Strawberry muffins

I found a recipe for strawberry muffins on the inside of a Stonyfield Farms yogurt container. They looked reasonably healthy and we had all of the ingredients on hand, so Gabby and I tried them out. What I liked about the recipe was that it contained whole wheat flour, not too much sugar, plain yogurt in place of the oil, but still some butter for flavor. I really liked the texture that resulted from the yogurt...the muffins were moist, but not greasy. I thought the flavor was ok but a little flat, and I also wanted to reduce the amount of white flour in the muffins. I tweaked the recipe and made them again with my adjustments, and I thought they turned out fantastic.

Now, if you are used to the storebought muffins that are practically cupcakes, these might be a bit too fibrous for your liking. But if you like a whole-grainy, less sweet muffin that is nutritious enough for breakfast and not just snacks, you will love it! Not to mention, the recipe is simple enough to throw together that it makes for a fun afternoon with a toddler who is always asking, "MOM! Can I halp yooooooooo? I wan halp!" while leaning with all their weight on the Kitchen Tower that is parked right outside the kitchen.

Here is my adjusted (perfected) recipe:

1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup oat bran
3 tablespoons milled flax seed
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 eggs
1 cup plain yogurt (I used Stonyfield Farms lowfat...which is where I got the recipe)
1/4 cup melted butter (1/2 a stick)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 and 1/2 cups chopped strawberries (blueberries are good too!)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line muffin pan with papers or use cooking spray. Combine the first 10 ingredients in a large bowl. In another bowl, mix eggs, yogurt, butter, and vanilla. Toss the fruit into the dry mix, then pour the yogurt mixture in and stir just until combined. Spoon into muffin pan and bake for 20-25 minutes or until tops are golden brown. Yields 12 muffins.


The changes I made:

The original recipe called for 1 cup of whole wheat flour and 1 cup of white flour. Instead of using the full cup of white, I used a half cup, plus a third cup of oat bran and 3 tablespoons of flaxseed. I use that ratio a lot...if something calls for 2 cups of flour, I use 1 cup of whole wheat, and the other cup is the white/oat bran/flax combo.

The original recipe did not contain salt, cinnamon, or nutmeg...those were all my additions because I thought the muffins lacked flavor. The cinnamon and nutmeg turned out to be just enough to give them some taste, but not so much to give them a "spiced" flavor. If I ever decide to sub apples or shredded carrot/zucchini for the fruit, I would up it to 2 tsp cinnamon and 1 tsp nutmeg, since I think those things would be good in a spicier muffin. Maybe throw a half teaspoon of ground cloves or allspice as well.

The original recipe contained 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of baking soda but no powder. And the muffins turned out a little on the flat side. I looked at some other tried and true muffin recipes I had, and most contained baking powder. So the second time I used a teaspoon of each and liked the results.

The original recipe just called for a cup of fruit, and I used a cup and a half. Just because I like a lot of "stuff" in my muffins.

Try 'em out, see what you think!

Taco Soup

This recipe is:

-Super easy
-GF
-Nut free
-Freezable
-Can be made in the crockpot to simmer all day
-Can be made on the stovetop and is ready as soon as it's hot
-Inexpensive
-Nutritious
-Makes a lot (6-8 servings)
-Good for giving to a family
-Ingredients can be added/substituted
-Tastes good!

You can make this and take this to a friend as a hot meal or as a freezer meal. If you are making it to be ready to eat, a great vessel for traveling is a large mason jar. The lid is tight so it won't spill and there should be enough soup for a family of four. You'll even have some left for your own family. It has enough veggies that you don't need to bring an additional salad, but you can take some tortilla chips or cornbread, some shredded cheddar cheese and/or sour cream.

To make as a freezer meal for your family or someone else, just brown the meat and add the other ingredients. Transfer to ziplock quart size freezer bags. Lay bags flat on a cookie sheet and place in freezer till frozen. Once frozen, put it together with a package of shredded cheese in a gallon size bag. Label with the contents and date. Then you or someone you love will have a hearty meal ready and waiting for a busy day.

