Pumpkin Muffins-So Good!

These muffins are so yummy and so healthy that your kids will love them and you will love giving some to them. Yeah! I love when it works out like that.  (It rarely does, right?)
These are such a hit that I served them as "cupcakes" for Jack's birthday instead of cake, and everyone was super happy.  I put "branded" them in Spiderman cupcake paper and no one questioned a thing.

Pumpkin Muffins recipe found here and printed below (with some of my revisions).  Enjoy!

Pumpkin Muffins
Adapted from the American club, in Kohler, Wisconsin via Gourmet Magazine
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour ( I used half all-purpose and half whole wheat flour)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin (from a 15 ounce can)
1/3 cup vegetable oil (I used half oil/half apple sauce)
 2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pumpkin-pie spice (allspice)
1 1/4 cups plus 1 tablespoon sugar (I used all brown sugar)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Put oven in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Put liners in muffin cups.
Whisk together pumpkin, oil, eggs, pumpkin pie spice, 1 1/4 cups sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl until smooth, then whisk in flour mixture until just combined.
Stir together cinnamon and remaining 1 tablespoon sugar in another bowl.
Divide batter among muffin cups (each should be about three-fourths full), then sprinkle tops with cinnamon-sugar mixture. Bake until puffed and golden brown and wooden pick or skewer inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes.
Cool in pan on a rack five minutes, then transfer muffins from pan to rack and cool to warm or room temperature.
Yum!

Here are some pics of us enjoying it, for your enjoyment. :)

Happy eating!
RW

More Good Stuff-Brekkies

I love oatmeal and was just buying the low-sugar Quaker ready-made packets for myself and Jack because they were quick and easy.  And, quite frankly,  I thought making oatmeal would be a long, laborious process that I would not have the patience to do, even if I wasn't trying to get a household up and out the door in the am.
But, I found a delish looking reciepe in Deceptively Delicious and just read, in all places, that Rupaul (yes, the fabulous drag queen!) loves to eat his own oatmeal every am as, like me, she does not eat after the sun goes down and really needs something nourishing to "break the fast" of the night.
So here is the easy recipe that I have cobbled together for myself and what Jack and I have been eating every morning for a week.

 So, I just brought a bag of Quick Oats (cause I like quick!) and I followed the directions for cooking on the back.  I boil up the correct amount of salted water ( I use minimal salt) for the amount I want to make (I usually make enough for 4 servings, even if it's just me and Jackie eating).

  And then I add in the oatmea, about 1/3 cup of unsweetened apple sauce, a teaspoon or so of brown sugar and some cinnamon (you can add allspice as well if you have some).  And then we gobble it up.

While it's cooking you can clean a baby that pooped through his pants, too, if need be. :)

Enjoy!

RW

Deceptively Delicious-My Take

The above photo is some of the purees I made on Monday in preparation of opening my own daycare and wanting to serve some healthy food.  A couple years back, I bought the cook book Deceptively Delicious, the bestseller by Jerry Seinfeld's wife Jessica that teaches moms (and dads) how to hide veggies in your kids fave foods.  I had made a couple things when I first got it and looked at all the beautiful pictures a million times it but then the book was kind of stuffed away.

I made the cauliflower, carrot and sweet potato purees as the recipes for the looked the best to me.

 Here is a photo of some of my baked sweet potato.  It is the easiest puree to make, I learned having to feed my kids when they were babies, as you just have to throw the potato in the oven for an hour or so and then mash up with a fork and serve.  For the puree I also put it in the blender to be smoother (and less noticeable mixed into recipes?).  I did find that the blender kind of sucked for this job and a food processor (like what I had when they were babies) would have been easier and done a better job.  But you gotta use what you've got!

 Here is the blender in action.  As you can see you can only put a bit of cooked veggie in at a time as the blades won't reach it otherwise.  And I found that I had to add water that was not called for in the puree instructions, as the food wouldn't move around at all in the blender otherwise.

So then you are supposed to measure it out in 1/2 cup scoops and put in tupperware or ziplocks.  I put mine in ziplocks and most of the purees went right into the freezer for later dates.  It's easy enough to pull out a bag and "defrost" it in a bowl of hot water.

