Mom's Muffins

These muffins are [one of] my favorite breakfasts when I visit my parents. I always bring back all the leftovers when I return home and enjoy them for about a week until I run out. They are healthy and delicious, so I decided it was time to get the recipe from mom and give it a whirl myself! These are packed with blueberries, oats, and nuts - giving them a chewy nutty texture and a naturally sweet fruity flavor.

Ingredients:

• 1 egg
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/3 cup oil (canola, grape, or avocado)
• 1 cup quick oats (Mom often uses 1/4 cup oat bran and 3/4 cup quick oats for fiber and good health)
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 1 cup chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts)
• 1 1/4 cups blueberries

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400.
Mix top 4 ingredients and dry ingredients (except nuts and blueberries) separately, then combine and mix until dry ingredients are moistened.
Fold in the nuts and blueberries.
Distribute among 12 muffin cups and bake 20-25 minutes.

Cajun Skillet Vegetables

This is a pretty hearty dish so it can be eaten as a main course. It is healthy and is nice and flavorful with just the right amount of spiciness. I have never actually tried this, but for the meat lovers I'm sure it would be great with some andouille sausage or kielbasa cut up into it or served along side it.

Ingredients:

• 1 yellow onion, cut into bite sized pieces
• 1 green pepper, cut into bite sized pieces
• 4 red potatoes, (skin on)
• 2 Tbsp butter
• Creole seasoning

Directions:

1. Boil potatoes until soft.
2. Sautee the onions in 1 tbsp butter until they're translucent and starting to brown.
3. Cut potatoes into bite sized pieces and add to skillet with onions along with other tbsp of butter.
4. Add green peppers to skillet and cook everything about 5 more minutes until green peppers are soft.
5. Add a generous amount of cajun seasoning to taste.

Veggie Lo Mein

This is a healthy/tweaked version of a recipe I saw over at Dish-Ditty.com Since I couldn't find a few of the ingredients I just made up my own. It turned out so well I have made this twice now. And I must say, it makes for delicious leftovers that are even tasty eaten cold! The small amount of Sriracha sauce will add some nice flavor, but it's such a small amount that even a kid should be able to handle it!

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1/2 box whole wheat spaghetti noodles (3 servings)
• 1/4 green cabbage, thin sliced
• 2 carrots, shredded
• 3 green onions, chopped (I use the whole thing)
• 2 Tbsp low sodium Terriyaki sauce
• 2 Tbsp low sodium Soy sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp Sriracha sauce

Directions:

1. Cook the noodles until almost al-dente and drain.
2. Heat the sesame oil over medium heat and then add in the veggies and noodles. Stir fry for about 5 minutes.
3. Add in the Terriyaki sauce, Soy Sauce, and sugar. Continue to cook a few more minutes until veggies are soft.
4. Turn off heat and stir in Sriracha sauce.

Caprese Sandwich

With only 4 ingredients, this simple sandwich is incredibly delicious. A few months ago I bought one of these at Alon's Bakery in Atlanta and I'm hooked. But at $6.99 a piece, I decided to make this myself at a fraction of the cost.

Ingredients:

• Ciabatta bread
• Tomato slices (about 1/4 inch thick)
• Fresh mozzarella cheese (about 1/4 inch thick)
• Fresh basil leaves
• Balsalmic vinegar (optional)

Directions:

I'm sure you've made a sandwich before, so I won't go into too much detail... I cut the ciabatta bread in half and add one layer of each ingredient - no need to stack this stuff up as it is all very flavorful. Sometimes I'll add a spritz of balsalmic vinegar for a little extra kick, but Alon's doesn't do this and it tastes just as good without it.

Home Made Pizza (including dough!)

There are few foods that I could eat every day, but pizza is high on that list. And when you find a food you love, why not make it yourself? I went through a lot of recipes before finding one that I like, so I used to find myself buying it from Publix or Trader Joe's. Alas, after a lot of flops, I found a recipe that gives those store-bought crusts a run for their money.

This recipe from Bobby Flay is the perfect combination of chewy and crispy. I specifically used bread flour and pizza dough yeast. I'm not sure if the yeast makes any difference, but the bread flour seems to have an impact.

Some Tips:

• Bake the crust for 5-10 minutes before adding toppings to prevent the center from getting soggy.
• If you're using a pizza stone, sprinkle it generously with corn meal to prevent the pizza from sticking to it.
• To make a deep dish pizza, coat a cast iron skillet with 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil and bake the dough in it for about 5 minutes over medium-low heat on the stovetop. Then add sauce and toppings as usual before baking in the oven (still in the skillet) for 20 more minutes.
• For thin crust, cut the dough in half and use a roller to get it flat. You may need to let the dough rest for 10 minutes in between rollings to help it stretch out better.

Easy Spinach Lasagna

Tonight I was in charge of bringing dinner for my bible study, of which one of the members is a vegetarian. As I tried to think of something quick to prepare on a weeknight, I was reminded of an "easy" lasagna recipe a friend gave me. This recipe is great because you can prepare and layer the lasagna the day before and save the baking until the day you're ready to serve it. It also uses no-boil noodles which saves even more time.

This was a hit tonight and someone even commented that it was hearty and didn't seem to be missing anything even though it is meatless! I didn't tell her that I tweaked the original recipe to use spinach instead of the 1 pound of (cooked) ground beef the original recipe called for. Hopefully you will love this as much as I and my taste testers did!

Ingredients:

• 8oz Lasagna noodles (look for the no boil kind)
• 12oz package frozen chopped spinach (thawed)
• 4 cups thick spaghetti sauce (I used Kroger's Chunky Mushroom & Onion)
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning
• 2 cups Ricotta cheese
• 3 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:
Mix spaghetti sauce, spinach, water, salt, and seasoning in a bowl.
Spray 9 x13 pan with cooking spray and put 1/3 of the sauce in the bottom of the pan.
Place 1/2 of the uncooked noodles on top of the sauce, then add a layer of 1 cup Ricotta and a layer of 1 cup of Mozzarella cheese.
Repeat layers of sauce, noodles, Ricotta, and Mozzarella.
Top with remaining sauce, then remaining cup of Mozzarella, and then the Parmesan cheese.
Bake at 350 for 55-60 minutes. (You may need to cover it with foil near the end if the cheese gets too brown).
Let stand 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

Mexi Supper Club Menu

A while back I posted my Supper Club menu from when I hosted this September. Here is the Mexican themed one I served last October.

Course	Recipe	Notes
Appetizer	Hot Corn Dip	If you make nothing else on this menu, do yourself a favor and MAKE THIS! The first time I made it I left the toppings off, but when I made it recently I put the toppings on and it was just as tasty.
Main Dish	White Chicken Enchiladas
Main Dish	Red Chicken Enchiladas
Side	Southwestern Chopped Chicken Salad
Side	Cinnamon Apples	This makes quite a bit! Four apples was plenty for six of us. The leftovers were great with ice cream.
Dessert	Pumpkin Cupcakes	I cheated and used store bought cream cheese frosting. These were delicious!