Melynda's Food Madness

Buy Whole Pieces of Meat

2011-10-05T19:50:00.000-07:00

A great way to save money is to buy your meat in whole pieces. We went to Costco and bought a 12kg inside round roast or slab thing....not sure the proper name. It was $72 dollars and I was able to cut it into 12 roasts ranging from 1.5 - 4 lbs.

At first I was a bit scared of cutting my own roasts but the price difference was astronomical. For a 2-3 kg package it was $30!

So thanks to www.youtube.com I was able to cut some nice roasts, they would have looked even nicer if I had some butcher's twine.

Now you may ask what am I going to do with 12 roasts? Well this is where the big cook comes in. My friend Laura and I planned out meals that can be prepared and frozen a head of time. We made 28 meals in total, 3 whole chicken recipes, pork chops, chicken breasts and the beef roasts and a ginormous amount of borscht!

We just finished cook so I will post later the break down on the costs.

October's Challenge - Big Cook and Menu Planning

2011-10-04T09:50:00.000-07:00

I have decided to work with a cash grocery budget. I find that it is so easy to go over budget on food when you are constantly popping into the store for this and that. This is the second month that I have used cash and there have been some growing pains.

My goal this month is to be under budget.

To accomplish this I have done a big costco shop on mainly meat and I will be doing a big cook tomorrow. My friend and I are getting together to cook 16-20 meals.

I am also going to make a menu plan each week. I am hoping that with all the meat and pre-cooked meals that I can make my weekly budget be $50 or less a week. I think this is more than do-able, especially when my grocery budget has to allow for diaper purchases.

What do you do to keep grocery costs down?

13

2011-09-15T12:41:00.000-07:00

Getting close to my goal wasn't that hard after all. I cleaned my fridge out this weekend and got rid of all the out of date items, containers with barely any left and even though it is wasteful items that I will never eat...like calorie free peanut butter.

Yes such a thing exists. I am a bit of snob when it comes to peanut butter, I only like the highly processed, highly sugared kraft smooth peanut butter. But seriously calorie free peanut butter is disgusting and I was terrified to even look at the label because....what could it be made of?

My challenge now is to use of 3 bottles of lime juice....

How are you doing with de-cluttering your fridge?

67!

2011-09-06T08:37:00.001-07:00

I can not believe it! There are 67 different kinds of condiments in my fridge. I included everything from jams, to curry paste and lime juice in my count. I have about 5 different kinds of salad dressing, 3 bottles of lime juice, 2 kinds of curry paste, and so much more. My goal of using up 25% seems really daunting. That means I need to use up about 17 containers. Hmmm...Well, this week I have already planned to BBQ steak and make a lentil curry. Wish me luck!

Challenge #1 - Condiments

2011-09-04T08:03:00.000-07:00

If you are like me and you open your fridge and can't put anything new in because of all the containers of condiments. Then join me on getting rid of all the jars that you barely use. I am not saying, "Go and get a garbage bag and toss it all."

Not even close.

Let's use it up. This month the challenge is to use up 25% of the condiments in your fridge.

Go to your fridge and count all the condiments. Everything from the ketchup to the salad dressing. And post in the comments how many you have.

Too Much

2011-09-02T07:39:00.001-07:00

My goodness, it has been way to long since I have blogged. Don't worry I am still cooking and my kids are getting feed. I am not cooking anything fancy and nothing blog worthy.

With the start of September, thoughts of Christmas have come with it. Between now and Christmas our family has two birthdays. My kids are well loved and our play room is exploding. Mike and I have gotten a touch of Too-Much-Stuffitis. And this has extended to my kitchen.

Have you ever opened your cupboard, have so much stuff something fall out because it is so full but still have no idea what to cook for dinner?
That is my cupboards. My challenge for September is to not buy anything except fresh vegetables and meat.

I challenge everyone to join me and post in the comment section what you cook.

Greek Celebration Bread Part 2

2011-04-25T19:52:00.000-07:00

I made it just in time for Easter. I didn't think it would happen because Mike was away last week and solo-parenting and bread making were not a match last week for me. Thankfully my wonderful mother in law took my girls for a sleep over. So I made the Christmas (the round one) and the Easter version of the Greek Celebration bread. Delicious! The bits of fruit and nuts made the bread so much better.

Greek Celebration Bread

2011-04-15T13:06:00.000-07:00

Here is the next recipe from the Bread Baker's Apprentice. This is the basic Greek Celebration Bread and there are two variations one for Christmas and one for Easter. I am going to try and make both breads between now and Easter.

This bread smells and tastes heavenly. We gobbled it up! It is a good thing I am only baking bread once a week.

It looks amazing but once I cut into it, I found that there was a huge space between the bread and crust. I have no idea why, it may be because of the way I shaped it.

Jam Muffins

2011-04-04T18:48:00.000-07:00

My bestie Laurie gave me this recipe book last year for my birthday. I am slowly working my way through it. I am not making muffins as often these days but I do get a hankering for them. These ones I whipped up one morning when I couldn't go back to sleep after being up with Georgia.

Ingredients
adapted from The 250 Best Muffin Recipes

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup butter/margarine melted
1 cup plain yogurt (I used sour cream)
1/4 cup milk
jam

Directions
1. Combine dry ingredients and the add all the wet *except* the jam. Mix just enough so that the batter is formed.
2. Fill greased muffin tins half full with batter, then put a dollop of jam and cover with remaining batter.
3. Bake at 450F for 15 - 20 minutes

Light Bites?

2011-04-02T06:56:00.000-07:00

Where is light bites?

Well...it is here.

I did cook the recipe last week and I highly reccomend it. It was delicious but the picture was terrible...so I didn't post and I am also behind on my posting.

Check out Pam's blog too, she cooks amazing things.

Fresh Bread Thursday - Anadama Bread

2011-03-31T12:35:00.000-07:00

This is how I am able to get any cooking done.

Sometime ago one of my favorite bloggers Amanda was in a blogging group called the Bread Baker's Apprentice Challenge. It was a group that baked and blogged out of Peter Reinhart's book The Bread Baker's Apprentice. I was fascinated by the beautiful bread that she made. I have been lusting after the book for about a year now and I recieved it for Christmas. This book is fascinating and is like a text book. It explains about the different flours, yeasts and the process that bread goes through. I have been wanting to start baking since January but...well....I haven't found the time. I am going to start the challenge myself since I am not sure I can commit to baking bread every week.

Here is the first first recipe Anadama.

Mixing the corn meal with water.

Adding the flour.

Letting it rise.

Voila!

Easy Grilled Chicken with Seeded Honey - Mustard Sauce

2011-03-30T12:58:00.000-07:00

Mike bought me a couple new recipe books and as I was trying to make room in my crammed full recipe cupboard I realized that I rarely use any of them. So I have decided to cook a new recipe from each book each week.

This recipe was delicious, I decided to use greek yogurt instead of regular. I love greek yogurt but Mike found the texture to be a bit off but we still loved it.

Ingredients
adapted from The 150 Healthiest 15-Minute Recipes on Earth

1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
4 skinless boneless chicken breast halves
1 1/2 tbsp honey mustard
3 tbsp plain low fat yogurt
1/2 tsp mustard seeds

Directions
Pre heat the grill to medium heat. Mix together olive oil, Dijon mustard, salt and peper. Toss the chicken in the bowl to evenly coat (if you are thinking ahead this would make a nice marinade too)

Lightly spray the grill and cook the chicken for about 6 minutes per side.

While chicken is coking, mix together the yogurt, honey mustard and mustard seeds. Serve a dollop on top of the chicken.

Green Beans
adapted from Simply in Season

1 tbsp oil
1/4 cup minced onion
1 clove garlic
2 tbsp fresh basil
1 cup chopped tomatoes
1 cup cooked green beans (I just steamed them while I saute)

Directions
Heat oil and saute onions and garlic. Add the basil, tomatoes and cooked green beans. Cover and cook for 5 minutes.

Dijon Garlic Trout

2011-03-29T12:50:00.000-07:00

I have started to make menu plans and with that I am striving to have fish once a week. I really quite enjoy fish but I struggle with how to be creative with it.

Here is a great recipe I found.

Ingredients
adapted from allrecipes.com

4 (6 oz) trout fillets
1/2 cup Dijon mustard
4 large cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 red onion, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon dried tarragon
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1.Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Spray a 9x13 inch pan with cooking spray.

2.Arrange the salmon skin side down in the prepared pan, and lightly coat with the Dijon mustard. Place the garlic and onion slices on the salmon fillets. Season with tarragon, salt, and pepper.

3.Bake 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until salmon is easily flaked with a fork

Light Bites - Chicken with Roasted Apples and Garlic

2011-02-25T20:37:00.000-08:00

Score for another Light Bites recipe. I found this recipe super easy and delicious! I really liked the mix of spices. I did change a few things I didn't have chicken thighs but I do have lots of breasts. I think thighs would have made the chicken a little more tender due to that extra fat but I enjoyed it this way and loved the calorie reduction. Check out Pam's blog for more info on the awesome Light Bites group.

Ingredients
adapted from Cooking Light

5 cups chopped peeled Braeburn apple (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1 teaspoon chopped fresh sage - I used 1/4 tsp ground sage
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
Cooking spray
8 chicken thighs (about 2 pounds), skinned
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Chopped parsley (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 475°.
Combine first 5 ingredients. Add 1/4 teaspoon salt; toss well to coat. Spread apple mixture on a jelly roll pan coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle chicken with 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper, and arrange on top of the apple mixture. Bake at 475° for 25 minutes or until chicken is done and apple is tender. Remove chicken from pan; keep warm. Partially mash apple mixture with a potato masher, and serve with chicken. Sprinkle with parsley, if desired.

Light Bites - Spinach, Carmalized Onion and Bacon Pizza

2011-02-05T12:13:00.000-08:00

Yeah for Light Bites! I love this group and how it motivates me to cook something other than freezer meals. Come and join us.

This pizza was delicious! I am a big fan of pizza without tomato sauce so I knew I would love it. Mike was so impressed with it. He loved the way it looked and tasted. Now the girls.....they didn't really eat it. Ally picked the bacon off, then took the rest of the toppings off and licked the white sauce. Kids are so weird.

I decided to use a different crust recipe. I just made a whole wheat crust and used my bread machine to do all the work.

Ingredients
adapted from Cooking Light

Dough
3/4 cup + 1 tbsp of warm water
2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp active dry yeast
Topping
4 bacon slices, chopped
1 (10-ounce) package fresh spinach
2 cups (1/4-inch-thick) sliced onion
2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon butter
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup 2% reduced-fat milk
1 tablespoon cornmeal
1 cup (4 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese

Directions
Put dough ingredients in to the bread machine according to directions.

To prepare topping, cook bacon in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan, reserving 2 teaspoons drippings. Set bacon aside. Add spinach to drippings in pan; sauté 2 minutes or until wilted. Place spinach in a colander, pressing until barely moist. Add onion and 2 teaspoons sugar to pan; cook 12 minutes or until golden brown, stirring frequently. Remove from heat; cool.

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic; cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add 3 tablespoons flour and pepper, stirring with a whisk; cook 30 seconds. Gradually add milk, stirring constantly with a whisk. Cook 5 minutes or until thick and bubbly, stirring constantly with a whisk.

Preheat oven to 475º.
Roll dough into a 12-inch circle on a floured surface. Place dough on a (12-inch) pizza pan or baking sheet coated with cooking spray adn sprinkled with cornmeal. Crimp edges of dough with fingers to form a rim. Spread milk mixture evenly over dough; top with spinach and onion.

Bake at 475° for 20 minutes. Sprinkle evenly with bacon and cheese; bake an additional 5 minutes or until golden brown. Cut pizza into 8 wedges.

Light Bites - Beef and Beer Chili

2011-01-29T07:13:00.000-08:00

I took some great pictures...but for some reason the pictures were corrupt. Grrr....

Yeah for another Light Bites recipe. Come and join us, we need more people!

Anyways, this was a delicious chili, I loved the addition of cumin! I made some pretty big changes and I think it made it healthier. I used ground turkey, liquid sugar twin and well...I didn't use any beer. I am cheap and I didn't want to buy one bottle of beer for a meal and also I thought the chances of my kids eating the meal with the beer taste was slim to none. They barely ate it as it was. I found this chili to be more soupy than I normally like but the flavour was great. I highly reccomend it.

