Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Muffins

Yes, they are as good as they sound and since it’s a muffin you don’t have to feel guilty about eating it like you might if it was a cookie.:)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
3/4 t. salt
1 1/2 t. ground cinnamon
1 cup rolled oats
2 eggs, at room temperature
3/4 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 t. vanilla
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin or line with paper cups.

Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Allow the butter to melt completely and then cook – the butter will foam and start to crackle. Continue cooking, keeping a close eye on the pan, until the crackling subsides and little brown bits appear in the bottom of the pan when you swirl it. Remove from heat as soon as the butter solids have browned and it smells rich and nutty. Pour butter, including the browned bits, into a heat-proof bowl and set aside to cool.

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Whisk together until well combined then stir in oats. In a separate bowl, whisk together browned butter, eggs, buttermilk, and brown sugar. Stir in vanilla extract.

Add the butter mixture all at once to the flour mixture and stir with a large spoon until just combined (make sure to scrape up all the flour from the bottom of the bowl). Fold in raisins and nuts.

Using a standard-sized cookie scoop or a large spoon, divide batter between the 12 muffin cups (the cups should be mostly full).

Bake at 375 degrees for 20 – 23 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a muffin comes out clean.

from Pinch My Salt

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Filed under After School Snacks, Bread, Desserts, Everybody Ate It, Vegetarian

Crock Pot Chicken with Black Beans and Cream Cheese

This is heavenly! Really, it has cream cheese so it has to be good. 🙂

Ingredients:
4-5 boneless, skinless FROZEN chicken breasts
15 1/2 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
15 oz. jar of your favorite salsa
8 oz package cream cheese

Instructions:
Place chicken in the crock pot.

Add black beans and salsa.

Cook on high for 4-5 hours until chicken is cooked through.

When crock pot is done, put cream cheese on top of everything and let sit for 1/2 half hour.

We had this with tortillas. I shredded the chicken after it was done cooking and we used the chicken mixture as the filling and just rolled it up. You could also serve this over rice.

Did I change anything? The original recipe called for a can of corn.

What did the family think? It was a huge hit. My kids love cream cheese, so I knew they would like it.

from food.com

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Filed under Chicken, Definitely Making it Again, Easy, Everybody Ate It, Mexican, Six Ingredients or Less, Super Easy to Make

Banana Peanut Butter and Honey Panini

Our oldest gets the Food Network magazine form the mail and I find it in his room; I haven’t even had a chance to look at it yet. After reading it cover to cover, this is what he asked me to make for him.

Ingredients:
2 slices cinnamon swirl bread
Peanut butter
Honey
1 Banana

Instructions:
Spread peanut butter on one slice of bread. Spread a thin layer of honey on the other slice of bread. Place banana slices on top of peanut butter. Put the piece of bread with honey on top of the bananas to make a sandwich. If you have a panini maker, use it. If not, heat a skillet over medium low heat and spray with cooking spray. Place sandwich in skillet and put a heavy skillet on top of it for a few minutes. Flip the sandwich over, place the skillet on top of it again and cook for a few minutes on that side.

What did the family think? Our oldest loved it. Our youngest liked it, but after tasting it, he had me take the bananas off. He’s not a big banana fan to begin with.

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Filed under After School Snacks, Easy, Sandwich, Six Ingredients or Less, Super Easy to Make, Vegetarian

Sugar Cookies

Since the boys’ nanny (grandma) is visiting us, we made Halloween cookies today after school. (I know it’s not Halloween, but she won’t be here at Halloween.) These cookies turned out GREAT and they are perfect for frosting, cutting into shapes and/or decorating.

Ingredients:
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla.

Gradually blend in the dry ingredients.

Roll rounded teaspoonfuls of dough into balls, and place onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden.

Let stand on cookie sheet two minutes before removing to cool on wire racks.

Did I change anything? Since we used cookie cutters, we rolled the dough out on a floured surface, and then used a rolling pin to flatten out the dough. The boys made pumpkins and witches. After they had cooled we frosted them and added sprinkles. Sugar OVERLOAD!

