M is for Muffin!

This week our preschool theme was the letter M. We talked about manatees, milk, mailboxes, motorcycles, mermaids, magnolia trees, mice, & monsters (they are our friends after all!) And we made various crafts, worked on using scissors, adding & counting monster eyeballs, and memorized the bible verse: My soul rests in God alone; my salvation comes from Him. Psalm 62:1

On Fridays I like to do a kitchen project with them. So today we made snicker doodle muffins. Oh my they are good!

Here's the recipe we used: 

INGREDIENTS:

1 stick butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup AP flour + 1Tbsp

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup non fat plain yogurt

For the Topping:

1/2 cup sugar

4 tsp cinnamon

DIRECTIONS:

1) Preheat your oven to 350ºF. Put 12 liners in your muffin tin

2) In a small bowl, mix the topping: sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.

3) In the bowl of a heavy duty mixer, cream the butter and sugar. Add in the egg and vanilla until combined. Add the yogurt and mix until combined.

4) Add in the dry ingredients in 2 batches. Mix, scraping sides of the bowl as needed until a smooth batter is achieved. 

5) Using a large cookie dough scoop, drop a scoop of batter into the bowl with the cinnamon sugar topping. Gently roll the batter in the mixture. Place the ball into the muffin liner. Repeat until all liners are full. 

6) Sprinkle any leftover cinnamon sugar mix on top of the muffins.

7) Bake the muffins for about 15 to 20 minutes or until they pass the toothpick test.

They came out super tasty! Soft and fluffy on the inside, tangy from the yogurt, and lovely little cinnamon sugar crunchies clinging to the whole muffin. The littlest in our family loved these muffins & kept asking for more - she even attempted to steal mine. My oldest licked the wrapper & wanted to know if she could eat it too. They are THAT good. I hope you will try them and let me know what you think. 

Beer!

For his birthday my husband was given one of those boxes with all different kinds of beers. Through the adventure of trying the various small batch craft brews, I discovered one I really enjoyed. I'm not usually a big fan of dark beers. This one is called a "Brunette Beer" and comes from The Original Firemans Brew company out of Ukiah, CA. I decided to try using it to make a beer bread, and oh my goodness did it turn out great! 

Now, I love me a good quick bread recipe, but many are overly sweet. I combined a few recipes and reduced the amount of sweetener to come up with the recipe below. This bread is hearty and has just the right amount of barely there sweetness. It would be PERFECT served warm & slathered with butter along side a stew or cream soup.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups AP flour

3/4 cup old fashioned oats - ground up in a food processor 

1 Tbsp flax meal

2 Tbsp quick grits (corn meal would make a good subsitute)

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup honey

12 ounces of your favorite amber or dark beer

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

DIRECTIONS

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 by 5 inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray or butter. Set aside.

2) In a large bowl, whisk together flour, oats, flax meal, grits, baking powder and salt. 

3) Add in the honey and beer and mix until just combined. 

4) Spread the batter in the prepared pan, smoothing the top with a rubber spatula. Evenly pour the melted butter over the top of the batter. DO NOT skip this step. This is crucial to both the flavor and crunchy crust of this bread. Reduce the fat somewhere else! I mean it!

5) Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until it passes the toothpick test and the top is golden brown. 

6) Transfer immediately to a cooling rack. Allow to sit for at least 20 minutes and then slice & enjoy!

Easy peasy tortilla soup

Wow! Time sure does fly! It's hard for me to believe it has been 2 months since my last post! CRAZY! 

With the beginning of a new year, most of us are looking for ways to eat healthier. My easy peasy tortilla soup has been a great way for us to get in more veggies and eat something that feels like comfort food.

INGREDIENTS:

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

6 cups low sodium chicken or veggie stock

1 Tbsp ground cumin

1 Tbsp dried oregano

2 cloves minced fresh garlic

1 tsp Mrs Dash Fiesta Lime seasoning

2 carrots pealed and sliced into thin coins

1 15oz can no salt added petite diced tomatoes, drained

4 corn tortillas chopped into 1 inch strips

GARNISH OPTIONS

chopped bell pepper

diced avocado

sliced jalapeño

cilantro 

crushed tortilla chips

shredded Mexican cheese

hot sauce 

DIRECTIONS

1) Place chicken, stock, & spices into a large stock pot and simmer until chicken is cooked through.

