Taking a breath!

Well, December certainly was a busy month! Now I need a good long break from the hustle and bustle. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas with your families. Sorry I haven't posted recently. I haven't had time for much since before Halloween! I made handmade gifts for all the adults in my family, but I didn't get a chance to take pictures of all of them. I always forget that part. Here are some of the things I did get pics of...

I made "scarves for my sisters", using my precious leftovers of Anna Maria Horner flannels and voiles from my giant log cabin quilt. These went to my sister, my two step-sisters, and my two sisters-in-law. 

I made remote caddy pillows for 3 of my brothers-in-law. Just pillows with pockets, handy for remotes, iPhones, or snacks. ;) Sorry, no pics. 

I finished this crossword quilt for my brother-in-law, who was requesting a quilt. Really, my sister was requesting a quilt for him, since he kept stealing the one I made for her. :) For the "answers" I used his name, and names of his family, as well as some other things. I embroidered all of the letters, and I also embroidered a couple of pharmacy related items (mortar and pestle, and pill bottle), since he's a pharmacist. I used a couple of charm packs of Kona Cotton in the Silent Film palette, as well as some white and red. Some of my favorite colors together. 

I used some Kona Cotton in Ash for the back, as well as some leftovers of charm squares from the front. 

Here's a close-up of the pill bottle. 

I also made a bike lunch bag for my step-dad, and some heart quilted coasters and hot pads for my mom. Again, no pics of these. Don't know what I was thinking... 

The hubs surprised me with an old Singer sewing machine. I think it's from the 1920's or something. Supposedly, it runs, but I haven't tried it yet. Right now, it's just a gorgeous decoration for my dining sewing room. :) We also just celebrated our 10th Anniversary this month! Told ya it was busy... 

Of course, I've also been busy keeping the kids occupied. I love when my son is out of school! I usually get an extra half hour to sleep in, and we get lots more time to play. We had to make some cookies for Santa, and my son had his heart set on gingerbread cookies. It was my first time making them, and they turned out pretty good. Really soft too! Of course, we loaded them up with sugar so Santa could go into a diabetic coma! 

Here's the recipe I used, in case you want to try it:

Ingredients:

2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed

2/3 cup molasses

2 tsp ground cinnamon

2 tsp ground ginger

2 tsp baking soda

1 cup unsalted butter, room temp

1 large egg, beaten

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp salt

4 cups flour, plus extra for dusting

Preheat oven to 325F. 

Place brown sugar, molasses, cinnamon, and ginger in a large saucepan over medium low heat. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and stir in baking soda.

Stir in butter gradually, stirring well between additions to combine. Add egg, vanilla, and salt to sugar mixtrure, stirring to combine. Pour into a large bowl and add flour gradually, stirring to combine.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until dough comes together and is no longer sticky, adding flour by the tablespoon if necessary.

Roll out half the dough on a floured work surface to 1/8-inch thick. Cut dough into desired shapes. Place on prepared baking sheet and bake until edges are slightly browned, about 10 minutes. Remove from oven. Let cookies cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before decorating. 

*Note: I halved the recipe, and I made my cookies a little thicker, probably closer to 1/4" thick. They were great! 

Hope you all have a wonderfully Happy New Year! Wow... 2014! Time flies!

Taking a breath!

Lemon-Blueberry Muffins

Wow! It's been a while since I've posted a recipe on here. But, these muffins are definitely worth mentioning. I actually found a recipe online for lemon-blueberry bread, modified it a little bit (as usual), and made these delicious muffins! Lemon and any kind of berry make a really delicious combination, in my opinion, and everyone loves blueberries, right? Anyways, here's my modified recipe: 

Lemon-Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients:

1/3 cup melted butter, cooled to room temp

1 cup sugar

3 tbsp lemon juice (about 2 lemons)

2 eggs

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I used whole-wheat flour)

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup sour cream

2 tbsp grated lemon zest

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a muffin tin, or line with paper cups.

In a mixer, beat together butter, sugar, lemon juice, eggs, and sour cream. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Gradually add dry ingredients to the egg mixture until combined. Fold in lemon zest and blueberries. Pour batter into prepared muffin tin. 

Bake in preheated oven for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of muffins comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Remove and cool on racks completely... or enjoy hot! Yum! :)

Lemon-Blueberry Muffins

Wall-E Birthday Party

Yesterday was my son's 3rd birthday! He has been majorly into Wall-E these last few months, so we decided to do a Wall-E themed party for him. When I looked in stores and online for Wall-E party supplies, I didn't have very much luck. It looks like most stores are discontinuing their Wall-E supplies. Fortunately, I was able to find some plates, napkins, and party favors at Birthday Mania. I ordered them in September, just in case they ran out before his birthday. They were all marked down too! Bonus! :)

I always like to make something a little special for the kids, and also plan a couple of activities. I found some cute printable Wall-E and Eve masks at this website, as well as some printable coloring pages for the kids.