Ingredients
Adapted from Cooking Light

1 1/2 cups chopped red onion (about 1 medium)
1 cup chopped red bell pepper (about 1 small)
8 ounces extralean ground beef - I used turkey
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon sugar - I used liquid sugar twin
1/2 teaspoon salt - I rarely add salt
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 (19-ounce) can red kidney beans, drained
1 (14.5-ounce) can no-salt-added diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (14-ounce) can low-sodium beef broth
1 (12-ounce) bottle beer (such as Budweiser)
1 tablespoon yellow cornmeal
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

Directions

Combine first 4 ingredients in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Cook 5 minutes or until beef is browned, stirring to crumble. Stir in chili powder, cumin, sugar, and salt; cook 1 minute. Add oregano and next 4 ingredients (through beer) to pan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes. Stir in cornmeal; cook 5 minutes. Stir in juice.

Light Bites - Turkey and Oat Burgers

2011-01-21T08:54:00.000-08:00

I must apologize to my fellow group members this week. I didn't make it to the store to get some ground turkey. Here is a link to Pam's post. Go check it out and let me know if you make the burgers. I promise I will cook more next week.

Cabbage Pancakes

2011-01-17T13:20:00.000-08:00

As usual my motivation for cooking is to not waste food. Thankfully cabbage doesn't go bad very fast because I have had a hard time making things to use it up. Last week I made a coconut curry with cabbage that was delicious but didn't look blog worthy. Today I made these cabbage pancakes for lunch. I thought they were good, a little on the bland side but delcious dressed up with some dressing. Ally and Zoe had a few bites but the pancakes couldn't compare to 'hair noodle soup' aka ramen noodles. I think this recipe is great for using up some cabbage and getting some veggies in.

Ingredients
adapted from Allrecipes

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 small head cabbage, cored and sliced thin
1 onion, thinly sliced
black pepper to taste
1 1/3 cups plain fat-free yogurt
2/3 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 tbsp dijon mustard
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda

Directions

1.Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in the cabbage and onion; cook and stir until the vegetables are soft and fragrant, about 10 minutes. Season with pepper, and set pan aside to cool.

2.Whisk together the yogurt, milk, vegetable oil, and eggs in a bowl until evenly blended; set aside. Stir together the flour, baking powder, and baking soda in a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour the wet mixture into the well, then stir until well combined. Fold the cooled cabbage and onions into the pancake batter.

3.Heat a large skillet over medium heat, and butter or oil if necessary. 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.

Light Bites - Falafel Pitas with Cucumber Yogurt Dressing

2011-01-14T11:48:00.000-08:00

I love the Light Bites group because it forces me to cook and put things on my blog amidst the chaos in my life. This week's pick was mine! I don't know why I picked it but I am so glad that I did! It was incredibly easy and nutritious. The girls didn't eat it but they don't eat anything that isn't macaroni or peanut butter these days. I am excited for the left overs. If you are wondering why my falafel isn't inside the pita well....because I buy them from Costco and freeze them four at a time. The reason I am sharing this with you is because I discovered a new way to thaw the pitas so that they are soft. I used to throw them in the microwave and they would be hard, dry and just break. I have recently gotten a steamer and I am slowly learning how to steam. So I threw the pitas in the steamer and they came out almost perfect, soft and warm. They would have been perfect if I could have opened them.

Ingredients
adapted from Cooking Light

1/4 cup minced red onion
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 (15 1/2-ounce) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained
1 (1-ounce) slice whole wheat bread, torn into pieces (I used bread crumbs)
1 large egg
1 large egg white
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
2 (6-inch) whole wheat pitas, split
1/2 cup Cucumber-Yogurt Dressing

Directions
Combine first 10 ingredients in a food processor; pulse 6 times or until well blended (mixture will be wet).
Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Spoon about 1/3 cup chickpea mixture per patty into pan; cook 4 minutes on each side or until golden brown.
Line each pita half with 1/4 cup arugula, add 1 patty to each pita half, and spoon 2 tablespoons Cucumber-Yogurt Dressing into each pita half.

Cucumber Yogurt Dressing

Ingredients
adapted from Cooking Light

1 cup plain fat-free yogurt
1/2 cup diced seedless cucumber
1/4 cup minced red onion
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Directions
Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Cover and chill.

Light Bites - Garlic Fries

2011-01-07T21:41:00.000-08:00

I am so excited that the Light Bites group is back and you should join us. I love this group so much because it motivates me to actually blog, which is a hobby I love too.

I actually made the fries last week but I got Mike to take the picture on his camera and well....we got busy...kids got sick...and now I am late posting! Grrrrr.... Oh well.

I am not a big potato fan and I only buy potatos when I actually have a purpose for them. I had some baby potatoes in the cupboard so I decided to pull out my mandolin and make match stick fries. I love this recipe! The fries were delicious. I liked the addition of the cheese, it made them just that much better.

Ingredients
adapted from Cooking Light

4 teaspoons canola oil (I used olive)
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 pounds peeled baking potatoes, cut into 1/4-inch-thick strips
Cooking spray
2 tablespoons butter
8 garlic cloves, minced (about 5 teaspoons)
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°.
Combine first 3 ingredients in a large zip-top plastic bag, tossing to coat. Arrange potatoes in a single layer on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake at 400° for 50 minutes or until potatoes are tender and golden brown, turning after 20 minutes.
Place butter and garlic in a large nonstick skillet, and cook over low heat 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add potatoes, parsley, and Parmesan cheese to pan; toss to coat. Serve immediately.

Apple Cake

2010-12-15T13:05:00.000-08:00

I made this cake at nine o'clock the other night. We had a little party for some friends and I like to put on a nice meal. It was a 'sides' potluck where everyone brings the sides to a main meal. I am making a big pot of chili and everyone else brought food to go along with the chili. I decided to make a cake too, mainly because I was in the mood and I wasn't sure what the dessert turn out would be. I am hoping to make some other foods too - I will post if it actually happens. As I was starring blankly at my pantry and with the urge to bake but not knowing what, Ally came up to me to 'read' me a story. Coincidentally she was going to read me a story from my favourite cookbook. As she was flipping through the book and telling me about the evil worm that was stealing my baby, she flipped to this apple cake recipe and I realized that I had some apples that needed to be used. Gotta love how things just slide into place!

If you are looking for a great cookbook that uses lots of veggies then you need to get Simply in Season. I have never made anything bad out of it.

Ingredients
adapted from Simply in Season

5 cups apple (unpeeled and chopped)
1 1/3 cups sugar
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs (slightly beaten)
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg

Directions
Combine apples and sugar and let stand while mixing other ingredients. In a seperate bowl combing oil, eggs and vanilla. Add dry ingredients into a third bowl and then alternating between apples and liquid ingredients mix into the dry ingredients bowl. Pour into a greased cake pan and bake at 350F for 40-50 minutes.

12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies - Gingerbread

2010-12-10T10:26:00.000-08:00

Gingerbread cookies are the perfect holiday cookie. They are just classic! I love when gingerbread is soft and chewy. The secret I have found is part recipe and then how thick and how long you bake the cookie. I wanted to use Christmas shaped cookie cutters, so I could take the cookies to my daughter's preschool Christmas Party. They turned out wonderfully! These are a little labour intensive but really not bad at all. Zoe and I had a blast making the cookies. Zoe, of course loved to eat the dough and since there are no eggs I had no issues with it and even enjoyed some myself.

Ingredients
adapted from Food and Whine

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1 Tbsp. cinnamon
1 Tbsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. salt
12 Tbsp. (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened but still cool, cut into 12 pieces
3/4 cup molasses
2 Tbsp. milk

Directions
In a food processor, process the flour, brown sugar, baking soda, spices and salt until combined, about 10 seconds. Scatter the butter pieces over the flour mixture and process until the mixture is sandy and resembles very fine meal, about 15 seconds. With the machine running, gradually add the molasses and milk, process the until the dough is evenly moistened and forms a soft mass, about 10 seconds.

Scrape the dough onto a work surface and divide in half. Working with one portion at a time, roll the dough 1/4-inch thick between 2 large sheets of parchment paper. Leaving the dough sandwiched between the parchment layers, stack on a baking sheet and freeze until firm, about 15-20 minutes. (or refrigerated 2 hours or overnight)

Adjust the oven racks to the upper and lower middle positions and preheat the oven to 350° F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or spray them with nonstick cooking spray.

Remove 1 dough sheet from the freezer, place on a work surface. Peel of the top parchment sheet and gently lay it back in place. Flip the dough over, peel off and discard second parchment piece. Cut the dough into 5-inch gingerbread people or 3-inch gingerbread cookies, transferring the shapes to the prepared baking sheets with a wide metal spatula, spacing them 3/4-inch apart. Set the scraps aside. Repeat with the remaining dough until the baking sheets are full. Bake the cookies until set in the centres and the dough barely retains an imprint when touched very gently with fingertip, 8-11 minutes, rotating the baking sheets from front to back and switching positions top and bottom halfway through cooking. Do not over-bake. Cool the cookies on the sheets 2 minutes, then remove to the cookies with a wide spatula to a wire cooling rack. Cool to room temperature.

Dough scraps can be re-rolled then cut and baked as well.

Week 11 Twelve Weeks of Christmas:

12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies - Mars Bar Squares

2010-12-03T07:56:00.000-08:00

A couple years ago my Mom, sisters and I started getting together and doing our Christmas baking. We spent hours scouring the internet for yummy and original cookies and squares. One of my favorite squares is Mars Bar Squares and for some reason I only make them at Christmas time. They are so delicious that I really need to make them more often. These squares are ridiculously easy to make and are really heaven in your mouth. They just melt and are the perfect combination of sweet and crunchy. My other favorite holiday treat is Baileys and as you can see from my picture in my mind mars bar squares and Baileys are the perfect combination. Enjoy!

Ingredients
4 Mars bars
1/2 cup butter or margarine
3 cups Rice Krispies cereal

Topping
1 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup butter or margarine

DIRECTIONS:Melt Mars bars & 1/2 cup butter or margarine in a large microwaveable bowl. Stir in the Krispies.Press into 8 inch pan, or 8x11 if you like them thinner.Cool in fridge.Melt 1 cup chocolate chips with 1/4 cup butter. Spread on top.

Week 10 Twelve Weeks of Christmas:

Pizza Buns

2010-12-01T12:33:00.000-08:00

Years and years ago, my mom used to make pizza buns for our lunches. Zoe's birthday party is on Saturday and I wanted something, yummy, pre-made and not to messy. The memory of my mom's buns popped into my head so I decided to make them. I called her for the recipe and I found out that there was none, she had just made it up! This was a bit scary because I love my recipes...I don't often just wing it. All my mom told me was that she used frozen dough cut it up and added pizza stuff. Eeek! First of all I didn't want to spend money on frozen dough so I attempted to make them from scratch. They turned out amazingly! Everyone loved them and I am going to make a second batch because I don't have enough for the party now. You can easily make your own variation. Next time I make these I am going to try a whole wheat and add some mushrooms. If you do add vegetables I would cut down on the meat a bit.

Ingredients

2 tbsp instant yeast
8 cups of flour divided
3 cups luke warm water
2 eggs
6 tbsp oil
8 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt

3 cups of pizza sauce
500g of meat - I used ham sausage
2 cups grated mozzarella cheese

Directions
In a large bowl combine yeast and 4 cups of flour. In another bowl combine eggs, oil, sugar and water, then briefly whisk together. Slowly add the liquid to the flour and yeast bowl and then beat thoroughly. Next add remaining flour and salt until dough is formed. Knead for about 5 minutes. Put in a greased bowl and let rise for 15 minutes. Punch down and let rise for another 15 minutes.

Next cut up the dough into chunks add meat, sauce and cheese. Use your hands to combine - really work it in. Put dough into greased muffin cups. Only fill about 1/2 to 2/3 because the dough still needs to rise. Let rise for 1 hour. Bake at 350 F for 20-30 minutes or until tops are lightly browned. This will make about 36 buns.

Sweet Potato Bread

2010-11-26T08:50:00.000-08:00

Today was the first big snow of the year and it wreaked havoc on the roads. I was planning on going into the city for my last midwife appointment but we stayed home instead. Zoe and I decided to do some baking today and we made this delicious loaf. I added some white chocolate and skor bits and I think it made it even better. This loaf is also surprisingly light. Mmmm....I am going to go and have another slice.

