Spicy Italian Sausage Corn Soup and Banana Monster Cookies

So I had bananas that needed to be used up and I really didn't want to make muffins or bread out of them.  I've never made my own recipe for cookies and today sounded like a good day to start.  I have a million things in my baking cupboard, so I just started grabbing stuff and then added more and more treats to the mix.  Then I'm thinking that these cookies are going to be insane.  That's when I decided to create my own style of Monster Cookies.
I love making soups and I was going to make a simple corn chowder, but of course I spotted the Italian sausage in the freezer and then the peppers in the fridge, that needed to be used up as well and then my counter kind of exploded with ingredients.   Again, like the Monster Cookies, I just kind of went nuts.  It's going to be one of those days. Enjoy!

Spicy Italian Sausage Corn Soup

1 lb spicy Italian sausage
3-4 Tbs. olive oil
1 red pepper, chopped
1 orange pepper, chopped
1 yellow pepper, chopped
1 poblano pepper, chopped
1 medium red onion, chopped
3-4 clove garlic, crushed
5 potatoes, diced
1/2 c cilantro, minced
14.5 oz. can  diced tomatoes w/juice
14.5 oz. can cream corn
29 oz. can whole corn kernels, drained
2 c. milk or heavy whipping cream
1 c. cheddar cheese, shredded
1 c. colby jack cheese, shredded
32 oz. chicken broth
3 Tbs. chili powder
3 tsp. cumin
2 tsp. paprika
2 tsp. ground red pepper
1 tsp. black pepper

Get your crock pot ready to go! Brown Italian sausage and place in the crock pot. In large skillet, add olive oil, garlic, chopped peppers and onions.  Saute for about 5 minutes, move veggies to the crock pot.  From there add diced potatoes, minced cilantro, tomatoes, and corns.  In a small sauce pan, bring the milk to a boil, reduce heat and add in cheese.  Stir cheese and milk until cheese is completely melted, add to the crock pot.  Add remaining ingredients to the crock pot, broth and spices, and stir until well blended.  Set crock pot on low and cook for 4-5 hours or until potatoes are tender. I paired the soup with a grilled and ham and cheese sandwich.

Banana Monster Cookies

2 c. oats, pureed
1 3/4 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 c. butter, soften
3/4 c. sugar
3/4 c. brown sugar
2 eggs
1/4 c. honey
1 tsp. vanilla
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 c. peanut butter
3/4 c. semi sweet chocolate chips
3/4 c. butterscotch chips
3/4 c. raisins

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In a medium bowl mix together pureed oats, flour and baking soda.  Set a side. In an electric mixer or with a hand held mixture, mix butter and sugars together until light and fluffy.  Next add eggs until well incorporated and then add honey and vanilla. Once this is well mixed add in the bananas and then the peanut butter.  Slowly add in oat mixture until well blended.  With a wooden spoon add in chips and raisins.  I made big cookies with this recipe, so I took a 1/4 measuring cup and scooped out 5 cookie balls per baking sheet and then baked then for 13-15 minutes.  Remove from baking sheets and let cool or a wire rack.

Oat Mixture

Butter, I beat mine before adding sugar

After sugar is added

Batter w/ eggs, vanilla, honey, bananas, and peanut butter

Batter w/ oat mixture, chips and raisins

Large dollops of cookie dough

My daughter being a ham and helping out.

Enjoying the cookies, as you can see it was almost gone.  

It didn't last long.