For another activity, I had the kids create their own robots. I wrapped mini cereal boxes in aluminum foil, then had the kids use pipe cleaners for the arms and legs. They could use bottle caps for the eyes, or use some of these cute eyeball stickers (or both). I also had lots of extra stickers and markers (Sharpies are best for the foil) they could use for more buttons or just for decoration. They had a blast! :)

I also made a mini felt robot for each of the kids. I'm thinking of adding these new creations to my Etsy shop. ;)

Of course, I had to have something special for the birthday boy to wear. So, I made him a robot tie shirt, with a number 3 on the back. :)

He looked super cute, if I do say so myself!

My awesome sister helped me with this cake. I'm thinking she needs to hurry up and open her own bakery! It was chocolate cake with a banana pudding filling. We used graham cracker crumbs for the dirt and Tootsie Rolls for the rocks and blocks of trash. And, of course, my son's Wall-E and Eve toys were the perfect cake decorations!

Overall, I think it was a success, and a super fun day at the park! :)

Wall-E Birthday Party

Corniest Corn Muffins

Well, this recipe is not mine, but I wish it was! These corn muffins turned out delicious! I took them to a potluck and got a few compliments on them, so I thought they were blog-worthy. :) I have to say "Thank You!" to my friend who took this pic! I totally forgot to take a picture of my food! Anyways, I love that these corn muffins are the perfect amount of sweetness, with pieces of corn mixed in. My husband is a corn fanatic, so he wanted to gobble all of these up right away... I had to limit him to 2 muffins since we were taking them to a party (where he ate even more of them!). These would go great with some yummy barbeque or a hot bowl of chili! I changed up the recipe just a little bit... anytime I see a baking recipe that calls for flour, I substitute half of the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour to make things a little healthier. :) I found this recipe online... it's from Dorie Greenspan's book, Baking from My Home to Yours:

 

Makes 12 muffins, or 48 mini-muffins

Ingredients:

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup yellow cornmeal, preferably stone-ground

6 tbsp granulated sugar

2-1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg (optional)

1 cup buttermilk

3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled

3 tbsp corn oil (I used canola)

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1 cup corn kernels (add up to 1/3 cup more if you like), fresh, frozen, or canned (drained and patted dry)

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 F. Butter or spray a 12-cup muffin tin, or line with paper cups. 

In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients and set aside. In another bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, melted butter, oil, egg and yolk together until well blended. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients. With a whisk or rubber spatula, gently but quickly stir to blend. The batter will be lumpy. Stir in the corn kernels. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups. 

Bake for 15 to 18 minutes (or 12 minutes for mini-muffins), or until the tops are golden and a thin knife inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean. Transfer the muffin tin to a rack and cool for 5 minutes. Remove muffins from the tin, and serve hot, or cool completely to serve later. :) Enjoy! 

Corniest Corn Muffins

Thank you, Julia and lululu!

So, the other day, I was catching up on my comment love, and was visiting lululu's lovely blog when I saw that she had posted Julia Child's recipe for Boeuf Bourguignon. Well, I have no way of knowing if it's really her recipe or not, since I don't own Julia's book yet, so I just took lululu's word for it. ;) Nevertheless, I was excited to see the recipe, having recently seen the movie Julie & Julia. Of course, the meal looked delicious in the movie, so I really wanted to try it! So, try it I did, and it is a delicious recipe! I think this may have been one of the best meals I've ever made! Either that or I was really hungry after taking the time to make this. I won't lie... it takes a long time to prepare... but, the directions are easy to follow, and it is so worth it! My husband loved it too, and he even had a stuffy nose that night! So, since I didn't come up with this recipe, I'm sending you over to lululu's blog to check it out. I only added one thing extra to this... a few leaves of fresh sage, finely chopped, in addition to the other herbs. Probably my three favorite herbs for turkey, chicken or beef are thyme, rosemary and sage... and I love using them together! Plus, they're readily available in my backyard garden! :) I served the beef over some homemade garlic mashed potatoes. Sorry, no recipe for these either, I just added some milk, sour cream, garlic and salt to the flavor and consistency that I wanted. 

Enjoy!

Thank you, Julia and lululu!

Pumpkin-Banana Muffins

Here it is... as promised! :) I made these muffins on Sunday, and was pleasantly surprised how well they turned out. I get a little nervous when I'm trying new things (and winging it) when it comes to anything baked. I've had mistakes a couple of times... muffins come out looking good, then deflate... But not this time! :) Basically, I just added some pumpkin puree and extra spices to my favorite Banana Muffin recipe, and prayed they would come out delicious. My husband kept calling them "Frankenstein" muffins, since they were "my own creation". When I was taking them out of the oven, he started chanting, "They're ALIVE! They're ALIVE!". :) What's funny is, I actually made some muffins a while back that are even more "Frankenstein" than these... I don't know why he didn't call those "Frankenstein" muffins..? Anyways, these muffins turned out yummy and all three of us are still enjoying them... 

This recipe makes about 12 to 18 muffins.

