Another Carrot Muffin

Just when I didn't think I could find another carrot muffin recipe that I liked, I found this one.

These are sans glaze because I forgot to pick up cream cheese at the store. YET AGAIN. I'm quite displeased with myself.


Muffins

1 1/2 c whole wheat flour (or just regular ol' flour if that's what you have around)
3/4 c sugar
1/2 tea salt
2 tea baking powder
1 tea ground cinnamon
1/4 tea ground ginger
1/4 tea ground cloves
1/4 tea nutmeg
1/3 c oil (I used coconut- naturally) 
1 egg
1/3 c milk
1 tea vanilla extract
1/2 c sour cream or greek yogurt
1 1/2 c shredded carrots

Note on the carrots: I usually buy a big bag of whole carrots for other purposes and make muffins with the leftovers, so I send them through a food processor- the consistency can vary with this method, but done really fine the kids don't even notice the carrots!)

Glaze
4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
2 tbl butter, room temperature
2 tbl brown sugar
2 tbl maple syrup
1/2 tea vanilla extract

In a large bowl whisk together flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, & spices. In a separate bowl whisk together oil, egg, milk, vanilla, and sour cream. Stir into flour mixture just until evenly combined. Fold in shredded carrots. Spoon evenly into  muffin cups. Bake at 400 for 20 mins. Allow to cool 5 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

For the glaze: beat together cream cheese, butter, and brown sugar with a wooden spoon or beaters, until smooth. Beat in maple syrup and vanilla until well blended. Once muffins have cooled, dip the tops in the glaze, or spoon the glaze over. Store, covered in the fridge. To freeze: place on a baking sheet in the freezer until frozen, wrap individually in plastic wrap before placing in a large sealable plastic bag to store.

Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies

Since dialing back the dairy for Little Man's eczema, I've been reticent to cook. Using milk and butter- it's a staple! But this cookie recipe uses a load of coconut oil instead of all that or yogurt. There is a tad bit of milk, but I'm looking the other way on that one.

After taking them out of the oven, I gleefully downed more than I am admit to. They are DELICIOUS, guys. And since I was making it on the fly, I was none too interested in proper measuring, so my recipe is a bit different, indeed I didn't have any fancy chocolate, just a mostly eaten bag of regular semi-sweet chocolate chips.

1 1/4 c. flour
1 1/4 c. oats (original recipe calls for quick oats, and I'm pretty sure that's not what I have)
1 tea. baking soda
1/4 tea. salt

3/4 c. melted coconut oil
3/4 c. brown sugar
1 egg
1-2 tea. vanilla extract (I like my cookies on the less vanilla-d side)
2 tea. milk
1 c. shredded coconut (sweetened is fine- and all I had)
Some chocolate chips- however much you want to use. I probably had 1/2 cup left

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix the flour, oats, baking soda, and salt in an extra bowl. Then set aside.

In a larger bowl blend the coconut oil and brown sugar. Beat in the egg, then vanilla, lastly milk. Slowly mix in the dry ingredients and add in the shredded coconut, then the chocolate. Spoon onto an ungreased sheet, bake for 9-11 minutes. Don't over do it, they should be chewy!

Then enjoy. Your entire house will be filled with the smell of coconut for hours, so enjoy that as well.

Hawaiian Meatballs & Rice

This was a great, semi easy dinner. It made a ton of meatballs, so maybe next time I'll half the recipe, or freeze the remainder. The kids balked at the thought of pineapple (something they are convinced they are allergic to) and did not eat a bite. I ate ALL THE BITES.



1 can (8 oz.) crushed pineapple in juice
l lb. ground beef
1 c. bbq sauce
2 1/4 c. instant brown rice (I'm going to experiment with half cooked whole rice)
1/4 tea. salt
1/4 tea. pepper
3/4 c. chopped bell pepper (frozen if you can find it- I had to use fresh)

Stir together half the pineapple and 3/4 c. bbq sauce and set aside. Mix remaining pineapple,1/4 c. bbq sauce, and 1/4 c. rice with the beef and season with the salt & pepper. Mash it together until well mixed and shape into meatballs. Place in a large skillet and spoon sauce over meatballs cover and heat to boiling. Reduce heat to simmer and cook for 15 minutes. Don't roll the balls too much, maybe just once or twice, being careful so they don't crumble apart. It only happened to a couple of them.

Meanwhile prepare remaining 2 c. rice according to package directions, omitting the butter and seasonings, adding the bell peppers.

