Baby Oatmeal and Banana Bars

been searching for a good recipe for teething biscuits for my grandbaby but they had to be sugarless and honeyless as well. babies under one should not be given honey, so here is a real easy recipe...please supervise your little ones when they eat...


1 ripe banana
handful of oats

preheat oven to 350 degrees

grind oats in a food processor

combine banana with enough ground oatmeal to form a sticky dough

divide the mixture into small pieces and press it into the shapes you want or make it into simple bars

bake for 10-15 minutes until golden brown, they will become harder the more they are cooked so if you want a chewier bar do not overbake.

from www.homemade-baby-food-recipes.com

Eggplant Ricotta Bake

I always seem to have food on my mind. I believe that this is indeed building something if not character as I am constantly on a diet. For those of us who belong to the Overeaters Anonymous fraternity food is a constant in our lives. We just have to learn to co-exist! Portion, portion, portion! I truly believe that there is a special place reserved for people who struggle with food addiction in heaven. We will be greeted by saints carrying large platters of brownies and lemonade!

In the meantime something to try:

1 lb ricotta
3 eggs
1 cup grated romano cheese
fresh chopped basil
2 cups marinara sauce
olive oil, salt and pepper
2 large eggplants sliced lengthwise 3/4 inch thick skin on

oven to 450 degrees
brush both sides of eggplant slices, salt ad pepper. roast till tender 20-30 min.
in a bowl, whisk ricotta, eggs, 1/2 cup romano cheese, fresh bsil salt and pepper.

brush bottom and sides of an 8x8 casserole.
place 1/4 of eggplant down, spread with marinara, more eggplant, half ricotta mixture, repeat everything ending with ricotta on top. sprinkle with cheese ND BAKE 25-30 MIN.
cool 15 min so it is easy to cut.

when I double this I bake in a 9x12 pan

Chocolate Bottom Banana Bars

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (3 medium)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup cocoa
1 cup chocolate chips

In a mixing bowl, cream butter ans sugar, add egg, vanilla and bananas, beating thoroughly.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, soda, baking powder, salt. Add to creamed mixture and mix well.

Divide batter in half.
Add cocoa tom one protion of batter.
Spread that portion in the bttom of a 9x13 baking dish.

Spoon remaining batter on top., swirling gingerly with butter knife and sprinkl with
chocolte chips.

Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool and cut into 24 squares.

quick vegetarian

6 leeks cut lengthwise and  chopped  set in water to remove soil

2 cans od drained and rinsed chickpeas

1 1/2 cup of chicken stock
olive oil
2 tsp curry
2 tsp tumeric

salt and pepper to taste

place washed leeks in a large pot with a slurp of olive oil
on medium high heat, stir  in spices add stock and chickpeas and lower heat to simmer  and cook for 20-25 minutes, watching  that it doesn't run out of liquid.

Meanwhile cook some basmati rice or your favourite rice, be it brown or white.

When chick peas are soft, remove from heat and serve over the rice.

You can adjust the spices to your personal preferences, I like spicy Indian cuisine so the spice amounts are great for me but you may want to go easy and do a test before you add more...

pear phyllo tart

8 or 9 phyllos sheets
1 stick butter melted , no substitutes
1 cup toasted  finely chopped pecans or walnuts
2/3 cup plain breadcrumbs
2/3 cup sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1 pear  or apple finely slice, use mandolin
parchment paper

preheat over to 400

line baking sheet with parchment paper


in a small bowl mix chopped pecans, sugar, cinnamon and breadcrumbs together and mix

place one sheet of phyllo on bake sheet, brush with melted butter and  spinkle some pecan sugar mixture , eveny.
place another sheet and repeat precedure until last sheet of phyllo

add sliced pear
brush with butter and sprinkle with additional sugar

bake for 20,min 

cut when warm , being careful not to tear

yum!

elmo disaster

the instructions for the elmo pattern are too sketchy, trying to do teddy bears instead, very disappointed.

short

abby scurried around trying to pack as many of her clothes as possible in the shortest possible time. she had just accidentally read an incomming text on jeffs phone that confirmed payment was received for services to be rendered. what services she wondered and was afraid to guess. her husband had been acting unusually irritated with her and since the marriage was on a downturn recently she did not know what to think. why did she always think the worst? she had been watchnig too many episodes of 48 hours  when she would stay up late at night waiting for her son to come home fron a friends house.jeff  had been married  and divorced before she had meet him at a pep rally for congressman  jack devereaux.  his wife had died in a car accident  three years earlier, which upon investigation was deemed suspicious but findings had been inconclusive. jeff was not considered a person of interest. abby had always been unsure of herself as a young teen and things had not changed much at college in williamstown, where everyone was someone, everyone's parents owned horses and were members of the country club. she felt very uninteresting and dull and the only boy she dated came out of the closest while in her third year of college. she had been devasted. she had trusted the boy and had flowered under the undivided attention he gave her. she now guessed that it had been a ruse to keep the inquisitive at bay. sure they had sex and he was very tender, almost too tender. wow she sure  knew how to pick them. ok quick now, jeff was still in the shower and she had  time to get the emergency money she kept hidden in her tampon box in her closet and get out of the house.