Ingredients:

1 pkg. (8 oz) Neufchatel Cheese, softened (cream cheese is fine too)

1 cup sugar (or 1/4 cup Agave Nectar)

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup mashed ripe banana (about 3 medium bananas)

3/4 cup pumpkin puree*

2 eggs

1-1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1-1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp pumpkin pie spice*

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

pinch salt

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour muffin trays or use paper liners; set aside. In a stand mixer, beat neufchatel cheese, sugar and butter on medium speed until well blended. Add banana, pumpkin and eggs; mix well. 

In a separate bowl, whisk together dry ingredients. Add combined dry ingredients to mixer; mix until moistened. Pour into prepared muffin cups until 2/3 filled. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool in trays for 5 minutes; remove muffins and cool completely on wire racks... or serve steaming hot because your family can't wait to eat them! ;) 

*Note: For the pumpkin puree--canned pumpkin is okay, but NOT pumpkin pie filling. If you don't have pumpkin pie spice on hand, click here for a recipe to make your own. Also, for a boost of Omega-3, you can add 2 tbsp flaxseed meal to this recipe! Just mix it in along with the dry ingredients before you add it to the rest of the batter. :)

Enjoy!

Pumpkin-Banana Muffins

Savory Sweet Potatoes

Hey everyone! This is a re-post from before I had followers. I figured this would be easiest since I am not feeling well. Sorry. Hoping to be back to normal soon. Enjoy!

My family LOVES sweet potatoes! I found a recipe for roasted root veggies in my Cooking For Baby cookbook (see April 2nd post), but I do it a little different. Sometimes I add carrots to my mix, but since my son (and husband) love the sweet potatoes, I usually only use them. It is a very simple recipe and very yummy! And when they're done (and cooled down), they make a great finger food for your toddler (or a practice "fork-stabbing" food), or a side dish for the family! We love the sweet, but salty/peppery taste of them!

Ingredients:

2 to 3 medium-sized sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 to 2 tbsp olive oil (depending on the amount of potatoes)

1 to 2 tbsp snipped fresh rosemary, minced (thyme also works good)

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 F. Line a baking tray with aluminum foil and spray with non-stick spray. Place prepared potatoes on tray, and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle salt, pepper and herbs over potatoes. Stir potatoes so that they are evenly coated, then spread out evenly on tray. Bake at 400 F for 20 to 25 minutes, or until tender. 

Note: You can also add carrots, parsnips, white sweet potatoes, regular potatoes, or any other root vegetable to this mix. They all taste delicious! :) I've also made these with a mixture of fresh minced rosemary, sage, and thyme and they are even yummier!

 

Savory Sweet Potatoes

Chocolate Overload Cookies

Oh, my goodness! These are so yummy! I've been dying to make some cookies for my husband and I, as a very belated birthday "sweet" (we didn't have cake this year). We've been putting it off, and finally today I decided to start some cookies. So last year for Christmas, I found this recipe from Food Network's website by Ellie Krieger for Triple Chocolate Cookies. Well, triple wasn't good enough for me, so I made some quadruple chocolate chip cookies for Christmas gifts. This time, I wanted to try something a little different. Yeah... quadruple wasn't good enough either. So, I added more chocolate! What is it called when you have five types of chocolate? Quintuple chocolate chip cookies? That just doesn't sound as good as Chocolate Overload! ;) If you think of a better name, let me know! Anyways, I guess white chocolate isn't technically chocolate, but since everyone calls it "chocolate", I count it as another type of chocolate in this recipe. I wasn't sure how these would taste since I had sooo much chocolate, but my husband and I tried them fresh from the oven yesterday and they were heavenly! Let me just say, you will definitely need a glass of milk along with these cookies! They are super rich! A great cookie for a Chocoholic! :) The recipe makes about 2 dozen cookies, but I didn't feel like having a big tin of cookies lying around, so...

later last night, I made pizookies. I just put the rest of the cookie dough in these mini-springform pans I have, and baked them a little longer than the smaller sized cookies (since they had been in the fridge for half the day, and they were also much bigger and thicker). Yes, they were absolutely delicious! I think it needs some chocolate sauce on top, though... ;)

So, here's the recipe, if you want to try it sometime. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup canola oil

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch processed)*

1/4 tsp salt

1/3 cup coarsely chopped dark chocolate*

1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips*

1/3 cup white chocolate chips*

1/3 cup 60% bittersweet chocolate chips*

Preheat oven to 350 F. 

In a stand mixer, beat together the butter and sugars until combined. Add the oil and egg and beat until creamy. Mix in the vanilla.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, cocoa powder and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients (gradually), and mix well. With a spoon or spatula, stir in the chocolate chips and mix well. Using a tablespoon, scoop the batter onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 12 minutes*. Transfer cookies to a rack to cool, or risk a mouth burn and eat them fresh from the oven! :)

*Note: I prefer the Ghirardelli Chocolate Chips (Semi-sweet, 60% bittersweet, and white). You could substitute milk chocolate chips for the semi-sweet if you want more sweetness. For the chopped dark chocolate, I used the Endangered Species 72% Dark Chocolate bar with Espresso Beans (the one with the Tiger on the front). To bake the pizookies, press cookie dough evenly into the bottom of a mini-springform pan or other small, round baking pan, and bake for 15 to 20 minutes. It should be crispy on the outside, but still gooey in the middle. Then, top with some yummy vanilla ice cream! 