Pepper Feta Salad

I am not a fan of feta. But let me tell you, if I could ask this salad to be my valentine, I totally would. I got the recipe from my Mom who found it somewhere. (I'll try and find the credits) I could eat it for breakfast, it's a serious temptation as the salad is really the best after marinating overnight. So I make it before bed and have dreams of the crunchy zesty deliciousness all night. It's also easily adaptable.

A major revelation has been finding the Olive Garden salad dressing at our Sam's Club. I love the OG dressing, no matter what you foodies may say, it's the best. I'm sure any dressing would do.

2-3 bell peppers of various colors (red, orange, yellow, etc)

1 cucumber

1 bunch of green onions

3 Roma tomatoes, seeded

6 oz (or less- heh) crumbled feta

Italian dressing

Chop the veggies, tomatoes, and slice the green onions. Drop them into a sealable bowl with the feta and refrigerate overnight. Serve with drizzles of italian dressing. 

One Pot Enchilada Pasta

This was my favorite dish from The Week of Trying One Pot Meals. I could have eaten the entire pot. By myself. Enjoy!

2 tbl. olive oil

2 cloves minced garlic

1/2 small onion, diced

1 1/4 lb ground beef

1 taco seasoning packet

2 c chicken broth

1 19 oz. can red enchilada sauce

2 1/2 c dry rotini pasta

2 c shredded cheese

green onions, diced

sliced black olives

In a deep skillet or a pasta pot, warm olive oil and saute the onion & garlic. Add in the beef and cook until brown. Drain, then stir in the taco seasoning. Add pasta, broth, and enchilada sauce into the pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer with the lid on for 15 minutes. Remove lid and let cook for about 5 more minutes. Take off the heat and stir in 1 c cheese. Add the rest of the cheese to the top and cover to melt. Garnish with green onions & olives. 

One Pot Cheesy Sausage Pasta

I'll be posting a few one pot recipes that we tried last week. Both were big hits. This was my husband's favorite, probably due to Husband's love of sausage. The leftovers are so much better, as the best recipes usually are. I should mention that I used turkey sausage and Husband did not even realize it. So sneaky bonus points for that.

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1 tbl olive oil
1 lb Smoked Turkey Sausage, sliced
1 c diced onion
1 tbl minced garlic (about two fresh cloves)
2 c chicken broth
1 (10 oz) can diced tomatoes
1/2 c milk or heavy cream (I used whole milk)
8 oz dry pasta (any small pasta will do)
1/2 tea salt and pepper, each
1 c shredded cheese
1/3 cup chopped green onions, for garnish

Heat up the olive oil in a pot, toss in sausage and onions, cook to light brown. Add the garlic for about 30 seconds until aromatic. Add the broth, tomatoes, milk, pasta & salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to simmer for about 15 minutes, until pasta is tender. 

Turn off the heat and stir in half the cheese until combined. Sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top and cover to melt. Top with green onions & Serve. Come to think of it, this would be awesome with some sliced black olives. Black olives for everything! 

Cranberry Orange Bran Muffins

I don't think I can overstate just how many of these muffins I consumed upon plucking them out of the oven. They are delicious (and while wheat bran may have little nutritional value at all, who's to say) and healthy.

I nervously make a bunch of tweaks to this recipe. I wasn't PLANNING on making a bran muffin. I just ran out of flour and had to substitute. I also doubled the recipe. BECAUSE WHO WANTS ONLY 8 MUFFINS?! Crazy people who don't know to freeze their sweet delicious muffins. This was also my first introduction to Craisins. Holy wow, how did I miss this?! They're amazing. I'll probably scarf them all by the end of the day. ALL THE CRANBERRIES FOR ME.

To the recipe!

1 c. flour
1 c. wheat bran
3 tbl. flaxseed meal (or a couple extra tbl of either flour or bran
1/4 c. sugar
2 1/2 tea baking powder
1/2 tea baking soda
1/4 tea salt
zest of a couple oranges (mine were small, but more is always better, right?
2 eggs
1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. orange juice*
4 tbl. melted butter
2/3 c. dried (probably sweetened) cranberries

Mix the dry ingredients (not the cranberries, though) in a bowl. Add the orange zest. In a separate bowl, add the eggs, milk, orange juice, & butter. Stir in the flour mixture, and spin with a mixer a bit. Fold in the cranberries and fill into muffin tins.

Bake at 425 for about 20 mins.

 *I squeezed as much as I could out of the oranges I'd zested (?) and added regular bottled orange juice to make up the difference