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finally a new post

I've really let myself get lazy with this blog. But I found a recipe today that is worth sharing. In my effort to eat a bit healthier I was browsing for muffin recipes today and came across this one. I made a batch and they are really pretty good. I think I might tweek it a bit the next time I make them but overall they are a good muffin -just don't tell your husbands or kids that they are good for you!

Crunchy topped apple oat bran muffins

1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup white flour
1 cup oat bran (which I could only find at the health food store btw)
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 cup buttermilk
2 egg whites
2 T canola oil
1 heaping cup diced apples
1/3 cup raisins

TOPPING
1/4 cup chopped walnuts ( I used pecans cause that's all I had)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon


Pre-heat oven to 375.
In a small bowl combine the walnuts, cinnamon, and brown sugar. Set this aside for now, this will be the yummy crunchy topping we add to the top of the muffins!

In a medium bowl stir together flour, oat bran, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. Set aside. In a small bowl combine buttermilk, egg whites, and oil. Add to dry ingredients; stir just until moistened. Stir in diced apples and raisins.
Spray muffin cups with non-stick cooking spray. Spoon about a quarter cup of batter into each muffin cup and then top each one with a teaspoon of crunchy topping. Pop in the oven for 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Enjoy!
Makes 12 muffins

Blueberry Muffins

We've been on a blueberry kick lately. Lucy LOVES them and I'm sure would eat her weight in them if I let her. She calls them beeburries. She's obsessed I think. She saw me using some black beans in a recipe yesterday and started hollering beeburry, beeburry. I had to try and convince her they were NOT blueberries.

I found a great recipe in one of my cookbooks a few weeks ago for muffins. This recipe comes from The America's Test Kitchen cookbook. Page 574 to be exact. I used a basic muffin recipe and added blueberries.
If you don't know what America's Test Kitchen is, then where ya been??? It is a great cookbook. If you don't have this book, then go, right now and order it. What are you waiting for, I said GO!

As I said, this is a basic muffin recipe. If you don't like blueberries you can add another fruit you do like.

Blueberry Muffins

3 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 TB baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup lowfat plain yogurt
2 large eggs
1 stick butter-melted
1 1/2 cups frozen blueberries
*I also add 1/2 tsp cinnamon, because I like cinnamon and thinks it works nicely with the berries. This is optional, if you don't like it, leave it out.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray muffin till well.

Mix dry ingredients together in a large bowl. In a separate bowl mix together the eggs and yogurt. Gently fold in yogurt mixture to the dry ingredients until just combined. Next, fold in melted butter.
Measure out frozen blueberries in a colander and rinse under water till it runs clear. Fold into the batter.
*I have found that the Great Value blueberries work really well. They are nice big blueberries and stay intact while baking. I have also used the Wymans brand of wild blueberries. They are very tiny berries and seem to melt into the batter. But use whatever size you like best. Also, if using fresh berries, dust them with flour first and them add them to the batter. This is to help them from sinking to the bottom while baking.
Use a large ice cream scoop and fill muffin tins full. The original recipe said it would make 12 muffins. I get about 16 out of it.
Bake 15-22 minutes or till a toothpick comes out clean. *Again, the original recipe said to bake for like 25-30 minutes. I did not need that much time. So start with about 15 minutes and adjust from there.

These are so much better than the box mixes you can buy. And they are really very quick and easy to make. You can also freeze the extras for a quick morning breakfast.

Enjoy!

home improvement projects

After 7 months of living in this house, I finally got around to painting our bedroom. I couldn't decide on a color so I kept putting it off. I wanted to find bedding first and then pick a wall color. In our trip to IKEA I found a really cute duvet cover and finally I had some inspiration.

Here's a before picture:

This wall color was a dark sage green. What I hated about it was that it was a flat paint. So any light in the room just got sucked into the wall. It was also extremely dirty. There were marks and splatters all over it. So gross. I also had to repaint the trim and freshen it up as it was just as dirty as the walls.

Here's the after:

It's a light blue. I love the combination of light blue and red. I'm not thrilled with my furniture. but I'm hoping that my wonderful husband will soon get started on making my new headboard-out of an old door. I think I'll paint it an off white or black, I haven't decided. I am also going to paint the nightstands at some point. That way the headboard and night stands will match. I haven't decided what to do with the other pieces. I hate to paint them. I may look for an older piece of furniture when 3rd sunday market starts again. We will eventually have a guest room in the basement so this furniture can go in there. There's still alot to do. I need to hang picutes and find curtains, but at least I don't feel like I'm sleeping in a cave anymore.

Tip #28

Tip #28 ?? Where are the other 27?? Dont' worry, you didn't miss anything, I just thought it sounded better to start with a higher number rather than #1.

Here's my tip for the day:

To keep opened boxes of crackers or open bags of chips from going stale. Store them in the freezer. They will stay crisp and last for months. Heck, probably a few years...ok, maybe not, but you get the idea.

I do this all the time. If Dan and I open a bag of chips and I don't think we'll eat them all before they go stale, I'll close the bag tightly and place it in a freezer bag and put it in our freezer. Just today I opened a big bag of animal crackers. I poured 3/4 of them in a ziplock bag and put them in the freezer. now I don't have to worry about thowing them out in a month when we've still got 1/2 a bag left.
We are fortunate to have a big upright freezer in the garage. This allows me to stock up and buy in bulk when I want to. It was actually one of the first things we bought with our wedding money.
So there you go. Maybe I'll come up with tip #29 soon.

Pancakes

In my effort to be more healthy, I made Lucy some pancakes tonight. I wasn't planning on having them for dinner, I wanted to put them in the freezer for a quick breakfast. But, since I was doing this around 5pm and Lucy was getting hungry, I let her have pancakes for dinner. She devoured 2 1/2 good sized pancakes along with some strawberries. She must have liked them.
I thought I would share the recipe with you in case you'd like to try them. And, I will say that I don't even like pancakes very much and I thought they were quite tastey.

Whole Wheat Pancakes

In a large bowl combine:

1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
3 Tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon (optional)

In another bowl combine:

1 1/2 c. milk (I used 1 1/4 c. for a thicker pancake)
2 Tbsp melted butter
2 eggs beaten
Combine wet and dry ingredients and gently whisk. Cook on a hot gridle using a 1/4 c. of batter for each pancake.

Enjoy!

Resolutions

I don't typically make resolutions at the beginning of each new year. I'm sure I've made some in the past that didn't make it to February, but the only resolution that I can remember every being successful at was about 12 years ago. I had decided that for one year I was going to send every member of my family ( on my mom's side only) a birthday card. Sounds easy enough, but I have about 35-40 aunts, uncles and cousins. It wasn't cheap either, but I did it and I think I was on time for most of them.

This year I have a few things that I would like to change. One of my goals for this year is to turn the TV off more. I don't watch much tv anymore. There aren't any primetime shows that I care about watching and I don't have specific shows I watch during the day, but the tv is on most of the day. I like the background noise it provides, but I'm trying hard to turn the radio on and the TV off.

Another goal I have is to eat less processed food. Ever since Lucy has started eating table foods, I just don't feel good about giving her boxed, processed foods. We haven't given up all boxed foods like crackers and such, but I buy a great deal less than I used to. If I want mac-n-cheese, or waffles or pancakes, then I make it from scratch. I wouldn't say we eat super healthy, but I figure it's a start. I like knowing the ingredients that are going in my food.

Maybe next year I'll be able to give up my diet coke addiction... I can't do everything all at once. Babysteps. Babysteps.

I really should get back to blogging. I'm enjoying the time away.