Holiday banana muffins

The holiday season is upon us once again and if you haven't noticed, well, just take a trip to your local market.  Tons of people all fighting over the last parking spot and carts that have been scattered all over.  Shelves lined with marshmallows, pumpkin pie filling, oil and candy canes.  Baskets full of turkey, ice cream, pie shells, Jello and beer.  Well, I just went to the store and they had a shelf full of ripened bananas.  A bunch for fifty cents!   When life gives you rotten bananas...

Make holiday banana muffins!  I used this basic recipe here from Foodess, but I made a few changes to suit my preferences.  First, I replaced the egg with a couple tablespoons of applesauce.  Then, I added some cinnamon and used eggnog creamer instead of the milk.  The banana muffins were extremely moist and delicious.  A perfect holiday.   



eggplant parmagiana

my family makes this eggplant parmagiana often when we all get together. this way, all the kiddos are satisfied and none of them complain. well no one complains! even though it may seem long, it comes together really easily and the cool thing is that you can make it earlier and just slide it in the oven whenever you're ready to eat. i've adjusted this to suit my indian tastebuds (read spicy), but feel free to substitute or omit any of the veggies or herbs that go into this dish. try it out, you'll be a complete rockstar at dinner.

eggplant parmagiana

prep time: 4o min

bake time: 50 min

serves: about 6

first prep the veggies:

• cut 2 small japanese eggplants, 1 zucchini and 1 yellow squash in thin rounds onto a baking sheet, add about 3 tablespoons of olive oil and salt and coat all the slices
• bake in a preheated oven at 375 deg for about 20-30 minutes or until cooked through
• meanwhile, dice one onion and 1/2 green and 1/2 red bell pepper and 4 cloves garlic - at this stage i also add finely diced green chillies for that indian heat ;)

putting it together:

• you're going to make 2 layers, so use half of everything in the first layer


• grease a large casserole dish with olive oil spray
• cover the bottom of the pan with some pasta sauce (about 1-2 cups)
• add half of the veggies you baked in the oven
• then add 1/2 of the diced onions, bell peppers, garlic and chillies if using
• sprinkle with italian seasoning, garlic salt, onion powder and fresh basil (optional)
• cover with a good mozzarella cheese (i used soy cheese)
• layer again starting with the pasta sauce and use up all the ingredients EXCEPT the cheese (add this in the final 5 minutes of baking)
• at this point you can either bake it covered in a preheated oven for 45-50 minutes or keep it in the fridge to bake off later

Notes: keep the casserole covered when you bake this and you may also want to line the bottom of your oven with foil as sometimes it tends to bubble over a bit. i also add about 1/2 cup of water in between the 2 layers, so the veggies don't dry out, but then again, i like mine really saucy, so it's probably just me!

variations that i've made of this in the past included using mushrooms, spinach and parmagiana cheese. you really can't go wrong and what a sneaky way to get everyone to eat their veggies!

Listening to: The Chemical Brothers, 'Dig your own hole' from their album, Dig Your Own Hole (1997).