Love eating baked goods? Me too! But I don't always love the feeling of a greasy cookie in my stomach.  Most of the ingredients in these muffins are actually good for you! So you don't even have to feel bad about eating them.  They are full of vegetables and fruits which not only gives you a good way to clean out the fridge of wilting celery and bruised apples, but it is a great way to hide the vitamins and nutrients in something soft and delicious.  Kids go absolutely nuts for them, I have yet to have a child eat one and not ask for more!
         My friend Lara introduced me to this veggie muffin idea which is a fantastic way to get people (especially little people) to eat their veggies without cramming spinach down their throats.  I posted this link in one of my previous posts.  After making this recipe several times now I found that there is room for improvement. I have reduced the sugar, eliminated the juices, and increased the spices so the muffins are reminicent of carrot cake. I thought I would give you my version for you to try!
        I will tell you that the fruits and vegetables you can add are very versatile.  I generally try and put at least one apple and one banana in to add sweetness and creaminess.  The rest is up to you! Carrots and sweet potatoes work great for the veggies, as well as any leafy greens, cauliflower, squash, or any other vitamins you are looking to infuse into your diet (or that of your kids). You do not need to precook anything, but if they are already cooked, that works too! 
        Lastly, often times I will blend the fruits and veggies on a different day than I bake the muffins.  Maybe I had a left-over smoothie, or simply the vegetables were starting to get old and I didn't have time for baking.  Anyhow, I usually make a double batch of the produce puree so it is less work next time.  You can simply freeze the puree and thaw when you want to use it. Here it is! I would love to hear comments about what you put in these magic little treats. 


Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 
2) Grease mini muffin pans.  This makes about 50 mini-muffins.  (They may not cook all the way through if you use regular size muffins)
3) Mix ingredients in the order below (or really any order you want, these don't need to be very precise). The batter should be viscus but not pourable, use a spoon to put it in the muffin tins. 
4) Bake for 35 minutes at 375 until the edges start to brown, the inside will still be moist. 
5) Allow the muffins to cool on a cooling rack and enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder 
1/2 salt
1/4 teaspoon (or a few sprinkles) nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon (or a few sprinkles) ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup sugar
4 tablespoons butter
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
about 2 1/2 cups blended fruits and vegetables
1/2 cup greek yogurt (of whatever fat content you usually eat)

     I made these sandwiches for my son's first and my husband's thirty something birthday this weekend.  They disappeared quickly off the platter, so I thought I would share the recipe!
     I really like how simple these were to make.  You use a rotisserie chicken, so you really just have to put the ingredients together, rather than  doing much cooking.  The other bonus is, you can make the chicken salad ahead of time.  Then when it is time to eat, you can quickly throw together the sandwiches.  All of the condiments and seasoning are already mixed in. The recipe makes a lot, so this is good for a party, or a few days worth of lunches.  I am not usually one for mayonnaise based salads, but I enjoyed this!

 I got the recipe from the food network. I pretty much followed these ingredients except I added about a cup of roughly chopped walnuts (make sure to warn anyone with allergies).

Ingredients
2 cups chopped rotisserie chicken, skin removed (I used the whole chicken)
1/2 cup diced celery
1/3 cup diced carrot
1/3 cup diced red onion
1/2 cup mayonnaise with olive oil
2 tablespoons yellow mustard
1 teaspoon celery salt
1 teaspoon granulated garlic
Pinch of paprika
Freshly ground pepper
6 whole-wheat sourdough rolls, split and toasted Lettuce and tomato, for topping

Directions
Combine the chicken, celery, carrot, red onion, mayonnaise, mustard, celery salt, granulated garlic, paprika and 1 teaspoon pepper in a bowl. Mix until combined.

Serve the chicken salad on the toasted rolls with lettuce and tomato.

We found a great recipe for lemon chicken with capers.  Thought I would share because it was delicious! We enjoyed the chicken with steamed cauliflower and garlic herb couscous.  It took about 30-40 minutes to get everything cooked.  I skipped flattening the chicken with a mallet and just bought thin slices chicken breasts. 

From Food.com By Gatorbek
Servings:4

Ingredients:
4 medium boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup flour, divided
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons garlic, minced
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 large lemon
2 tablespoons capers, drained and chopped
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped

Directions:

1) Place each chicken breast between two sheets of wax paper. With a mallet, flatten each to about 1/4 inch thick. (This is not necessary if you buy think sliced chicken breasts)

2) In one pie plate, beat eggs slightly.  In another pie plate, mix 1/4 cup flour with salt.

