Wednesday/Thursday Winners

 Just as a precursor, those of you who are Utahans: There is a deal today on KSL deals where you can get an extra 20% off all of their deals. Just use the promo code 20extra a checkout. Totally awesome. We definitely got one for Los Hermanos. Here is the link to the site.


Dessert first!
Cooking Light Caramelized Banana Bread with Brown Butter Icing

Ingredients:
4 tablespoons butter, divided
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
3 medium ripe bananas
1/2 cup buttermilk
3 tablespoons canola oil
2 tablepsoons rum (optional; can be replaced with 1-2 teaspoons rum extract or 1-2 teaspoons vanilla extract)
2 large eggs
9 ounces (about 2 cups) all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup powdered sugar
2 teaspoons milk or half and half
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 9×5″ loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
Slice the bananas. Set aside.
Over medium-high heat, melt 3 tablespoons butter. Add the bananas and brown sugar and saute for 4 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and cool for 10 minutes.
Place the banana mixture in a large bowl or the bowl of an electric stand mixer. Beat on medium speed until smooth.
Combine the buttermilk, oil, rum or extracts, and eggs in a large liquid measuring cup. Set aside. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Beginning and ending with the flour mixture, alternately add it to the banana mixture, mixing on low speed until just combined.
Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan. Bake at 350 for 45-60 minutes or until golden brown on top and a pick inserted into the center comes out with moist crumbs clinging to it. Cool for 10 minutes and then remove the bread from the pan and cool completely on a wire rack.
To prepare the glaze, melt the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter in a small saucepan or skillet over medium-high heat for 2-3 minutes or until it begins to get brown and fragrant (careful…things can go south REALLY quickly. Be sure to remove from heat as soon as it starts to get brown.) Whisk in the powdered sugar and milk or half and half and drizzle over the cooled banana bread and allow the glaze to set before slicing. Supposedly makes 16 slices (ha).

*I totally burned my loaf on the outside, I like to blame my oven :o). After cutting the outside off, this bread was super delish!

Lunch:
Avocado Egg Salad

• 4 hard-boiled eggs
• 1 large avocado, cubed as you see above
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise or Vegenaise (we used it b/c we don't love mayo)
• 1 teaspoon curry or fenugreek powder
• Pinch of salt and pepper

*This was such a fun spin on regular old egg salad. The curry made it really yummy. I added some dill relish to mine and it gave it just the right zing that I like.

Dinner:
Crockpot Tortilla Soup

I adapted a recipe from my Crock Pot Best Loved Slow Cooker Recipes cookbook.

Here's what I threw in my Crock Pot:
-3 large chicken breasts
-2 cans undrained diced tomatoes
-fresh chopped green chiles (about 1/2 cup)
-1 yellow onion diced
-2 cloves minced garlic
-1/2 can of chicken broth (to start)
- 1 tsp cumin
-about 1 cup frozen corn
-1 can black beans drained
salt and pepper to taste
Cook this on low in your crock pot for about 6 hours.

Remove chicken from pot and shred with two forks, return to crock pot.

Add:
4 corn tortillas sliced into thin strips
2 tb fresh chopped cilantro
Remaining chicken broth if needed
Mix in and let warm through (just a few minutes is great)

Serve with sour cream, cheese, avocado, and tortilla chips.

*YUM! Leftovers were just as good.