Chrissy Teigen's Granola

My kids ate it. I made her recipe for Peanut Butter Covered Pretzels and Granola with leftover granola. And I effing hate whole stories to go along with recipes so why I'm still typing this crap, I don't know. All you need to know is that the kids ate it all. 

Buy her book, Cravings: Hungry For More and then you'll be able to experience the utter delight of eating homemade granola warm from the oven. 

Freezer Meal - Breakfast Bowls

Roast about 2lbs of potatoes cut into bite size pieces - season with salt, pepper, paprika.

Make breakfast sausage.

Scramble 9 eggs.

Top with cheese.

Put into bowls in the same order above.

Options: salsa, black beans, more veggies

Bacon doesn't work well in this recipe. BOO.

The trick: put the bowls together after everything has cooled. 

Scrambled Eggs With Pesto

Oy, I've got pesto coming out of my ears. And I still have salad greens for more pesto.

MORE PESTO. 

Good thing The Monkey & I like pesto.

This is super easy.

Put a heaping spoonful of pesto on a plate.

Scramble eggs (I always add cheese to mine).

Put scrambled eggs on top of pesto. 

With each bite you'll get pesto & eggs. Yum!

Also - my 16 month old LOVES this!

Mixed Berry Muffins

Mixed Berry Muffins from Oprah

Servings: Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/3 cups fresh berries , such as blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, huckleberries or sliced strawberries, or a combination.

Directions

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 400°F. Lightly butter twelve 2 1/2-inch muffin cups or place paper muffin cups in the muffin tin.

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt to combine and make a well in the center. In another medium bowl, whisk the milk, oil and eggs. Mix well and pour into the well. Stir just until blended. Fold in the berries. Spoon equal amounts of the batter into the muffin cups, filling them about three-fourths full.

Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Remove the muffins and serve warm or cool on a wire rack.

Mushroom, Cheese & Spinach Omelette (CSA Box Recipe)

 Mushrooms were unfortunately NOT from the CSA box this week, but the spinach is. I love omelettes. I love how easy they are. I love that if you don't get it perfect, it still looks great on your plate. I also love that there's no leftovers and eggs are so easy to make for one person. (Hey, Bimmer, I know you don't like omelettes, but can you appease me for one weekend and JUST TRY ONE? And it doesn't have to be with mushrooms)

 Spinach is from the CSA box. I obviously sauted the mushrooms first, then added in the spinach to wilt it. When cooking mushrooms, add salt in at the very end. Salt draws out the natural juices and makes the mushrooms tough and chewy. Then add in your regular omelette mix (2 eggs + 1tbsp of milk or cream, salt & pepper). Wait until the eggs have set a bit.

And then when I have a lot of chunky veggies, I don't make a normal omelette. I'd rather consider it a "french" omelette where you shove the food around pan until it's barely cooked, flip it over on itself and then dump it on a plate.

So basically then your plate looks like a pile of eggs and veggies and not really a traditional omelette. But it's still delicious mixed with fresh cheese.

Enjoy!

Blueberry Muffins #315

Yum. Yum. Yum. Bimmer Man loves blueberry muffins and frankly, I'm always happy to try a new recipe.

I've also learned to line the muffin tin. It just makes transporting muffins to work easier!

And in the middle of July, well, there's nothing better than a little Halloween, right?

Mmmm....

To Die For Blueberry Muffins (from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 cup fresh blueberries
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup butter, cubed
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.
2. Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.
3. To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.
4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.

Blueberry Cream Cheese Muffins

I love muffins. Bimmer Man loves muffins and as it turns out, I usually get a request once a week to make them (do I actually make them? Sometimes...)

Lately blueberries have been on sale at Cub Foods so I wanted to make some yummy muffins. And of course with cream cheese, who doesn't love cream cheese?

In the original recipe there's no cream cheese and I generally mix it into the batter. However, I completely forgot to toss in the softened cream cheese so I ended up dropping 1 - 2 teaspoons of it onto the top of each muffin, much like my favorite Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins.

Enjoy!

Grandma's Blueberry Lemon Muffins

From the Sister's Cafe

2 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar

3 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

zest of one lemon

1 egg

1 cup milk

1/2 cup shortening (or butter)

1 cup frozen blueberries

Topping (this makes extra - you can try cutting it down if you want):

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 Tb lemon juice

1/2 cup sugar

Mix dry ingredients and set aside. Beat eggs, milk and shortening. Stir in blueberries. Add dry ingredients and stir gently to combine. Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Combine butter and lemon juice. While the muffins are still warm, dip the tops in the butter and lemon juice, then dip in sugar. Makes 12 muffins.

You know in the Springtime, chocolate doesn't sound as good as fresh fruit. Last night I walked to the grocery store (Um, yeah, I really am that eco-friendly) and was studying all the fresh fruit. Lo and behold, there were way too many people in the fruit section of Kroger.

If you can't tell, I'm a little claustrophobic in spaces with too many people. I do not do well in crowds. So I used frozen raspberries. But not a problem, they still turned out great! This is definitely a recipe to make if you have berries in your yard - I'd do this again with blueberries, blackberries or even strawberries!
Yum... The batter smelled SO good. I can't even tell you how much it smelled like Spring. It's one of those things that fruit does to me. It makes me feel like warm weather is approaching. And it's a great feeling!

Raspberry-Cream Cheese Muffins

Yield

2 dozen (serving size: 1 muffin)

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup (5 ounces) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened
• 1/3 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 large egg whites
• 1 large egg
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
• 2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries
• 1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°.

