Harlingen, I always have to get a picadilly! It is a raspa (snowcone) with pickles, koolaid powder, chili lucas powder, and i think that might be it. I also love mexican corn. It has corn, mayonaise, chili lucas powder, and queso blanco! Good thing I have tasted anything this good in San Antonio, otherwise I would gain so much weight!

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Break-fast

1 egg, half a tomato, handful of cooked spinach, 1/4 small avocado, and of course cheeeeese!

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Applied Food Science Lab

In my Dietetics program, we have lab once a week. And its not a boring chemistry or biology lab, like I have had in the past. It is a lab dedicated to cooking and experimenting with different types of cooking techniques. The following pictures are foods that we cooked in one lab time. Of course, we split the work in between different teams to yield more food to eat! Yummmm. The best thing about this is that I get to improve my skills in the kitchen AND eat free food! YESS! :)

plate of samples

Braised carrots and leeks

parsnips

fruit crumble

coffee mousse, soy smoothie, fruit smoothie

In addition to these, the lab also experimented with other food products. We do so much in so little time. It is great learning experience.

*I WILL POST SELECTED RECIPES LATER. IF INTERESTED IN A CERTAIN RECIPE, THEN LET ME KNOW*


Going out of town right now so I will come back and add more to this blog. Let me know what you think!

Sopapilla Cheesecake for my Grandma's Birthday and Anniversary

Layers

Sopapilla Cheesecake

Original recipe from  allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened 1 cup white sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 (8 ounce) packages refrigerated

crescent rolls 1/2 cup melted butter 1/2 cup white sugar 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions:

1.	Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Prepare a 9x13 inch baking dish with cooking spray.
2.	Beat the cream cheese with 1 cup of sugar and the vanilla extract in a bowl until smooth; set aside.
3.	Unroll the cans of crescent roll dough, and use a rolling pin to shape each sheet into 9x13 inch rectangles. Press one sheet into the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Evenly spread the cream cheese mixture into the baking dish, then cover with the remaining piece of crescent dough, and brush with melted butter. Stir together 1/2 cup of sugar with the cinnamon in a small bowl, and sprinkle evenly over the top of the cheesecake.
4.	Bake in the preheated oven until the crescent dough has puffed and turned golden brown, about 30 minutes. Allow to cool 10 minutes before serving.

Nutrition Information Servings Per Recipe: 12 Calories: 378

Amount Per Serving Total Fat: 22.2g Cholesterol: 41mg Sodium: 403mg

Amount Per Serving Total Carbs: 40.4g     Dietary Fiber: 0.1g Protein: 4.2g

I modified the above recipe by using the following:
2/3 cup Splenda brown sugar instead of 1 cup white sugar
less than 1/3 cup of white sugar (ran out of brown sugar) and small amount of Splenda brown sugar for the white sugar in the topping
Smart Balance spray and a spoonful of unsweetened applesauce instead of melted butter
All products bought were reduced fat and light (crescent rolls and cream cheese, respectively)

With all these modifications, I was able to reduce the calories to about 220 calories per serving!!
This dessert was very flavorful and yummy!! It can probably still be altered because it was still super sweet!
My family could not stop eating it and wants it to stay the way I made it. :)

Romantic Breakfast :)

I had fun with breakfast this weekend! :) My boyfriend got me roses and I decided to have a romantic breakfast with myself before work... oh the rose assortment set the mood so well! :P
And the breakfast consists of southwestern style egg whites that were mixed with peppers already, mushrooms, bits of squash, and tomatoes. I have to be sure to get those vegetables in my diet! to try to get to 3 servings... yesss!