chipotle's basmati rice

I love Chipotle's rice they add to the burrito bowls! It is SO yummy! Thankfully, I found the recipe online, and it is a TRUE recipe that they use!

Ingredients
1 teaspoon vegetable oil or butter

2 tsp. fresh cilantro

2/3 cup white basmati rice

1 cup water

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 Lime

In a 2-quart heavy saucepan, heat oil or butter over low heat, stirring occasionally until melted. Add rice and lime juice, stir for 1 minute. Add water and salt, bring to a full rolling boil. At boiling, cover, turn down to simmer over low heat until rice is tender and the water is absorbed, about 25 minutes. Fluff rice with a fork.

Add cilantro after fluffing rice.

chocolate covered bananas

My grandma made this for me when I was a kid... and I.LOVED.IT!

I think she dipped hers in chocolate chips that were melted. Then sometimes she rolled the banana in nuts.

My mom made some too, but she used Magic Shell, and those were so yummy too!

Peel & cut your bananas in half, and stick a popsicle stick in the middle of each one. Place on a tray and put in freezer for 3 hours.

Maddie brought home some Heath Magic Shell from a leftover ice cream party. I put it in the fridge.

Apparently it is the WRONG thing to do, because it was hard. There was a little section on the back (in tiny letters, I have to add!) that says "DO NOT REFRIGERATE!" Oops! So, I ran under hot water for a few minutes until I had some that poured out. The Magic Shell will harden almost immediately, so you will not be able to roll in nuts, M&M's or anything fun.

If you wish to use melted chocolate chips, don't freeze your banana first.... chop your banana in half, then roll in chocolate, then you can easily roll in a bowl full of nuts, chopped M&M's, etc. Just place in freezer for a few hours.

blueberry streusel scones

I'm on a scone making kick, and I found this recipe online (joyofbaking.com), and just HAD to try it out! When blueberries finally went on sale, I bought a pint and went to work!

Ingredients

2 c flour

1/4 c sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

6 tbsp chilled butter

1 c fresh blueberries

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 c cream or milk

Streusel Topping

1/4 c brown sugar

1/4 c flour

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 tbsp chilled butter

For the scones: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder & salt. Cut the butter into small pieces & blend into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or two knives. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs. Gently fold in the blueberries. In a small measuring cup combine the cream, beaten egg & vanilla. Add this mixture to the flour mixture and stir just until the dough comes together. Do not over mix the dough or the scones will be tough.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead the dough gently for or five times and then pat the dough into a circle that is about 7 inches round and about 1 1/2 inches thick. Cut the circle in half, then cut each half into four pie-shaped wedges (triangles). Place the scones on the baking sheet. Brush the tops of the scones with a little cream or milk.

For the streusel topping: in a small bowl whisk together the sugar, flour, and cinnamon. With a pastry blender (or fork), cut in the butter until crumbly. Top each scone with a teaspoon or two of the streusel mixture.

Bake the scones until nicely browned @ 425 degrees, about 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a scone comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly. These are best eaten the day they are made, but can be covered and stored for a few days!

Amy's Notes: I used buttermilk instead of milk or cream, just because I've been using buttermilk with all my other scone recipes. If you use frozen blueberries, do not thaw first! Also, the recipe calls for unsalted butter, which I never have on hand. I used both salt & salted butter, and it tasted fine. You could just omit the salt if using salted butter. Also, make sure you bake on parchment paper! This always helps when baking cookies, scones, etc!