*One more tip: When you chop onions for any recipe, chop the entire onion and save the extra in a ziplock bag and freeze. Then you have saved a little produce and some tears the next time you make a recipe needing chopped onions. Even if I only have a little extra, I just add it to a bag I already have in the freezer.

TACO SOUP

16 oz. can chili beans
16 oz. kidney beans
16 oz. can black beans
8 oz. can tomato sauce
15 oz. can diced stewed tomatoes
16 oz. can whole corn
16 oz. creamed corn
pkg. taco seasoning
1 Tbsp. chili powder
1 lb. ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 sm. can chopped green chilies

Open but do not drain any of the liquid in the cans.
Brown the ground beef in a pan with chopped onion. Drain and return to pot.
Add all remaining ingredients to a crock pot or dutch oven.
Simmer.
Serve with shredded cheese, sour cream, tortilla chips.

Cuban Bean Soup

This recipe is one of my favorites. It takes a lot of time to make just because of the bean-soaking and the simmering, but it's not too terribly labor intensive. It makes a huge pot and I usually freeze some of it for later.

Although it's called "soup", it's a lot thicker than that, and I always make a ton of rice to eat it with. We usually call it beans and rice, because it's not really very soupy at all. Just tasty.

Ingredients:
1 pound white beans (I've used pinto too and that's fine)
2 cubes each beef and chicken bouillon
4 slices bacon
1/2 slice ham steak, cubed
2 small green peppers (I usually use one)
4 garlic cloves
1 large onion
1 can tomato sauce
4-6 packets Goya Culantro y Achiote spice (this stuff is in an orange box in the Mexican food aisle. I used to have to go to a mexican market to get it but it's gotten pretty mainstream. It's BRIGHT orange spice.)
1 tsp cumin
1/4 cup cooking wine
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp vinegar

Soak beans overnight and rinse. Then cook with two quarts of water and the bouillon cubes. Bring to boiling, lower heat, and simmer till beans are done. (It usually takes at least two hours.)

Make Sofrito:
Slice and dice ham and bacon. Saute with diced peppers, onion, and garlic. Fry till soft. Add tomato sauce and Goya spice, salt, pepper, cumin, and wine. Simmer uncovered 15 minutes and then add to beans.

Cook, covered, for at least 90 minutes. Before serving, add oil and vinegar. Serve with lots of rice.

Good for most allergies- dairy free, nut free, gluten free as long as you are careful what brand of bouillon you use. It's really flavorful but not spicy- my kids will eat it. Good stuff all around.

Poppyseed Chicken Casserole

I got this recipe from my college roommate, Amy. I added a few things, partially because I can never just leave well enough alone when it comes to a recipe, and partially because I had a few things I needed to use up.

The recipe can go in a 9x13 baking dish, but like I usually do, I split it into two 8x8 dishes...one that I baked last night, and one that I froze for later. Since Gabby only eats about a quarter cup, the three of us can eat an 8x8 for two nights.

• 4 cups cooked, cubed chicken (I just used 4 chicken breasts and didn't measure...I boiled them with salt, pepper, and some crushed garlic cloves)
• 1 can of cream of chicken soup (reduced fat works fine)
• 1 16-oz container of sour cream (reduced fat works fine)
• 1 tub of mushrooms, diced (my addition)
• 1 small onion, diced (my addition)
• 1 can of water chestnuts, diced (my addition)
• 3/4 cup of toasted slivered almonds (Amy's recipe calls for 1/2 cup but as a rule I almost ALWAYS add extra nuts to any recipe)
• 1 tablespoon poppyseeds
• 1 sleeve of crushed Ritz crackers (reduced fat works fine)
• 1/4 cup melted butter, OR a few tablespoons of olive oil (optional)

Saute onions and mushrooms in a little olive oil until onions are translucent. Season with salt and pepper. Drain any liquid released from the mushrooms. In a large bowl, mix the soup and sour cream together, and then mix in the chicken, mushrooms & onions, water chestnuts, almonds, and poppyseeds. Spread mixture into a baking dish/dishes lightly coated with cooking spray. Mix cracker crumbs with butter or olive oil and spread over chicken. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30-40 minutes, or until bubbly.