Ingredients
adapted from Allrecipes

1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 3/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/3 cup water
1 cup cooked and mashed sweet potatoes

Directions

1.Combine sugar and oil; beat well. Add eggs and beat. Combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir flour mixture into egg mixture alternately with water. Stir in sweet potatoes and chopped nuts.

2.Pour batter into greased 9x5 inch loaf pan (or 2 small loaf pans). Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for about one hour.

Light Bites - Green Chile Chicken Casserole

2010-11-13T16:30:00.000-08:00

I am just getting my Light Bites recipe in just under the wire! I made this last Sunday with the intention of pre-blogging it but this week just disapeared. I tested this on my friend and her three kids and thankfully they loved it! I seem to always end up testing recipes on her family. When I first saw this recipe I wasn't sure if it would be good or not; it seemed too creamy and should be tomato-y. I actually really like the creaminess and the flavour. I rarely cook with green chillies and I wasn't sure how spicy it was going to be but next time I would add some taco seasoning for more flavour. I also didn't use shredded chicken because in my opinion that is way to much prep work for a casserole. I used ground turkey instead and added some fresh peppers. I also really liked how the tortillas turned out, they didn't get soggy like bread and the texture was similar to pasta.

So another winner for the Light Bites group!

Ingredients
adapted from Cooking Light

1 1/3 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 cup canned chopped green chiles, drained
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup fat-free sour cream
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 (10 1/2-ounce) cans condensed 98% fat-free cream of chicken soup, undiluted (such as Campbell's)
1 garlic clove, minced
Cooking spray
24 (6-inch) corn tortillas
4 cups shredded cooked chicken breast (about 1 pound)
2 cups (8 ounces) finely shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°.
Combine the first 9 ingredients in a large saucepan, stirring with a whisk. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.
Spread 1 cup soup mixture in a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Arrange 6 tortillas over the soup mixture, and top with 1 cup chicken and 1/2 cup cheese. Repeat layers, ending with the cheese. Spread remaining soup mixture over cheese. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until bubbly.

12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies - Cranberry Bars

2010-11-11T21:21:00.000-08:00

Courtesy of Bright Idea Photo

I realized tonight as I wrote up this post that I must love dried cranberries because I have used them a lot in my baking and I think this is my third recipe for Christmas cookes with cranberries. I have never thought much about cranberries but I do really love them. I remember the first time I had had 'craisins'; I was in Italy with my friend Gemma and we had met up with some Chilean guys. We were poor and craisins were the perfect low calorie snack to keep hunger at bay. Ahhh....good times...really good times....

My love for Starbucks is quite well known amongst my friends. My favorite drink of all time is a Gingerbread Latte and it only comes out at Christmas, well to be exact November 1st. Last year one of my favorite bloggers Amanda from Fake Ginger made Cranberry Bars that are similar to Starbucks' Cranberry Bliss Bars. I actually think that these are much better and I love to eat them straight from the freezer. You may remember that I am trying to freeze all these goodies...well...even though the bars made it to the freezer there are none left...blush..

I am not going to post the recipe this week because I think you should go to Amanda's blog and check out all the other neat things she has baked and cooked. Here is the link to the Cranberry Bars on Fake Ginger.

Week 7 Twelve Weeks of Christmas:

Light Bites - Parmesan Chicken and Rice Casserole

2010-11-05T20:24:00.000-07:00

Courtesy of Bright Idea Photo

I was very excited about this recipe because I am trying to keep my freezer stocked with casseroles. I am so fortunate because after having Georgia many of my friends brought a fresh or frozen meal. It is one of the best gifts you can give a veteran mom. I love that on days that no one gets dressed or everyone is melting down (me included) that I have delicious food in the freezer and that is a huge load off of my shoulders because then I know we got a least one healthy meal. This is another great recipe from the Light Bites group and I am so excited to see our group growing. Mike loved this recipe and has requested that I remember it and make it often. Ally and Zoe also really liked it. So this was a hit! I did make some changes; I used chicken breasts, added spinach, sundried tomatoes and spiced with basil, oregano, and chili peppers.

Ingredients
adapted from Cooking Light

Cooking spray
1 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 (3 1/2-ounce) bags boil-in-bag brown rice about one cup regular brown rice
1/3 cup dry white wine
8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs (about 1 3/4 pounds)
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
3 tablespoons whipping cream
1/3 cup (1 1/2 ounces) shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450°.

2. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add onion to pan; sauté 2 minutes. Add garlic; sauté 30 seconds. Remove rice from bags; add to pan. Sauté 30 seconds. Stir in wine; cook 30 seconds or until liquid almost evaporates. Spoon rice mixture in an even layer into a 13 x 9–inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.

3. Arrange chicken thighs in a single layer over rice mixture; sprinkle evenly with thyme and salt. Combine broth and cream, stirring well; pour over chicken and rice mixture.

4. Bake at 450° for 15 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake an additional 5 minutes or until chicken is done.

12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies - Skor Cookies

2010-11-05T06:15:00.000-07:00

Courtesy of Bright Idea Photo

I love Skor anything, it makes everything better. Next time you are at Dairy Queen ask for a plain cheesequake blizzard with Skor bits added, it is the best thing ever. Mmmmm...now I need a blizzard...

I decided to make these because my cousin Jesse is coming for Christmas and last time I made them he liked them so much he asked for the recipe. I made these on my pre-blogging marathon a while back when Ally and Zoe were at their Grandma's and Mike was gone too. So into the freezer they went until Jesse comes at Christmas!

These cookies start out nice and soft and chewy and then they crisp up as they cool. I love them fresh from the oven the best. Well, really what isn't the best fresh from the oven?

I didn't really change anything except these cookies have a lot of sugar so I subsituted the granulated sugar for baking Splenda.

Ingredients
adapted from Hershey's Chipits

2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup (softened) butter or margaine
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1-1/3 cups CHIPITS SKOR Toffee Bits
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

Directions
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease cookie sheet.

2. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; set aside. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla in a large bowl until well blended. Add eggs; beat well. Gradually add flour mixture, beating until well blended. Stir in toffee bits.

3. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto prepared cookie sheet. Bake 9 to 11 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. About 4 dozen cookies.

Week 6 Twelve Weeks of Christmas:

Pumpkin and Red Lentil Curry

2010-10-31T17:13:00.000-07:00

Courtesy of Bright Idea Photo

I have fallen in love with the Cooking Light site, it has such a wealth of recipes! I needed a recipe to use up the leftover pumpkin from the pilau. I originally wanted to puree the pumpkin but time got away from me and today the pumpkin began to scream from the fridge to be used up. I found this recipe and I love that it had lentils in it because I am trying to find more recipes without meat but high in protein. Mike and I loved it and the girls...well they are distracted by the mounds of candy they will recieve tonight. I even tried to entice them by telling them that they needed to eat the magic pumpkin before 'trick or treating'...no dice but Ally did like the broth.

Ingredients
adapted from Cooking Light

1 tablespoon extravirgin olive oil
2 cups chopped onion (about 2 medium)
5 cups (1/2-inch) cubed peeled fresh pumpkin (about 1 3/4 pounds)
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
3/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 small jalapeño pepper, seeded and finely chopped
4 cups organic vegetable broth (such as Swanson Certified Organic)
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 cup dried small red lentils
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
6 lime wedges

Directions

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion; cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in pumpkin and next 7 ingredients (through jalapeño); cook for 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Add broth and tomatoes; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes or until pumpkin is just tender. Stir in lentils; cook 10 minutes or until lentils are tender. Stir in salt and black pepper. Ladle stew into individual bowls; sprinkle with cilantro. Serve with lime wedges.

Light Bites - Roasted Pumpkin and Sweet Potato Pilau

2010-10-29T13:13:00.000-07:00

This week's recipe was my choice. I chose the recipe because I was intrigued by a 'pilau' it sounded very fancy and I am trying to make more dishes with squash and sweet potato/yams. What is a sweet potato to you? To me it is white and yams are orange, it seems like these two vegetables both go by sweet potato and it confuses me. For this recipe I chose ~~yams~~ sweet potato because of their color to go with the pumpkin.

I didn't actually look at the directions before choosing the recipe. It is a lot of work! I am so glad that my mother-in-law had Ally and Zoe at her house because I don't think I could have made this with them here. When I sat down to actually read the recipe, I was very scared. I had never used fresh pumpkin and cutting it up seemed really difficult. It actually wasn't that bad but it was more difficult for me because I had to break up the steps between nursing Georgia. The best part is that it does taste delicious and makes all that hard work worth it. And I am not even a huge rice fan. So if you have fresh pumpkin and and afternoon to cook, I highly recommend this recipe!

I did make a few changes like using yams and I added some sliced almonds for a bit of crunch. I also used jasmine rice because I have a ton of it and no brown rice.

Check out the group page here and I highly suggest you join us, it is tons of fun!

Ingredients
adapted from Cooking Light

2 cups (1/2-inch) cubed peeled fresh pumpkin (about 12 ounces)
1 1/2 cups (1/2-inch) cubed peeled sweet potato (about 1 medium)
Cooking spray
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 cup diced onion (1 small)
1/3 cup diced celery (about 1 rib)
2 teaspoons minced garlic
4 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 cup brown rice
2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 bay leaf
1/4 - 1/2 cup sliced almonds

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°.

Arrange pumpkin and sweet potato in an even layer on a jelly-roll pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 400° for 35 minutes or until tender and just until vegetables begin to brown, stirring after 18 minutes. Remove from oven, and set aside.

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion, celery, and garlic to pan; sauté 3 minutes or until onion is tender. Add broth and remaining ingredients to onion mixture, stirring to combine; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 50 minutes or until rice is done and liquid is mostly absorbed. Remove from heat; discard bay leaf. Add pumpkin mixture; stir gently to combine.

12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies - Pumpkin Swirl Brownies

2010-10-29T05:23:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine mentioned these brownies and how delicious they were and that they actually replaced pumpkin pie at her families Thanksgiving dinner. I thought I would make these this week because they are a little halloween-y looking. I must admit that I preblogged these a couple weeks ago and....*blush* I didn't make them. My mother-in-law was staying with us to help after Georgia arrived and she wanted something to do while everyone (me included) napped.

This is a typical Martha Stewart recipe where it entails a lot of work. I am not a huge fan of Martha but she is growing on me. These brownies are really good but I don't like them for a couple of reasons. 1. I don't really like chocolate. Blasphemy...I know...for me to like chocolate it has to be just right. 2. I like my brownies to be chewy and these were rather cake-y 3. These are really sweet and I love sweet but this was just a bit too much.

Now everyone else loved them! Mike agreed that they were too cake-y but he liked them and thought that they tasted very similar to Cheesecake Cafe's Pumpkin Cheesecake. I do think I may be the only one who isn't a big fan of these brownies so please try them and let me know what you think.

Ingredients
adapted from Martha Stewart

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for pan
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 3/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups solid-pack pumpkin
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts or other nuts

Directions

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch square baking pan or dish. Line bottom of pan with parchment paper; butter lining.

2.Melt chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stirring occasionally until smooth.

3.Whisk together flour, baking powder, cayenne, and salt in a large bowl; set aside. Put sugar, eggs, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; beat until fluffy and well combined, 3 to 5 minutes. Beat in flour mixture.

4.Divide batter between two medium bowls (about 2 cups per bowl). Stir chocolate mixture into one bowl. In other bowl, stir in pumpkin, oil, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Transfer half of chocolate batter to prepared pan smoothing top with a rubber spatula. Top with half of pumpkin batter. Repeat to make one more chocolate layer and one more pumpkin layer. Work quickly so batters don't set.

5.With a small spatula or a table knife, gently swirl the two batters to create a marbled effect. Sprinkle with nuts.

6.Bake until set, 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool in pan on a wire rack. Cut into 16 squares.

Week 5 Twelve Weeks of Christmas:

Light Bites - Potato Kale Soup

2010-10-25T16:10:00.000-07:00

Courtesy of Bright Idea Photo

This is not an official Light Bites Group Recipe but it has been sitting in my drafts for awhile now so I thought I would upload it.
My sister-in-law loves to garden and grows a wonderful garden every year. I don't get many of the produce but she did give me some kale. I am starting to really fall in love with kale. I also really love soup. I think I could be happy to eat soup every day and maybe for every meal. Unfortunately or fortunately for me no one else likes soup as much as I do. I love to make a big pot of soup and when I do I think of my Great-Grandma Rose, she had a great gift of making wonderful soups out of leftovers. I didn't add any cheese to this because my intention was to freeze most of it right away.