Chocolate Overload Cookies

Mini Cranberry Corn Muffins

Can you tell I'm getting excited for fall already?! I LOVE cranberries! I usually get a lot of them when Thanksgiving rolls around, but frozen are usually available all year. I hadn't made any muffins in a while, so I thought I'd make some corn muffins this time. And instead of blueberries and lemon, I used cranberries and orange. I love those flavors together! I recently got a mini-muffin tray for my birthday, and I was so excited to use it. As much as my son loves any form of bread... especially muffins, I thought it would be great to make him some "easy to eat" muffins. I normally have to break pieces of muffin apart for him, otherwise he tends to try to cram the whole regular-sized muffin in his mouth, and nearly chokes! These mini muffins are perfectly sized for little hands, and little mouths! :) This recipe is not very sweet. Cranberries are very tart, so if you want them a little sweeter, you could either coat them with some extra sugar before adding them to the mix, or use dried sweetened cranberries. I think these taste great as is, and my son agrees! :)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup yellow corn meal

1/4 cup sugar

1-1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 large egg

3/4 cup milk

2 tbsp orange juice

1 tbsp orange zest

1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries, chopped, and rinsed and drained if frozen

Preheat oven to 425 F. Spray a mini muffin tray* with nonstick spray. Set aside.

In a large bowl, mix all dry ingredients together. Set aside 1/4 cup of the dry ingredients in a small bowl. In a separate medium bowl, combine all wet ingredients except cranberries, making sure the melted butter has cooled. Add wet ingredients to dry, and stir until just combined, don't over-mix. Coat the cranberries with the remaining 1/4 dry ingredients before adding to the batter. Gently fold the cranberries into the batter.

Scoop the batter into the muffin cups until about 2/3 full. Bake at 425 F for 12 to 14 minutes (*or 20 to 25 minutes for a regular 12-cup muffin tray). Cool tray on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Remove muffins from tray, and cool completely on a wire rack. Serve and enjoy! 

Makes about 24 mini-muffins, or 12 regular sized muffins. 

Mini Cranberry Corn Muffins

"Barbeque Chicken Buns"

So, in my previous crescent roll recipe, I had said that I would try to make my own barbeque pork buns. Well, this is sort of my take on that, with some slight differences. I took the meat idea, and used chicken instead, since I didn't have shredded or diced pork in my fridge. I also used my Better BBQ Sauce recipe which I had frozen into ice cube trays... and I must say, it freezes and defrosts very nicely! So, besides the chicken that I had to cook, I basically had most of the ingredients (rolls and BBQ sauce) already prepared, so this was a very easy recipe for me to put together. But, I realize that if you are going to try to make my version of barbeque sauce, then there is a little bit more work involved for you. :) Otherwise, to make it easier (and faster), you can certainly use the store-bought barbeque sauce and you'll have these "buns" prepared in no time! In case you missed the BBQ Sauce post, here's a little background info on my barbeque sauce: My son LOVES barbeque sauce, and I know that if I drench his meats in it, he will definitely eat more protein! However, my problem with store-bought barbeque sauce is that they are loaded with sugar! Obviously, this is the reason why my son likes it so much! So, I tried to make a healthier version for him. We both think it tastes pretty good, and I snuck in some veggies too! :) Needless to say, my son LOVED these barbeque buns! Yay! Enjoy!

Ingredients: 

1 boneless, skinless chicken breast, cooked and shredded

1/2 cup Better BBQ Sauce (recipe below)

1 tube refrigerated crescent rolls (I used the Pillsbury Big and Flaky)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Combine barbeque sauce and chicken and stir until sauce is evenly distributed throughout the chicken. Unroll and separate crescent rolls onto a baking sheet. Place about 2 tbsp of meat mixture onto each crescent roll, and spread all along the inside of the roll. Starting at the wide end, roll up the crescent all the way to the tip, making sure meat stays in place. Curl the two ends of the roll to make the crescent shape, and lay on the baking sheet. Space rolls about 2 inches apart from each other on the baking sheet. Bake at 350 F for about 15 to 19 minutes, or until golden-brown. Makes 6 to 8 rolls. 

Better BBQ Sauce

Ingredients:

1/2 cup vegetable broth

1/2 cup sweet potato puree

1/2 cup carrot puree

1/2 cup cider vinegar

3/4 cup tomato paste

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp garlic powder

2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tbsp molasses

1 tbsp agave nectar

2 shakes Tabasco

pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients in medium saucepan over low heat, until combined and heated through. Makes about 2 cups. Extra sauce freezes nicely. Enjoy!