What did the family think? There isn’t anything NOT to like about these. I am not a huge sugar cookie fan and I think these are fantastic.

from allrecipes.com

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Filed under Desserts, Everybody Ate It

Mexican Rice

I love it when I realize that I need a side dish in the middle of making the main dish, scramble to figure out what that might be and then am able to throw something together out of what’s already in the pantry.

Ingredients:
1 T olive oil
1/2 cup onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup Minute Rice
7 oz salsa verde
8 oz tomato sauce

Instructions:
Heat medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add olive oil and onions. When onions begin to soften, add garlic. After a few minutes add rice, salsa verde and tomato sauce. Stir to combine, cover and simmer for about five minutes, you may want to add more rice to make the mixture thicker. Remove from heat and let sit for about five minutes.

What did the family think? I don’t think they boys ate it, but Sean and I both liked it. I was impressed that I had everything in the pantry to throw this together.

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Filed under Easy, Mexican, Side Dish, Six Ingredients or Less, Spicy, Super Easy to Make, Vegetarian

Spinach Tortilla Bake with Ricotta Cheese and Salsa Verde

We have been eating a lot of spinach around here. It’s in season right now so now’s the best time.

Ingredients:
2 T olive oil
4 chicken breasts (about 1 pound) OR 1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained
Salt and pepper
1 1/2 cups store-bought salsa verde
3/4 cup ricotta cheese
3 large flour tortillas
1/2 red onion, chopped
3 cups baby spinach
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

In a large skillet, heat 1 T olive oil over medium-high heat. Season the chicken with salt and pepper, add to the pan and cook, turning once, until cooked through, about 5 minutes. Let cool, then shred the meat and place in a bowl to the side.

In the same skillet, heat 1 T olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onion, cook for a few minutes and then add spinach until onions are soft and spinach is wilted.

In a small bowl, whisk together ricotta and salsa verde.

In a greased pie pan or 9-inch square baking dish, pour 1/3 of the salsa mixture in the bottom of the pie pan or baking dish. Next, place one tortilla on top. Next, 1/2 of the chicken, then half of the spinach mixture and then 1/2 the cheese. Repeat with salsa mixture, tortilla, chicken, spinach, cheese, tortilla. Top with remaining salsa mixture.

We had this with mexican rice and strawberries.

Did I change anything? The directions for this recipe were really confusing. I hope they are a little bit clearer now. Also, I cooked and shredded the chicken ahead of time for a quicker assembly and since the chicken had been sitting in the frig, I threw it in with the onion and spinach mixture to warm it up since it was already cooked.

What did the family think? Everyone really liked it. I think next time I make it I will switch out the chicken with some beans to make it vegetarian and maybe use pepper jack to give it some more spice. Also, I used a pizza cutter to cut this up…worked like a charm. 🙂

from Rachel Ray

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Filed under Chicken, Everybody Ate It, Mexican, Vegetarian

Veggie Burger

This whole recipe about fell apart when I couldn’t get my food processor to work. I had the wrong lid on it and it wouldn’t spin…go figure.

Ingredients:
14 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 T chili powder
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 egg
1 T olive oil

Instructions:
Place the beans, onion, oats, chili powder, salt, pepper and egg in a food processor. Pulse until chunky, not pureed. Let mixture sit in the frig for about ten minutes.

WITH WET HANDS, shape into patties; refrigerate for 15-20 minutes.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan. When hot, add the patties and cook until nicely browned on one side; turn carefully and cook another five minutes on the other side.

Serve on buns with lettuce, tomatoes, ketchup, mayo and mustard. Add some cheese, too, if you’d like veggie cheeseburgers.

