Morning Glory Muffins

The recipe is pretty forgiving. I have modified it a lot from the original (The Culinary Institute of America Breakfast and Brunches) by adding in more fruit and veg and whole wheat and decreasing the sugar.Feel free to tweak it to what you like (nuts are good in this too.)

As long as you have a muffin-like batter you will be just fine. 

-makes 12 deliciously healthy breakfast muffins-

Heat oven to 375 and fill muffin tin with paper cups.

Flour mix: whisk  together in a large bowl

2/3 c wheat flour

2/3 c white flour

1/3 c oats

2 T wheat germ

3/4 t baking soda

1 t cinnamon

1/2 t salt

Fruit mix: stir together, medium bowl

1 cup (loose) grated carrot (about 2 med/large carrots)

1 apple, peeled and grated

1/3 c packed shredded coconut

1/2 c dark raisins

2/3 c crushed pineapple (drain some of the juice out first)

Add "fruit mix" to the 'flour mix" and stir until there is no loose flour. It should form at thick, chunky batter. 

Liquid mix: whisk together in measuring cup

1/2 c vegetable oil

2 eggs 

1/2 t vanilla extract

1 T honey

Pour "liquid mix" over the batter and stir well to combine. 

Plop batter into muffin tins- each cup will be full, its okay, it doesn't rise too much.

For added cuteness and crunch, top each muffin with a sprinkle of oats.

Bake for 25 minutes on the top rack.

Vegetable Pasta Bake

I have been trying to plan out a big meal at the start of the week to make lunches easier and prepare for those evenings that get to hectic to cook. This vegetable pasta bake has been my go-to dish for the past few weeks as there are so many ways to mix and match sauces and vegetables. This week I kept it simple with green beans and a creamy red sauce.

Creamy Tomato Sauce:

• Butter (2 T)
• Flour (2 T)
• Milk (1 1/2 cups)
• Tomato sauce (14 oz can)
• Diced tomatoes (14 oz can, mostly drained)
• Basil (2 T)
• Oregano (1 T)
• Garlic powder (2 t)
• onion powder (2 t)
• red pepper flakes (dash)
• salt (1/2- 1 t)
• pepper (to taste)

Pasta:

• Whole wheat penne pasta (1 box)
• Green beans (2 handfuls with ends picked and broken into pasta sized pieces)
• Cheese (1 cup, I had ricotta on hand, but mozzarella or Parmesan would be great too)

Tools:

• large pot/wok for sauce
• large pot for cooking pasta
• whisk/fork
• wooden spoon
• 9x13 baking dish
• Colander

Directions:
Fill a large pot with water to boil your pasta, season the water with 1 t salt. Once your pasta water is boiling, toss the pasta in and cook according to the directions. 2 minutes before the pasta is done, add the green beans to the boiling water to get them cooked a bit too. Once your pasta is ready, strain the pasta and beans in a colander.

The base of the sauce is a roux. Which is a fancy term for a butter and flour paste. Put the butter in the pan and wait for it to melt, add in the flour one tablespoon at a time whisking it together to remove all lumps. Slowly pour in the milk, whisking to keep out the clumps. Have the heat at med to med-high and keep stirring the mixture as you add all of the seasonings. Once the sauce thickens, pour in the can of sauce and tomatoes and stir to combine. Keep warm while pasta finishes cooking.

Dump the cooked pasta and beans into the sauce and stir it all up. Dump everything into a 9x13 glass dish and top with some cheese if you like. Cook at 350 for about 30 minutes.

summer panzanella

Ingredients:

• artichoke hearts (1 can, quartered)
• black olives (1 can)
• tomatoes (several large ones, cut into large chunks)
• red onion (1/4 of an onion, chopped)
• mozzarella cheese (8 oz cubed)
• crusty bread (1/2 large loaf, chopped)
• basil (10 or so leaved, cut into ribbons)

Dressing:

• dijon mustard (2 T)
• balsamic vinegar (2 T)
• olive oil (3 T)
• salt and pepper

Get out a large bowl. Measure out and whisk up the dressing, adding salt and pepper to taste- a few pinches of coarse salt and 3 twists of the pepper grinder should do the trick. Chop up all of the other ingredients and add everything but the bread (and a few spare bits of basil) to the bowl with the dressing, mix it together and pop it in the fridge. Let it marinate for a bit while you clean up (or for hours, what ever you have time for). When you are ready to eat, add in the bread, mix it all together and serve it up! Top each dish with a sprinkle of basil and an extra dash of salt and grind of fresh black pepper.

Time: 20 minutes
Serves: 4 light meals
Season: Summer