"Barbeque Chicken Buns"

Ham and Cheese Crescent Rolls

So, my son was having one of those weeks, where he wasn't eating very much protein... He goes in phases--good protein weeks, and bad protein weeks. I guess he eventually gets what he needs, but I would really like him to eat more meats! We were having Dim Sum the other day, when a lightbulb went off in my head. My son loves Cha Siu Bao (barbeque pork buns), so I thought I would wrap some meat up in bread with some other yummy ingredients. Crescent rolls to the rescue! I suppose I could make my own rolls, but it is soooo much easier to just buy the refrigerated crescent rolls! So I rolled up some ham and cheese and some crushed dried herbs, baked them, and voila! Protein time! Success! He LOVED them! Hee hee hee... (my sneaky laugh). I'm sure this recipe exists elsewhere, and I know that Pillsbury has some recipes online too. So check them out as well if you're looking for an easy snack or side to make. I'm thinking of making my own "barbeque pork buns" next time... Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 tube refrigerated crescent rolls (I get the Pillsbury Big and Flaky type, 6 crescents per tube)

3 slices lunch meat, chopped into small size bites for toddlers (I used ham, but any kind is fine)

6 tbsp shredded cheddar cheese

1 tbsp crushed dried Italian seasoning (or crushed dried herb of choice)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Unroll and lay crescent rolls flat on a baking sheet. Sprinkle a little bit of the Italian seasoning over each crescent roll, and lightly press the herbs into the dough. Place lunch meat dices over crescent rolls, distributing evenly on the roll. Sprinkle about 1 tbsp shredded cheddar cheese evenly over each crescent roll. Carefully roll up the crescent rolls from the wide side to the angled side, then curve the ends into a moon shape. If desired, sprinkle a little more dried herbs on the tops of the rolls. Space the rolls about 1-2 inches apart on the baking sheet (no need to spray/grease the sheet). Bake for 15 to 19 minutes or until golden brown. 

Ham and Cheese Crescent Rolls

7 Grain Hot Cereal

I found this at Whole Foods the other day, and I was so excited to try it and give some to my son. Seven grains?! Awesome! So, here are the seven grains that are in this delicious mix: whole grain cracked wheat, steel cut oats, whole grain barley grits, soybean grits, wheat bran, whole grain buckwheat grits, yellow corn grits, and whole grain hulled millet. Phew! That's a lot of fiber and protein! :) So, this is my new favorite mix of ingredients! Oh, and by the way it's all organic! Yay! My son loves this cereal just as a yummy breakfast mixed with different fruits. But, he really loves it when I mix it in with his muffins! It is delicious any way you like it. I also plan to create a pancake and a cookie recipe using this stuff! I'm sure there are probably other versions of this type of cereal. I found the Arrowhead Mills version at Whole Foods, but it is probably available elsewhere. Try it and enjoy a delicious and nutritious start to your day! :) 

7 Grain Hot Cereal

Apple-Cherry Amaranth Muffins

After I made my quinoa muffins, I thought to myself, "I bet I could make these muffins with amaranth too!". I had a bag of amaranth in my pantry, and some dried cherries and thought they would make some great healthy muffins! Amaranth is a seed which is similar to quinoa, but much smaller. Both are treated like grains, but are actually seeds that are packed with protein! Usually I cook up some quinoa or amaranth and mix them up with some fruits or veggies for one of my son's meals. Of course, he never turns down a muffin, and they make such a great traveling snack! As I was making this recipe, I started mixing up the wet ingredients with the dry, and then realized I had no eggs! Luckily, applesauce and mashed bananas make a great substitute for eggs in muffin recipes, and I almost always have both of those on hand at all times. So, it turns out, these muffins are also vegan! As you probably know from my previous recipes, I'm definitely no vegan. But if you are, these are a great muffin for you! They taste pretty good even if you're a carnivore like me. :) My son says, "Mmm Mmm!"

Ingredients: 

1 cup amaranth

1/4 cup canola oil

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1-1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup dried cherries, chopped*

3/4 cup whole milk

1/4 cup applesauce (or 1 large egg)*

1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 F. In a medium saucepan, bring amaranth and 3 cups water to a boil. Reduce to low heat; cover, and cook until water has been absorbed and amaranth is tender, about 20 to 25 minutes. 

Meanwhile, brush a 12-cup muffin pan with oil, and dust with flour, tapping out excess. In a medium bowl, whisk together flours, sugar, baking powder, salt, cherries, and 2 cups cooked amaranth. Reserve any leftover amaranth for another use. 

In a small bowl, whisk together oil, milk, applesauce (or egg), and vanilla. Add milk mixture to flour mixture and stir just until combined. Divide batter among prepared muffin cups. 

Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of muffin comes out clean 25 to 30 minutes.* Cool muffins in pan for 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Makes 12 muffins. Enjoy!

