It's Foodie Friday!

Special thanks to Gollum for hosting this fun event! To view other great recipes stop by Gollum's for some mouth-watering fun!
This is my first time participating, although I have wanted to join in the fun for awhile now. Such great recipes you girls are sharing - Yummo!

I have spent the better part of the week baking another meal for our Builders For Christ. If you haven't read about what these lovely people are doing for our church, read about them here. We are so blessed to have them here to help us build our new church building. I wanted to make them something special this week. I am sharing the meal preps with a friend so the task isn't as daunting as it was the first time that I did this. Keep in mind - we have to feed 35 hungry people breakfast, lunch and two snacks during the day. It is a huge undertaking!
My job was to prepare the breakfast, snack and side dish. Here is what I came up with for their breakfast:

I was trying to make something substantial that would stick to the ribs for a bit. They work so hard! These muffins are packed with delicious goodness! Keep in mind - it is very hard to photograph these and do them justice - I wish I could have piped in the smell as well. Oh the house smelled heavenly!


These are called Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Muffins. They have everything in them but the kitchen sink! I have doubled the recipe so that they overflowed my large muffin pans. You can't really tell by the picture, but these are as large as the biggest "Costco" muffins! And they are quite heavy too! Very filling for hungry hardworking men. I got this recipe from a Washington Bed and Breakfast Cookbook that I own. All of the recipes from this cookbook are scrumptious - all tried and true from Bed and Breakfasts all over Washington State.

Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Muffins
(From Holly Hedge House - located in Renton Washington)
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1 cup cooked oatmeal (a great way to use up your leftover oatmeal)
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 12 muffin cups (to use jumbo muffin cups - double this recipe.) In a large bowl, cream together shortening, sugar, egg and vanilla. Add mashed bananas and cooked oatmeal. Sift in flour, baking soda and salt. Stir just until dry ingredients are moistened. Stir in chocolate chips.
Spoon batter into greased prepared muffin cups. Bake for 22-25 minutes, or until done. (If using larger muffin cups, you may have to increase your baking time - after your regular baking time, just check every 3 minutes - til done)
Cool on a wire rack for 10-15 minutes, then remove muffins from pans. Good served warm or cold.
Makes 12 muffins.

As you know, I am a mother of seven and even though they are no longer all with me I'm still not used to baking anything on a small scale. I have always doubled recipes. it doesn't take that much extra time to do this -and I am able to have an extra batch (or casserole - whatever I happen to be making) for the freezer. I have learned to be frugal over the years and tend to save everything and put it in the freezer for future use. This not only saves money, but also can be a prepared meal for those days you don't feel like cooking! Saves a trip to the local takeout place each week - Money in your pocket to spend on other things!

The bananas for this recipe came out of my freezer. Here in Georgia, I have noticed that bananas ripen at an accelerated rate! Instead of wasting them and throwing them away, I cut the ends off - leaving them in the peels, put them in a ziploc baggie and save them for future recipes. I take them out of the freezer in the morning, they thaw very quickly and I squeeze them out of the peels like a tube of toothpaste - sounds and looks gross I know - but they are ripe and delicious for any dessert or bread that you want to make. Simple and handy for a dish at a moments notice!

It is very hard to photograph muffins and make them look good - but believe me - these are delicious - And HUGE! These were made in my jumbo muffin pans and have a crispy streusel topping. Yummy! Store these beauties in your refrigerator - if they last that long!
I got these off of the internet some time ago - I have cut and pasted the recipe here.

Strawberry Streusel Muffins
MUFFINS:
2 c. flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. fresh strawberries, chopped, (about 12 strawberries)
1/3 c. sugar
1/2 c. whipping cream
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/3 c. butter, melted
STREUSEL TOPPING:
1/3 c. flour
1/4 c. pecans, finely chopped
1/4 c. sugar
3 tbsp. butter, at room temperature
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
Edited to add: I used jumbo sized muffin pans for these - double the recipe if using larger pans.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine strawberries and sugar. Let stand 5 minutes. Stir in cream, egg and vanilla until well blended. Add strawberry mixture to flour, baking powder and salt mixture. Add butter and stir just until blended. Spoon into 10 to 12 greased muffin pan cups. Sprinkle with topping.
FOR TOPPING: Combine flour, pecans, sugar, butter, and cinnamon in a medium bowl until mixture comes together in large crumbs. Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Larger muffins will require longer baking time. Bake for 25 minutes if using larger pans.


In place of the whipping cream, you can use half and half - or just plain milk to cut down on calories. I used fresh strawberries cut up fairly small for this recipe - this is another recipe that you can use items straight from your freezer. Whenever I buy strawberries and I notice that they are starting to ripen faster than we will eat them, I will cut them up and throw them in the freezer to add in future meals. By doing this you can enjoy berries and fruits year round - you won't have to wait for the warmer seasons. I also freeze cranberries and eggnog during the winter months- left over from the holidays to use in muffins. Eggnog - that is leftover can be put in ice cube trays and frozen to make eggnog bread anytime of the year!

For the side dish that I made for the Builders For Christ, I prepared a delicious family recipe - Macaroni Salad (my brother's favorite dish - if I ever want to see him, all I have to do is make some macaroni salad and he is sure to show up!)
I also made Lemon Poke Cake for their dessert. I will share these with you next Friday!
I hope you will try these recipes- you won't be disappointed. Your house will smell wonderful and your family will be so happy! My son came into the room while I was baking - he sighed a happy sigh and said "Oh I just LOVE baking days!"
Blessings to you on your baking day,
Kymber