Combine cream cheese and butter in a large bowl. Beat with a mixer at high speed until well blended. Add sugar; beat until fluffy. Add vanilla, egg whites, and egg; beat well.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture and buttermilk to cream cheese mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Gently fold in raspberries and walnuts.

Place 24 foil cup liners in muffin cups. Spoon batter evenly into liners. Bake at 350° 25 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from pans; cool on a wire rack.

Cooking Light, JUNE 2003

And by the way - Check out Joelen's Blog and her Tasty Tools blogging events because this recipe has been entered into the Stand Mixer one!

Saturday Pancakes

Making pancakes is pretty fun on a Saturday morning. I'm used to Finnish pancakes, but I've just begun to like flipping them. I'm not so GREAT, but that's ok! They taste amazing!

Saturday Morning Pancakes
(Adjusted from the Bisquick Box)

2 cups Bisquick
1 1/2 cups Milk (I use buttermilk if I have it on hand)
2 Large eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground clove OR ground nutmeg (SECRET INGREDIENT)

Combine everything in a large bowl. Stir until combined well - you want lumps, but not big lumps, otherwise your pancakes will be a little gritty. A little smoother than cupcake batter.

Drop by the 1/4 cupfuls into a large greased HOT (heat up on medium-high, then drop the temp down to medium once you start dropping the batter into the pan) skillet or cast iron skillet. You can use pretty much any pan - just make sure it's been "Pammed" or thoroughly greased. Use bacon fat if you want to.


Now for the hard part - knowing when to flip. That's why my batter is a little more runny. When the edges begin to look dry (almost like they're done, but not really, they're still really white, see above), slip your spatula underneath and look how brown it is. I obviously like really dark pancakes. You can make them however dark you want to.

Slip the spatula all the way under, lift gently and flip, but not too fast otherwise the uncooked batter will spatter all over the pan.

And most people say making pancakes is easy.

Whatever. These are so good that you'll start eating them out of the pan and you won't even need syrup.

If you want to reheat - Freeze, then put on a cookie sheet into a preheated 375 degree oven for 5 - 10 minutes until warm & you can smell them.

PSH

Kitchen Gardens

Oh, how I wish I didn't live in an apartment.

As I read this article from The Simple Dollar, I realized that next year I'll be able to do this, woo hoo! Planning a kitchen garden is something that my family has done every year since I am able to remember.

Tomatoes, lettuce, squash, green peppers, potatoes, carrots, green onions, marigolds, cucumbers, zucchini - almost all vegetables I think I've helped plant and grow. My favorite is still the sweat peas, but of course the rabbits like those as much as I do!

Every day this week I've been making myself an omelet for lunch. Protein is what I've been craving lately - and calcium. Omelets are easy to make, and even more fun to eat when you have a variety of vegetables - from your own garden. My goal is to do this next year in our cute little bungalow and just have 3 - 4 large planters with everything we eat. We'll see if that happens!

McTatty's Lunch Omelets

2 - 3 eggs
1 tbsp milk
2 - 3 slices of deli turkey
1/4 cup mozzarella or Italian cheese blend
Salt & Pepper to taste
1/4 cup grape tomatoes, halved & kinda juiced (so that the omelet isn't too runny)

My usual array of toppings:
Mushrooms
Green onions
Turkey
Cheese
Chili powder & cumin

I like to pile everything up - I'm in love with omelets.

Creating the perfect omelet:
1. Beat the eggs with the milk.
2. Spray a 7 - 8 inch skillet with Pam and heat over medium - low. Toss in the turkey.
3. Wait until turkey is sizzling, then pour in the egg mixture. Add the salt & pepper. And wait. like 30 - 45 seconds.
4. Pull up a little piece of one side, let runny egg go under the cooked part - keep doing this all around the pan, the egg will cook evenly.
5. Add the toppings to one side, fold the omelet over the otherside and let cook for another 35 - 45 seconds.

C'etait parfait! Voila!

PSH

More Tangerines Than I Know What to Do With

Jeez, you'd think that I'd learn from the first time - husband does NOT eat all the fruit you buy, especially if it's in bulk. Doh!

So I have lots of tangerines and bananas and the hubby is out of town. What the heck am I going to do? Make 10 cakes? Uh, no... I don't think so. I do not own a bundt cake pan.

I will be bringing these to work tomorrow:

Tangerine-Cream Cheese Pastries -

3 tangerines
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
3/4 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
3 tablespoons powdered sugar
2 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
2 (12-ounce) cans refrigerated biscuits

Grate 1 tablespoon rind from tangerines; set rind aside. Squeeze 1/4 cup juice from tangerines. Combine juice, brown sugar, whipping cream, and 1/2 cup butter in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil 3 minutes. Remove from heat, and let cool slightly. Pour mixture into a greased 13" x 9" x 2" baking dish; set aside.

Combine reserved rind, cream cheese, powdered sugar, and 2 tablespoons butter in a small mixing bowl. Beat at medium speed of an electric mixer just until blended.

Separate biscuit dough into 20 pieces. Quickly roll each biscuit on a lightly floured surface to a 4" circle. Spread 1 tablespoon cream cheese mixture onto center of each biscuit circle. Roll up, jellyroll fashion. Place biscuits over brown sugar mixture in dish, seam side down, in 2 long rows.

Bake, uncovered, at 350° on lowest rack in oven for 32 minutes or until browned. Let cool in dish 5 minutes. Carefully turn pastries out onto a large serving platter.



Maybe an orange cheesecake??? Ugh, who knows... please suggest to me what to make! I'm desperate to not waste!

PSH