3) Coat chicken with flour mixture, then dip in egg. We dipped the chicken in flour one more time and then put it on a plate until all the chicken was coated so some didn't cook more than others. Add more flour and salt as needed. 

4) In nonstick skillet, heat olive oil over med high heat until hot.  Stir in 1 Tbsp butter until melted.

5) Add chicken. Cook 5 minutes to brown, then reduce heat to med.

6) Turn chicken and cook about 4-5min more until juice runs clear when pierced.  Then transfer chicken to a warm dish.

7) Lower heat if needed to maintain medium-low to medium heat so as not to scorch the garlic, then add garlic to the drippings in the skillet.

8) In a cup, mix stock, wine, lemon juice, and 1 1/2 teaspoons of flour until smooth. 

9) Stir into mixture in skillet. Scrape skillet to incorporate any browned bits from the chicken.  Heat to a boil, boil 1 minute. Stir in capers and remaining 1 tablespoon of butter, simmer until thickened.

10)Pour sauce over chicken, sprinkle with parsley and garnish with additional lemon slices.

Note: Occasionally, this has turned out a little more "tangy" than I would like with too much lemon. If this happens, just dilute with a little extra chicken stock or broth mixed with cornstarch or flour to keep thicker consistency.


Read more at: http://www.food.com/recipe/skillet-lemon-chicken-with-capers-281300?oc=linkback

Make your own pizza night! My sister Dana and her boyfriend Sean often join us for a quiet Sunday night dinner to recover from whatever fun was had that weekend.  Dana (a veggie) had some soyrizo at home that she was all excited about.  So we decided to make our own pizzas tonight.  
 

As I was preparing for them to come over I realized that it was a super easy dinner to get ready and that I should share it all with you! 

The only thing that took a little forsight was the dough.  If you have a bread maker it is easy to throw all the ingredients in and hit the dough cycle.  You just have to remember to do that about 2 hours before you want to eat.  Otherwise, there is always Boboli!

Once the dough is ready, you punch it down and kneed it.  Cut the dough according to how many pizzas you are making and flatten them out.  We then spread a little olive oil and punched them with a fork, so no big bubbles disrupt your toppings while it bakes.  Let the dough sit for about 15 minutes before making the pizzas. 

I walked to the grocery, bought one bag of items and had it prepped in about a half an hour.  Just for the presentation I put all the possible toppings in little bowls.  This way you can survey the goods before you make any commitments. I put out pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese, and parmesan cheese.  For the meats we had turkey salami or the vegi option of soy chorizo.  For the veggies I slices cherry tomatoes, fresh basil, marinated artichoke hearts, slices mushroom, and pineapple.  Of course you can out whatever toppings you would like! Lastly I included some homemade olives and roasted garlic.  

I have to give some credit here to my flagrantly Italian/Spanish friend Tyler. Years ago he taught me how to make delicious roasted garlic.  Tyler, feel free to correct me here if I have made any procedural errors! First you slice of the top of a head of garlic (I may have sliced off a bit too much on this one). Drizzle a bit of olive oil on top.  Wrap it in foil with the sliced top pointing up and bake it at 350 for about 40 minutes.  
You'll end up with the most delicious, mild, roasted garlic flavor that can be spread on just about anything! You want the cloves to be soft, but not mushy.  I checked them with a toothpick here and there. 

So finally, let everyone top their pizzas. (isn't Justin handsome)  Bake them at 425 until the top of the cheese starts to brown and  bon apetite! 

We added a game to mix while we were eating.  However, I lost big time, so it wasn't nearly as fun as last time I played when I won!!

     On a frosty winter day, an entire dinner themed "Comfort foods" sounds pretty good! It was time for our monthly 'family dinner' with friends, and a comfort food was your ticket in the door.  After debating over several different soups, I decided to try broccoli cheddar.  I got the seal of approval at dinner that it was blog-able, so here it is! 
    Although I have been a super lazy blogger lately, I have been cooking! The urge to share it has returned!
    

     I originally got the recipe off of the food network.  Here is the link to it.  After reading several of the reviews and doing some taste testing I changed quite a few things.  So below if my version. I was cooking for a large group.  I would say that it serves 8-12 depending on whether you are eating it as a main course, or a starter. 

Notes:
    I used my food processor and grated all the vegetable except the broccoli. I then gave it a little rinse and used it to grate the cheese.   This made it really quick and easy! 

The original recipe calls for the soup to be pureed, however I enjoyed having some variance in texture.  So grate everything small instead of chopping and avoid the pureeing. 

The broccoli is kind of the star of the show, and thus should not be grated.  I chopped half of it very fine to enhance the flavor of the soup, and left some of it a bit bigger to give a chunkier texture to the soup.  