2) Remove chicken, chop into bite sized pieces, and set asside.

3) Add carrots, tomatoes, and tortillas and continue to simmer for 15 - 20 minutes.

4) Meanwhile, chop and prepare the garnishes you are choosing to use. We like all of them! I usually put everything in desperate bowls on a lazy Susan so that everyone can add their own favorites.

5) Just before serving, add the chopped chicken back to the pot, and allow to simmer for 5 minutes- just until heated through. 

6) Ladle into soup bowls, top with your favorite garnishes & enjoy!

Not Your Mama's Peppers!

I have never been a fan of stuffed bell peppers. First off green bell peppers don't like me & are completely out of the question - I avoid them like my life depends on it. Red, yellow or orange bells are ok, but I'm SUPER picky about them. Basically my experience with stuffed bells has been slimy exteriors and bland (or worse, over-salted) mushy interiors. All topped by flavorless, sometimes burnt tomato sauce. No thanks! 

Well, recently my husband and I have been trying to do weekly meal planning every Friday night. It helps to make sure we buy only what we need, and has made the dinner hour less stressful since there is no frazzled effort to figure out what to make with 3 little girls tugging at you. We have been eating way more fruits and veggies this way too. Anyhow, this week my husband suggested stuffed peppers during our menu planning discussion. He has some fond memories associated with them since his mom used to make them (the traditional way- he didn't think they were gross). Instead of running away in terror, I suggested we try them with a more modern twist. We dreamed up this recipe and I can now say I LOVE stuffed peppers. Well, MY stuffed peppers anyway! Hubby likes them too! 

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup uncooked organic quinoa 

2 cups chicken stock

5 mild Italian sausages, casings removed

1 jar Trader Joe's bruschetta sauce

1 cup fresh spinach, finely chopped

zest of 1 lemon

4 orange bell peppers

canola oil

Garnish: shredded hard cheese like Romano or Parmesan. (Hubby & I both agree that a slice of provolone or shredded mozzarella would be a tasty subsitute)

DIRECTIONS:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

 

2) Rinse 1 cup quinoa in running water for several minutes. Then add to a sauce pan with 2 cups of stock. Cook according to package directions.

3) Meanwhile, in a large skillet, crumble and brown the sausage. Turn off the heat. Drain any grease. Strain and rinse the cooked sausage quickly under warm water to remove excess grease. Return to the pan, but do not turn on the heat.

4) Add cooked quinoa, chopped spinach, bruschetta sauce, and lemon zest to the skillet with the sausage. Stir to combine.

5) Cut bell peppers in 1/2, stem to bottom. Remove all seeds and ribs.

6) Generously oil a 9 x 13 baking pan. Place peppers cut side up. Par-bake in the oven for 20 minutes. (That's right - no filling yet!)

7) Remove peppers from the oven. Generously fill peppers with the sausage filling and top with shredded cheese. Return to the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes more, or until the cheese is melted and lightly browned.

Served with a salad and a piece of crusty bread for a super tasty dinner!

Another Gluten Free Pumpkin Muffin

Why make ANOTHER gluten free pumpkin muffin you ask? Good question! I'm in love with Trader Joes pumpkin pie spice and I wanted to try out the Trader Joes All Purpose Gluten Free Flour. The last pumpkin muffins I made were wonderfully dense and moist. These are equally moist, but the texture is lighter and closer to a gluten FULL muffin. AND this time I added my most favorite of all chocolate chips from Guitard. You could add pecans instead I suppose. It's not chocolate, but it would be tasty too. My hubby reluctantly tried 1/2 of one (he's generally not a big fan of gluten free foods) and then asked if he could have a whole one! They are THAT good.

