Gluten Free Muffins & No Odd Ingredients!

My Uncle is gluten free and he & my Aunt are coming over early tomorrow morning to watch our kiddos for the day. To make things easier for them I wanted to have breakfast ready to go. I came upon this GREAT gluten free grain free muffin recipe by Whitney McNutt! Super easy, super fast, and it doesn't use any specialty ingredients! Check out the link to the original recipe because she gives great suggestions for modifying the recipe, including a link for making it paleo or without bananas. Here is how I modified it based on what I had in the house and things I wanted to use up.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup nut butter (I used 3/4 peanut butter + 1/4 almond butter)

1 medium very ripe banana

1 cup shredded zucchini 

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 Tbsp agave

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

         TOPPINGS

         1 cup strawberries, small dice

         1 Tbsp unsweetened coconut

12 muffin liners

DIRECTIONS:

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a 12 cup muffin tin with muffin liners.

2) Place all ingredients except for the toppings into your blender or food processor and process until a smooth batter is achieved and everything is combined.

3) Divide into the 12 muffin liners.

4) Top each muffin with a spoon full of strawberries. Press strawberries into the batter with the back of the spoon to submerge. Sprinkle with a pinch or two of coconut.

5) Bake for 15 minutes.

NOTES: Next time I make these I am going to drop the temperature to 375 degrees and bake for 20 minutes. My convection oven seems to cook things faster and these, while super yummy, are a bit more brown on the outside then I would like.

A Whole Lotta Empanadas

One of my goals for this week is to try some new dishes. Using a few different recipes as guides, I came up with these super tasty, kid friendly, husband approved, empanadas. I added some nontraditional ingredients to boost the veggie factor, and my oldest who is my pickiest eater didn't notice at all. And baby ended up eating 3 of them!!! The kids ate them plain, but my hubby and I dipped them in my blender chimichurri sauce. They would also be good with guacamole, sourcream, and or some chipotle salsa. So so tasty!

This recipe makes a WHOLE bunch (64!) You can cut the recipe in 1/2 or cook up the whole mess of them and freeze some for later!

INGREDIENTS:

2 T butter

1/2 large yellow onion, diced small

1 cup shredded zucchini, squeezed of excess moisture

2 lbs ground beef

4 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp kosher salt

2 tsp Mrs Dash Fiesta Lime

2 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 a bag of Simply Potatoes shredded potatoes

1/2 cup Fresh parsley, finely chopped

2/3 a cup of low sodium V8 vegetable juice

4 cans refrigerated buttermilk biscuits (I used Trader Joes)

flour

2 eggs

DIRECTIONS, THE FILLING:

1) Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add diced onions and sauté until translucent. Add zucchini and sauté until most of the moisture has been cooked out - about 5 minutes. Remove to a bowl and set aside.

2) Add ground beef to the same skillet and cook until just browned and no longer pink. Add back the onion & zucchini mixture, spices, shredded potatoes, parsley, and V8. Stir to combine and cook an additional 5 minutes. Allow to cool. 

NOTES: I transferred mine the filling mixture to a shallow baking dish and popped it into the fridge to chill for 20 minutes. You could easily make the filling, refrigerate, and assemble the empanadas the next day.

DIRECTIONS, THE DOUGH:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pop open a can of biscuits. Take each biscuit and peal 1/2 off yielding a total of 16 rounds. 

2) On a lightly floured surface, roll out each biscuit into a 4 inch circle. 

3) Add 2 tablespoons of filling to each rolled out biscuit and fold in half, pinching the edges to seal and forming a half moon shape. Crimp the sealed edge with a fork. And place on a lightly greased or silicone mat lined baking sheet, leaving at least 1 inch of space between empanadas.

4) Brush with an egg wash. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes.

NOTES: I rolled out each biscuit and then filled it rather than rolling out all the biscuits first and then filling all of them. You can freeze baked and cooled empanadas in a single layer in a freezer bag. To reheat, preheat over to 350 degrees. Place frozen empanadas 1 inch apart on a baking sheet, and bake for 20 minutes or until heated through.

Toasted Cheese & A New Green Smoothie

I'm trying, once again, to get back to better eating. Trying to get in all my fruits and veg. Since today has turned out to be another crazy hot summer day, I decided on a toasted cheese sandwiches:

1.  Toast the bread

2.  Put cheese between two pieces of toast

3.  Pop the sandwich in the microwave of 30 seconds 

PRESTO - toasted cheese sandwich! Like a grilled cheese minus the butter and hot kitchen!

AND we made a lovely new green smoothie recipe. I choose to forgo the sandwich and have an extra helping of smoothie. So yummy & refreshing! And the kiddos loved it too! BONUS!

1 banana

1 Granny Smith apple

2 med carrot

1 cup frozen pineapple

1 cup orange juice

2 big fistful of spinach 

3 mint springs

I threw it all in my Vitamix, blended until smooth, and sucked it down! Let me know what you think!

Salt & Light... and BBQ sauce!