What did the family think? Three out of four isn’t bad, right? Our oldest wasn’t really into these; he likes bison burgers and this was just not the same thing. Everyone else liked it though. If your family is used to eating “real” hamburgers, the condiments are a must for these, not because they are needed to cover up the taste, but just to make it seem more like a hamburger.

from Parents magazine

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Filed under Lent, Sandwich, Vegetarian

Honey Lemon Olive Oil Muffins with Lemon Glaze

From one of my favorite cooking websites, Pinch My Salt.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup honey (preferably local)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 tablespoons grated lemon zest (from about 2 lemons)
2 tablespoons fresh-squeezed lemon juice

Glaze:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons fresh-squeezed lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 12-cup muffin tin with non-stick baking spray or line with paper cups (spray the inside of the cups with baking spray to prevent muffins from sticking to the paper).

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until well combined. Set aside. In a separate medium bowl, combine honey, sugar, olive oil, buttermilk, eggs, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Whisk together until well combined.

Pour liquid ingredients into the flour mixture and stir with a wooden spoon just until all of the flour is incorporated. Don’t overmix. Divide batter between muffin cups using a large spoon or mechanical ice cream scoop – the cups should be mostly full.

Bake for 17 – 21 minutes or until the center of a muffin springs back lightly to the touch or a toothpick inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out clean. Check early and watch carefully, they will brown fast.

While muffins are baking, make glaze.

Let muffins cool in pan for 5 minutes then remove to a wire rack. Brush the tops of the muffins with glaze while they are still warm. Let cool completely.

from Pinch My Salt

What did the family think? Our oldest and I really like them. These seem to me to be the kind of muffins that are best with a cup of coffee or hot tea.

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Filed under After School Snacks, Bread, Breakfast, Vegetarian

Italian Chicken with Pasta

My house smelled SO good while this was cooking…

Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
3 tsp Italian seasoning
2 tsp garlic powder
7 oz. angel hair pasta
26 oz. jar spaghetti sauce

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Combine Parmesan, Italian seasoning and garlic powder in a small bowl and stir to combine.

Coat each chicken breast with Parmesan mixture. Place each chicken breast in casserole dish sprayed with cooking spray. Bake for 20 minutes or until cooked through.

While chicken is cooking, cook pasta according to package directions and heat up spaghetti sauce (or pasta sauce as we call it in our house).

Serve chicken over top of pasta and pour sauce over everything.

We had this with grapes and a salad.

Did I change anything? The recipe called for 3 T of Italian seasoning and 2 T of garlic powder…that seemed like A LOT to me. The original recipe also called for broiling the chicken.

What did the family think? They loved it!


from momswhothink.com

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Filed under Chicken, Easy, Everybody Ate It, Italian, Six Ingredients or Less, Super Easy to Make

Baked Mexi Chicken Wraps

These were made out of the need to get dinner on the table, but I didn’t want to go to the store in the pouring rain. The cupboard was bare since tomorrow is grocery store day and I happened to have everything I needed to make these. They turned out pretty tasty too. 🙂

Ingredients:
1 cup bottled salsa, divided
8 oz. sour cream
6 (10-inch) flour tortillas
1 1/2 cups chopped cooked chicken breast
2 T olive oil
1/2 cup onion, chopped
15 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
4 oz. can chopped green chilis
2 cups fresh spinach
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
1 clove garlic
Cooking spray
3/4 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Heat olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook until they begin to soften. Add black beans, green chilis, spinach, cumin, chili powder and garlic. Stir until heated through and spinach is wilted.

In a small bowl combine sour cream and 1/2 cup salsa.

Spread sour cream mixture down the center of each tortilla.

Spread chicken down the center of each tortilla and then continue with the black bean mixture.

Roll tortillas up and place seam-side down in a 11 x 7 inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.

Top with 1/2 cup salad and sprinkle with cheese.

Did I change anything? This was inspired by a recipe I found on-line, but I had to change a lot of things since I was working with only what I had on hand.

What did the family think? Sean and I loved these. They were a little on the spicy side, so the boys just picked through and ate the chicken and maybe a few beans.

inspired by a recipe from Cooking Light

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Filed under Chicken, Mexican, Spicy