Morning Glory Breakfast Bars

I like to keep homemade, ready to grab foods like muffins in the freezer.  It takes 20 seconds or less to defrost them in the microwave if I need them right away.  If I won't be eating it for a couple of hours, I just throw it in my bag and it is usually defrosted by the time I'm ready to eat it.

Between myself, Darcy and Calista, I've been baking a lot of muffins lately to keep the supply up in the freezer.  I was in the mood to try something different other then muffins.  I came across the recipe for Morning Glory Breakfast Bars in The Costco Connection (magazine/catalogue we get in the mail from Costco) and they looked interesting so I gave them a whirl.

Time frame wise, I would compare this recipe to the same amount of time it takes to make a batch of carrot bran muffins.  The only time consuming thing was at the end when I individually wrapped each bar that was going to go into the freezer.  They don't need to be individually wrapped, although; I would suggest placing wax paper in between each bar so that they don't stick together while in the freezer.  I wrapped mine because I wanted them to be ready to throw into my purse on the way out the door.

They're very moist and not too sweet and loaded with lots of healthy ingredients.  I gave one to Calista for her afternoon snack and not one piece hit the floor.  That's a very good sign that they are kid friendly!

Morning Glory Breakfast Bars


Ingredients:

2 cups bran cereal
1 1/2 cups shredded carrot
1 cup milk
3/4 cup drained canned crushed pineapple
1/2 cup plain yogurt (I used Greek yogurt as that is what I have started buying)
1 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1/2 cup liquid honey

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 375F.  Line a 13x9 metal baking pan with foil, leaving a 2 inch overhang at each end.  Lightly butter foil.

2. In a bowl, combine bran cereal, carrot, milk, pineapple and yogurt; let stand for 5 minutes.  In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.  Whisk egg and honey into mix mixture. Pour over dry ingredients and stir until just moistened.

3. Spread into prepared pan, smoothing top.  Bake for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  Let cool completely in pan.  Using foil overhang as handles, gently remove from pan and cut into bars.  Makes 16 bars.

Enjoy!!

Turkey Lasagna

This evening for dinner, we made turkey lasagna!  We've really taken a liking to turkey over the last little while and almost always have ground turkey in the freezer.  It was our first time making turkey lasagna and I was pleased with the results.

I don't think I would classify this dish as healthy nor would I classify it as unhealthy.  It's certainly not something I would eat on a regular basis unless the copious amounts of cheese were scaled back.  The added vegetables help make the dish a little more well-balanced.  The flavor was certainly delicious and in some cases, that is all that matters!
Ingredients:


1 medium yellow onion, chopped
6 cloves of garlic, minced (we love garlic around here)
1 pound ground turkey
1 tbsp basil
1 tbsp oregano
Salt and pepper, to taste
3 cups tomato sauce (homemade or store bought)

1 egg, beaten
1 1/2 cup light ricotta cheese
1 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 cup feta cheese (or goat cheese), crumbled
2 tbsp parsley

1/2 cup frozen spinach, defrosted and drained of liquid
1 can of mushrooms
1/4 cup sun-dried tomato, chopped

350 g shredded mozzarella

12 lasagna noodles
Cooking spray

Method:
Cook lasagna noodles according to package directions.

Spray large pan with oil and saute onion and garlic together.  Add seasonings.  Add turkey and cook until browned then add the tomato sauce.

In a medium sized bowl, combine egg with cheese and parsley and mix well.

In a small bowl, combine spinach, mushrooms and sun-dried tomato.

In a 9x13 sized baking dish, spread 1/3 of turkey mixture on the bottom.  Lay 4 lasagna noodles over top of mixture, overlapping if necessary.  Sprinkle with 1/2 of the spinach mixture followed by 1/3 of the ricotta cheese mixture.  Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over top, sparingly.  Repeat layers, finishing with turkey on top followed by mozzarella cheese.

Cover with tinfoil and place on baking sheet to collect any drippings.  Bake in preheated 400F oven for about 30 minutes.  Let stand for 10 minutes before removing foil, slicing and serving.

Enjoy!!

Sweet, Sweet Pineapple Delight

On Friday evening, I went to a Pampered Chef party.  For this Domestic Goddess, it was a nice way to spend a Friday evening.  I spent a couple of hours chatting with friends and trying out kitchen gadgets.  Very relaxing!