Here is Ava and the soup I made.  It's chicken alphabet soup with cauliflower and sweet potato puree.  It looks a little blander then picture in book as I used whole wheat farfale and in the book they used cute coloured alphabet noodles that I couldn't find in real life.  Jack liked it.  Ava wasn't super keen on the chicken in there but one of Jessica's suggestions is blending the cooked chicken up too and hiding it in there as well. (Recipe below)

Jackie and the soup.

For lunch the next day I made the kids "mini pizzas" using english muffins that I had in the freezer and a can of tomato sauce and a slice of mozzarella.  The "trick" is that there is supposed to be hidden spinach puree in the sauce but I hid 1/2 cup of carrot puree and the kids liked it fine.  I hoted them up in the oven and they turned out pretty darn tasty for the kiddies.

 Ava was very happy to help me cook the meal and it gave her a sense of accomplishment. Who doesn't like that feeling?

I made the mac and cheese 1 receipe (there are two) in the book.  The 1 calls for cauliflower puree and it turned out so thick and creamy and good.  And I was proud that I made mac and cheese from scratch, instead of using some powdered crap from a box.  I will be making this again and again as Jack and Dallas loved it.

Two days later, at a loss as to what to serve kids at lunch, I made a box of Kraft Dinner (with vegetables) mac and cheese and added some warm cauliflower puree to the margarine and milk and it was soooo good.  Ava didn't like it but Jack and I went to town.  I love that the cauliflower adds a thickness to the sauce that is not normally there.  Plus, you can pat yourself on the back for serving kids veggies (and yourself too!)

Deceptively Delicious Alphabet Chicken Soup

Ingredients

3 quarts Chicken broth-low sodium
1 Chicken breast (bone in)
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 cup Alphabet pasta
1/4 cup Cauliflower puree
1/4 cup Sweet potato puree

Preparation

1. Bring the broth to a boil in a pot. Sprinkle chicken (skinned and rinsed) with the salt, then put it in the broth. Immediately turn off the heat, cover the pot and allow to rest off the heat until the chicken is cooked through, 25 to 30 minutes.
2. Remove the chicken with a slotted spoon and let it cool on a plate for 3 to 4 minutes, until it's cool enough to handle easily. Pull the meat off the bone, cut into bite sized pieces (or puree for kids who don't like chicken), set aside.
3. Bring the broth back to a simmer and add the pasta. Stir in the cauliflower and sweet potato purees and simmer for 5 to 6 minutes, or until the pasta is cooked. Stir in the chicken and serve hot.

Quinoa Caprese Salad: A Taste of Summer

I was on Pinterest (I know, I know) and I found this delicious Quinoa Caprese Salad. Caprese means something that is prepared with fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, and basil leaves and drizzled with olive oil. For example a caprese sandwiches, pizza caprese and, in this case caprese salad.


But, I guess using that definition, mine really wasn't because instead of using mozzarella I used feta. I asked Dallas to get me the mozzarella, which he did, but then he was confused as he thought I was making my couscous salad which does call for feta...anyway. In the end, I used feta and it was

delicious. Here are some pics, the recipe and some changes I made it is, just cause. Oh, and some cute pics of us al fresco the night we had it.

 The cooked Quinoa/Bulgar.

 The kids "patiently" waiting for us to finish dinner.

 My hunk on the BBQ.  Always with his phone, of course! :)

 Ava took this goofy shot of me.  Good one for a 4 year old!

 The grape tomatoes.  Don't you just want to take a bite.

 The super fresh and fragrant basil.

 

Olive oil and the feta in the background.

The finished product.  So good.

Ingredients
-1/2C quinoa (I used a Quinoa/Bulgar Wheat blend as that is what I had on hand.  And I actually made about 1 cup uncooked and it was great)
-8 oz fresh mozerella (Again, I used Feta)
-1 carton grape tomatoes, halved
-fresh basil
-2T olive oil
-salt & pepper

Method
1. In a medium sized pan, bring 1C water and 1/2C quinoa to a rolling boil. Reduce heat and simmer on LOW until all of the water is absorbed. This should take anywhere between 10 and 15 minutes. *Cooking your quinoa on low is extremely important. If you let it simmer on a hotter flame, the water will absorb too quickly and the quinoa will turn out hard!