Ingredients
adapted from Cooking Light

2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 cups finely chopped onion
1 garlic clove, minced
7 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
4 cups coarsely chopped peeled Yukon gold potato (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 bay leaf
6 cups chopped fresh kale (about 3/4 pound)
1 teaspoon dried basil
9 tablespoons (about 2 ounces) shredded Gruyère cheese

Directions

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion; cook 8 minutes or until tender, stirring frequently. Add garlic; cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Stir in broth, potato, salt, and bay leaf; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes or until potato is tender.
Stir in kale and basil. Cover and simmer 10 minutes or until kale is tender. Discard bay leaf. Partially mash potatoes with a potato masher until thick and chunky. Top with cheese

12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies - Shortbread

2010-10-22T13:26:00.000-07:00

My favorite Christmas cookie is shortbread. I just love it! I used to always buy it from Costco because I didn't think anything that good could be easy but shortbread is incredibly easy and has very few ingredients. I saw shortbread cookies at Costco the other day and I was very tempted to buy them until I realized I hadn't picked a cookie to make this week. So I googled a recipe and saw how easy it was so I whipped them up right away. This is also the perfect recipe to make with kids who like to eat everything as you are making it because there are no eggs. I don't like to let the girls eat what I am making before it is cooked mainly because of the raw eggs and well Zoe will eat anything...seriously she will say yum after trying some baking soda. I am also very proud of myself because I was able to get over half of the cookies into the freezer for Christmas. I think it helped that it was just me and the baby at home.

Ingredients
adapted from Anna Olson on the Food Network

1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
1/2 cup 2 Tbsp icing sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch or rice flour
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1.Preheat oven to 350 °F. Beat butter until light and fluffy. Sift in icing sugar and beat again until fluffy, scraping down sides of the bowl often. Sift in cornstarch or rice flour and blend in. Sift in all purpose flour and salt and mix until dough comes together (it will be soft). Stir in vanilla.

2.Spoon large teaspoonfuls of cookie dough (or use a small ice cream scoop) onto an un-greased cookie sheet, leaving 2 inches between cookies and bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until bottoms brown lightly. Remove from cookie sheet to cool.

Week 4 Twelve Weeks of Christmas:

Light Bites - Sausage and Bean Casserole

2010-10-22T06:41:00.000-07:00

I was so excited when I saw that this was one of the recipes for the Light Bites Group. I actually made this in September because I was trying to fill my freezer and pre-blog as much as I could before the baby came. This was really good! Mike loved it! I did find it a bit dry so I think next time I would add more liquid. This does make a lot so be prepared for leftovers.

Ingredients
adapted from Cooking Light

Cooking spray
1 cup chopped onion (about 1 medium)
1 (16-ounce) package light smoked turkey sausage (such as Hillshire Farm), cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 (14-ounce) can fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 (16-ounce) cans cannellini beans or other white beans, rinsed and drained
1 bay leaf
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper (optional)
3 (1-ounce) slices white bread
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Directions

Preheat oven to 375°.
Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add onion and turkey sausage to pan; sauté for 5 minutes or until browned. Add garlic, and sauté for 2 minutes. Stir in chicken broth, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Stir in 2 tablespoons brown sugar, tomato paste, dried thyme, freshly ground black pepper, cannellini beans, and bay leaf. Add ground red pepper, if desired. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
Place bread in a food processor, and pulse 10 times or until coarse crumbs measure 1 1/2 cups.
Sprinkle breadcrumbs evenly over bean mixture, and lightly coat with cooking spray. Bake at 375° for 15 minutes or until browned. Discard bay leaf. Sprinkle with parsley.

Sweet Potato Banana Muffins

2010-10-18T09:35:00.000-07:00

As you may know most of my baking inspiration is from what is in my fridge that needs to be used before it goes bad. I had sweet potato left over from the cookies and buns. So I began searching for a muffin recipe because....well...you know I love muffins! I found these and I am very happy with them. Mike gave them to some guests just as they had come out of the oven, I was very nervous about that because I like to try them first. They are very nice and have a subtle flavour that actually gets better when they are cold.

Ingredients
adapted from Cooks Recipes

1 3/4 cup unsifted all-purpose flour
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups mashed sweet potatoes
2/3 cup mashed ripe banana
1/4 cup melted butter
2 large eggs slightly beaten
3/4 cup milk

Directions

Well grease 2 dozen 2-inch muffin pans. In medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, allspice and salt. In large bowl, combine sweet potatoes, bananas, butter, eggs and milk. Blend well. Add flour mixture and pecans; stir to blend. Fill prepared muffins pans 2/3 full.
Bake at 400°F (205°C) for 20 minutes or until tops spring back when lightly touched.

12 weeks of Christmas Cookies - Sweet Potato Craisin Cookies

2010-10-15T07:13:00.000-07:00

My goal with joining the 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies was to bake a little each week and slowly stock my freezer. That isn't really happening because the cookies are so good that we eat them and I never seem to be able to make as much as the recipe says, so I really should start tripling the recipe. I wanted to make some thing healthy this week and to use up my sweet potato. These cookies are really good, a little softer than I like but I don't feel bad eating them in the middle of the night when I am nursing Georgia.

Ingredients
adapted from Vegfamily

1/3 cup agave nectar
1/2 cup softened butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 cup mashed cooked sweet potato
1 3/4 cups whole wheat,
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
3/4 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Directions
Preheat oven to 375°F. Beat together sweetener and butter substitute or coconut oil until smooth. Add vanilla, egg replacer, and pumpkin and beat well. In separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and pumpkin pie spice. Stir flour mixture into liquid ingredients. Fold in dried cranberries and nuts. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto unoiled cookie sheets. Bake about 10 minutes, or until bottoms are golden. Cool on wire rack.

Makes about 3 dozen

Note: If you don't have pumpkin pie spice, use 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon cardamom, and 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg.

Week 3 Twelve Weeks of Christmas:

Light Bites - Buttered Sweet Potato Rolls

2010-10-15T07:00:00.000-07:00

Another great Light Bites recipe, I have been having lots of fun with my group blogging. I somehow managed to make these for Thanksgiving. I am pretty proud of myself that I did with my new baby being only 5 days old. Truthfully, Ally was at Grandma's and the two little ones were napping, so I cheated. I found these easy to bake even though I did not knot them, I was running out of time. I have a problem with buns because I always forget how long they are going to take when you factor in the rising time. These are delicious but I can't taste the sweet potato. Everyone at Thanksgiving dinner loved them and they were a perfect compliment to the squash soup my Mom made.

Ingredients
adapted from Cooking Light

1 package dry yeast (about 2 1/4 teaspoons)
1 cup warm 2% reduced-fat milk (100° to 110°)
3/4 cup canned mashed sweet potatoes
3 tablespoons butter, melted and divided
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
2 large egg yolks, lightly beaten
5 cups bread flour, divided
Cooking spray

Directions

Dissolve yeast in milk in a large bowl; let stand 5 minutes. Add sweet potatoes, 1 tablespoon butter, salt, and egg yolks, stirring mixture with a whisk. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Add 4 1/2 cups flour; stir until a soft dough forms. Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic (about 8 minutes); add enough of remaining flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, to prevent dough from sticking to hands (dough will feel very soft and tacky).

Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85°), free from drafts, 45 minutes or until doubled in size. (Gently press 2 fingers into dough. If indentation remains, dough has risen enough.) Punch dough down. Cover and let rest 5 minutes.

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Divide dough into 24 equal portions. Working with 1 portion at a time (cover remaining dough to prevent drying), shape each portion into a 9-inch rope. Carefully shape rope into a knot; tuck top end of knot under roll. Place roll on a prepared pan.

Repeat procedure with remaining dough, placing 12 rolls on each pan. Lightly coat rolls with cooking spray; cover and let rise 30 minutes or until doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 400°.

Uncover rolls. Bake at 400° for 8 minutes with 1 pan on bottom rack and 1 pan on second rack from top. Rotate pans; bake an additional 7 minutes or until rolls are golden brown on top and sound hollow when tapped.

Remove rolls from pans; place on wire racks. Brush rolls with 2 tablespoons butter. Serve warm or at room temperature.

12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies - Cranberry Oatmeal Bars

2010-10-08T09:47:00.000-07:00

I found this recipe while perusing the Cooking Light site and just had to make it. It isn't a cookie but it is Christmas-y. I am trying to stock my freezer but these didn't make it past dessert. everyone loved them and I need to make these again and will need to double or triple the recipe.

Ingredients
adapted from Cooking Light

Crust:
4.5 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 cup)
1 cup quick-cooking oats
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
6 tablespoons butter, melted
3 tablespoons orange juice
Cooking spray

Filling:
1 1/3 cups dried cranberries (about 6 ounces)
3/4 cup sour cream
1/2 cup granulated sugar (I used Splenda)
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon grated orange rind
1 large egg white, lightly beaten

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 325°.

2. To prepare crust, weigh or lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 5 ingredients (through cinnamon) in a medium bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Drizzle butter and juice over flour mixture, stirring until moistened (mixture will be crumbly). Reserve 1/2 cup oat mixture. Press remaining oat mixture into the bottom of an 11 x 7–inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.

3. To prepare filling, combine cranberries, sour cream, granulated sugar, and remaining ingredients in a medium bowl, stirring well. Spread cranberry mixture over prepared crust; sprinkle reserved oat mixture evenly over filling. Bake at 325° for 40 minutes or until edges are golden. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack.

Week 2 Twelve Weeks of Christmas:

Light Bites - Oatmeal Banana Bread

2010-10-08T09:19:00.000-07:00

Ally is really enjoying a bedtime snack lately and she gets to choose yogurt or a banana. I don't eat fresh bananas but I love banana bread! I have been baking a lot of things with bananas and I found this recipe on http://www.cookinglight.com/ so I thought I would submit to cook when it was my turn to pick for the Light Bites Cooking Group (pssstt....you should join!) I really enjoyed this bread it was moist and not too crumbly. I recommend baking this up one day!

Ingredients
from Cooking Light1 cup packed brown sugar
7 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 large egg whites
1 large egg
1 1/3 cups mashed ripe banana (about 2 large)
1 cup regular oats
1/2 cup fat-free milk
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Cooking spray

DirectionsPreheat oven to 350°.
Combine first 4 ingredients in a large bowl; beat well at medium speed of a mixer. Combine banana, oats, and milk; add to sugar mixture, beating well. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; stir with a whisk. Add to sugar mixture; beat just until moist. Spoon batter into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies - Spicy Oatmeal Crisps

2010-10-01T07:10:00.000-07:00

I chose this recipe first because I thought that the spices would make the house smell like Christmas. The house didn't quite get a Christmasy aroma but these cookies do taste like Christmas! I had a hard time getting the cookies to crisp up but that didn't take away from the taste.

Ingredients
adapted from Cooking Light

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon grated whole nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (optional)
1 cup packed brown sugar
5 tablespoons butter or stick margarine, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1/2 cup regular oats
Cooking sprayDirections
Preheat oven to 350°.
Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 7 ingredients (flour through pepper) in a medium bowl. Beat sugar, butter, and vanilla in a large bowl with a mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add egg; beat well. Stir in flour mixture and oats.
Drop by level tablespoons 2 inches apart onto baking sheets coated with cooking spray, these spread a lot so leave lots of space. Bake at 350° for 12 minutes or until crisp. Cool on pan 2 to 3 minutes or until firm. Remove cookies from pan; cool on wire racks.

Week 1 Twelve Weeks of Christmast:

Light Bites - Chicken with cider and bacon sauce

2010-10-01T07:03:00.000-07:00

This doesn't really photograph well but it was delicious! I made this when my friend was over with her three kids and everybody loved it! I had a heck of a time finding unsweetened apple cider so after reading the reviews I decided that it couldn't hurt too much just to use the powdered stuff. It didn't hurt at all and maybe the extra sugar made it even better. I did leave the chicken in when I was making the sauce and I think that really helped give the chicken even more flavour.