We had a taste of three different foods and one of them I knew I would have to make again.  Soon!  The moment I tasted these delightful creations, I knew that they were blog material.

What is it you ask?  Pineapple dipped in lemon zest and white sugar. 

Now, I don't know if it was because the Pampered Chef consultant was talking about lime being an aphrodisiac, but my mind did drift towards a sensual place when I tried them.

My friend described them as tasting like Life Savers and I would definitely agree with that statement.  These little creations are here to stay in my recipe book!

To recreate these at home, I used:

2 tbsp white sugar
Zest of one lime
8  medium sized pineapple chunks (pre-packaged from Sobeys)
Toothpicks

Method: Stir together sugar and lime zest.  Poke toothpick though pineapple and dip into sugar mixture.

As you probably guessed, I do not own the pineapple wedger from Pampered Chef although; I did purchase a couple more products at this last party I went to.  Stay tuned for a blog entry about one of the new products.  I'm already writing the entry in my mind.

Deceptively Delicious

It’s -35C outside today with the wind chill so I declared it a stay inside and bake muffins kind of a day.  I flipped through my various cookbooks looking for a muffin recipe and I decided on Applesauce Muffins from the cookbook Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld.  The cookbook was given to us by close friends at Christmas and I’ve looked through it a number of times for ideas when I wanted a new recipe.  The muffin recipe is the first one I have made but there will be others!

Like for anything, there is always going to be criticism and I've heard a little bit from other moms regarding this book.  The criticism lies with vegetables being pureed and hidden within the food so that the kids are deceived into eating their vegetables, thinking that there are not any.  The title of the book is catchy yet I can see how it would be an automatic turn off to some parents.  My recommendation is to take the time to look through the recipes.     

I don’t feel that vegetables should necessarily be pureed and hidden within spaghetti sauce or meatloaf just so the kids will get their daily dose of vegetables.  In fact, I’m a firm believer in exposing children to a wide range of flavours and textures and I do not believe in “kid food”.  I also do not short order cook but will make concessions when I can but not for an entire meal.

With all of this being said, I think that it is perfectly ok to puree fruits and vegetables to enhance the flavour of a meal and to provide an extra dose of nutrition at the same time.  I’ve come to the conclusion that Deceptively Delicious does this for the most part.  There are a few exceptions where I would not puree carrots or broccoli as an example, and I would add them into the dish in bite sized pieces. 

Pureeing fruits and vegetables is not a new concept and I have memories of my mom adding mashed peaches to chocolate cake as part of the liquid, I’ve had chocolate cupcakes at a children's birthday party made with pumpkin puree and on many occasions, I’ve used apple sauce instead of oil in my baking. 

Here are a few examples of recipes from Deceptively Delicious that I would like to share with you to give you a better idea of the type of recipes that are in this cookbook.  There is a section devoted to "the celebration and not the sugar" that I'm very interested in.  I have not made any of the recipes below so I can only vouch for how great of an idea I think they are and not the taste of the recipe.

•  Peanut butter banana muffins made with carrot or cauliflower puree
•  Oatmeal raisin cookies with both banana and zucchini puree
• "Buttered Noodles" where pureed yellow squash acts as the butter
• Quesadillas with pureed butternut squash and shredded cheddar cheese mixed together.  This was also done with the grilled cheese sandwich in the book.
• Brownies made with both pureed carrots and spinach.  This is a future recipe that I will definitely be trying!
• Chocolate pudding made with mashed avocado
• Aloha chicken kababs with sweet potato and pineapple puree mixed in with the egg mixture, then breaded
• Banana pudding pie made with pureed cantaloupe and yellow squash

Gone are the days where I keep frozen purees in the freezer but there are many families who are in that stage and the purees would readily be available to them.  Imagine making a little bit more to save for the recipes in this cookbook.  While it did take an additional 20 minutes to peel, chop, steam and puree the carrots, I think it was worth it in the end.  I give this cookbook 2 thumbs up!

The Applesauce Muffins are moist, delicious and Calista had a little taste of one during lunch and she kept asking for more.  I had to turn her highchair around so that they were out of sight and out of mind.  Until snack time anyways! 

Applesauce Muffins

This recipe is from the cookbook Deceptively Delicious. 

These muffins are very moist and delicious, with a hint of carrot flavour.  Carrot and apple pair very well together so I knew that the combination would be a hit.  I made some of the muffins with the streusel topping and others without.  While the streusel is delicious, I don't think that the added sugar is needed.  The recipe also calls for pureed carrots but I left mine a little more chunkier.

