Blueberry Muffins

Yesterday I made Penne Pasta with home-made blueberry muffins.  I realized I didn’t give the recipe yet for the muffins so I wanted to do that today.

They almost looked burnt, but they aren’t.  They are moist and delicious!  Just add some butter and enjoy!

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients

1 stick butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 Eggs, large
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 1/2 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen
2 cup flour
1/2 cup milk
1/4 tsp cinnamon, for topping
2 tbsp sugar, for topping

Directions1 Measure 3/4 cup blueberries and mash them with a fork and set aside.2 Cream butter and sugar with paddle attachment until light and fluffy.3 Add eggs,vanilla, baking powder and salt, mix well.

4 Add the mashed blueberries and mix on low.

5 Add half the flour,mix on low until combined well, mix in half the milk on low…add the remaining half of flour mixing on low…then end with the remaining milk still mixing on low until well blended.

6 Fold in whole blueberries.

7 Scoop into prepared(either paper lined or spray with Pam) muffin pan.

8 Sprinkle tops with cinnamon sugar mixture.

9 Let rest about 5 minutes before baking.

Bake for 25-30 minutes at 375(350 for dark pans).  Let rest 30 minutes after baking and enjoy.

White Beans And Penne Pasta

Yesterday I was going to make this for dinner as it was on my calendar,  but plans got changed and my husband ended up taking our two oldest to a youth group function.  I stayed home with our two youngest and made them chocolate chip pancakes instead!  So today, after ballet rehearsal, we were home the rest of the day as a family, which doesn’t happen very often on Saturdays!  I decided to go ahead and break my rule of no cooking on weekends and make Penne Pasta and home-made blueberry muffins.  The whole house smells wonderful!  I’m not sure what smells the best, the pasta or the muffins.  Maybe it’s a mixture of the two!

Here is the recipe for the pasta:

Ingredients

1Tsp olive oil
1 large onion, cut into wedges
1 tsp garlic, minced
2 cans canned tomatoes, diced
2 cans (14 1/2 oz) chicken broth
2 cans Great Northern Beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 tsp salt
6 oz penne pasta, dry
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp rosemary, dried or 1 tbsp fresh

Notes / Directions

Sauté olive oil, onion and garlic for 3-4 minutes in a large non-stick pan over medium/high heat. I used my electric skillet.  It was the perfect size.
Add tomatoes, broth, beans and salt and simmer 10 minutes.

Stir in the pasta and set timer for 10 minutes. I put a lid on the skillet to cook the noodles.

Mix together the olive oil( 2tbsp) and rosemary in a small microwave safe bowl.

Warm on high for 30 seconds.Put on plates and drizzle the warm olive oil/ rosemary over each serving. Use Parmesan cheese on top.

Here’s the end result of dinner. It was really good!  Enjoy!! (You’ll have to click on the picture to see it.  I’m still learning how to use Instagram!)l

http://instagram.com/p/ZMKi8AsOU7/

Strawberry Freeze

I think one of my girls ‘taste tested’ it before I got the picture!

I took a break from trying new recipes and, well, cooking in general, for the entire month of April!  I didn’t make up my meal plans for the month and I didn’t really even  cook a lot!  I used up a lot of the meat I had in the freezer and added noodles or rice, with a frozen vegetable and called that dinner…..that is, when they weren’t have peanut butter for the millionth time!  Well, I am back on track and have my meals planned out for the whole month of May and I finished grocery shopping for the meals (using coupons, of course!)!  It does feel good to be back on track!  So, Monday I decided to make a new recipe I was holding on to.  It sounded and looked very delicious and I had the ingredients for it!

Here’s the recipe: (of course I found it off of Pinterest)

12 Chips Ahoy! Cookies

1 pkg. Cream Cheese, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1 can  frozen berry punch concentrate, thawed

3 cups thawed Cool Whip Whipped Topping

1 cup crushed fresh strawberries

2 cups whole fresh strawberries

Make It

COVER bottom of 9-inch springform pan with cookies.

BEAT cream cheese and sugar in large bowl with mixer until well blended. Gradually beat in punch concentrate. Whisk in Cool Whip and crushed strawberries until well blended. Pour over cookies.

FREEZE 6 hours or until firm. Remove from freezer 15 min. before serving. Let stand at room temperature to soften slightly. Garnish with whole berries just before serving.

My cake took longer to freeze.  It may have been because I was gone all day, after making the cake, to find the freezer was open just a bit.  It didn’t ruin any food, it just didn’t allow for the cake to freeze!  Everyone seemed to like it and didn’t complain too much they had to wait until the next day to try it!

