Awesome Banana Pancakes

• 2 cups buttermilk
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup mashed bananas

Whisk together the buttermilk and eggs in a bowl until evenly blended; set aside. Stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate large bowl. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and stir in the buttermilk mixture and mashed bananas, being careful not to over mix the batter (the batter will be lumpy). Let the batter sit for at least 1 minute before using.
Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat, and coat with cooking spray. Pour 1/4 cupfuls of batter onto the skillet, and cook until bubbles appear on the surface. Flip with a spatula, and cook until browned on the other side.

100% Fruit "Cake"

• 1 seedless watermelon
• 2 cups strawberries, hulled and sliced
• 1 cantaloupe - seeded, peeled, and sliced (optional)
• 1 fresh pineapple - peeled, cored, and sliced (optional)

To create the base tier of the cake, cut 3 slices of watermelon, 1 to 2 inches thick, crossways through the center of the melon. Trim the rind from the watermelon slices, and place the largest slice onto a cake plate. Alternate layering sliced strawberries, slices of cantaloupe, and slices of fresh pineapple; follow with the second-largest watermelon slice. Repeat once more to make a layered fruit stack that looks like a cake.
Thinly slice a few pieces of remaining melon and pineapple. With cookie cutters or a sharp knife, cut remaining fruit slices into decorative shapes. Decorate the cake tiers with the cut fruit shapes and remaining berries.
Refrigerate until serving time. To serve, slice the cake with a sharp knife, one wedge at a time, and set the wedge onto a plate.

5 Minute Banana Berry Smoothie

• 4 cups ice
• 1 cup strawberries
• 1/2 banana
• 1 cup orange juice
• 2 tablespoons honey

Blend the ice, strawberries, banana, orange juice, and honey in a blender until smooth.

Absolutely The Best Shrimp Scampi

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 1/2 pounds fresh shrimp, shelled and deveined without tails
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 shallot, chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh parsley, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
• 2 tablespoons white wine
• 2 tablespoons brandy

In a small bowl, combine flour, salt, pepper and cayenne pepper. Mix thoroughly. Dredge shrimp in flour mixture.
In a large skillet, saute dredged shrimp in olive oil for 5 minutes over high heat. Toss shrimp often to prevent burning. Transfer shrimp with a slotted spoon to a serving dish, leaving the oil in the pan.
In the same pan, saute the garlic, shallot, parsley and oregano over medium heat for 3 minutes; stirring constantly. Spoon the mixture over the shrimp. Return pan to the heat. Preheat your broiler for medium heat.
Pour the wine and brandy into the skillet and ignite with a match or lighter. When the flames die down, stir to loosen any browned bits on the bottom of the skillet; pour over shrimp.
Place the serving dish of shrimp in a preheated broiler for about 2 minutes.

Diabetic Chocolate and Vanilla Swirl Cookies

½ cup margarine, softened
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
6 tablespoons liquid egg substitute
1 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ cup skim milk, warmed to room temperature
1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract

cooking spray

Cream margarine, sugar, vanilla, and egg substitute.
Add flour, baking powder, and 3 tablespoons of the milk. Stir to thoroughly mix.
Divide dough into 2 parts.
Add cocoa to one part, stirring until well blended.
Add vanilla extract to the other half.
Chill both halves for at least 1 hour.
Working on a floured surface, roll out each part to a rectangle about 3 inches wide and 18 inches long. Place chocolate part on top of white part, pressing together tightly with a rolling pin.
Brush the chocolate dough with remaining tablespoon of milk. Roll up like a jelly roll to make a log about 1 1/2 inches in diameter.
Wrap in waxed paper and chill until firm, about 2 hours.
When you're getting ready to bake these:  Preheat oven to 375°F.
Slice cookies 1/8 inch thick. Place on a no-nstick cookie sheet that has been lightly coated with cooking spray.
Bake for 8 minutes, until lightly browned. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

All-Star Veggie Burger

• 1 (15.5 ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained and mashed
• 8 fresh basil leaves, chopped
• 1/4 cup oat bran
• 1/4 cup quick cooking oats
• 1 cup cooked brown rice
• 1 (14 ounce) package firm tofu
• 5 tablespoons Korean barbeque sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 3/4 teaspoon dried sage
• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
• 
  
• In a large bowl, stir together the mashed garbanzo beans and basil. Mix in the oat bran, quick oats, and rice; the mixture should seem a little dry. In a separate bowl, mash the tofu with your hands, trying to squeeze out as much of the water as possible. Drain of the water, and repeat the process until there is hardly any water worth pouring off. It is not necessary to remove all of the water. Pour the barbeque sauce over the tofu, and stir to coat. Stir the tofu into the garbanzo beans and oats. Season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and sage; mix until well blended. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Form patties out of the bean mixture, and fry them in hot oil for about 5 minutes per side. Serve as you would burgers.

Garlic Parmesan Monkey Bread

• 3 tablespoons finely chopped green onions
• 3 tablespoons parsley
• 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 5 tablespoons butter, melted
• 2 eggs
• 2 (1 pound) loaves frozen bread dough, thawed
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• 
  
• Grease a 10 inch Bundt pan or tube pan. In a medium bowl, mix together the green onion, parsley, garlic powder, salt, butter and eggs until well blended. Break the bread dough off in walnut-sized pieces, and dip each piece into the egg mixture. Place coated dough balls into the prepared pan. Once there is a layer of balls covering the bottom of the pan, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Repeat, sprinkling each layer with cheese until everything is in the pan. Cover loosely, and let rise until doubled in size, about 45 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown.

Zucchini Bread

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

3 teaspoons ground cinnamon

3 eggs

1 cup vegetable oil

2 1/4 cups white sugar

3 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups grated zucchini

1 cup chopped walnuts

Grease and flour two 8 x 4 inch pans. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Sift flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl. Beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl. Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Stir in zucchini and nuts until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake for 40 to 60 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Remove bread from pan, and completely cool.

Best Pumpkin Pie Recipe

To make 1 pie:

2 eggs

398 ml of E.D. Smith pure Pumpkin

1 Cup (250 ml) Packed brown sugar

1 tsp (5 ml) Ground cinnamon

1/2 (2 ml) Ground nutmeg

1/4 (1 ml) Ground ginger

1/4 (1 ml) salt

3/4 (175 ml) Evaporated milk

1 (9in/23cm) unbaked deep dish pie shell

Beat eggs lightly in medium bowl. Add pumpkin, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and salt; Stir until well combined. Blend in milk. Pour filling in pie shell. Bake at 425F (220C) 15 min. reduce oven temperature to 350F (180C) and continue baking 30-35 min longer or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Cool.