Ingredients
adapted from Cooking Light

4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 bacon slices, chopped
1/4 cup minced fresh onion
3/4 cup unsweetened apple cider
1/2 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth

Directions
Cook bacon in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan. Add chicken to drippings in pan; cook 6 minutes on each side or until done. Remove chicken from pan; keep warm.
Add onion to pan; cook 2 minutes or until tender, stirring constantly. Add cider and broth; bring to a boil, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Cook until broth mixture is reduced to 1/2 cup (about 5 minutes). Stir in cooked bacon; serve sauce over chicken.

Apple Craisin Muffins

2010-09-26T20:01:00.000-07:00

I kind of invented this recipe, well really I just switched raisins for craisins. These are great muffins! With a nice crunchy top and I love the combination of the apple and cranberries. I really missed muffins and I haven't made many lately so I tripled the recipe so I would have a good freezer stash.

Ingredients
adapted from Sunmaid

1 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup melted butter or margarine
1/4 cup milk
1 beaten egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup (large) peeled, shredded tart green apple
1 cup Craisins or dried cranberries

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 F. Grease or line 12 (2 -inch) muffin cups with paper baking cups. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt, mix well. Add butter, milk, egg, vanilla and apple. Then add to flour mixture; stir just until dry ingredients are moistened. Fold in raisins. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies

2010-09-25T07:40:00.000-07:00

I have really enjoyed being a part of Light Bites. I love the new recipes and being forced to blog and cook. I know I am due any day now but I decided to join the 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies because I thought it would be a great way to slowly stock my freezer for Christmas. My Mom, sister and I usually do a big baking day but I am not sure if that will actually happen this year. So hop on over to April's blog and check out what we are doing and enjoy all the yummy Christmas baking.

Light Bites -Toasted Coconut Chocolate Cookies

2010-09-24T06:50:00.000-07:00

I don't really like coconut. I like the flavour occasionally but....the texture just bugs me. I did really like these cookies. I doubled these with hopes to put most in the freezer. Well, these went fast but I did get some in the freezer. This is another recipe from Cooking Light for our Light Bites Cooking Group. I am so glad that these were picked because they were delicious and because of the coconut I would never have thought about them. I did change one thing; I didn't have the right kind of chocolate so I went with semi-sweet chocolate chips. I personally think I made the right decision.

Ingredients
from Cooking Light
1 cup flaked sweetened coconut
4.5 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 cup)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1/2 cup chocolate chips
Cooking spray

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Arrange coconut in a single layer in a small baking pan. Bake at 350° for 7 minutes or until lightly toasted, stirring once. Set aside to cool.
3. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl; stir with a whisk until blended. Place sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended. Beat in vanilla and egg. Add flour mixture, beating at low speed just until combined. Stir in toasted coconut and chocolate.
4. Drop by level tablespoons 2 inches apart onto baking sheets coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 10 minutes or until bottoms of cookies just begin to brown. Remove from pan, and cool completely on wire racks.

Light Bites - Tuscan Bean Soup

2010-09-17T10:09:00.000-07:00

This week was my pick for the Light Bites Group. I picked this soup because it sounded interesting and healthy. I also wanted something I could put in the freezer and eat after baby #3 came. And this soup is packed with protein so a perfect baby moon food. I didn't know what to expect I am not a huge fan of bean soups, if I had my pick I would eat cream soups all the time. But I love soup and it breaks my heart that I am the only one in the family that loves soup. I let this soup simmer for a couple of hours on the stove and I kept tasting it and it was fairly bland but I resisted the temptation to add any more spice because I knew the balsamic vinegar at the end would either make it or break it. The balsamic tops it off so well and then the parmesan! Wow! It was delicious. I ended up changing this recipe a fair bit, not on purpose but out of lack of options and poor reading. I sent Mike to the store to get some canned chickpeas, he could only find a chickpea and fava bean combo so I thought, "Why not?" And then as I was opening the cans to make the soup, the can that I had in the pantry that I thought was chickpeas actually turned out to be lentils. So this in now a 3 bean Tuscan Soup. Enjoy!

Ingredients
Adapted from Cooking Light

2 cups finely chopped onion
8 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
1 teaspoon minced fresh or 1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3 (15 1/2-ounce) cans chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained or a mixture of fava beans and lentils
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 to 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
6 tablespoons (1 1/2 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese

Directions
Spray a large soup pot with pam quite liberally. Add onion and garlic, and cook for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in the water and the next 5 ingredients (water through tomatoes), and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes.
Place 2 cups soup in a blender or food processor, and process until smooth. Pour the pureed soup into a bowl. Repeat procedure with 2 cups soup. Return all pureed soup to pan. Stir in the vinegar, and bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Spoon 1 1/2 cups soup into each of 6 bowls; sprinkle each serving with 1 tablespoon cheese.

Light Bites - Bacon Macaroni

2010-09-17T10:08:00.000-07:00

I humbly apologize to my fellow Light Bites bloggers, I completely forgot to blog this recipe. Last week I went on a cooking/freezing escapade and I actually pre-blogged a bunch of the recipes for the group, except on Thursday all hell broke lose with our business and I didn't get around to uploading this recipe. I was a bit cheap with this recipe and I didn't use real bacon, I am in the process of using up everything in our cupboards and decreasing my grocery bill. I also did not like this recipe. I know Amanda found this recipe to be very heavy. I just didn't find it cheesy enough.

Ingredients
from Cooking Light
3 1/4 teaspoons salt, divided
12 ounces strozzapreti or penne pasta
4 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups skim milk, divided
2 cups finely shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided
1/4 cup sliced green onions
1 teaspoon hot sauce
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 slices center-cut bacon, cooked and crumbled
Cooking spray

Directions1. Preheat broiler.
2. Bring 6 quarts water and 1 tablespoon salt to a boil. Add pasta; cook 8 minutes or until al dente; drain.
3. Combine flour and 1/2 cup milk in a saucepan over medium heat. Gradually add 1 cup milk; bring to a boil. Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; let stand 4 minutes or until it cools to 155°. Stir in 1 1/2 cups cheese. Add 1/4 teaspoon salt, onions, hot sauce, pepper, and bacon; stir. Add pasta; toss. Spoon into a 2-quart broiler-safe dish coated with cooking spray; top with 1/2 cup cheese. Broil 7 minutes.

Lite Bites - Coucous Salad

2010-09-03T20:02:00.000-07:00

My friend Pam has started a cooking group. I decided to join because I want to try more recipes and I am a big fan of finding good recipes with less calories. Each Friday we take turns picking a recipe and cooking it with our own flair. Check out Pam and Amanda's take on this recipe. I have never cooked couscous before and I have been wanting to. It is so darn easy! That I need to figure out what else to do with it. This recipe is delicious! My friend Tammy and her 3 kids came for dinner and 4 out of 5 kids ate it (which is huge that they even tried it let alone finished it) and Tammy and I couldn't get enough. I am still trying to decide at 9pm if my night snack should be Fruit Loops or couscous salad...yeah that good! Here is where you can find the original. I didn't change much but I cooked my chicken with a spicy barbeque sauce, I think it really added to make the salad that much better. Oh and I did not add nuts to the salad, not a huge nut fan and I didn't want to waste money on nuts that I would most likely never eat again.

Ingredients

Salad:
1 1/4 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 (5.7-ounce) box uncooked couscous
1 1/2 cups cubed cooked chicken (about 6 ounces)
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions
1/2 cup diced radishes (about 3 large)
1/2 cup chopped seeded peeled cucumber
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted

Dressing:
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons extravirgin olive oil
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 garlic clove, minced

Directions
To prepare salad, bring broth to a boil in a medium saucepan; gradually stir in couscous. Remove from heat; cover and let stand 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork. Spoon couscous into a large bowl; cool slightly. Add chicken, onions, radishes, cucumber, parsley, toss gently to combine.
To prepare dressing, combine vinegar and remaining ingredients, stirring with a whisk. Drizzle dressing over salad; toss to combine.

Nectarine Upside Down Cake

2010-09-03T19:50:00.000-07:00

I apologize for the ugliness of this cake but what it lacks in looks it sure makes up in taste. I had a bunch of nectarines that needed to be used but I didn't think you could bake anything with them. I googled nectarines and found this recipe. It was truly delicious. It was also my first attempt at making caramel....I think this may be a time where butter must be used instead of margarine. I am a die hard butter fan but with the summer heat the butter went moldy and Mike convinced me to switch to margarine. That will be changing soon. I found this recipe here and I am excited to read that this would be a good cake for peaches and plums. The original recipe didn't mention taking the skin off. I want to make this again and take the skin off but I wonder if having the skin helped keep the moisture in the fruit. Let me know if you make it what you do.

Ingredients
Caramel:
6 tablespoons butter plus additional for the pan
1 cup sugar
4 to 6 fresh nectarines, halved, and pitted (peaches, apricots, or plums can be substituted)

Cake:
1 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup melted butter
2 eggs
1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions
Butter a 10-inch cake pan, line the bottom with parchment paper, and butter the paper. Place 2 tablespoons water and sugar in a saucepan, and stir together. Cook over high heat, swirling the pan (do not stir), until the mixture turns a golden caramel color. Immediately remove the pan from the heat, and whisk in the butter (be careful; the mixture will foam). Pour the caramel into the bottom of the prepared cake pan. Cover the bottom of the pan with the nectarine halves, cut-side-down.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Add the sugar and melted butter to the bowl of a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, and beat until combined. Add eggs, and whisk until the mixture is light and fluffy. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir the buttermilk and vanilla extract together. With mixer set on low speed, add the dry ingredients by thirds, alternating with the liquid ingredients, to the butter mixture. When it's all fully blended, pour the batter into the pan over the nectarines and bake, rotating it front-to-back after the first 15 minutes, for about 50 minutes or until the cake is golden brown and springy to the touch. Remove from the oven, and allow to sit for about 10 minutes before inverting onto a platter and peeling off parchment paper.

Pork Nuggets

2010-09-03T19:41:00.000-07:00

Mike is on a diet and he is doing amazing. I am very proud of him. I am on a quest to find good food for him and food that we can all eat. I got this recipe here and I adapted it to make it healthier.

Pork Nuggets
1 lb (500g) Pork Tenderloin
1/2 cup orange marmalage or apricot jam (I used sugar-free)
2 tbsp soya sauce
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground garlic
1-1/2 cups ground up melba toast

Cooking Instructions

Cut Pork into small chunks. In a large zip-lock plastic bag, combine marmalade or jam, soya sauce, ginger, garlic, and the Pork pieces. Gently massage the bag and refrigerate for 1 hour or more. Meanwhile, in a separate zip-lock plastic bag, add the corn flakes; close top and crush until fine crumbs form (kids love to help with this task!).

Preheat oven to 400 F (200 C). Remove Pork from marinade (discard excess marinade). Coat Pork in the crushed cereal crumbs and place on a foil-lined baking tray coated with cooking spray. Bake in oven for 10 minutes, turn over and bake for another 10-15 mintues or until no pink remains.

White Chocolate Earl Grey Muffins

2010-09-03T19:39:00.000-07:00

These muffins sound amazing, right? Well they are! I was so pleased with them that I wish I had doubled the recipe. I don't even remember how I found this recipe but I am glad I did. I found the recipe here and the blogger wrote about how she forgot to add the sugar, well guess who did the exact same thing? Me! But I remembered like 2 minutes after the muffins went into the oven and was amazingly able to salvage them.

Ingredients
2/3 cup sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground Earl Grey tea (I cut open 3-4 tea bags)
3/4 cup sour cream
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
3/4 cup white chocolate chunks

Directions
Bake at 400F. Butter or spray the 12 molds in a regular-size muffin pan or fit the molds with paper muffin cups.In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and ground Earl Grey tea. In a large glass measuring cup or another bowl, whisk the sour cream, eggs, vanilla, and melted butter together until well blended. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and, with the whisk or a rubber spatula, gently but quickly stir to blend. Don't worry about being thorough - a few lumps are better than over mixing the batter. Stir in the white chocolate chunks. Divide the batter evenly among the muffins cups.Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until the tops are golden and a thin knife inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for 5 minutes before carefully removing each muffin from its mold.

Spaghetti Squash

2010-07-05T19:51:00.000-07:00

I really like the idea of spaghetti squash and I do like the taste of it but it just can't compare to the real deal. I love pasta so much and I could eat it for every meal. I came up with this idea myself and I really enjoyed it. If you like spaghettie squash, I highly suggest you try it.