*Note: It is not necessary to chop your dried cherries. I did only because I knew I would be serving these muffins to my son, and I wasn't sure if he could handle a larger-sized dried fruit. To substitute eggs in future muffin recipes, use either 1/4 cup applesauce or 1/4 cup mashed banana for each egg in the recipe. My muffins took a little longer in the oven, about 40 minutes. I'm not sure if it's because of the amaranth, or if the applesauce made the batter too moist. They still turned out good, just took a little longer. :)

Apple-Cherry Amaranth Muffins

Snickerdoodles

I LOVE this recipe for Snickerdoodles! I have to admit, I had never had snickerdoodles until I was in my twenties, and even then I was still never a huge fan of them. But, let me tell you, these are delicious! They are the perfect combination of crunchy and soft! Sadly, it is not my recipe, but I think it is such a good one, that I decided to post it on here. I made some of these for Christmas gifts last year, and I also made some for my sister's birthday party. She loved them! Actually, everyone that ate one loved them... including my son! This recipe comes from Emeril Lagasse off of the Food Network website, which I also love! I picked this recipe for snickerdoodles because it had a 5 star rating, so I figured it must be a good one! Unfortunately, these are probably not very figure-friendly cookies, but it's okay to splurge every once in a while! :) However, I did substitute some of the flour for whole wheat flour. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1-1/4 cups whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup shortening

8 tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1-1/2 cups sugar, plus 3 tbsp

2 large eggs

1 tbsp ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt into a bowl. 

With a handheld or standing mixer, beat together the shortening and butter. Add the 1-1/2 cups sugar and continue beating until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the flour mixture and blend until smooth. 

Mix the 3 tbsp sugar with the cinnamon in a small bowl. Roll the dough, by hand, into 1-1/2-inch balls. Roll the balls in the cinnamon sugar. Flatten the balls into 1/2-inch thick disks, spacing them evenly on unlined cookie sheets. Bake until light brown, but still moist in the center, about 12 minutes. Cool on a rack. Serve and enjoy!

Snickerdoodles

Good For You Muffins

I think I seriously need to open a bakery or something. I make waaaay too many baked goodies! I made up my own muffin recipe this time, and it turned out delicious! I was pleasantly surprised! The best part is, they are good for you too! I didn't know what to call these muffins, since they have so many delicious ingredients in them, so I decided to just call them "Good For You Muffins". It works! I recently bought this hot cereal for my son to try that is 7-grain hot cereal. I thought, seven grains is way better than just one or two, right? The mix (I got the Arrowhead Mills version) has wheat, oats, barley, soybeans, buckwheat, corn, and millet in it! Super hearty! I made some for him, mixed it with some fruit, and he loved it! Well, on the back of the package there are a couple of recipes for muffins/bread. I think my husband noticed the big lightbulb above my head... I got so excited to experiment with a new muffin recipe, that I made some later that night after my son went to bed! I didn't use the recipe on the back of the box because I wanted to put different ingredients in it, so I just made one up based on a bunch of different ideas I had in my head (and also what I had in my kitchen)! I think they turned out great, and when my son does his usual, "Mmmm, mmm!" I know they must be good! Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 pkg. (8 oz) Neufchatel Cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened

2 mashed ripe bananas

1/4 cup applesauce (homemade or no sugar added)

1/2 cup carrots, grated

Zest and juice of 1 lemon*

1 egg

1 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup whole-wheat flour

1/2 cup Arrowhead Mills Organic 7-Grain Hot Cereal

1-1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cinnamon

pinch of salt

1/2 cup dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 350 F. Using a handheld or standing mixer, beat neufchatel cheese, sugar, and butter on medium speed until well blended. Add banana, egg, applesauce, lemon zest and juice, and carrots. Mix well. 

In a separate bowl, mix all dry ingredients (except cranberries) together until combined. Add combined dry ingredients gradually to the wet ingredients and mix until moistened. Leave about 1 tbsp of the dry ingredients in the bowl to coat the cranberries. After coating the cranberries with the flour mixture, add to the batter, and fold in with a spoon until evenly distributed. Pour batter into greased and floured, or paper cup-lined muffin tray. 

Bake 30 to 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes; remove from muffin tray. Cool completely on wire rack. Serve and enjoy! Make 12 "puffy" muffins, or up to 18 normal-sized muffins. 

*Note: I had a "Momnesia" moment and thought that I had some oranges on hand, which would have tasted delicious with the cranberries and carrot! However, when I went to grab one, I noticed that the only citrus I had was lemons... Oops! So, I used lemon and it turned out fine. If you decide to use orange, you could use half or all of the zest of one orange, and about 2-3 tbsp of the juice. :)

Good For You Muffins

Father's Day Frittata

I made my husband this spinach frittata for his Father's Day breakfast. He LOVED it! Once all the ingredients are prepared, it is pretty simple to put together. I served mine with some homemade hashed browns. I make my frittata in the oven instead of frying it. I'm not the best "flipper" when it comes to large sized pancakes, omelets, hashed browns, etc... Notice I tried not to focus on my ugly hashed browns behind the frittata. They tasted good, but were not very photogenic. Anyways, baking the frittata in the oven makes it much easier to cut up and serve prettier, when you're not a pro-flipper. I love the combination of flavors in this recipe! We are big spinach fans, and I also added some more delicious ingredients that go well with the egg and spinach. You can also add some meat (sausage, ham) to this recipe and it would probably taste even more delicious! Happy Father's Day to all! Enjoy!