It's funny how little things can turn into great teaching moments. Right now I'm trying to use up things I have in my pantry and freezer instead of going to the store.  This leads to some creative cooking.  This morning I noticed we had some kalua pork and some leftover hamburger buns hanging out in our freezer. I also happen to have a head of cabbage that needs to be used up STAT.  So... pulled pork sandwiches for dinner it is!

My older girls (ages 3 & 4) are just starting to be old enough to cook with me.  I decided to have them help me make some BBQ sauce to go on the pulled pork. I have to say, the sauce came out REALLY good! We took our time tasting the ingredients before mixing them together, then we tried it before and after we cooked it so the girls could taste the difference.  The girls had a blast. AND an added benefit to having them help me in the kitchen is that they are more likely to try something new when they have helped make it. Now, they are both excited to try the pulled pork sandwiches! Woohoo! Score one for mama!

And here comes the teaching moment... while the sauce was cooling, the girls begin to play together with their tea set.  My oldest came to me and said "Here mama. I made you some hot chocolate! I stirred in the chocolate chips after it was hot to make it really chocolatey.  And I put a pinch of salt too." I asked her why she put the salt in and she replied, "I put in just a pinch. It will make it taste gooder." I smiled, gave her a hug and said, "Did you know that in the Bible, Jesus tells us to be salt and light?" She said "That's silly mama.  How can a person be salt and light?" So we looked up and read together the verse in Matthew 5:13-16

“You are the salt of the earth. If salt loses its taste, how can it be made to taste like salt again? It is no good. It is thrown away and people walk on it. You are the light of the world. You cannot hide a city that is on a mountain. Men do not light a lamp and put it under a basket. They put it on a table so it gives light to all in the house. Let your light shine in front of men. Then they will see the good things you do and will honor your Father Who is in heaven." 

By this point my 3 year old had come over to listen. I explained that just how we sometimes add salt to our food to make it taste better, Jesus asks us to be flavorful around people which means to be our best selves and be the type of people that other people want to spend time with. And then we talked about how when it gets dark in their room a little night light helps it not be so scary, and that Jesus wants us to be like the night light and help people who are lost or scared.  I asked them what might be some good ways to be both salt and light to people we know and meet.  They came up with this great list:  (1) showing people you care about them by having good manners (can you tell we've been working on that one?!"), (2) giving hugs when someone feels sad, and (3) being a friend and sharing your things. Well praise the Lord, they do listen! It's hard to believe they are only 3 & 4 years old sometimes!

And in case you are interested, here is the recipe for the BBQ sauce we made. My oldest says "It's gooder than good Mama!" We may even make up a huge batch and give it as Christmas gifts this year.  It really turned out tasty!

Hughes Girl's Sweet & Tangy BBQ Sauce

Ingredients:
1 cup catchup

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 can petite diced tomatoes, drained
1 teaspoon dehydrated garlic (garlic powder or fresh garlic could work too)

1 teaspoon each: powdered ginger, ground cinnamon, kosher salt

Directions:
Whisk all the ingredients in a small sauce pan. Heat over medium low heat, stirring occasionally. Cook for 20 - 30 minutes until the sauce has reduced.  We then used an immersion blender to break down the tomato chunks, and cooked for another 10 minutes. Let cool and enjoy!

Easy Apple Cinnamon Breakfast Cake

Laying in bed this morning, trying to wake up pre-coffee, I began to mentally walk through my pantry contents to figure out what to serve for breakfast. My girls are like their mama and LOVE carbs for breakfast. I had cereal with milk almost EVERYDAY of my childhood. And I like cereal, but I cannot hack it every day. And we had cereal yesterday.

A few months ago I found this recipe for "pancake squares"  done in a 9 x 13 baking dish. The major benefit is that I'm not standing in the kitchen flipping pancakes while everyone else devours them. Plus, while the pancakes are in the oven doing their thing, I can focus on making my much loved coffee and reading a story to my kiddos! The square pancakes are made from scratch, and I figured if homemade from scratch pancakes can be baked up in the oven, why not boxed pancake mix? 

So this recipe is the tasty results of my laziness combined with my daily desire for something different. Pancakes baked up in the oven are a little more cake like and less pancake like. I took advantage of that texture and baked it up in an 8 x 8 pan instead of a 9 x 13. You could easily double the recipe, and it might be fun to try different fruit and spices. All 3 of my little girls seemed to really like this light, not too sweet breakfast cake.

Apple Cinnamon Breakfast Cake

INGREDIENTS:

1 apple

1 1/2 cups pancake mix

1 cup milk

1 egg

1 T. oil 

1 t. vanilla extract

2 t. cinnamon

Non-stick cooking spray

DIRECTIONS:

1) Preheat oven to 350*. Spay sides & bottom of an 8 x 8 inch baking pan.

2) Peal and core the apple. Slice it into 8 wedges. Then cut each wedge into thin bite size slices. It is important to keep these thin so that the apples cook all the way and are nice & soft. 

3) Toss the apples with 1 t. of cinnamon in a bowl until all the apes are coated with some cinnamon. Spread the apples out on the bottom the prepared baking dish.