Ingredients
spaghetti squash
4 slices bacon
2 cloves garlic
1/3 cup cream
1/3 asiago grated

Directions
Bake the spaghetti squash according to the directions. I cut it in half, take out the seeds, place cut side down on a baking sheet filled with water and bake for 30-45 minutes at 375F.

When the squash has about 15 minutes left begin cooking the bacon. When the bacon is the almost done, throw in the garlic. Then 'strip' the squash of the spaghetti with a fork. (sorry I don't know how else to describe it) Then add it to the pan, fry it for a couple of minutes, then add the cream and cheese. Cook for about 5 minutes and serve. Depending on the size of your squash you may need to add more ingredients.

Let me know what you think!

Nutrition for 1 cup serving - 259 calories, 20.9g fat, 2.2g fibre, 9.6 g protein

Healthy Peanut Butter Cookies

2010-07-05T14:52:00.000-07:00

I must apologize for my hiatus, there is no reason for it except I haven't been motivated to cook much and when I do my camera is no where to be found.

I woke up from my nap today craving warm and fresh cookies. I wanted something healthy and fairly low in calories. And I found these. I adapted the recipe a tad because Mike had me buy a bunch of soy flour and then changed his mind. They did satisfy the craving but they could have been sweeter...I might add some chocolate chips next time. The girls seemed to like them too.

Ingredients

1/4 c. butter/margarine, softened
1/2 c. applesauce
1/4 c. honey
1/3 c. brown sugar (packed)
1 egg
1/2 c. peanut butter
splash of vanilla
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup of flour
1/4 cup of soy flour
2-3 cups of oats - start with two and then add more to get the texture you want

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 F. Mix together the sugar, honey, applesauce and butter until fairly smooth. Add the peanut butter, egg and vanilla. Then in a seperate bowl mix flour, soy flour and baking soda. Slowly add to the mix. Then add two cups of oats and add more depending on the the texture you want. Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes. Makes 24 cookies.

Nutrition per serving - 103.5 calories, 4g fat, 1.9g fibre and 2.7 g of protein

Zuppa Tuscana

2010-03-23T19:24:00.000-07:00

I was grocery shopping today and I saw some fresh kale. I bought some and the rest of the ingredients to make my favorite soup from my favorite restaurant Olive Garden. I am so impressed with myself. The soup is so easy and delicious! I had my parents over for dinner and everyone loved it. And it was easy too!

Ingredients
8 links mild italian sausage removed from casing (feel free to go for hot if you really like spice)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 diced onion
3-4 cloves garlic minced
1-2 tbsp dried pepper flakes
8 cups chicken stock (feel free to use boullion cubes or canned stock)
3-4 potatoes
4 cups chopped kale

Directions
Cook the sausage, while cooking make sure it crumbles up to look like hamburger, then set aside. In a soup pot add the oil and onions cook until translucent and then add garlic. And the chicken stock and potatoes. Simmer until potatoes are soft. If you want a thicker soup puree some of the potatoes. Just before serving add the cream and kale. This makes a lot of soup, I put the kale in the bottom of the bowls and then poured the soup over and let sit for a couple minutes for the kale to soften up.

Enjoy!
2 cups heavy cream

Peach Yogurt Cupcakes

2010-03-23T19:15:00.000-07:00

Wow it has been a long time since I have blogged! I am pregnant and for the last 8 weeks I have had NO energy to cook, clean, well basically do anything. Yesterday was Ally's birthday and I wanted to make some cupcakes. I also had a burst of energy and I cleaned out the fridge and I found some Peach Activia Yogurt that needed to be used. So I invented this recipe. I am very sad to say that for some reason the picture was corrupt and I couldn't upload it from my camera. But the cupcakes were delicious! I was so impressed with myself.

Ingredients
1 1/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter melted and cooled.
1 egg
3/4 cup Peach Yogurt - Try any flavor and let me know how it works for you

Directions
Mix sugar and butter together. Whisk in the egg. Add the flour and baking powder alternating with the yogurt. Mix well. If the batter seems to dry and more yogurt. Bake at 350 F for 20-25 minutes in a greased muffin pan or with cupcake cups.

Bread and Butter Pudding

2010-01-14T19:46:00.000-08:00

I worked in England many years ago volunteering at one of the four world centers for Girl Guides called Pax Lodge. I had never heard of this dessert and it doesn't sound all that good but until you try it, you will never know what you are missing! I decided to make this because I had some leftover cut-up french bread from New Year's and I thought the girls would like it. Also my dieting husband was gone so I wouldn't tempt him. I loosely followed this recipe. I didn't know how much bread I had and how it equated to slices to I just winged it.

Ingredients

Bread that is going stale use about 8 slices
300 ml of milk (this is just over a cup)
3-4 tbsp sugar
3 eggs beaten
butter
1 tsp Vanilla

Directions

If you are using chunks like I did throw it in a greased baking dish. Sprinkle with raisins and sugar and the more sugar you add the sweeter it will be. Then in small bowl add the milk, eggs and vanilla. Next pour the liquid over top. You want all the bread to get fairly soaked so if need be and more milk and eggs. Let sit for about 10 minutes. Bake at 400 for about 20 minutes. You will know this is done by the color and it will be puffed up.

Pumpkin Cream Sauce

2010-01-14T19:32:00.000-08:00

I had some leftover pumpkin puree from the muffins so I found this recipe. I was truly surprised at how good it was. And really nice over tortellini. Zoe ate it up and I loved it. Go on try it.

Ingredients

3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 onion, diced
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup vegetable broth
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 cups pumpkin, canned or pre-cooked
1 1/4 tsp sage
salt and pepper to taste
1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts or pine nuts (optional)

Preparation

If using fresh pumpkin, rather than canned, puree in a blender first until smooth.
In a medium-sized pot or large frying pan, sautee garlic and onion in olive oil 3-5 minutes. Reduce heat to low, and add broth, milk, pumpkin and sage. Stir gently to combine ingredients.

Allow to simmer until flavors are well combined, about 8-10 minutes. Add salt, pepper and walnuts or pine nuts, stirring to combine, then remove from heat.
Serve over cooked pasta and enjoy!

Pumpkin Craisin Muffins

2010-01-14T19:25:00.000-08:00

Now these turned out fabulously! I can't remember the last time I made muffins. Oh how I have missed them. A nice fresh warm muffin with melted butter on top is my perfect treat. My husband had been gone for 4 days and left me with 2 children who were not sleeping well. I made these after being up at 4 am with one child or the other. They really helped the morning get off to a better start.
I found the recipe here.

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup canned unsweetened pumpkin puree
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup applesauce
1/4 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups dried, sweetened cranberries

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 F. Grease or place paper muffin cups in a 12 cup muffin tin.
Mix the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg together in a mixing bowl.
Beat the canned pumpkin, eggs, butter, buttermilk, and vanilla together in another large mixing bowl. Gradually beat in the flour mixture until well blended. Stir in the dried cranberries until evenly blended. Spoon batter into muffin tins about 3/4 full.
Bake in preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a muffin comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. 3 minutes before turning out from pan. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-14T16:17:00.000-08:00

I have missed blogging and baking. I am going to try and do better but it is hard when I am the only one eating the stuff ;) I made the girls banana chocolate chip pancakes the other day and they were surprisingly not a big hit. For one reason the girls don't like banana's and the batter was weird not fluffy. I decided to post this fail because I took the lazy way out and pureed a banana into a mix. Next time I would cut down on the liquid I put in because the banana is liquidy...I really should have thought of that. So try it out and give me your opinions. Measure out the banana and the cut down the milk/water by as much.

White Chocolate Craisin Scones

2009-12-07T13:53:00.000-08:00

I have never made scones before and I had always thought they were really hard. Last week I was talking to my friend and she was telling me about how she always likes to make a warm breakfast for her kids on the weekend and scones were one of her favs. My girls are not very adventurous when it comes to food so we don't usually deviate from the pb and toast. But the girls had been sick and I decided to give scones a try. The best part about scones is that you don't need eggs! I seem to always be out of eggs and I go to bake something only to find out I am missing eggs and I can't bake. These were delicious and I reccomend whipping these up in the morning. I found the recipe here.

Ingredients

2 cups of all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons sugar
1/3 cup dried cranberries
6 tablespoons butter, chilled
4-6 oz. white chocolate chips
2/3 cup milk or buttermilk

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Mix dry ingredients minus cranberries and chocolate until well blended. Add cranberries to flour mixture, coat with flour. Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Add chocolate chips and mix lightly. Add milk. Stir, then knead just until all flour is absorbed into the dough.
Turn dough onto baking sheet and roll into a square (about 10"x10") 1-1/2 inches thick. Use a pizza cutter to cut into squares or diamonds - leave pieces together.
Bake about 10 - 15 minutes or until just golden.

Cake Pops

2009-11-23T12:42:00.000-08:00

I have fallen in love with Bakerella, she is incredibly talented. I found these cake pops and thought they were just amazing. So I set out to make Monkey Pops for Zoe's birthday. I learned a few things. 1. Bakerella is even more talented than it shows on her blog. 2. Wax Paper is important 3. My imagination is way better than my actual ability. I decided to us mini oreos for the ears, a peanut butter melt for the mouth and white chocolate chips for the eyes. I had a hard time making the pop stay on the stick, and get the face items to stick. I did a couple and then showed Ally. I asked her if what it looked like and she said scary. So I just gave up. I covered the rest in chocolate and may try and use icing to decorate them. But they taste amazing!! I highly recommend trying these out and following Bakerella's blog.

Yam Waffles

2009-11-15T17:28:00.000-08:00

I made these tonight and oh my are they ever good! I liked them because they have vegetables, protein and no sugar! The girls liked them too. Next time I make these I am going to figure out how to cut down on the butter and I reccomend if you want to be even healthier to use egg whites.

Ingredients

1/2 cup melted butter let it cool before adding

2 cups pureed yams

6 beaten eggs

2 cups eggs

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup oats ground in blender

1 cup nuts (almonds, walnuts or pecans) ground in blender

2 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

Directions

Beat eggs, yam, butter and milk together. Then add the rest of the ingredients and stir until well blended. Cook in a hot waffle maker.

A little Change in Direction

2009-11-15T09:05:00.001-08:00

I am sorry to admit that I am getting a little sick of muffins. I am having a hard time finding recipes that inspire me so I am going to start posting about the other things I am cooking.

The other day I wanted to do some pudding paint with the girls but I didn't have any pudding mix. I decided to look up a recipe and just see how hard it is to make. I can't believe how easy, cheap and good it is! I will never go back to a pudding mix again. Also I found that it made for better paint, the color was more vibrant and opaque compared to the last time I used a mix and the colors were kind of translucent.

Vanilla Pudding

Ingredients

1/3 cup white sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Directions
In a saucepan, combine the sugar, corn starch and salt. Add milk and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture thickens. Add vanilla and continue to cook for 2 to 3 minutes. vanilla and continue to cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Then chill in fridge.

Apple Pie Muffins

2009-11-09T11:56:00.000-08:00

I honestly think these may be the best muffins I have ever made! They are just like an apple pie. I can not get over how freaking good these are! You must make them!

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
2 cups diced apples
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter, melted
Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 12 cup muffin tin or line with paper muffin cups. In a large bowl, stir together 2 1/4 cups flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate smaller bowl, mix together the egg, buttermilk, 1/2 cup melted butter, vanilla and 1 1/2 cups of brown sugar until sugar has dissolved. Pour into the flour mixture and sprinkle the diced apple into the bowl as well. Stir just until everything is blended. Spoon into the prepared muffin tin, filling the cups to the top. In a small bowl stir together 1/2 cup of brown sugar, 1/3 cup flour and cinnamon. Drizzle in 2 tablespoons of melted butter while tossing with a fork until well blended. Sprinkle this over the tops of the muffins. Bake for 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the tops of the muffins spring back when lightly pressed. Note the toothpick trick doesn't work well for these muffins because they are wet like apple pie.

Butternut Squash Muffins

2009-11-09T11:44:00.001-08:00

It has been awhile but I am back with a vengenance. I made two types of muffins this morning and they both turned out well. As always I am trying to get more veggies into my kids and I found this recipe and also made a fabulous Gingery Butternut Squash soup. And together it was a delicious lunch. The muffins are very nice and light in texture and flavour. They were perfect for dipping in to the soup. I could not get enough and the girls liked the muffins and tolerated the soup.

