Two-in-One Muffins

My friend bought me this little gadget a year ago.  I finally tried it out.

I made up two separate muffin recipes and ended up with 24 two-in-one muffins.

If you don't have a gadget like this I believe you could pour one batter in the bottom of your muffin paper and pour the second one on top.

For the dark half I used the Five Roses recipe for Date Bread:

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 cup boiling water

1  1/2 cups chopped dates

1  1/3 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 egg

3/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup walnuts

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup melted butter or marg

Dissolve baking soda in boiling water, pour over dates and let cool.  Combine flour, baking powder and salt.  Beat egg and gradually add brown sugar.  Add cooled date mixture, chopped nuts, vanilla and mix well.  Fold in dry ingredients. Add melted butter and mix well.  

For the light half I used the Five Roses recipe for basic muffins with a couple of additions:

2 cups flour

2 tbsps sugar

1 tbsp baking powder

1/4 cup flax

1/4 cup wheat germ

1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1/4 cup melted butter or marg

Stir dry ingredients together.  In a small bowl combine beaten eggs, milk and melted butter.  Add to dry ingredients.

Stand the gadget in the muffin pan and pour one batter in each side, 2/3 full.

Bake in a preheated 400F oven for 20-25 minutes.

Next time I'll try it with cupcake batter.

Cannellini Bean No Meat "Meatballs" with Tomato Sauce

My youngest daughter needed to make a vegetarian meal using beans for her humanities class.  One of her favourite meals is spaghetti so we found this recipe to try
(adapted from http://www.cookincanuck.com).
Cannellini beans sounds kind of exotic and maybe hard to find.....but no worries.  It's only a fancy name for white kidney beans!

1 roasted red pepper, roughly chopped
22 oz can cannellini beans, drained
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup packed chopped spinach
1/2 onion, grated
1  1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 egg
3/4 cup Italian bread crumbs

3 cups tomato sauce
250 g cooked spaghetti
parmesan cheese to serve

You can buy roasted red peppers, but there's nothing to making them yourself. Simply broil whole pepper turning every 2-3 minutes until each side is slightly blackened. Remove from oven and place in a bowl covered with plastic wrap for about 5 minutes.

Once cool enough to handle, cut in half, remove seeds and slip off the peel.

Place the pepper and rinsed beans in a food processor and pulse until chopped.  You don't want a purée.

In a large bowl mix the bean/pepper mixture with the remaining ingredients up to and including the bread crumbs.

Line a  baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat oven to 350F.

Make 2 tbsp size balls and place on sheet.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden.

Take the "meatballs" and add to your tomato sauce.
We used this recipe

http://hotandcoldrunningmom.blogspot.ca/2013/09/roasted-tomato-garlic-basil-sauce.html

but you could use any sauce you like.

Simmer on low 10-15 minutes.  Serve on spaghetti with parmesan to top.

I wasn't sure if I would like non-meat meatballs, but I really did enjoy them.  And my daughter did a great job making them! 

Tomato Cage Christmas Tree

I have seen a lot of these on the internet so, of course, I had to try my hand at it. Here is a step-by-step

All you need is:

a large pot
a couple of clothes hangers
50 mini light string, 11 ft in length
a garland or two
decorations (bows, pinecones, etc)
and, oh ya, a tomato cage.



Once my plants were finished for the season I cut them back and stood the tomato cage, upside-down, in the dirt.  To secure it in place, cut hangers to make hooks

and press them around the bottom ring of the cage, into the dirt.

Now take a garland and, starting at the top, twist together the 3 legs of the tomato cage,

and continue wrapping the cage.  As you work your way down, bend the garland wire to attach to the cage here and there.

It kind of looks like Charlie Brown's tree right now, but don't worry.  Add more garland (or mesh or burlap) and then twist the light string around your tree.

At this point I attached ribbon (the one with the wire edges) to the top of the tree. I took a febreeze can and rolled the ribbon around it to curl.

Add your decorations and tuck in some pinecones.

You can put a big bow on top or use a tree topper.  I took 3 smaller bows and gathered them together like this.