We ate it served over brown rice cooked in chicken broth, with steamed broccoli on the side. All three of us liked it...even David, who is normally not a fan of creamy-based casseroles.

Shepherd's Pie

Aaaaccckkk! I haven't posted a recipe in AGES. Sorry folks! If you already read my main blog, you have seen this one...I'm just copying it over to temporarily assuage my guilt for being a slacker over here. But it's a good one! Plus with this cold weather we are having here this weekend, it seems fitting.

Shepherd's pie isn't difficult, but definitely involved enough that I want to get several meals out of it. This will make one full 9x13 or two 8x8 dishes...so it will serve at least 8. I make it in two small pans, one of which will feed our little trio for two nights. The other goes into the freezer for later.

I consider this to be "my" recipe. I combined bits from Michael Chiarello, Nigella Lawson, and Rachael Ray, and made even more changes after that to fit our tastes.

3 lbs potatoes (your favorite for mashing...I like Yukon Gold)
3 tablespoons cream cheese
3/4 cup plain yogurt
2 lbs ground meat (I prefer half lamb/half beef, but you can use all beef if you are weird about lamb. I am normally weird about lamb but I can do it in this dish if it is mixed with beef).
1 chopped onion
3-4 chopped and peeled carrots
1 tub mushrooms, chopped
2 cups frozen peas
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
1 can beef broth
1/2 cup red wine
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/4 teaspoon ground thyme
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
dash of nutmeg
beef boullion cube
1 tablespoon worcestershire

Mashed Potatoes: If you have a favorite mashed potato recipe, you can just use that. Or, you can make these. Just DON'T use instant or you'll destroy the whole dish. Peel and cube the potatoes. Boil in heavily salted water (use a handful of salt) for about 12 minutes or until cooked. Drain water and return to pot. Mash with yogurt and cream cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste.

While potatoes are cooking, make the filling: Brown the beef/lamb in a little olive oil over medium high heat. Season with 2 teaspoons salt and plenty of pepper. After cooking for about 4 minutes, add the onion, carrot, and mushrooms. Season again with salt and pepper. Drain meat if needed. While meat and veggies cook...

Prepare gravy: Heat butter and flour in a medium saucepan and cook for 2 or 3 minutes. Whisk in broth, wine, boullion, worcestershire, and all the herbs and spices. Cook a few minutes, until thickened. Add gravy to meat mixture and stir in the peas.

Divide filling into two 8x8 baking dishes, or one 9x13. Spoon potatoes over filling and spread evenly. Take a fork and rake across the potatoes in long straight lines. It looks a little messy, but this creates lots of little grooves that will get brown and toasty. Besides, it is supposed to be a rustic dish! Dot the top with bits of butter, about 1 to 2 tablespoons on each dish (if using two).

If freezing one dish, stop here. Freeze for up to 2 or 3 months, defrost in the refrigerator for 2 days prior to eating, and bake like normal. You will never know it wasn't made fresh. When ready to bake, bake at 400 degrees for about 3o minutes...until heated through and the top is golden brown.

Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas

I love these because they're so easily adaptable. I made them Thanksgiving weekend when we were all tired of the standard holiday dinner leftovers, and we had a whole bunch of my husband's family over. I made three pans of them ahead of time and tweaked each one to be a little different in spiciness and added stuff. Everybody liked them and kept commenting on how they couldn't believe they were gluten free. People tend to think that every single thing that is gluten free is going to be foreign and weird. Not so. Eating at home is pretty easy and tasty most of the time.

I started with this recipe from Allrecipes, but it doesn't end up being exactly like that in my kitchen, so here's what I do.

The basic filling:

• 2 cups cubed, cooked chicken meat
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
• 3/4 cup sour cream

If the kids are going to eat it, sometimes I stop with this. Usually I add more though, since that filling doesn't resemble actual Mexican food at all. It's good with some taco seasoning or cumin added in, or some Rotel, or my favorite, Homemade Gourmet Taco Soup mix. I've also added tomatoes, green chilies, extra cheese, whatever my little heart fancies. That's the beauty of an enchilada. No two are the same and they're really hard to mess up.