DRY INGREDIENTS

2 cups Trader Joes AP Gluten Free flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp pumpkin pie spices

1/2 tsp kosher 

WET INGREDIENTS

2 large eggs

1/2 cup brown sugar 

1/2 cup coconut oil

1/2 cup Trader Joes Spiced Apple Cider

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup pumpkin purée 

OPTIONAL

1 cup Guitard milk chocolate chips 

OR

3/4 cup chopped pecans

DIRECTIONS

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease or line your muffin tin with paper/foil liners.

2) In a medium sized bowl whisk the dry ingredients. Set aside. 

3) In a separate bowl whisk all the wet ingredients EXCEPT the pumpkin. 

4) Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients just until combined. 

5) Add the pumpkin purée and fold in until combined. If using chocolate chips or pecans, fold them in as well.

6) Scoop batter into your prepared muffin pans filling each cup 2/3 full. I like to use an ice cream / cookie scoop. I had enough for 14 muffins. 

7) Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until the muffin passes the toothpick test.

8) After baking, let the muffins sit in the tin for 10 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

NOTES: I wouldn't change a thing. Well, maybe a few more chocolate chips! And I'm thinking of using this recipe as a base... subbing apple sauce for the pumpkin, blueberries for the chips, lemon  extract for the vanilla, and leaving out the pie spice to make lemon blueberry muffins. Mmmmm I do love muffins. Can you tell? ;)

Fall Smoothie

The farmers market was glorious this past weekend! We picked up delicious organic strawberries, perfect bok choy, adorable baby potatoes, raw peanuts, crisp apples, raw honey, beautiful fuyu persimmons, fantastic pluots, and the makings for some really tasty pico salsa. We are still able to get the best of summer fruits and veggies, at the same time get yummy fall favorites. We are so blessed here in California! 

This morning I combined 2 of our weekends treasures, raw honey & fuyu persimmons with some pantry goods to make a fantastic creamy non dairy smoothie! Wonderful fall flavor packed into a cool summer treat! My 3 girls and I gulped it down. I'll need to make a double batch next time!

INGREDIENTS:

3/4 cup water

1/3 cup slivered almonds

1 cup cooked pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)

2 fuyu persimmons

1/2 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice

2 tsp stevia

2 tsp raw honey

Pinch of salt

ice cubes (if you want it cold)

DIRECTIONS: 

Throw it all into a high powered blender and process until smooth. 

NOTES: You can use all stevia or all honey if you want. I tried it with the stevia first and felt like something was missing. I added the pinch of salt and the honey and it was perfect! The honey added a depth that was lacking. You could also make it with almond milk instead of water or add some chia seeds if you are looking for more protein. Enjoy!

Fall is finally here!

It is my favorite time of year in Northern California! The mornings are cool, crisp, and sometimes foggy. The afternoons are still warm and clinging to the last bits of summer's heat. The leaves are beginning to turn colors, and the houses in our neighborhood are decorated with pumpkins in anticipation of Halloween. It's time for jeans, and boots, and light weight sweaters. It's time for soups, and apples, and the flavors of pumpkin pie spices.

This weekend I tried out a new baked oatmeal recipe. There are three reasons I love this recipe, (1) you make it the night before and bake it in the morning, (2) the house smells spicy and delicious when it is baking, and (3) it has a crispy sugary caramely topping like creme brûlée! Plus it's heart healthy oats! Can't go wrong with that!

INGREDIENTS:

2 eggs

1/4 cup raw honey

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1/4 cup coconut oil

1/2 can pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)

1 small apple, grated

1 1/4 cups coconut milk

3 cups old-fashioned oats

brown sugar

DIRECTIONS:

1) Grease a square baking pan. I like to use my Anchor Hocking 9 x 9 covered glass casserole dish.

2) In a large bowl, mix together all ingredients in order except the brown sugar until thoroughly combined.

3) Poor mixture in your baking dish. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

• • • • • • • • • • • •

4) In the morning, pull it out of the fridge and preheat oven to 375 degrees. 

5) Bake for 25 -30 minutes or until light golden brown. Remove from oven, sprinkle brown sugar evenly over top of the oatmeal and place back in the oven under the broiler. Broil for one minute, or until sugar melts and begins to caramelize.

6) We like it served warm with a drizzle of more coconut milk. And it reheats in the microwave beautifully!