2. Cool the cooked quinoa in the refrigerator for at least an hour before preparing the salad.  (I didn't really do the whole hour thing so the salad was a touch on the warm side, but because there were lots of gains in it, it was quite nice that way).

3. To prepare the salad, slice grape tomatoes in half [hot dog way] and cut the block of fresh mozzarella into bite size pieces. Mix together. Then, add the chopped basil and cooked quinoa and give the salad a toss. Next, drizzle on the olive oil and season with a little salt/pepper (to taste). Give your salad a final toss and serve cool or at room temperature.



We served ours with some corn and pork chops from the BBQ and it was divine. We sat outside, had some vino and it was a glorious night.  My father-in-law loved the salad so much he took a bunch of it in his lunch the next day.  I wonder what his friends at the mine had to say about Quinoa salad?

Bon Appetite!

Roxanne

Taste of Saskatchewan!

We went to the Taste of Saskatchewan last week and I took some photos that I thought I might use for the magazine but then ended up not.  So I will share them with you folks who may not know what The Taste is.  Well, it's a whole bunch of booths and a whole bunch of people and a whole bunch of food.  You buy tokens and then each vendor (representing a local restaurant) sells around three things for 2 or 3 tokens each and you get to try these "bite-sized" portions.  I ate Bulgolgi at the Seoul Korean restaurant kiosk, and some delicious flour-less cake and Saskatoon berry iced tea (of which Dallas had 3!) from Rembrandts Restaurant.  Both of these totally made me want to go to those restaurants and try the rest of the menu!
See some pics below!

 Buying tokens.  $2.50 per token.

 Seoul Korean Restaurant kiosk.  Authentic and amazing!

 The flour-less chocolate cake and Saksatoon berry coulis from Rembrandts...deslish!

 The man-cave.  We are talking TVs, hots tubs and beer as far as the eye can see!

 Jump-jumps right on the river for the kiddies to explore!

 Revelers enjoying food and the band.

 More eating machines.

 One of the bands--actually lawyers who just do this on the side.  Cool!

All the motorcycles lined up out front.

xoxo
Roxanne

Eat, drink, and don't die.

This is me feeling sick and pale after the drs appointment. Why, after you know you are actually ill, do you feel a million times worse?

Well, I seem to be the palest person in the world. Ok, well, no. I am not exactly the palest. And I am not exactly pale. I am more green-tinged. Some people look great pale: Winona Ryder, Dita Von Teese...and then there's me. Blonde hair, blued eyed, sickly looking and bags under the eyes. Does it get any cuter? I went to the doctor about 2 months ago, complaining of fatigue. And as I am a young, relative active ann fit, I thought it a bit weird that I couldn't even keep up on my thrice weekly Curves excercises with my 50-year-old co-worker. But I couldn't. I honestly thought I would die when three o'clock rolled around, talk about a brick wall! It made me long for my school-girl days when we were encouraged to put our heads on our desks in the afternoons so Mrs. Mulholland could have a Diet Coke in peace. But, alas, I am not 8 and I should have more energy. So, long story short, I had low iron. Whoopie...pretty lame, right? SO, I started taking Iron pills and eating better (more broccoli, less donuts) but I started to get dizzy and disgusting feeling all the time. You know those "stars" you sometimes see when you get up too fast, well I was getting them when I turned around to look at people in the backseat of my car. Not good. Again with the long story being shortened-I have low blood pressure. I haven't got the results back but we (dr. and I) are pretty much dead set on it being caused by dehydration. That being hte most common reason for blood pressure for someone at my...ahem...young age. I've turned into one of those people who drink three cups of coffee, have lunch, have a cup of tea and then come home and drink wine until I pass out at 8:30. It's a miracle I'm alive, basically. So the day we figured this out, I drank a 1.5 litre water from about 12:30 on....I didn't go to the washroom until bedtime! Scary! May this be a lesson to us all: don't be stupid with your health!