*If you decided not to use bread bowls, I think some cubed potato would be another yummy and nutritious addition. 

Directions:
Melt the butter in a large Dutch oven or pot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. 
Whisk in the flour and cook until golden, 3 to 4 minutes, then gradually whisk in the half-and-half until smooth. 
Add the chicken broth, and bay leaves,  then season with salt and pepper and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, uncovered, until thickened, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the bread bowls: Using a sharp knife, cut a circle into the top of each loaf, leaving a 1-inch border all around. Remove the bread top, then hollow out the middle with a fork or your fingers, leaving a thick bread shell.

Add the broccoli, carrots, and celery to the broth mixture and simmer until tender, about 20 minutes. Discard the bay leaves. 

Gradually mix the cheese into the soup and whisk over medium heat until melted. Add up to 3/4 cup water if the soup is too thick. Ladle into the bread bowls and garnish with cheese.
Lastly, enjoy the warm richness of soup on a cold day, an seen above!

If the title alone doesn't make your mouth start watering then this might not be the recipe for you.  But I have to say, I thought it was delicious and even my cake hating sister (I don't know how it's possible for my sister to hate cake) gave it two thumbs up!  Obviously this cake is in the shape of a W.  That's because it was for my friend Whitney's birthday (and she does like bake). I was returning the favor, because she once baked me a peanut butter birthday that looked exactly like our cabin, where we were celebrating!

    Cutting the actual cake into a fun shape gives the cake some pizzaz and personalization!
    I started by buttering and flouring the cake pans.  This is by far the best way to get a smooth even surface when you flip your cake out.  
     I used Paula Deen's Peanut Butter Cake recipe.  Although I substituted butter for shortening and did not put actual peanuts in the frosting.  The frosting goes on more like a glaze than a frosting and then hardens as it cools. 

    While the cake was baking in the oven I got busy with the decorations! I tinted tiny chunks of white fondant to make various bright colors.  If you are doing this use powdered sugar to roll out the fondant.  Flour will alter the flavor.  I also recommend using gel food coloring or the concentrated food coloring in jars so the fondant doesn' become too wet and sticky! 

    When the cake was finished baking I let it cool in the pan.  I then cut the W out so that the edges of the pan supported the cake.  I held the cooling rack tights to the baking dish and flipped it. 
 

  The glaze was quick to cook! I poured it over the cake until I had a smooth finish.  Do this over something where the extra can drain out so you don't have a soggy cake.  Lastly I placed the W's randomly around the cake and it was finished! 

LOW FAT LEMON RICOTTA PANCAKES

Hi there! Robin's sister here popping in for a guest blog.  I made these pancakes last weekend and they were so delicious that I had to share the recipe.

Contrary to my sister, I am not much for baking. Cooking I love - but baking requires accuracy and I am more of a "choose your own adventure" cook.

However, my boyfriend expressed a pancake craving so I stepped up to the plate.  I remember enjoying some fabulous lemon ricotta pancakes at a restaurant years ago and wanted to make my own version.

Never having made pancakes from scratch before, I hopped online and found a recipe from Bobby Flay. Being a bit of a nutrition nut, I instinctively "trimmed the fat" from his recipe and added my own twists.  

The pancakes turned out so moist (for lack of a less upsetting word) and fluffy.  And I promise - you would never guess my version is very low fat.  This recipe will serve four - of course I ate my serving and my boyfriend took care of the other three O: Needless to say, they satisfied his pancake craving. 

DIRECTIONS:

Combine flour, baking powder, nutmeg, salt, and sugar in a small bowl. Whisk together the cheese, eggs, milk, lemon juice and zest in a large bowl. Whisk the flour mixture into the wet ingredients until just combined. Brush the hot griddle with a smidgen of yogurt butter (use Butter flavored Pam if you're really watching the Calories). For each pancake, pour approximately 1/4 cup measure of the batter on the griddle and cook on both sides until light golden brown. Repeat until no batter remains.

Empty the contents of the lemon curd into a small saucepan and warm over low heat. Alternatively, remove the lid and place in a microwave oven on 50 percent power for 2 minutes, stopping after 1 minute to stir the curd. Drizzle a few tablespoons of the curd over the pancakes, top with fresh raspberries, and sprinkle with confectioners' sugar.  I omitted the Lemon Curd but give it a go if it sounds yummy to you.  We did not think they were missing anything.  

