Taco Night and Banana Muffins

Why do so many guys LOVE tacos? I mean, I love tacos, but Brian LOOOOOVES tacos!! So he was way excited when I mentioned we make tacos the other night with the ground turkey we had in the freezer!

It must be all the fun toppings and things you can add! I new I was going to make mine into a kickass taco salad…and kickass it was!

It all started with the salad spinner. Seriously what did I do before I had this baby? I know, I would use like 1/4 roll of paper towels to dry my lettuce!

washed, dried, and chopped Green leaf lettuce into my bowl.

The rest into the bag for use throughout the week.

The spinner used again for the cilantro! I LOVE cilantro and I love when I can add it fresh to a meal, but I hate having to buy a big bunch of it to use just a little.

This is my salad prepped before adding the “taco”

I cooked a package of ground turkey breast with a little olive oil (it was very lean), then added:

• a package of taco seasoning (I found the McCormick brand to have the least “crap” in it)
• 1 can black beans
• and some green pepper strips

After simmering for about 5min, it was done and we started building our dinners.

To my prepped salad I added:

• turkey/bean/pepper mixture
• grated cheese
• sour cream
• salsa
• hot sauce
• fresh cilantro
• some crushed tortilla chips

This salad was AWESOME!!!!!!!!

While making my salad I also made another for lunch the next day…perfect!

Brian wants “taco night” added to the frequent rotation :)

I decided after dinner, it was about time for some muffins seeing as I had 4 lovely over-ripe bananas just hanging around

Banana Muffins 12-27-09

In a large mixing bowl combine:

• 1 1/2 c. White Whole Wheat Flour
• 1/2 c. Oat Bran
• 1/3 c. Hazelnut Meal
• 1/4 c. APF
• 2 tsp Baking Powder
• 1.5 tsp Baking Soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• shakes of Cinnamon and Nutmeg
  
  
  In a Separate Bowl Combine:
  
• 1 egg
• 4 very ripe Bananas – mashed (if you have less banana you may need to increase the agave/sugar and oil a little)
• 1 cup Buttermilk
• 1/3 c. Apple Sauce
• 2 T Canola Oil
• 3 T Agave Nectar (might add 1 more Tbsp next time)
• 1 tsp vanilla
  
  (p.s. this powdered buttermilk is GREAT to keep on hand when needing to bake with it. No more buying a carton of buttermilk just for that 1 cup.)
  
  Add wet ingredients to dry and add:
  
• Chocolate Chips – approx. 1/4 cup
• Chopped Walnuts – approx. 1/3 cup
  
  Mix until just combined (don’t over-mix!)
  Spray muffin tin with canola oil spray (or other cooking spray), and fill with batter.
  
  
• Top muffins with Raw sugar and/or dry oats
• Bake for 18min at 375 degrees

I had extra batter and made a mini loaf:

As usual these are not super sweet like muffins from a bakery, but they are moist and banana-y and perfect for breakfast. If your used to traditional sweet baked goods, add more agave or a little sugar.

I like my muffins to taste like breakfast not dessert :)