So....not bad eh?  It doesn't look like Charlie Brown's tree anymore. With a little love.......... and only about 30 minutes of your time you've got an original little Christmas tree. I can't wait to see it lit up.

Secret Ingredient Bran Chocolate Muffins

No one will ever guess what the secret ingredient is. 
Trust me.

And these muffins don't rise a lot but are surprisingly light.

You'll need:

3 cups all bran cereal
2  1/2 cups water

1  - 19 oz can black beans, drained (really!)
2 large eggs
1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cup cocoa
1 tsp vanilla
2/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Add the water to the bran cereal and set aside for 5 minutes.

Take the rest of the ingredients, except the chocolate chips, and process in a food processor until smooth.

Mix together with the bran.
Fill muffin papers 2/3 full.

  
Sprinkle chocolate chips on top

and bake in a 350F oven for 25 minutes.

Makes 24

Here's another recipe made with beans:

http://hotandcoldrunningmom.blogspot.ca/2014/11/no-flour-chocolate-chip-brownie.html

Lemon Parmesan Chicken Breast

(This is a variation on Hellman's Parmesan Crusted Chicken.)

3 boneless chicken breasts, split in half
1/2 cup light mayonnaise
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
zest of 1 lemon
6 tsps spreadable jalapeno Greek yogurt dip
lemon pepper

You will definitely want to line your baking sheet with parchment paper for this one.

After you split the chicken breasts,

spread 1 tsp of jalapeno dip on each piece. 

Next mix together mayo, parmesan, and lemon zest and spread on top of the dip.  Sprinkle lemon pepper over all.

You can make this several hours ahead of time and keep it in the fridge until ready to use.

Bake in a 425F oven for 20 minutes.

Very moist and tasty, but oh what a mess in the pan!
I'm really glad I used parchment!

My World's Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

Everyone has a "world's best"  this or that.  Well until I find another one, THIS is MY World's Best Chocolate Chip Cookie!

1  1/2 cups brown sugar
1 cup margarine
1/2 cup butter-flavoured shortening
1/2 cup white sugar
2 large eggs
1 tbsp vanilla

4  1/4 cups flour
2 tbsps cornstarch
2 tsps baking soda
3 tbsps cocoa
1 tsp salt

1  1/2 cups chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped pecans

mini M and M's (optional)

Cream together the first six ingredients.
In a separate bowl mix together the five dry ingredients.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet by thirds, incorporating well each addition.

Fold in the chocolate chips and pecans.  The batter is thick. 

Take 2 tbsps size balls of dough and lightly flatten on a parchment lined baking sheet.  At this point you can press some M and M's on top, or even add more chocolate chips or pecans to make the tops look more perfect.

You can also try dipping your dough ball in sugar and press.

Bake in a 350F oven for 15 minutes

 

Makes 3  1/2 dozen perfect cookies.
Just the right size and not too cakey, not too crisp.

One Pan Pork Chops and Potatoes

Here are your ingredients:

9 boneless pork loin chops, 3/4 inch thick
3 medium onions, sliced
6 medium potatoes
olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
thyme
rosemary
salt and pepper
2/3 cup red wine (broth or water)

Heat olive oil in frying pan.  I needed to use two pans so it's not really a one-pan meal, but you get what I mean : )

Sprinkle thyme, salt and pepper on pork and brown on each side.  Remove to a plate.

Slice the potatoes 1/4 inch thick and set aside.

Next add a little olive oil to pan and lightly brown the onion and garlic, making sure not to burn the garlic.  Remove this to a plate.

Again a little more olive oil to the pan on medium, add the pork chops, onions and top it off with the potatoes.  Give it all a liberal sprinkling of rosemary, salt and pepper.

Add 2/3 cup red wine (broth or water) to the bottom of the pan, cover and cook on low/medium 30 minutes.

Halfway through the cooking time spoon some of the juices over the meat and vegetables. Turn the meat over as well.  If you find the pan a little dry add a small amount of liquid, but not too much as you don't want your potatoes to get mushy.

I even have enough leftovers for another meal (if someone doesn't have a late night snack with it before!)