If you want them to be gluten free, use corn tortillas. I think the white corn ones taste better. If not, feel free to use flour if you like those best, although I'm told that enchilada purists demand corn, because it's a burrito if you use flour? I'm unclear on that. Anyway, get some tortillas and wrap those puppies up. The recipe calls for 8, but I almost always get at least 10 out of one batch of filling.

Sauce:

• 3 cups shredded cheese
• 1/4 cup sour cream

That's all it called for, and I have trouble obtaining my desired consistency, so I usually end up adding some chicken broth or more sour cream or half and half or whatever I have in the fridge.

Pour that over, and then add fun toppings. Tomatoes and sliced black olives are my favorite, but you can get creative and put whatever. Jalapenos, for those of you with spicier, non-wurss palates than mine? Sky's the limit there.

Bake for about 20 minutes at 350 and devour.

These are good to make ahead and refrigerate or freeze for later too.

Mint Chocolate Chip Muffins

Before I went dairy free I LOVED mint chocolate chip ice cream. I have yet to find it in the dairy free variety. Leaving the ice cream part aside even most chocolate is made with milk fat so it a challenge to find anything I can just buy and eat that satisfies my mint/chocolate craving. So I got a little creative. I once saw a recipe in a Better Homes and Gardens magazine that called for chai tea bags. You rip open the bag and use the tea in the cookies! Thus was born the idea for my Mint Chocolate Chip Muffins!



I start with a box of gluten free muffin mix. I pretty much follow the directions on the box. Two eggs, 6 tablespoons oil (butter) and a cup of rice milk (milk). Here comes the brilliant part! Instead of vanilla I add mint extract, 2 bags of herbal peppermint tea and 5-10 drops of green food coloring depending on how green you want them to be. Throw in some chocolate chips and you have the perfect gluten free, dairy free Mint Chocolate Chip Muffins!

The ingredients:

muffin mix

2 eggs

6 Tbs oil

1 cup rice milk

1/2 tsp mint extract

2 peppermint tea bags

green food coloring

Chocolate chips (I use the Enjoy Life that are dairy free, gluten free, soy free, and nut free)

I was going to take pictures of the batter because it looks and smells JUST like melted mint chocolate chip ice cream but my camera battery died. :( I pulled some out of my remote control while the muffins were baking.

The finished product:

They also freeze really well if you need a quick snack, breakfast or dessert.

Award winning chili

I didn't win the award, but my little sister Teri won an informal chili-cookoff at a friend's house with this recipe. It's a quick and easy recipe, yet tastes better than any mix or chili starter I have tried.

It is the best kind of recipe...easy to make, easy to double, and extra can be frozen for future weeknight meals. I always make a double batch and freeze half. When it is cold and wintery outside, it will be quite delightful to warm some up for a no-cook meal after work. I serve it with brown rice and a little bit of shredded cheese when I am trying to be respectable...fritos and a whole lotta cheese when I'm not.

1 pound ground beef
1 small onion, finely diced
1 green pepper, finely diced
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeno, minced (optional)
1 small can chopped green chiles
1 can chili beans (I use Bush's mild)
1 can petite diced tomatoes
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon cumin

Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in a dutch oven. Add onion and peppers, and season with salt and pepper. Cook for a few minutes, and add the ground beef and garlic. Season again with salt and pepper. Cook until the meat is no longer pink, breaking it up into small pieces as it cooks. Add the chili powder and cumin and stir it into the meat. Add green chiles, tomatoes, and beans. Stir, and simmer on low for at least 10 minutes...longer if you have time. I simmer mine uncovered because I like it thicker. Check for seasoning before serving, and simmer a few minutes longer if you end up adding more salt and pepper.

If you like it spicy, it is really good with a minced chipotle pepper and a little bit of the adobo sauce it comes packed in. But since Gabby eats it too, I leave out the chipotle and jalapeno (I still use the green chiles).