Pumpkin Oatmeal Muffins (Recipe Review)

I went to the store and found a great deal on some canned pumpkin.  Pumpkin is great for you and with a little tweaking is great to eat in so many dishes.  I was excited so I bought two.  Imagine my surprise when I noticed that I really bought Pumpkin Pie Mix.  It already has the sugar and spices mixed right in.  Not quite what I was looking for.  I did the only thing I could think to do and searched for a recipe to use this in. 

I found a great site full of fun things. .  Carrots n Cake is the site I landed on and THIS is the recipe I followed.  I am looking forward to diving deeper in this site and finding other gems to try.

Here is her recipe-

1 C flour
1 C oats

1/2 C packed brown sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/4 C canned pumpkin
1 egg

1 tbsp canola oil

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 C rasins

1/4 C walnuts

375 degrees for 18-20 min.

Changes I made.  I used olive oil instead of canola oil since I had that.  I used pumpkin pie mix that has added sugar.  I used 1/2 C chocolate chips instead of the rasins and nuts because thats what I had and it just sounded good. I also made 12 muffins instead of 9.

We each ate one then put the rest in the freezer in sandwich bags tied off to keep the air out.  I put one in the Hubbs lunch each morning for a week and he loved them.  By lunch time they were soft enough to eat but still cool enough to be a nice summer treat.  This is a recipe we will make again and again. 

XOXO Mist

German Pancakes.

I can remember my Mom pulling these puffy things out of the oven when I was a child.  I knew it was magic.  I wanted to share some of that magic with my family and they loved them as much as I did as a child.   The recipe is so simple my 6 year old helped me make them with every step but removing them from the oven. 

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. 

I mix my batter in a blender.  You could whisk it but it needs to be smooth. 

6 Eggs

1 Cup Flour

1 Cup Milk

1/2 Tsp Salt

Generously grease a 9 x 13 deep dish like one you would make a cake in.  I use butter or margarine because it adds to the flavors. 

After its all blended pour the batter into the baking dish and bake for 20 minutes.  We serve ours right from the pan at the table with jam or syrup. 

Its a simple childhood memory I am passing down to my kids and in the end its the memories made that matter most. 

XOXO Mist

Go Bananas!

Summer time is here and so are the kid's million requests for popsicles and ice cream.  As part of our Summer Blast we are trying to make some healthy changes.  If you have stock in ice cream it's time to sell because we are off the wagon.  So here is our solution.  Skip on the creamy calories and give me a frozen banana.  

A simple dip in chocolate and it's a treat the kids can't resist.  Creamy like ice cream with out all the naughty!

I used 3 bunches of bananas and two bags of melted chocolate chips in a double boiler.  Cut the banana in half and poke a stick through it. Dip in the melted chocolate and toss some almonds on the top and it's a treat you can eat.  Freeze them and pull from the freezer just like you would any other frozen treat.  I eat them when I need a quick treat to get me through a sweet tooth urge.

Linked up at DebbieDoos

                                  XOXO  Misty

Chicken Tortilla Soup

This is one of my favorite soups to throw together, probably because my family will eat it.

Toss everything in a crock pot in the afternoon and its done by dinner time.  I cook on high until the chicken is done and then down to warm until we are ready to eat.

• 2 chicken breasts
• 1 can diced tomatoes (great value brand is what I used)
• a bunch of cilantro
• 6 chicken bouillon cubes
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 bell pepper
• 1 small zucchini
• 6-8 cups of water to taste

At the table when I serve it I have cheese, chips and often frozen corn ( we use it to cool off the soup for the kiddos).  I let everyone salt and pepper their own but really with the bouillon its plenty salty.   You can add most any vegi to this and it will blend nicely.  Also if you want to make a freezer meal from this put everything but water in a bag and freeze it.  Add water when you are cooking it up.  Simple!

Nutritional information.
Whole dish- 584 calories.

• 16.7 grams of fat (3 saturated )
• 197.1 mg cholesterol
• 5,567.7 mg sodium
• 36.5 carbs
• 11.3 g fiber
• 24.7 g sugars
• 77 g protein

I break it up into 6 servings- 4 for dinner and 2 for meals later (freezes well)

Serving- 97 calories

• 2.8 g fat (0.5 saturated )
• 32.9 mg cholesterol
• 928 mg sodium
• 6.1 g carbs
• 1.9 g fiber
• 4.1 g sugar
• 12.8 g protein

XOXO Mist



Perfectly Pasta Salad.

The sun is bringing a warm glow to my neck of the woods these days and somehow that makes it seem almost cruel to slave over a stove for a warm dinner when we can have something simple, cool, and tasty.  Unless its the Hubbs turn to cook then light up the BBQ and I will get my lounger out. 

We get a variety pack of produce from a local food co-op.  Its always the same price but the items in it are always just a little different.  I have learned to love this pasta salad because the vegi varieties are an endless option. 

The basic recipe is this simple. 
One thing of pasta... I used a 2lb box of elbows today but I just use what ever I have. 
3/4 C Ranch Dressing ... Your favorite will do just fine
3/4 C Italian Dressing ... Again your fav.

