Coke Zero Brownies & 5 Ingredient Banana Bread

Found the diet coke brownies on Pinterest (freakin' love Pinterest!). The recipe was found on this blog: http://www.eat-yourself-skinny.com/2012/04/diet-coke-brownies.html


 Anyway, the recipe calls for Diet Coke, but I used Coke Zero.

Ingredients:
 Low-fat Brownie mix
 Coke Zero


Directions:
 In a bowl, pour coke over brownie mix, stir w/ a fork or whisk. Grease the pan. Pour in the mixture, and bake for about 15-20 (until a knife or toothpick comes out clean when you poke it). The time depends on what type of pan you are using. I used a standard brownie pan (specifically said brownie pan on the label), and a mini-muffin pan. I checked them after 15 minutes. If they're not quite done I let them bake for another 2 minutes at a time....If they're really not done, I'll do 5 minutes at a time.




This is the BEST Banana Bread you'll ever eat!

Ingredients:

3 bananas (should be turning brown)

1 box yellow cake mix

walnuts, chopped (like a handful)

chocolate chips (about 1/2 a cup; more or less)

2 eggs

Directions: Pre-Heat oven to 350 degrees

 In a large bowl, mash up the bananas (mashed potato masher worked great!). Add in the other ingredients, and mix with a fork. Spray the pan/s with PAM. Pour in the batter. Bake for about 20 min. Do the knife/toothpick trick again like you would for the brownies.

 I made four mini loaves out of this mix.

Original recipe found here:

http://www.artsyfartsymama.com/2011/11/easy-banana-bread.html

Hopefully, this weekend I'll make it to one of the Valley's Haunted House attractions!!! That post will be coming on Monday! :)

 

                                                               All The Best, Candi

Apple Curry Chicken Chili

 Yesterday at work we had a fundraiser lunch. The people had a choice of either a hot dog w/ various sides or a bowl of chili w/ sides. Anyway, I made chili. I didn't want to bring in the same kind of chili as other people...so this is what I came up with. I posted on my Facebook, Apple Curry Chicken Chili, would you eat this? A lot of women said no, it sounded gross...the guys said they would. Well, the first one to knock it before she rocked it, wants the recipe lol. Everybody loved it, and it was the only one to be sold out of.  I got the last bowl, but still lol. Also, I made this over night in the crock-pot.

Ingredients:
1.5 cups chopped apples (small cubes)
1/2 cup of (unsweetened) apple sauce
1 lb ground chicken breast
1 tbs minced garlic (I think that equals 1 clove?)
1/2 tbs curry powder
1 small onion
1 big can kidney beans (the double size), drained and rinsed
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can chili beans, with juice
2 cans tex-mex fire roasted diced tomatoes w/ green chiles, with juice
1 can fire roasted tomatoes, with juice


Directions:
 Add a little oil to a skillet, and brown the chicken with the garlic. When the chicken is done, remove from the pan (go ahead and put it in the crock pot). Add a little more oil if needed (I actually used bacon grease, b/c I had it sitting there). Saute the onions just  little. Once they start to brown a bit, put them in the crock pot.
 Now put everything else in the crock pot, stir it all up, and put the lid on. I cooked mine on low/10 hrs... You may need to stir it once or twice, but it's not required. You could also slow cook this in a pot on stove too.


Note: The apples.... I didn't use actual applesauce. I took another apple, and "mushed" it up in my Magic Bullet, then poured it in....Same concept basically as apple sauce.

I topped mine with Guacamole, plain Greek yogurt, and a sprinkle of shredded cheddar.

 I do not have a picture of this :( Maybe next time!

  Enjoy!
                       -Candi

Marker Miller Orchards

Happy Monday!!! (Yuck)
  On Saturday we went to the Marker Miller Orchards in Winchester, Va. We go every year, and is one of my favorite little traditions that Bailey (my kid) and I have. It is BEAUTIFUL there, and everyone is so nice. It is a huge PYO (Pick-Your-Own) farm. Depending on the season, they have blackberries, strawberries, raspberries,like 100 kinds of apples, pumpkins, and a few other things.
 They have lots to do and see. Inside of the store, they make their own Apple Cider donuts (and cinnamon buns, apple turnovers, etc). It smells like Heaven. They also have Caramel Apple Cookies, which are so freakin' good. On one side of the market are the baked goods, canned items (stuff in jars for those of you who don't know what canned means lol), an ice cream and fudge parlor, and a little wine tasting area (earned an extra 10pts for that one!).
 The other side of the market is the produce. They have various pumpkins, squashes, peppers, apples, gourds, potatoes, and onions. Also, cookbooks, hams, doggy treats, more stuff in jars, and the bathroom is over there too.
 Outside they have a few playground structures for the kids, a big pavilion with picnic tables, rocking chairs on the porch, and lots of room to run!
 They do have food you can buy also so you can do a picnic type of thing if you want. Saturday in the little cabin looking thing, they had cheeseburgers, hot dogs, Rt11 chips (Valley made!), drinks, and country ham sandwiches. Bailey and I had a cheeseburger, and it was pretty damn good. They're like the ones you get at the fair. And probably like the ones you can buy frozen and patted out already, but they just don't taste as awesome as when you buy them from a vendor and eat it outside :) It's better that way!
 
Okay, so we went and picked apples (Prices will be listed at the end). Picking apples is fun and relaxing! The fresh air is great!!! They probably used pesticides, but I couldn't help but eat an apple right of the tree....I wiped it off first at least.... :/.... I'm sure the type of apple that was my favorite, but there were only like three of this tree, the apples were pretty small, but they were SO good! I should've grabbed more of those. You can also walk to one of the pumpkin patches with a wagon and pick whichever one (or five) you want.
 One of my favorite things there, is the wagon ride! It's so nice... I could be on there all day long. What a great job that guy has to drive the tractor all day! Aside from the wagon, they also have a cow-train! Kids love that thing. It's a barrel train, painted like cows. It's cute, and fun, and pretty popular.
 All in all, it was another lovely trip to the Marker Miller Orchards!!! I think I picked like 80 lbs of apples lol.
Here are some pictures, and the prices at the bottom (and the link to the MMO website!)
                                                          
                                                             Stuff in the Market
                                                       (Purple peppers, people!!)

Bailey and Me

                                            Some of the things we saw on the wagon ride

                       Out in the orchards!

Prices:

Wagon Ride: $2 (4 & under are free)

Cow Train - FREE!

Apples:

1/2 peck - $7

Peck - $10

Bushel - $14

The bushel is your BEST option! The apples are HUGE.

Pumpkins:

.59 Per pound

http://www.markermillerorchards.com/

All The Best, Candi