Ingredients:

4 large eggs

1-1/2 cups milk

1 10-oz pkg. frozen spinach, thawed and drained well*

1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped

1/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

Preheat oven to 400 F. Spray an 8 x 8-inch square baking dish with nonstick spray, and set aside. In a large bowl, whisk eggs, milk, garlic powder, salt, and pepper together until smooth and combined. Add remaining ingredients and stir until evenly distributed. Pour egg mixture into prepared baking dish, and bake for 17 to 22 minutes, or until eggs are set (not jiggly in the middle). 

*Note: After you thaw/defrost your spinach per the package ingredients, let it cool a little, then squeeze the spinach leaves through some paper towels, or a clean dish towel to thoroughly remove the excess liquid. Otherwise, your eggs will be more runny with the extra liquid. :(

Father's Day Frittata

Stuffed Mushrooms

Okay, so I kinda stole this recipe from my aunt, but it is so yummy! I did mine a little bit different, but they still turned out delicious. My husband and I LOVE these stuffed mushrooms! I normally make this with the smaller white stuffing mushrooms, but this time I wanted to make it more of a meal instead of an hors d'oeuvre. So, I used Baby Portabella caps. They were so delicious with the filling! I think I'll make them like this all the time! For most of my recipes that call for cream cheese, I use neufchatel instead because it has 1/3 less fat. But, you can use regular cream cheese if you like. I just served mine over some wild rice, and it was super filling! I was full after one mushroom! :) 

Ingredients:

5 to 6 Baby Portabella caps*

1 lb breakfast sausage*

1 pkg (8 oz) Neufchatel (or Cream Cheese)

1/2 cup green onions, finely chopped

1 tsp (2 cloves) minced garlic

Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray a 9 x 13 inch baking dish with non-stick spray, and set aside. Clean mushroom caps by wiping with a damp paper towel. Make sure to remove any stems that are left on the mushrooms. Place mushrooms open side up in the baking dish. Cook sausage in a skillet over medium-high heat until browned. Add garlic and onions and cook another 1 to 2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium, and add neufchatel or cream cheese. Stir until cheese is soft, melted and combined well with other ingredients. Remove from heat. Spoon sausage mixture into mushroom caps, patting down to make sure it is "stuffed". You will probably have leftover sausage mixture. Bake in oven at 350 F for about 20 minutes. Recipe makes about 6 big stuffed mushrooms or 12 smaller sized mushrooms. 

*Note: The name "Baby Portabella" or "Baby Bella" is misleading. The ones I found were a much larger size than the white mushrooms that I normally get. You could also use regular Portabella mushrooms if you want an even bigger mushroom! I prefer to use the Owens Hot breakfast sausage since it adds a little "zing", but you can use regular breakfast sausage or even Italian sausage if you like. You can serve these big mushrooms over rice or some yummy steamed vegetables. I bet it would taste delicious over cooked spinach too! I have also used this same sausage mixture to stuff Bell Peppers, and it tastes just as delicious! :) Enjoy!

Stuffed Mushrooms

Sunflower/Daisy Carrot Cake

I have a sunflower bundt cake pan that I have rarely used, but I had the perfect occasion... My mom's birthday! :) I decided to make her favorite... Carrot cake! I even made my own frosting (I like to call it "Cheesy Frosting")! And I decorated the cake to look more like a daisy, since they are her favorite flowers. As usual, I found a recipe online, then adjusted it based on what I had available and what I wanted to add/take away from it. Some carrot cakes call for nuts and raisins, and I didn't want to add those to this cake. Also, I wanted to add pineapple since I had some on hand, and I wanted to substitute some of the flour with whole wheat flour. So, here's what I came up with... It turned out very moist and delicious! My mom (and my son) LOVED it! :)

Ingredients:

for the cake--

2 cups granulated sugar

2/3 cup canola oil

3 eggs, room temperature

1 tsp vanilla extract

2/3 cup applesauce*

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp baking soda

1-1/2 tsp salt

1 pound carrots, grated

1/2 cup pineapple, crushed or chopped

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour sunflower cake pan, or 2 (8-inch) round cake pans. 

Beat sugar, oil, eggs, and applesauce together until combined using an electric mixer with paddle attachment. Add the vanilla. 

In a separate bowl, sift together flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Fold in the carrots and pineapple, mix well. 

Pour batter in sunflower cake pan, or divide equally between 2 (8-inch) round cake pans. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes*, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Decorate as desired with frosting (see recipe below).