Then just start dumping stuff in from there.

Here is what I used today. 
2lb box of elbow noodles
Kens Ranch and lite Italian dressing.
Sliced almonds
One tomato
Bag of broccoli and cauliflower
One carrot and
about 2 pounds of chicken.

 Cook up the chicken any way your family likes it.  Cook the noodles and let

them cool.  Dice up all your produce and mix it in a big bowl.  The only issue we have ever had is if we mix it up while the chicken or noodles are still warm.  It makes the cheese go greasy.  We chill it for a while because we like it cooler but as long as its not melting the cheese hot its all good.

 

                                   XOXO  Misty

 

Cocoa Banana Nutter Muffins.

I had some bananas that were past the point of looking tasty.  So I did what anyone would do and went through my pantry to see what I could make from it. We ended up with a muffin which is one of the things I love to cook because I can make a bunch and freeze them for later.

Here are my ingredients.

1 C White Flour
1 C Whole Wheat Flour
1 C Sugar
1/2 Butter or Margarine
1/2 C Cocoa Powder
3/4 C Diced Pecans
3/4 C Chocolate Chips
3 Ripe Bananas
3 Eggs
1/4 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Baking Soda
1 Tblsp Vanilla
Optional Tablespoon of Flax Meal.


Step 1- The Wet stuff.
Preheat oven to 375.

Mix the Butter and Sugar in a bowl.  Cream it up and add the eggs and vanilla and at this point I add the chocolate chips because I want them to be equally mixed in.  Mush the bananas up and add them to the wet bowl.

Step 2- The Dry Stuff.

In a second bowl I have both flours, the pecans, salt, baking soda, cocoa powder and flax meal.  

Step 3- Combine, bake and enjoy. 

Add the dry stuff to the wet stuff and mix it up. 

Either grease or use cupcake liners in a standard sized muffin tin. It will be a thicker batter like a cookie dough so use two spoons to get it into the muffin cups.   Fill the cups 1/2 way full and pop in the oven for 14 minutes. 

Let them cool a bit before getting them from the pan. 

Next time I make them up I will add more chocolate chips.  Just round it up to a 2 C bag of them.  More chocolate is never a bad thing...

XOXO Mist

Mongolian Beef

Since the dawn of civilization, one topic has plagued us as a society. This has caused divisions within the home and brought about bitter feelings--at least at my house. What can this be, you ask? What could be so important as to cause a cataclysmic event dividing a seemingly happy household?

Dinner.

It seems silly to think that "what's for dinner?" could be such a hated phrase within my home. But it is just that. I despise that question because no matter what my answer, it is never right. Someone is always turning up their nose at me. "It's too spicy, it's too bland, I don't like pasta, I don't like that!" ARGH!!! As a mother it is my responsibility to ensure that my family is being fed properly. I was raised with a large family garden in which we were fully expected to participate in cultivating. And now I find myself married to a man who when he asks, "what's this?" really means it. Oft times he has never seen the vegetables that I place on his plate. Don't get me wrong, I have lived most of my life in the United States so I don't feed him anything "exotic" by any stretch of the imagination but most vegetables to him, are myths. I understand the "American Diet" and know that I don't serve much of what is on that menu so I find myself improvising, constantly on the search for "what's for dinner." And it is here that I find myself. Every now and again I find a recipe, though not entirely healthy, passes the palate test at my home. One such recipe is so simple and yet so tasty that I was actually able to designate it a "keeper." Who knew good food didn't have to come from a restaurant or a box. Hopefully those two places are not interchangeable.  But I digress. This simple Mongolian Beef recipe fit the bill for an easy weeknight dinner that even my pickiest eater loved. This recipe is adapted from the blogchef who has some great recipes. When it comes to cooking I tend not to follow the recipe exactly. This recipe is easily adapted to what ingredients you may have on hand. Snow peas, sugar snap peas, broccoli, carrots, bell peppers, etc. can easily be substituted or added to this recipe.

Ingredients:
1 lb flank steak
¼ cup cornstarch
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
½ teaspoon ginger (minced)
1 tablespoon garlic (minced)
½ cup soy sauce
1/2 cup water
½ cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons rice wine (or white grape juice)
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 green onions (sliced)
1 medium onion (sliced)
Oil (for frying)

These are the ingredients that I had on hand. First slice the meat across the grain thinly and toss it in the cornstarch. Let it sit for at least 10 minutes. (Don't skip this step.) Heat your pan, add your oil and cook your meat until just past pink on medium heat. Mine only took a few seconds but it will depend on how thinly you slice your meat. Put it on a paper towel to drain off any excess oil. Put the meat aside and combine the sauce ingredients (ginger through rice wine or grape juice) in a small pan and bring to a boil. Set the sauce aside.

Pour off any excess oil from your frying pan or wok except for about a tablespoon. Saute onions or other vegetables for about 2-3 minutes. Add the meat back to the wok and pour the sauce over the meat and vegetables. Toss and cook until incorporated. Serve over rice or rice noodles.

                                         
                                                                                      

                                     Eve