When I start to hear whining and raised voices in my living room, I know the bewitching hour has arrived. If I don’t get some kind of dinner together — and soon — my three hungry children will grow restless.

Though I usually have a dinner plan, I continue to search for quick and easy meals. I like to find ones that are also healthy and budget-friendly. In the past, I enjoyed sitting on the couch with a warm cup of tea and thumbing through my cookbooks for a yummy recipe. Lately, I’ve done some Web surfing and checked out cooking blogs that friends have been sharing with me for some time.

On a recent Sunday afternoon, I found two recipes that appealed to my family. The first, a recipe for apple chicken quesadillas, was at www.simplyrecipes.com. My kids love quesadillas. In fact, I sometimes think about serving them several days a week because it seems that if something is inside a quesadilla, it’s edible. My kids will eat more vegetables simply because they are sandwiched between two tortillas and cooked in a skillet.

The addition of apples to this quesadilla was tasty and fun for the kids to eat. And we all liked the fact that it was quick and easy to prepare.

Surfing the Net a bit more, I found a Web site with the second recipe — and the perfect answer to the dark brown bananas lying in my freezer drawer. On http://fortheloveofcooking-recipes.blogspot.com, I found a mouth-watering photo of a banana coffeecake with coconut pecan frosting. It was so good that my family ate the whole thing (minus the two pieces we shared with some friends) in fewer than 24 hours.

I often think of coffeecake as a morning treat, but you could definitely enjoy this as a dessert or special treat anytime of the day. I am definitely keeping this recipe close by for when I need to bring a little something to a friend or colleague.

Some great food blogs to check out:
www.simplyrecipes.com
http://smittenkitchen.com/
http://steamykitchen.com/
http://fortheloveofcooking-recipes.blogspot.com
www.101cookbooks.com
http://thym-thym.blogspot.com/ (recipes printed in French and English)

Apple chicken quesadillas
Ingredients:
4 flour tortillas, about 8-inches wide (I use whole wheat to make them even healthier.)
1 cup cooked, shredded or chopped chicken meat
1/4 pound cheddar or Monterey jack cheese, sliced or grated
1 apple, sliced
1/4 cup salsa

Method:
1. Heat a large skillet on medium-high heat. Place one tortilla in the skillet. Flip it a couple of times with a spatula, then let it sit in the pan heating up until air pockets form and parts of the tortilla begin to puff up. Flip it again.
2. Place cheese slices on half of the tortilla, at least 1/2-inch from the edge. Add chicken pieces on top of the cheese. Fold the tortilla over like an omelet, and press down on the folded tortilla with the spatula. Lower the heat to medium. At this point, if you have enough room in your skillet, add a second tortilla and begin heating it up.
3. When the cheese has melted, remove the quesadilla to a cutting board. Open it wide and layer on apple slices and salsa. Fold the tortilla back again, and cut it into 3 triangles, as if you were cutting a pie. (You don’t have to cut the quesadilla into triangles, it just makes it easier for kids to eat.)
4. Repeat with the remaining tortillas.
Makes 12 quesadilla triangles.
Simply Recipes http://simplyrecipes.com

Banana coffeecake with coconut pecan frosting
Ingredients for coffeecake:
2 large ripe bananas
3/4 cup white sugar
3 tablespoon vegetable oil
11/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
11/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
11/3 cup flour

Ingredients for frosting:
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoon pecan pieces
2 tablespoon of sweetened coconut flakes

Method:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a glass pie or cake dish with cooking spray (I used a 9-inch glass pie plate). Combine bananas, white sugar, vegetable oil, vanilla, nutmeg, cinnamon and egg in a bowl; and beat with a mixer on medium speed until creamy and mixed thoroughly.
Mix the baking powder, salt and baking soda with the flour; then gradually mix the flour into the banana mixture until well blended. Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake in the oven for 25-27 minutes or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minute; then remove from pan and place on serving plate.
Combine brown sugar, water, butter, pecans and coconut in a small pan over medium heat; bring to a boil and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Carefully spread the warm frosting over the banana cake, making sure to coat the top of the cake evenly. Slice and serve. Enjoy.
Recipe from http://fortheloveofcooking-recipes.blogspot.com/ – adapted from Cooking Light, November 2002