 

Ingredients:

Cooking spray

Topping:

2/3 cups old-fashioned oats

1/4 cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

2 tbsp trans-fat free soft tub margarine spread, melted (I used butter)

Batter:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup old-fashioned oats

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/2 cup nonfat (skim) milk

1/2 cup butternut squash or carrot puree (I had carrots on hand but I would be interested to know how the butternut squash would taste!)

1/2 cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar

1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil

1 large egg

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 400F.  Coat a 12 cup muffin tin with cooking spray or line with paper baking cups.

2. To make topping, stir together the oats, sugar and cinnamon in a bowl.  Stir in margarine.

3. To make the batter, combine the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl or zipper lock bag and stir or shake to mix (shaking would be great for the little ones helping in the kitchen.)  In a second bowl, mix the applesauce, milk, vegetable puree, sugar, oil and egg with a wooden spoon.  Add the flour mixture slowly, stirring until just moistened.  Do not over - the batter is supposed to be lumpy.

4. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups and sprinkle with the streusel topping.  Bake until the topping is lightly browned and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of the muffins, about 18-20 minutes.  Place the muffins on a rack to cool slightly.  May be served warm or cool.

ENJOY!!  

Simple New Years Eve Appetizers

The Holiday season has come and gone, with New Years Eve last night being the last of the celebrations.  December was packed full of gatherings with family and friends.  We hosted two get togethers; a Winter Solstice Party with friends and on Christmas Day, my Mom came over.

At our Winter Solstice Party, we served appetizers and punch.  The punch is a secret recipe so I'm not going to talk about it any further.  Everyone mingled, moved around and the conversation flowed.  Calista even had a little playmate for the evening.  We thought about having a sit down style dinner but we decided against it since there would be two toddlers at the party.

Gingerbread/sugar cookie/rice krispie village complete with Stonehenge where gummy bears live.

On Christmas Day, we cooked a turkey with all of the trimmings including prosciutto between the skin and meat of the turkey.  I also made homemade cranberry sauce and homemade stuffing featuring apples.  I really wish I had taken pictures of the turkey dinner but unfortunately, Calista was under the weather that day so things were a tad stressful and pictures of food was the last thing on my mind.  Never the less, we still know how to rock a turkey dinner around here! 

Last night for New Years Eve, I prepared a few appetizers for Darcy and I.  My Mom gave us a basket full of goodies for Christmas including a couple different kinds of spreads, mustard's, sauces, cheese and crackers and a hot sauce for Darcy that she searched high and low for.  We've dipped into a few of the goodies already and I used the fig spread last night for one of the appetizers.

I enjoy goat cheese.  It's rich and creamy and it has a tangy flavour.  It pairs well with salads, is great on pizza and is fantastic to use with appetizers.  On top of a sliced baguette is fig spread and crumbled on top is goat cheese.  Simple yet delectable.  Fig spread is sweet, just like most jams and it balances out the tangy flavour of the goat cheese.  Very delicious!

Bruchetta is a flavourful appetizer to serve and is great for a light lunch as well. I chopped up one tomato, added in some chopped purple and green onion and added about four cloves of garlic. We like our food very garlicky around here plus it's a natural cold and flu fighter so I really bump up our garlic intake around this time of the year. I finished it off with a dash of dried basil and a few drizzles of olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  It's very healthy for you!   

Could these be any cuter and easy to eat?  I'm really working hard on serving and eating healthy, well balanced meals and snacks.  I sliced up a cucumber and used a spoon to scoop out the seeds and I filled the center with hummus.  I have a couple of regulars that I take to potlucks and I think I'm going to add these to the list. 

.Hummus is well liked around here.  I've made it before but I often pick up a couple of containers when it is on sale and we snack on it for a few days.  When it comes to dips, hummus is probably one of my favorites and I like trying the different flavours that are available: jalapeno, roasted red pepper, lemon and garden vegetable.

Today for lunch, Calista and I finished off the hummus and bruschetta with crackers and vegetables.  I was curious to see what she would think of the fig spread and goat cheese so I made her a little appetizer on a cracker.  She devoured it down and responded with, "mmm mmm".  You know that something is well liked by her when you get not just one, but two "mmm mmm's!"

Stay tuned for a future blog post about raising a little foodie!