Blueberry Muffins

If you've been following the weather in Florida for the past month, you'll know that we've had a lot of rain - in Biblical proportions. That being said, we've spent a lot of time stuck in the house. And, weekend after weekend, it's hard to keep a very rambunctious three-year old entertained. 

We've taken to cooking together to pass some time. I don't do much baking (much to Scott's dismay), but we did make these muffins....and you should, too! This recipe is a master muffin recipe. You can add any flavors you want. We chose classic blueberry with fresh, juicy blueberries! When you fill up the muffin tin to the top, they bake off to have that perfect coffee house, muffin spill-over.

We made one batch for ourselves and one batch for all the teachers at the kids' school. They were a big hit - at home and at school!! Pete's teacher said, "Those aren't the Martha White muffin mix crap with freeze-dried blueberries that I make. Those are homemade - with real blueberries!"

Blueberry Muffins
from Three Many Cooks


Makes 1 dozen large, 18 medium, and 4 dozen mini muffins as well as 4 mini quick-bread loaves



3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter, softened
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups applesauce
1 pint blueberries



1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees (or 450 degrees for mini muffins).
2. Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. 
3. Beat in eggs. 
4. Alternating 1/3 at a time, beat in the dry ingredients and applesauce until a smooth, thick batter just forms. 
5. Spray a 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray. Divide batter evenly among the cups with a 1/2-cup measure (fill it up to the top!). 
6. Bake muffins 25 minutes (18 min for a convection oven) or until golden brown, . 
7. Set pan on a wire rack to cool slightly, remove muffins and continue to cool or serve.

Week 126 Menu

Sunday: Organic rib eye steaks and roasted mushrooms
Monday: Stuffed shells
Tuesday: Meatball subs on homemade hoagie rolls
Wednesday: Dinner at church
Thursday: Stuffed peppers in the slow cooker (stuffing = quinoa, cilantro, sweet potato, carrot)
Friday: Leftovers
Saturday: Out.

Baked Oatmeal Bars

I was on Pinterest wasting time browsing when I came across these baked oatmeal bars. I'm always up for a quick, on-the-go, healthy, filling breakfast item/treat. The blog I pulled the recipe from said these were less like granola bars than they were like oatmeal cookies. AND, they don't have any dairy?! You have my attention!

They were really good! With only 1/4-cup of sugar, they're pretty low-calorie yet filling. I might try a little less milk next time as they were pretty moist. But, they do hold together pretty well after a day.

Oatmeal Breakfast Bars
from Livingwithout.com

Ingredients:

• 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons ground nutmeg

• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 cup almond milk

• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

• 1 egg, or 1 T ground flax mixed with 3 T boiling water (let sit for 5 minutes until thickened)

• 1/4 cup sugar

• 1 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1/2 cup craisins

Directions:



1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease an 8 x 8 baking pan.
2. Combine oats, cinnamon, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
3. Add milk substitute, egg, applesauce, sweetener, and vanilla.  Mix well.
4. Stir in dried fruit.
5. Put batter into pan and bake for 30 to 35 minutes. Allow bars to cool completely, then cut into bars.

Week 125 Menu

Sunday: Father's Day BBQ at a friend's house; I'm bringing crescent rolls and SweeTart Quinoa Salad
Monday: Strawberry Orange Ginger Kale Salad with chicken
Tuesday: BBQ Cranberry Chickpea Wraps
Wednesday: Dinner at church
Thursday: Butternut and Sweet Potato Soup (with CSA veggies!) and homemade rustic bread
Friday: Burgers on the grill with homemade hamburger buns - the family needed a meat entree after a veggie-heavy week! :)
Saturday: Out.

Butterhorns

What's the best part of dinner? Usually the dinner rolls. Seriously!...Hear me out! There's always a big bowl of them and you always end up grabbing another one absentmindedly. You too? Or am I alone here? In my attempt to decrease the amount of processed food our family consumes, I have stopped buying pre-made rolls in the refrigerated section. It's not an easy thing because I LOVE to pop open those little tubes of dough!

But, I'll tell you what's an easy thing: these rolls. Like all yeast breads, there's only a little active prep time and a lot of rising time. So, you will definitely need to plan ahead if you want to make them for dinner. But, your reward will be great!

I made the full recipe. But, before the second rise (after the rolls are formed), I popped 16 of them into the freezer to enjoy later. I made my usual substitutes: whole wheat flour in for half the amount of flour called, almond milk in for cow's milk and vegan butter.

Butterhorns
from This Week for Dinner

1 Tablespoon active dry yeast
1/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup sugar
3 eggs
3/4 teaspoon salt
4-4 1/2 cup flour (up to half substituted with wheat flour)


1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Dissolve yeast in 1/4 cup hot tap water and let stand for 10 minutes.

3. Mix all the ingredients except the flour. Slowly mix in the flour. 
4. Knead dough for about 5 minutes (either on counter or in mixer). 
5. Let rise to double in size in a bowl covered with a clean towel (about an hour or so).

6. Punch dough down. Divide into two. Roll each piece of dough into a large, thin circle (1/8″ – 1/4″). Cut the dough like pizza into 16 pieces (you will end up with 32 rolls total). 
7. Roll each piece from the large end of the triangle and place on an ungreased cookie sheet or a silpat-lined cookie sheet with the tip tucked down and under the roll. 
8. Let rise again until about double in size.

9. Bake for 12 minutes or until browned on top and bottom (6-8 min in a convection oven).

Week 124 Menu

Sunday: Eli's Asian Salmon and sautéed kale (with ginger and garlic)
Monday:  Meatballs and pasta
Tuesday: Individual pizzas with tons of pepperoni and black olives for everyone!
Wednesday: Dinner at church.
Thursday: French Onion Soup (Smitten Kitchen)
Friday: Bistro Chicken (TWFD)....gotta see what all the fuss is about! :)
Saturday: Out.

Week 123 Menu

Sunday: Birthday dinner for Grandpa - steaks and corn on the grill, sweet potato fries, homemade birthday cake
Monday - Tuesday: Grandpa and Grandma still here....plans are still up in the air!
Wednesday: Dinner at church
Thursday: Stuffed shells and roasted carrot and zucchini sticks
Friday: Shredded chicken tacos with blackened corn kernels/potato
Saturday: Out for dinner.