4) In a mixing bowl, combine the pancake mix, milk, egg, oil, vanilla & remaining cinnamon to form a smooth batter. 

5) Pour the batter gently over the apples, and bake for 20 minutes. Slice into squares and serve with butter & syrup.

Birthday Popcorn!

For my baby's first birthday this past weekend we had a Minnie Mouse theme. Everything was in various shades of pink.  The Menu:  make your own Minnie sandwiches, "Minnie" quiches, crudité with hummus, a huge pile of strawberries, cupcakes and ice cream, and piled high in trifle bowl, pink popcorn. the popcorn was SO easy to make and super tasty. One of my friend said it reminded of her the Mother's brand Circus Animal cookies - both in color and flavor. it is a lovely concoction of salty, sweet and crunchy. I made two batches and combined them in one big bowl for a fun festive look.

INGREDIENTS:
1 bag of microwave popcorn (I used Orville Redenbacher's Naturals, Simply Salted)
6 oz. white candy melts (1/2 a bag)
gel food coloring
1 t. coconut oil (or vegetable shortening if you don't like / have coconut oil)
candy sprinkles

EQUIPMENT:
Rimmed cookie sheet
Silicone baking mat or parchment
Microwave safe bowl

DIRECTIONS:
1)  Pop the popcorn and spread out on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
2)  Cook candy melts in the microwave for 30 seconds. Stir. Repeat, microwaving for 20 seconds at a time until smooth. Add 1 to 2 drops of the gel food coloring plus coconut oil and stir until the food coloring is completely mixed in.

NOTE:  If you are using colored candy melts you do not need to add the coconut oil and food coloring.  Only add the coconut oil if you are adding additional water based liquid, like flavored extracts or food coloring - this will ensure a smooth consistency).

3)  Pour the melted candy melt mixture over your popcorn. Use a rubber spatula or your hands to coat all of the popcorn with the candy melt mixture. I found it much easier to control the popcorn by using my hands - candy melt mixture is warm but will not burn you.
4)  Sprinkle your favorite candy sprinkles or colored sugar. Toss the mixture and sprinkle again to ensure the sprinkles get on every piece of popcorn.
5)  Let cool for 15 to 20 minutes.  You can now dig in! The popcorn will stay fresh for up to 4 days in an airtight container.

You could easily change up colors and flavors using any combination of color food coloring, extract flavors, and sprinkles.

Snack Attack!

I'm always on the look out for healthy snacks for the whole family. I found this great snack idea on Pinterest (original blog link) and let me say, I was not immediately impressed upon reading it, but something compelled me to try it anyway. I'm SOOOO glad I did! The kids love it, I love it, and my hubby loves it!  Other virtues: (1) refined sugar free (2) loaded with fiber and vitamin C, (3) and best of all I can make a big batch and it lasts in the fridge for days without the apples browning! They are a great replacement for those expensive already cup up apples you get at the store, and they only take a tiny amount of time to make. We like using Jazz or Pink Lady apples, but really you could use any kind - Fuji would be great, especially for kiddos since they are a bit sweeter. Super simple and super tasty - I hope you try it!

INGREDIENTS:
4 large apples - sliced thin
1 large orange
1 lemon

DIRECTIONS:
Into a large container with a sealing lid, squeeze the orange & lemon. Add the sliced apples and place the lid on making sure it is tightly sealed. Gently shake to coat all the apple slices in the orange & lemon juice. Chill for at least 30 minutes & enjoy!

Healthy oatmeal raisin muffins!

I'm trying to reduce the amount of processed foods we eat. This is not convenient and takes much prior planning. Here is a recipe we all love to eat and I am happy to feed my family! BONUS: they are gluten free, processed sugar free, and chocked full of fiber! AND the kids love to help make them! To quote my oldest, "These are GOOD mama! Can we have another?"

OATMEAL RAISIN MUFFINS
1 banana (the riper the better!) *
1 cup date paste (recipe below)
1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1 egg
1 1/2 Tbsp baking powder
1 1/2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 - 3/4 cup raisins (or chocolate chips! Yum!)
Non-stick cooking spray

DATE PASTE:
10 to 12 pitted dates, packed + enough boiling water to make 1 cup. Let soak 30 minutes or more. Blend in your food processor or high speed blender until smooth. You can double the recipe and store extra in your fridge for up to 1 week. Use in smoothies or baked goods.

MUFFINS:
- Preheat oven to 375.
- Spray 12 cup muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray.
- Add all ingredients except oats & raisins to your blender or food processor & process until smooth & combined.
- Mix oats, raisins & wet ingredients in a large bowl.
- Divide batter into prepared muffin pan (I like to use my cookie/ice cream scoop).
- Bake for 20 - 25 minutes.

Let muffins cool completely in the pan. They will be a bit crumbly. You may need to run a knife around the edges to loosen and remove. Refrigerate or freeze any left overs. Good for 1 week in the fridge, 2 months in the freezer. Reheat for 10-20 seconds in the microwave to remove the chill.

*You can sub 3/4 cup apple sauce for the banana. The muffins will be less sweet.