Sour Cream Banana Nut Muffins

1/2 cup margarine or 1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup mashed banana
1/2 cup chopped nuts (omit if you don't like nuts)
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 chocolate chips (optional)

Directions:
Grease muffin tins (or 1 large loaf pan). Cream margarine, sugar, eggs and vanilla. Add dry ingredients, then bananas, nuts and sour cream. Mix well. Bake at 350 F for 25 minutes (1 hour if in a loaf pan).
http://www.food.com/recipe/sour-cream-banana-bread-9351

Green Bean Casserole

1 (10 3/4 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1/4 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 (14 1/2 ounce) cans cut green beans, drained
1 1/3 cups French-fried onions (French's)


Directions: Combine soup, milk and pepper in a 1 1/2 qt baking dish; stir until blended. Stir in beans and 2/3 cup fried onions. Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes or until hot.
Sprinkle with remaining 2/3 cup fried onions. Bake 5 more minutes or until onions are golden.
http://www.food.com/recipe/green-bean-casserole-47102

Simple and Delicious Drumsticks

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon pepper
6 chicken drumsticks (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1/4 cup margarine or 1/4 cup butter, melted and cooled


Directions:  Heat the oven to 425 degrees. Mix flour, salt, paprika and pepper in a bowl. Dip chicken drumsticks into margarine; roll in flour mixture to coat. Arrange in an ungreased square pan, 8x8x2 inches. Bake uncovered until juice of chicken is no longer pink when centers of thickest pieces are cut, about 50 minutes. 
http://www.food.com/recipe/delicious-drumsticks-40832

Thai Noodles with Peanut Sauce

Noodles
12 ounces linguine
4 tablespoons sesame oil
Sauce
1/2 cup green onion, chopped
1 cup finely shredded carrot
2 cups frozen stir fry vegetables
3 tablespoons minced fresh garlic
1/2 tablespoon ground ginger or 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
1/2 tablespoon chili-garlic sauce


Directions:
Cook pasta in a large pot of salted water according to package directions. Drain and return to pot.  Add 2 TBSP sesame oil and toss to coat. Set aside.
Heat remaining 2 TBSP sesame oil in heavy pot over medium-high heat.  Add green onions, carrots, stir-fry veggies, garlic and ginger. Saute until vegetables soften, about 4 minutes. Add honey, peanut butter, soy sauce, vinegar and chili-garlic sauce and mix well. Simmer sauce 2 minutes. Pour sauce over pasta and toss well.
Transfer to platter and serve warm. Garnish with additional green onions, if desired.
Yields 8 side dish servings or 4 main dish servings.
**Chili-Garlicsauce can be increased or decreased depending on how spicy you like your dish.
*Personal Note: I didn't follow the recipe exactly- I used it for rough measurements for the sauce, and did use the sesame oil for the noodles. I added in a little but of peanut sauce from a jar and stirred in some cilantro at the end. It was a lot lighter than other peanut sauces I've tried and was delicious!

http://www.food.com/recipe/thai-noodles-with-spicy-peanut-sauce-99918

Cafe Rio Pork Barbacoa

This recipe comes from "Lizzy Writes" blog. This is THE BEST recipe and I follow the instructions to the letter! YUM. She also has recipes for the rice, beans, etc that goes with it!

Cafe Rio Pork Barbacoa
5 - 6 pounds pork tenderloin or roast
21 ounces Dr. Pepper (do NOT use diet or generic)
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
2 cloves garlic
1 (7 ounce) can chipotle chilies in adobo sauce
6 ounces medium red taco sauce
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Place pork in the crock pot and make sauce.

Here's the trick with the sauce: Remove chipotle chilies from the can and put in the measuring cup that you'll measure your Dr. Pepper with. Pour Dr. Pepper over them and remove the chilies (and throw away) just to get the sauce off and then continue pouring Dr. Pepper into the measuring cup until you reach the full 21 ounces. You'll also need to rinse out the chipotle can with the Dr. Pepper to get all the adobo sauce out. Do NOT use the chipotle peppers (I did this and it was killer hot). You can add 1 or 2 for a kick if you want. 

Blend all ingredients together in either a blender or with an immersion blender until combined and pour over the pork. Cook on high for 5 hours or on low for 8 hours until the pork is easily shreddable. 

Homemade Strawberry Syrup

4 c. strawberries
1 c. water
2 c. sugar

In saucepan, bring berries and water to a boil. Lower heat, simmer 10 minutes. Add sugar. Bring to a boil again, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Boil 2 minutes. Skim off foam. Serve warm!  

*Note: This is a recipe I modified from food.com. The original recipe can be found here. http://www.food.com/recipe/strawberry-syrup-36685 
I like my syrup to have chunks of actual strawberries in it, so I didn't strain it. I also didn't add as much sugar (I had three cups when I was finished), it just didn't need it.  

Parmesan Crusted Tilapia

3 -4 tilapia fillets, depending on size
1/4 cup breadcrumbs or 1/4 cup crushed Ritz cracker
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon italian seasoning
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon lemon juice
salt
pepper
garlic powder
olive oil
Thaw and wash tilapia fillets if frozen. Pat dry on paper towels.Combine crumbs, parmesan, italian seasoning and garlic powder on a plate, mixing well.
On a different plate, pour 1 tbsp lemon juice.
Working 1 at a time, place a fillet on the plate in the lemon juice, sprinkle with desired amount of kosher salt (be careful about how much salt is in your parmesan, crumbs, and other seasonings), black pepper, and garlic powder. Turn the fillet over in the lemon juice and sprinkle seasoning on the other side.
Dredge fillet in the parmesan mixture patting it all over to coat.
Place in an oiled baking dish, repeat with remaining fillets.
Sprinkle a little lemon juice over fillets and drizzle or spray them lightly with olive oil.
Bake at 425ºF for about 20 minutes or until they easily flake with a fork and edges are browning (you can sprinkle some more parmesan on top if desired). You can also bake these faster at 450ºF. 

*Note: You really need to get it that hot so that it will get nice and crispy and not soft and mushy!