*Note: The use of the applesauce cuts the amount of oil in the recipe in half. I used my stash of homemade applesauce. If you use store-bought applesauce, it might have added sugar, so you may need to decrease the amount of sugar in your recipe. My sunflower cake pan is a darker color, and per the Nordicware website, I was told to decrease the temperature by 25 degrees. I ended up baking it for 1 hour and 25 minutes! This might have also been because it was one big 10-cup capacity cake pan.. so it may take less time if you have the temp at 350 F and use 2 smaller cake pans... :)

Ingredients:

for the Cheesy Frosting--

15 oz ricotta cheese (you can use part-skim)

1/2 cup cheesecake flavor cream cheese* (regular or neufchatel should be fine too)

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1/3 cup plus 2 tbsp powdered sugar

1 tbsp honey

1 tbsp milk

1/2 tsp orange zest

1/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice

1/2 tsp vanilla

Blend cheeses and butter together until smooth. Add sugar, honey, milk, orange juice and vanilla until combined. Fold in orange zest. After I piped the white frosting, I used a little yellow food coloring to make the inside of the "daisy" yellow. I piped the petal frosting using a #16 tip, and the inside "dots" using a #2 tip. I also had some extra orange zest that I added to the inside of the "daisy"... It kind of looks like pollen... :)

*Note: I LOVE cheesecake flavor cream cheese! It also makes a great snack spread on graham crackers... tastes just like cheesecake! So far, I have only been able to find it at Walmart, but check your local grocery store... You may have better luck than me. :)

Sunflower/Daisy Carrot Cake

Three-Meat Meatloaf with Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Wow! My husband and I were in San Francisco when we stopped at some diner and had a delicious meatloaf. It was a chilly day, so the warm meatloaf and mashed potatoes really hit the spot that day. When we came back home to AZ, I had to find a recipe that was similar. So I searched online and found one, and I have been using this recipe for a few years (with some of my own special touches). As I was feeling exceptionally creative the other day, I decided to change it up and hopefully improve it... Oh my goodness! This was delicious! My husband and I loved it! Meatloaf is not very photogenic, but it sure does taste good! :) Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1/4 cup olive oil

1-1/2 cups onions, finely chopped

1/2 cup celery, finely chopped

2 tbsp garlic, minced

1 tbsp dry Italian seasoning, crushed

1 pound ground beef

1 pound Italian sausage, casings removed

12 oz Chorizo, casings removed

1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, drained and coarsely chopped

1/2 cup cilantro, finely chopped

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs (regular or Italian bread crumbs are fine)

Pepper as desired

1/4 to 1/2 cup sun-dried tomato spread (as needed to cover the loaf)

In a large skillet, warm olive oil over medium heat. Add onions, celery, garlic, and Italian seasoning. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature. 

Preheat oven to 350 F. In a large bowl, mix together ground beef, sausage, chorizo, onion mixture, sun-dried tomatoes, cilantro, eggs, bread crumbs, and pepper. Transfer meat mixture to a large but shallow baking dish and shape it into a flat loaf about 2-1/2 inches thick. There will be a large amount of mixture at this point. You may also use a loaf pan if desired. Smooth the top of the loaf with the back of a spoon. Spread sun-dried tomato spread on top of loaf, coating evenly.

Bake about 1-1/2 hours, or until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of the loaf registers 165 F. Let rest on a rack for 10 minutes before slicing. Add more sun-dried tomato spread atop your loaf as desired. Serve hot with mashed potatoes and veggies. Serves 6 to 8. 

Three-Meat Meatloaf with Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Mini Frittatas

These make a delicious and healthy breakfast! I have seen similar recipes for frittatas on multiple websites, but I do mine a little different. These ones are easy to make, and you can use a muffin tin to make mini frittatas, which are the perfect size for little hands (cuts down on cooking time too)! I use a regular sized muffin tin, and just fill them up halfway with my egg mixture, but you can also use a mini-muffin tin for bite-sized frittatas. You can use any vegetable you like (or what you have on hand). I like to use a green veggie with tomatoes. Not only do you get protein from the eggs, you also get iron from the green veggie and vitamin C from the tomatoes, which helps your body absorb the iron. I normally add a little dash of garlic powder for extra flavor, but I forgot this time. My son LOVED them, even without the extra flavor! I love when he nods his little head while saying, "Mmmm mmm!" :) These little frittatas also make a great hors d'oeuvre for a breakfast or brunch party! 

Ingredients:

3 eggs

2 tbsp milk

2 tbsp shredded cheddar cheese (any cheese would be fine)

1/4 cup Chinese Broccoli, steamed and chopped (regular broccoli or other greens, like spinach or asparagus would be great too)

1/4 cup Italian style tomatoes, drained and diced (I like to blot them with a paper towel to absorb some of the moisture so the eggs aren't so "liquidy")

Season to taste with salt, pepper, and/or herbs and spices

Preheat oven to 375 F. Whisk eggs and milk together until combined. Add the remaining ingredients and stir until equally distributed. Spray a muffin tin with non-stick spray. Use a small spoon or measuring cup to pour the egg mixture into the muffin cups, filling only halfway. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes or until the egg mixture is firm in the middle. My mixture made 9 mini frittatas. You can double or triple the recipe to make more, if you like. Enjoy!

Mini Frittatas