Healthy Recipe - Easy Banana-Cinnamon Muffins

Good morning! Yesterday, I whipped up a batch of our favorite Banana-Cinnamon muffins, and I wanted to share the recipe with you. They're healthy, and so tasty, and really don't take that long to make. It's adapted from a Betty Crocker recipe. (You can find the original recipe here: http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/banana-cinnamon-muffins/479aaf26-88aa-47f2-a5c0-3f4448ecdfd4)

Ingredients
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
2 mashed very ripe bananas (Just heat them in the microwave on medium for a minute or two if they're not quite soft enough)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup walnuts (optional)



1. Heat oven to 375°F. Grease bottoms only of 12 regular-size muffin cups with shortening or spray, or line with paper baking cups.
2. In a small bowl, mash bananas until fairly smooth. In medium bowl, beat 2/3 cup sugar, the oil and eggs with wire whisk. Stir in bananas and vanilla. Stir in remaining muffin ingredients just until moistened. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups.
3. Bake 17 to 21 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Immediately remove from pan to cooling rack.


Enjoy!

Healthy Recipe - Tilapia

Tonight, I made some awesome (if I do say so myself...) Tilapia. It was cheap, easy, fast, and healthy! Here's the recipe, which serves two:

1 Tilapia fillet, halved lengthwise (on sale, $2.50)
1 large pat of butter (10 cents, maybe?)
1 tbs. Olive Oil
Garlic Powder
Old Bay Seasoning
Salt
Pepper


1. Heat a pan over Medium heat.
2. Rinse and pat dry Tilapia fillets. (Be sure to dry it well so it will brown nicely)
3. Sprinkle Tilapia fillets on either side with garlic, Old Bay seasoning, salt, and pepper to your liking.
4. Heat butter and Olive Oil in pan.
5. Add Tilapia fillets, and cook for about 6-7 minutes on either side or until flaky and browned. Feel free to add more butter or drizzle oil over the fillets to ensure they don't dry out. They're quite forgiving, so I usually just leave them on low heat if my other meal components aren't quite done.


This recipe is sooo easy. You can take a fish fillet from frozen to thawed to cooked in less than 30 minutes. My fillets were thawed in the fridge overnight, so the whole meal, including sides, took 15 minutes. It's one of my favorites for weeknights where I'm pressed for time.


Our sides were crescent rolls (on sale, with coupon, 75 cents), new potatoes (on sale, about $1), and green beans (on sale, with coupon, 75 cents).

Total Meal Cost: $5.10

Recipe - Spaghetti with Turkey and Spinach Meatballs

Hello, all! So, tonight for dinner, I'm making a jazzed-up version of spaghetti and meatballs (always a classic), except I added ground turkey and spinach.

This meal was made for two, but will last us three nights (which means no more cooking for a while - it'll be nice to have a bit of a break!)

Ingredients

Meatballs:

1 lb. Ground Turkey ($2.85)
1/2 lb. Ground Sirloin ($1.50)
1/3 Package Frozen Spinach (.30)
1/3 cup Italian Breadcrumbs (.25)
2 cloves garlic, minced (.10)
3-4 shakes of Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
Salt, Pepper, and Crushed Red Pepper (as much or as little as you'd like)
1 Egg (Free with coupon)

Sauce:

2 Jars of Spaghetti Sauce (On sale, with coupon - $1.59 for 2)
1 Small can of Tomato Paste (.59)
1 Can of Diced Tomatoes (On sale, with coupon - $1)
1 Can of Crushed Tomatoes with Basil (On sale, with coupon - $1)
1 Tbs. Garlic Powder
1 Tbs. (or more if desired) Italian Seasoning
Salt and Pepper to Taste


1 Medium-Sized Package of Spaghetti ($1.00)


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. To make meatballs, combine all ingredients listed thoroughly. Shape into approximately 1" meatballs, and place on lightly greased pan (preferably on a cooking rack so the grease drips through, but I don't have one so I had to make do.) Cook for approximately 10 to 12 minutes or until almost done, turning halfway through.

2. While the meatballs are cooking, combine all ingredients for the sauce in a large pot. Simmer over medium-low heat.

3. Once meatballs are almost done, remove from oven and set on paper towels to drain grease. Add to sauce.

4. Simmer sauce on low for at least 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. The longer the better!

5. Cook spaghetti noodles according to package directions once sauce is almost ready.

We're serving it with homemade garlic bread (used multi-grain baguette - on sale for $1.29) and salad (on sale - $2.50)

Total Prep Time: 20 Minutes
Total Cook Time: At least 40 Minutes.

Cost: $13.97 for 3 Meals, $4.66 per Meal for 2 - not too bad!
(I'll generally not include the cost of spices in my calculations, since you don't tend to use very much and you often have quite a bit on hand.)

It's simmering away right now - can't wait!