INGREDIENTS:

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 cup SKIM MILK ricotta cheese
• 2 eggs
• 2/3 NON FAT Half & Half
  
• 1 lemon, zested and juiced
• Yogurt Butter, for griddle
• 1 (11-ounce) jar prepared lemon curd (I went without)
• Fresh Blackberries (sliced thin for garnish)
• Confectioners' sugar (for garnish)

     Quinoa: You know you've heard the word.   But you always kind of wonder how it is pronounced, well it is /keenwuah/.  This seems to be the new superfood, the thing you hear everyone talking about, the food people are trying to incorporate into their diets.  Well there is a reason why! 
     Quinoa has over 9 grams of protein per cup, and it is high in fiber so it fills you up fast and you stay that way.  It is also known to be a detoxifier, bone builder, and a brain food. 
   Besides the great health benefits, it is easy to cook and has a creamy, rich, nutty flavor.  
      My teaching partner Miranda gave me this recipe.  She got it from her friend when she was trying to find tasty, diet friendly foods for her and her husband.  I then made it for my husband and I and we loved it.  So... quinoa has made it through the gauntlet and been approved. 
     I think this would be a great salad to bring to a summer barbecue. It has a light delicious flavor with diverse pops of creaminess and acidity depending on what morsel ends up in your mouth.  I added a cup of garbanzo beans and we had it as a meal all by itself.  I am now on the hunt for other good quinoa recipes.  If you've got them, try this, and then send me over your recipes!

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups quinoa (dry)
1 avocado sliced
1 cup walnuts (the original recipe called for 1/2 C but we kept hunting around for the walnuts, so add more)
1/2 cup feta cheese crumbles
1/2 cup sliced green onions
1 1/2 cups chopped baby spinach
1 cup grape tomatoes
1 cup garbanzo beans

Dressing:
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 cloves garlic finely chopped
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
salt and pepper

Directions:
1. Cook quinoa according to directions. Rinse it under cold water and put it in the fridge to chill.
2. In a large bowl, toss together the chilled quinoa, walnuts, feta cheese, onions, spinach, avocado (save some slices to set on top to look pretty), tomatoes, and garbanzo beans. 
3. In a small bowl whisk together the oil, vinegar, garlic, and mustard.  Pour the dressing over salad and toss to combine,  Season with salt and pepper to taste. 

    My adorable little nephew (cousin's baby) Kairyn was born on the same day as my husband.  So tax day has now become a major birthday celebration in our family! For his first birthday my cousins, Lisa and Jake, threw him a monkey themed party.  It was fun to watch all the little ones "help" open the presents, which actually meant rip them all open at record speed.  To accompany this party I made some chocolate monkey and banana cupcakes. 

     I used a Hershey's recipe for both the cake and frosting, because it is dependably delicious and always moist! My sister said it was my best work yet (but really that means Hershey's has a great recipe).  
    For the middle of the face I used a Nilla Wafer and sliced just the top off.  For the ears I used half of a shortbread cookie.  I bought the eyes and cupcake tins at Raley's.  You can't really see the tins but they are covered in bananas and monkeys. I used a little tube of red gel frosting for the mouth and had tons of fun making the expressions!

    The bananas are there just to break up the monotony of a million monkey faces.  I didn't want it to get creepy! I tinted a bit of fondant yellow.  Then used a simple round biscuit cutter and just cut it twice in a half moon shape.  I then trimmed off the very end and painted it with a bit of green food coloring and cocoa powder to give it some depth.  If you ever have the need for a jungle party, this was fun and not too time consuming! Give it a try!

    When you've got old bananas, make banana bread!  I have been tweaking my banana bread recipe a little here and a little there while trying to taste for each ingredient.  I think it is finally time to share with you all!  However, if you bake it, I want feedback.  Even if you think it is awful, tell me so I can make it better.  This recipe makes two large loaf pans.  Or one big one for yourself, and 3 small ones for your friends. Okay, the recipe:




Ingredients:
3/4 cup butter at room temperature
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
4/5 ripe banana
3 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped walnuts

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Mix butter and sugar together until creamy.  Use an electric mixer if you have one.  Beat in eggs one at a time.  Add vanilla.

3.  If you are mixing by hand then mash up the bananas prior to putting them in.  If you using an electric mixer you can just add them in chunks of banana at a time.

4. In a separate bowl mix together all the dry ingredients, except the walnuts.  Add this to the wet mixture in about three batches and mix only until combined.  

5.  Finally add in chopped walnuts.  Butter the bread pans and then fill them about 2/3 full. The batter will expand.  If you are having a serious sweet tooth that day you can sprinkle brown sugar on before you make it. 

6. Bake at 350 degrees for 55-60 minutes.  Test with a toothpick to make sure the middle is cooked.  The top should be brown and crispy.  When you take it out let the bread cool for about ten minutes.  Use a knife to separate the sides and enjoy hot!