Bran Muffins that don't taste healthy.

Maybe they're not.

I just like chocolate chips.

1 cup bran cereal.
1 cup milk.


Put those in the bowl first, and let them soak while getting out the rest of your ingredients.

1/2 cup molasses
3/4 cup applesauce
1 1/2 cups flour.
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 eggs
2 tbsp oil (I use canola)

1 cup Chocolate chips.


Bake at 400 degrees for 15-17 minutes.
Makes about 15 - 18 muffins.

* Last time I added

1/4 cup chopped walnuts (this can replace the chocolate chips)
1 over ripe banana (you can take out the oil)

 *This is highly recommended.

Cookies for Grandpa

I now live with my Grandpa, who loves cookies. This week, he was craving something with molasses. So, here we go. Snappy.

Molasses Cookies

1 cup packed brown sugar

3/4 cup shortening


Cream together in large bowl

1/4 cup molasses

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla extract


Mix together

Sift:

2 cups all purpose flower

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/2 tsp salt


stir in all dry ingredients.

Roll into 1 inch balls of dough, place on cookie sheet.

Bake @ 350 degrees, bake for 11 minutes.

The Granola Girl

I have never loved granola, but again, I have never made my own... until today.


4 cups of rolled oats (not instant, this newbie assumes)
1 cup of coconut flakes
1/2 cup almonds - sliced, chopped, whole - whatever you have
1/2 cup cashews
3 tbsp sesame seeds
1/4 cup unsalted sunflower seeds
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp salt
in smaller bowl, combine first:
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract

mix all ingredients together, spread out on baking sheet covered in aluminum foil.
Bake at 375, stirring every 8-10 minutes. Bake 25 minutes total.

once completely cooled, stir in
2 cups of dried fruit.
I used dried blueberries, cranberries, figs and mangoes.
use what you like.

I am now a granola girl.

Petite Lasagnas

Petite Lasagnas

Can you tell that I have a new cupcake pan I've been dying to use? Its silicone! Inspiring enough for even me, the silent sister in this blog duo, to write about it.

I made these lasagnas for Jake tonight. He really liked them. The great thing about these is that it only took me 15 minutes to throw together and can be doubled, tripled, halved, and changed like crazy.

I made six lasagnas using the following recipe:
1/4 cup ricotta
1 egg
1 clove garlic
2 tsp basil, divided
1/2 cup pasta sauce
1/2 lb ground turkey
1/2 white onion, chopped
Salt
Pepper
Shredded mozzarella cheese
12 small round won ton wrappers

In a pan cook the turkey, onion, 1 tsp. basil, salt, pepper, and clove of garlic.
In a bowl mix the ricotta, egg, remaining basil, salt and pepper.
Line cupcake pan with won ton wrappers. Fill with meat, a spoonful of pasta sauce, and a sprinkle of cheese. Top with another won ton wrapper. Spoon the ricotta mixture on top of the wrapper, top with another spoonful of pasta sauce and another sprinkle of cheese. Bake for 20 minutes.

We each ate two and were pretty full. Jake liked that he didn't have to get a sloppy slice out of a pan and I liked that the wrappers tasted just like noodles.

I see this recipe as more of a guideline than directions. It would be fun to fit in another layer, make my own tomato sauce, or try a different shape of wrappers. On an lazy day a canned meat sauce could be used instead of cooking the meat filling. I think I am going to try to adapt this to make a veggie lasagna... It has endless possibilities!

Rainbow Cupcakes

Since it is my spring break I thought I would try out a few recipes. These rainbow cupcakes are on the lighter side of cupcakes, since the recipe doesn't call for eggs or oil. I made these two days ago and just took a picture of the remaining ones.

This recipe is pretty simple:

1 box white cake mix
1 can of clear soda (sprite, ginger ale, anything you can see through. I used sprite)
food coloring

Mix together and divide into several bowls. I spooned out equal parts into 5 bowls. I used food coloring to die each bowl a different color--purple, red, blue, green, and yellow. If you have more colors you want to use then you can divide it up even more. I wish I would have done a bowl of orange batter as well.
Put one spoonful of each color into the cupcake liners. It will look a lot like playdough. I was able to fill 24 cupcake liners ( my spoonfuls were very small).

Bake 15 minutes.
It will still look a lot like playdough.
I frosted mine with rainbow chip. Super fun!

Crispy chicken salad

Crispy chicken -- where do you get crispy chicken?

1) I wouldn't say no to a store bought breaded chicken patty
2) breaded chicken fingers
or 3) the homemade route -- take 4 thawed, boneless skinless chicken breasts, dip in melted stick of butter, bread with crushed corn flakes and bake @350 for 45 minutes in a sprayed baking dish.

okay, so you get 2 or three servings of chicken... and continue.

Crispy chicken
1 English cucumber, seeded and sliced finely
1/2 red onion, finely diced
1 cup grape tomatoes
3/4 cup crispy french fried onions (just like the kind on green bean casserole)
2 stalks of romaine lettuce, washed and cut to bite size leaves

serve with peppercorn ranch dressing.

vinagerette

Finally, a homemade salad dressing that I would take to a luncheon if given the opportunity.

2 garlic cloves, finely minced
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1/2 tsp ground salt
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tsp honey
2 tsp dried oregano

mix ingredients in a small bowl until thoroughly combined

add 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, whisk in until dressing is thick and yummy.

Salad ideas?

1 bosc pear
1/3 cup crumbled blue cheese
1/4 cup toasted walnuts
1/2 finely chopped red onion
lettuce

or
cucumber
kalamata olives
tomatoes
feta cheese
lettuce