Ingredients
1/2 pound peeled, seeded and cubed butternut squash
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
3/4 cup milk
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon butter, melted
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Lightly grease a 12 cup muffin pan. In a medium saucepan with enough water to cover, boil squash 20 minutes, or until tender. Remove from heat, drain, and puree in a food processor. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, white sugar, salt and pumpkin pie spice. In a medium bowl, thoroughly mix together milk, egg and butter. Stir in squash. Fold the squash mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin pan, filling cups about 1/2 full. Bake 20 minutes in the preheated oven.

Garden Oatmeal Muffins

2009-10-09T18:46:00.000-07:00

c
Another recipe from my favorite book. I have been trying to eat more vegetables with my diet and I found this recipe and it is perfect. I love the color and the flavour.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats

1 1/2 cup milk

1 egg

1/2 cup apple sauce

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

3 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 cup grated carrots

1 cut grated zucchini

Directions

In a small bowl cover oats with milk and let sit for 5 minutes and then add egg and applesauce, stir well. In medium bowl combine the rest of the ingredients until well blended. Spoon into greased muffin tins and bake at 400 F for 20 minutes.

Swiss Bacon Muffins

2009-10-09T18:30:00.001-07:00

I got the book 500 Best Muffin Recipes and I am in love. I also just finished reading Julie/Julia and I am inspired. I don't think I will make all of the muffins but I sure want to. I picked the recipe based on what I need to use up in my fridge. Mike and I are on a diet so we needed to use up some bacon. The muffins were delicious! I was really impressed. I would reccomend cooking the bacon so that it is chewy and not crispy.

Ingredients

2 cups flour

2 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 cup grated Swiss Cheese

4-5 slices bacon

1 can mushroom soup

1 egg

1/4 cup oil

Directions

In a large bowl mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, cheese and bacon. Then add mushroom soup, egg, oil and milk. If mix is a bit dry add some milk. Put batter into greased muffin tins and bake at 400F for 20-25 minutes.

Boo for Martha Stewart

2009-09-16T14:22:00.000-07:00

I have a huge bag of carrots that I am trying to use up. I found this recipe on Martha Stewart's website and it sounded great. I thought that these muffins would be fantastic because well it's Martha Steward right? Wrong! They were very bland so if you choose to make them try doubling the amount of spice.

Apricot Oatmeal Muffins

2009-08-31T12:33:00.000-07:00

Check out my new muffin holder! It is awesome, I got it at Costco and I highly reccomend it.

I am in love with my new kitchen! I have an island and it makes baking so much easier. Ahhh....I could bake all the time. Another great thing about my house it is so much cooler! It is about 30 C out today and you can't tell in here, even with the oven on! These muffins are good very light in flavour. I am not a huge fan of the strong orange flavour so I reccomend omitting the rind. If you make the muffins let me know what you think.

Ingredients

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

2 tbsp flax

3 tsp baking powder

1 cup quick cooking oats

1 cup chopped dried apricots

3/4 cup boiling water

2 eggs lightly beaten

1 cup milk

2 tsp grated orange rind - omit if you don't want a strong orange taste

Directions

Combine the first four ingredients in a medium bowl. In another bowl combine oats, apricots and boiling water. Let cool for 5 minutes add milk (and rind if you are using) and then eggs. Combine with dry ingredients, mix well. Then put into greased muffins tins. Fill about 2/3 full. Bake at 400 F for about 20 minutes.

Whole Wheat Zucchini Banana Muffins

2009-08-31T12:22:00.000-07:00

Gosh it has been a long time since I have blogged! The move was successful and I am enjoying my new house. There is still boxes to be unpacked but the important stuff has been done and most importantly my kitchen! I made these muffins before the move but didn't have time to blog them. These were great! Zoe loved her first taste of muffins and demanded more. I loved how healthy they were and I didn't have to change a thing.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 Tbsp ground flax seed mixed with 1/2 cup + 1 Tbsp water

3 1/2 cups shredded zucchini (about 2 medium zucchini)
3 bananas, mashed
1 Tbsp vanilla
1 cup sugar

2 cups unbleached white flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup wheat germ
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp ground cloves or nutmeg
2 Tbsp cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease two muffin tins (24 muffins total) or use cupcake liners, set aside.

Combine ground flax and water, set aside. In large bowl, combine zucchini, bananas, sugar and vanilla. Add flax mixture. In medium bowl, combine dry ingredients. Add to wet ingredients in 2-3 batches. Mix until completely combined. Fill muffin tins 2/3 full.

Bake muffins for 30 minutes.

Strawberry Apple Muffins

2009-07-27T09:16:00.000-07:00

I found this recipe and thought it would be a perfect summer muffin. I changed this a bit as usual but I also didn't have honey so I was worried. They turned out delicious, a nice mild flavour, perfect with butter. I like a muffin that is made better by butter!

Ingredients

1/4 c butter

1/4 c applesauce

3/4 c brown sugar

2 1/2 c flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 c wheat germ

2 eggs

1 c milk

2 large apples peeled and chopped

1 c sliced strawberries

Directions

1. Mix together butter, applesauce, sugar and eggs. Then add flour, baking powder, cinnamon, wheat germ. Then slowly add milk and fold in the apples and strawberries.

2. Put into greased muffin tins and bake at 350 F for about 30 minutes.

Everything Muffins

2009-07-22T10:18:00.000-07:00

We are hoping to move but last week we had our second offer fall through. I was so bummed! This house stuff is so stressful! Especially cleaning the darn house. One minute I am down and thinking the house will never sell and then we get another offer. Last night we got our 3rd offer and I think this is it. The people love the house you can tell and I think my mural in the nursery actually sold the house! I have always thought that the buyers would be like us and my nursery would sell the house. So here's hoping that I am right. I liked these muffins because they helped me to clean out my freezer and pantry. The less food I have to move the better. These muffins are delicious and healthy!

Ingredients

2 cups chopped peeled apples
1 cups sugar
1 cup chopped fdried cranberries like craisens
1 cup shredded carrots
1 cup chopped nuts
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

In a bowl, combine apples and sugar; let stand for 10 minutes. Add cranberries, carrots, nuts, eggs and oil; mix well. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt; stir into apple mixture just until moistened. Fill paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full.
Bake at 375 degrees F for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

Cinnamon Rhubarb Muffins

2009-07-14T07:48:00.000-07:00

On Canada Day we went to the local farmers market and picked up some rhubarb. I probably paid a pretty penny for it but I really wanted to make some rhubarb muffins and I didn't know anyone who had any. I should plant some next year.... I made these as decorations and gifts to potential buyers while looking at the house. Everyone raved about them! I am not a huge fan of topping because I feel it adds needless calories but I think these muffins need them because it balances the tartness of the rhubarb. I got this recipe from my favorite muffin blog (besides my own of course)

Ingredients

For the muffins:

(2 cups) all-purpose flour

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 cup light sour cream

(8 Tbsp.) applesauce

2 large eggs

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups 1/4-inch diced fresh rhubarb

For the topping:

3 Tbsp. granulated sugar

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Directions

In a medium bowl, whisk together the sour cream, melted butter, eggs, and vanilla until smooth. Lightly stir the sour cream mixture into the dry ingredients with a spatula until the batter just comes together; do not over mix. Gently stir in the diced rhubarb. The batter will be thick.

Divide the batter among the muffin cups, using the back of a spoon or a small spatula to settle the batter into the cups. The batter should mound a bit higher than the tops of the cups.

Make the topping: In a small bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon and mix well. Sprinkle a generous 1/2 tsp. of the cinnamon-sugar mixture over each muffin. Bake at 400F for 20-25 minutes

Blueberry Cream Cheese Muffins

2009-07-03T14:41:00.000-07:00

My friend came over awhile back and she loves my muffins so I decided to make these ones since I had some really good help. They turned out so good...except in my rush to get them done I didn't grease the muffins tins! But I am happy to say that I was able to get them out in mostly one piece. These muffins are really decadent and my friend's husband said they were the best muffins I have made. They are even a bit healthy too!

Ingredients
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1 cup white sugar
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup apple sauce
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 tablespoon ground flax
1 cup blueberries
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
1 egg
1/4 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Add the applesauce, egg, honey and butter milk and mix. Then add slowly while mixing flax, flour, baking soda and salt. Next fold in the blueberries. Fill muffin tins about a 1/4 full.

Next mix together until smooth; cream cheese, sugar, flour, egg, sour cream and vanilla. Put a tablespoon or more on top of the batter in the tins. You may have more than you need. Then top the cream cheese mixture with more batter. And bake at 375 for 20 -25 minutes.

Leftover Stew Muffins

2009-06-16T14:43:00.000-07:00

I made this really great stew from my friend Pam's blog, Lobster and Fishsticks. I highly reccomend it, she makes some great stuff. I made it and then froze it. Then this past week I thawed it and ate some more. Today I had still had some left and no one wanted anymore so I thought why not see if I can make some savory muffins. They turned out delicious a little like biscuits. I am very impressed because I had started cleaning up when I realized I had forgotten the baking powder but somehow they turned out wonderfully! I think I will try it again with another stew.

Ingredients

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup melted butter

2 eggs

2 cups stew

1/2 cup of grated cheese for on top

Directions

Combine stew, eggs, and butter then add the flour and baking soda. Spoon into muffin tin about 2/3 full, top with grated cheese and bake at 350 F for about 30 minutes.

Banana Blueberry Muffins

2009-06-16T13:30:00.000-07:00

I found this recipe on Martha Stewarts's site. I am not a fan or a hater of Martha but if these muffins hadn't sound good, I would have passed them by. They turned out amazingly! Full of flavour and healthy too and I am proud to say that I was able to make them even healthier than Martha! I am a big fan of healthy muffins that use lots of fruit or veggies. Next time I would probably add some flax too. So if anyone tries these muffins add some flax and let me know how it goes.

Ingredients
1 cup whole-wheat flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup wheat germ
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup of applesauce
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed light-brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 ripe bananas (about 1 pound)
1/3 cup skim milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup frozen blueberries
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Add eggs, sugar, applesauce, bananas, vanilla and milk then add the rest of the ingredients. Fold in the blueberries and then spoon in to greased muffin tins about 2/3 full. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Amazing Pumpkin Muffins

2009-06-14T20:00:00.001-07:00

We have decided to sell our house and one trick for showing your house is to have fresh baking. So in the mad rush to make the house perfect I also threw on some muffins. I decided to make these because they sounded delicious and I wouldn't have to change much. These muffins are fabulous! Full of flavour, moist and light. I left some for the potential buyers and also brought some to my good friend Laurie who kindly invited me and the girls over during the showing. Her and her husband loved them! Her husband ate 2!

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups raisins

4 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

4 cups white sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 1/2 teaspoons nutmeg

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves

5 eggs

1 (29 ounce) can pumpkin

1 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 cup chopped pecans

Directions

Put raisins in warm water for about 10 minutes. Then mix applesauce, eggs, pumpkin and sugar. Add in the dry ingredients and lastly fold in the pecans and raisins. Put in to greased muffins tins about 2/3 full and bake at 350 F for about 30 minutes. Makes 36 muffins

Blueberry Peach Yogurt Muffins

2009-06-08T11:07:00.000-07:00

I am back to trying to use up stuff in my fridge and freezer again. We have put our house on the market and are hoping to move this summer so having emptier cupboards, fridge and freezer will help in packing. I had made some peach yogurt last week and we haven't been going through it very fast so I found this recipe and adapted it for peach yogurt and I added no fat. These muffins are delicious and the cinnamon topping perfects it. The muffins are very gooey because I used large blueberries. If you like sweet muffins you could add more sugar but I am very happy with how they turned out.

Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 egg
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup applesauce
1 1/2 cups peach yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups fresh or frozen(not thawed) blueberries

Topping:

1/4 sugar

1/4 melted butter

1 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375. Spray muffin pan with a non-stick spray. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine flours, baking powder, baking soda, spices and lemon peel. Mix well.

In a large bowl, beat egg lightly. Stir in brown sugar, oil, yogurt and vanilla. Blend well. Add flour mixture and gently fold together until dry ingredients are moistened. Gently fold in the blueberries.

Fill muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Serve warm.

Dip muffin into melted butter and then into cinnamon sugar mix.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip

2009-06-03T18:45:00.000-07:00

Today I used up the last of the pumpkin with this neat recipe. I liked it because it used the pumpkin puree instead of butter. I also cut down the sugar, added some vanilla and milk. These turned out great! Mike loved them, especially because I added more chocolate chips because he was complaining that there never is enough.

INGREDIENTS:

3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 cups white sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 cups canned pumpkin puree

4 eggs, beaten

2/3 cup water

1/3 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

Makes 24 muffins. Preheat oven to 350 F. Combine wet ingredient and then dry. Then spoon into muffin tins 2/3 full. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Butterscotch Pumpkin Muffins

2009-06-03T14:35:00.000-07:00

I only had a huge can of pumpkin puree so I have a couple more pumpkin recipes to share. I found these muffins awhile ago when I fell in love with butterscotch chips. I have been getting bolder with cutting out the fat and sugar. I cut half the sugar and all of the fat. The muffins turned out amazing the sweetness of the butterscotch made up for the lack of sugar. The butterscotch melted and made a neat candy coating on the top of the muffins.

INGREDIENTS:

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1/2 cup applesauce

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 (6 ounce) package butterscotch chips

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon baking soda

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat to 350 F and grease 12 muffin tins. Mix wet ingredients and then dry. Put into tins fill 2/3 full.

Decadent Pumpkin Muffins

2009-05-28T18:52:00.000-07:00

This are so full of calories I almost decided not to make them but I am so glad that I did. Even I just eat one a week they are the most delicious things ever! I had both girls sleeping so I decide to make these muffins because they was a lot involved and I didn't want to have Ally helping. There is a fair bit to do but it isn't hard. I have been wanting to make muffins with a gooey center for awhile but have been scared by the work and messing them up. The nice thing about these muffins are that the cheese kind of bakes too so if you don't get it right in the center it doesn't over flow and burn. I was a bit worried about over-flowing so I only put in a bit of the cheese mixture but I wish I hadn't because the cheese mixture is amazing and makes the muffins.

Ingredients

Cheese Mixture

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese ( I used light)

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 tablespoons brown sugar

Topping

4 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

5 tablespoons white sugar

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons chopped pecans

Muffin Mix

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups white sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 1/3 cups canned pumpkin

1/3 cup applesauce

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease and flour 18 muffin cups, or use paper liners.

2. To make the filling: In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese until soft. Add egg, vanilla and brown sugar. Beat until smooth, then set aside.

3. For the streusel topping: In a medium bowl, mix flour, sugar, cinnamon and pecans. Add butter and cut it in with a fork until crumbly. Set aside.

4. For the muffin batter: In a large bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Make a well in the center of flour mixture and add eggs, pumpkin, olive oil and vanilla. Beat together until smooth.

5. Place pumpkin mixture in muffin cups about 1/2 full. Then add one tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture right in the middle of the batter. Then add more of muffin mix on top. Sprinkle on the streusel topping.

Sunny Boy Muffins

2009-05-25T15:34:00.000-07:00

It feels like forever since I last made muffins. We have rearranged our house and as some may know greater organization comes from great mess. We are almost at the organization part. I found the kitchen today and I decided to make muffins. While organizing I discovered that I had two opened boxes of Sunny Boy Cereal or as some may know it Red River Cereal. I want to use it up so I am looking for creative ways to get my toddler to eat it. While searching I found these muffins. I am impressed the flax seeds make the muffin a bit crunchy but they are light and healthy. I think I will make these again for my friend who is pregnant, it is always good to get good grains in.

Ingredients

3/4 cup old fashioned oats or quick oats

1/2 cup red river cereal, uncooked

1 cup buttermilk (or 1T lemon juice, fill cup with milk)

1 cup flour

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 egg

1/3 cup applesauce

1 cup craisins

1 tsp vanilla

Directions

Combine oats, Red River and milk in large bowl, let stand 40 minutes. Then mix in egg, vanilla and applesauce. Add in the dry ingredients and the craisins. Spoon into greased muffin tins and bake at 375 for 25 minutes.

Morning Glory Muffins

2009-05-14T11:49:00.000-07:00

This morning Ally and I have had a baking spree; we made oatmeal cookies, apple crisp and muffins. I discovered that I can't make cookies, the oatmeal cookies didn't turn out - they tasted great but didn't really stay together. Good thing I like muffins better than cookies.

I discovered another muffin blog! It is really great and I highly reccomend it. That is where I got todays recipe from. These muffins are really great, delicious and very healthy. The amazing this that they have no form of fat at all and don't use applesauce! They have 1 gram of fat and 130 calories. These muffins are full of flavour and not to dense.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
2 cups carrots, shredded
1/2 cup raisins
2 apples, shredded or chopped
3 eggs
2 bananas, mashed
2 teaspoons vanilla

METHOD

Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease or line 20 muffin cups with paper liners.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in the carrots, raisins and apples.

Mash the bananas. In a separate bowl, beat together the eggs, bananas and vanilla. Stir the egg mixture into the carrot/flour mixture, mixing just until moistened.

Scoop batter into prepared muffin cups. Bake for 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into centre of a muffin comes out clean.

Strawberry Muffins

2009-05-11T19:23:00.000-07:00

I have given up on my theme weeks....to0 much pressure. Plus I discovered that I had some strawberries in the fridge that if I didn't do something with them now that they would have to go into the garbage. I hate to waste so I began looking for a recipe. I realized about half way through my searching that I had no milk! I almost was going to give up when I found this recipe. I was a little worried about the recipe because I wasn't sure how the strawberries would make enough liquid for good muffins. So I decided to be even more adventurous and not using any butter and just use apple sauce. Well! These muffins are amazing. They are so sweet and moist. They are kind of like those muffins with the jelly inside.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups chopped fresh strawberries

1/2 cup white sugar

1/4 cup white sugar

1/4 cup applesauce

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

DIRECTIONS:

1.	In a small bowl, combine the strawberries and 1/2 cup sugar. Set aside for 1 hour. Drain, reserving liquid and berries separately.
2.	Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Grease a 12 cup muffin tin, or line with paper liners.
3.	In a medium bowl, add the applesauce andd 1/4 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, salt and nutmeg; stir into the creamed mixture with the strawberries and liquid. Spoon batter into the prepared muffin cups.
4.	Bake for 18 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven,

Banana Crumble Muffins.

2009-05-07T20:20:00.000-07:00

I have been intimidated by crumble toppings. I have purposely stayed away or excluded the crumble from the recipe because it seemed hard or too messy. Today I decided to just do it and make the crumble topping. I found this recipe here. The muffins are delicious nice and light. I like like muffins because it hides how high in calories they are. I added some flax to the recipe to make it healthier but I didn't use my applesauce trick this time. I chose not to because I was a little worried that they would taste similar to the ones I made the other day. I enjoyed the crumble but it does add more calories and I am a bit concerned with calories these days, so I think in the future I would skip it.

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3 (really over-ripe) bananas, mashed
3/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup packed brown sugar

2 tbsp ground flax

For the topping:
2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 Tbsp. butter

Directions

Preheat oven to 375° F. Lightly grease 12 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers.

In a large bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, vanilla, egg and melted butter. Then mix in 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.

In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and cinnamon. Cut in 1 tablespoon butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over muffins.

Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

Absolute Best Banana Muffins Ever!

2009-05-05T10:36:00.001-07:00

Last week got away from me and I only made one batch of muffins. This week I am back at it and will continue with Banana week or weeks as it turns out.

I love weekends. I love having my husband home and relaxing. We have been busy and really enjoying our weekends as a family. The major down side is that we relax and not keep the house clean. So I spend all week getting the house clean and then the weekend comes and it is turned into a sty. So last week in revolt I did nothing. But the joke is on me because guess who is cleaning this week? Me.

I do love when the house is clean and I am motivated to clean and cook. It is almost noon and already I have made some amazing muffins, prepared supper and put it in the crock pot, clean the kitchen and washed the floor. It feels great! Now I am going to fix lunch and tackle more laundry and the living room.

But first here is my absolute favorite banana muffin recipe. This is the recipe that turned me on to using apple sauce to subsitute for butter. These muffins are delcious and have an interesting texture. They are not as bready as some muffins. They are almost creamy if that makes sense.

I got the original here. I did not change a thing. I liked this recipe because it used lots of bananas. I originally searched out a recipe that had more than one banana because I really wanted to used up the brown bananas I had.

Ingredients

· 3 large bananas, mashed

· 1/2 cup white sugar

· 1 egg, beaten

· 1 teaspoon baking soda

· 1 teaspoon baking powder

· 1 cup flour (you can use whole wheat for a change if you like)

· 1/2 cup rolled oat (instant is fine)

· 1/3 cup applesauce

· 1/2 teaspoon salt

· 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Directions

Add sugar to mashed bananas and mix. Add beaten egg and apple sauce then mix. Add dry ingredients to the banana mixture and mix well. Add chocolate chips and Stir. Spoon into medium size muffin tin (I use paper muffin cups so they won't stick) and fill 3/4's full. Bake for 20-25 minutes at 350.

Lemons to Lemonade

2009-04-29T07:22:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite bloggers, Karly, gave me a blog award (my first!).

It is given as appreciation for those people who have shown a great attitude or gratitude this week.

These are the rules:

Put the logo on your blog or post.
Nominate at least 10 blogs that show great attitude or gratitude.
Link to your nominees within your post.
Let the nominees know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
Share the love and link to the person from who you received your award.

I am still finding more blogs to read, but here are a few of the blogs with “great attitude/gratitude” from several of my mommy friends (in no particular order):

- Shannon at Scribbles, Scratches and Scrawls

- Vanessa at Wiener Wonderland

-Kelly at Baby Boogers

It Finally Happened

2009-04-29T07:07:00.000-07:00

I made terrible muffins and worse I thought they would be amazing so I doubled the recipe. I made peanut banana muffins and they sounded delicious. Ally loves peanut butter and eats it by the spoonful so I thought that she would love these muffins. Well....they aren't disgusting they are just bland. I don't even know what to do to make them better except add more sugar and I don't like to add more sugar the recipe had enough. So I guess everyone needs to make a bad batch...I am just disappointed because I imagined these to be so good.

For the Love of Bananas

2009-04-26T14:51:00.000-07:00

This week's theme is bananas! I have been saving all my brown bananas and my freezer is full.

Isn't this a great picture? I found it here. It is from a Modern Art Blog and it has another neat picture with a ton of bananas.

I am enjoying theme weeks, next week is going to be recipes from friends week so please share your favorite muffin recipes.

White Chocolate Chip Berry Muffins

2009-04-26T14:38:00.000-07:00

For the last installment of Chip Week I made White Chocolate Chip Berry Muffins. I wasn't going to bake any more this week because I didn't have much time but then it decided to snow. And what else is there to do on a snowy April day? I am so sick of the weather, it has been a long, long winter! Can you believe that just 6 days ago it was 20 C and yesterday it snows. Crazy! But that is what you get for living in Alberta. I found these muffins here. I added more chips, vanilla and you guessed it apples sauce! These are great, not as interesting as my other muffins but still delicious! The only thing I don't like is the seeds, it kind of ruins it for me. The muffins are nice and light and the chocolate adds the right amount of sweetness. Next time I am going to add more chips.

Ingredients

1 cup milk

1/4 cup butter, melted

1/4 applessauce

1 tsp vanilla

1 egg, slightly beaten

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup fresh raspberry or frozen raspberries (do not thaw)

1/2 cup vanilla chip

Directions

Grease 12 muffin tin cups. Heat oven to 350°. In a large bowl mix the milk, butter and egg. Stir in all remaining muffin ingredients except raspberries & chips. Stir only until flour is moistened, then gently stir in the berries & chips. Spoon the batter into the greased muffin tins. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Butterscotch Nut Muffins

2009-04-23T15:13:00.000-07:00

For the third installment for Chip Week, I made Butterscotch Nut Muffins. I found the original here and I didn't change anything again except for cutting down the butter. Mike was working from home today and he couldn't get over how good the muffins smelled. He also loved when I brought him some tea and a muffin. I think he will work from home more often. I was worried that these muffins would be really sweet but they are just right. They are light and crispy on the outside.

Ingredients

2 c flour

3/4 c sugar

4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

1/8 c melted butter

1/8 applesauce

1 tsp vanilla

1 c milk

1 c butterscotch chips

1 c chopped pecans

Mix dry ingredients together. Mix wet ingredients together and add to dry mixing quickly with a fork. Do not overmix. Mix in nuts and chips. Bake at 400 for 20 minutes.