It seemed a summery type dessert and was nice to have on a warm, sunny, spring day!

Enjoy!

Blueberry Cake

I found a leftover pint of blueberries in my basement refrigerator and decided a blueberry buckle or cake sounded good.  I hopped on to Pinterest, typed in blueberry cake and the first recipe I saw was very easy.  One specific ingredient the recipe called for drew me in……..fresh lemon zest!  My love affair with lemons convinced me this was the cake to make!  The recipe also called for the use of a spring-form pan, which I specifically bought a few months back to make cheesecake in.  I haven’t used it since then, so this clinched the fact that I needed to make this cake just to get more use out of my pan!  Of course, I used my Bosch to mix the cake in.  It only took a few minutes to make and tasted delicious.

Here’s the recipe:

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes

Serving Size: 6-8

Ingredients

1C all purpose flour

1t baking powder

1/2t salt

4 oz (1 stick) butter

1C sugar

1/4t vanilla

1t lemon zest

2 large eggs

2C blueberries, rinsed and drained

1t lemon juice

1t flour

powdered sugar for dusting

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F or 175C. Lightly grease and flour the 9″ spring pan or pie pan.
2. Combine 1C flour with baking powder and salt. Set aside.
3. Using a mixer, beat butter and sugar on medium high speed for 2 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 more minutes. Add vanilla and lemon zest. Reduce the speed to low and slowly add the flour mixture, beating until smooth. Pour the batter into the pan.
4. Combine the berries with the 1t flour and the lemon juice in a bowl. Spoon the berries over the batter.
5. Bake for 45-60minutes or until the toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
6. Remove form the oven and let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Carefully slide a thin knife around the edges of the cake to release it form the pan. Transfer the cake to a platter.
7. Dust the cake with powdered sugar before serving.

I have three sizes of spring-form pans and thought the 9″ was too big.  The batter didn’t even fill half of the pan.

But, it did rise and somewhat filled the pan.

Maybe next time I will try it in my smaller pan, but I don’t think it really mattered.  Fresh, out of the oven, served with whipped cream equals one cake eaten in about 15 minutes!

 

Creamy Chicken Rice Soup

This is sooooo good!

Since I am not back on track with meals from this past week,  I was trying to figure out what to make today that was easy and took very little ingredients that I actually had in my cupboard.  Then I had a great idea!  Over the past week we had lots of food brought in for us as we were rehearsing, getting ready for the play and while it was running.  One day we had various soups and salads.   There I discovered one of the best soups!  I went back for seconds and it was gone, so others must have thought it was good too!  I asked and found out who made it and she gave me the simple recipe.  I looked and also found one on Pinterest that was similar, so looked through my cupboards and found I had all the ingredients!

This soup is very easy and very, very good!  Everyone in the household liked it!  Here’s the recipe:

3 cups cooked Uncle Ben’s Wild Rice (there are several different varieties – use whichever kind you want!)
2 carrots (diced small)
1 cup diced chicken
1 cup flour
salt and pepper (to taste)
1 large onion, diced
2 celery stalks (diced small)
1/2 cup butter
8 cups chicken broth
1 cup half and half

Start cooking the rice before you begin working on the rest of the soup.  I usually get the “quick cook” kind, but if you get regular wild rice, it will take a while before it is ready!

Chop up carrots, onions and celery.

Saute carrots, celery and onion in butter until tender.  Add flour.  Add broth, salt and pepper (I just put a pinch of each in – you probably don’t even really need salt).  Bring to a boil.  Add chicken and half and half and reheat, but don’t boil again.  Add rice right before serving (if you put it in a long time before serving, the rice will keep cooking and get mushy).

***I used my own half and half.  It was 1 tbsp of butter melted and enough milk to fill one cup with the butter in it.***

 

I hope you try it out!  You’ll find out how delicious it is!!

 

Have a great evening!

 

Pork Tenderloins

Cooking on the grill!

The finished product. It looks burnt, but the topping is only caramelized.

Hi there!  Hope your day is going well!  It is 60 degrees and rainy here in Michigan on December 4th!  I’m not complaining about it!  I am quite fine with the day!  My day has been completely filled again!  Today is co-op day for the oldest and I am the registrar for it, and today is registration for next semester.  I then got a call for my 12 year old to attend a ballet class today for a couple of hours about 1/2 hour away, piano classes at 1:15-2:15 at my house (have I mentioned that having piano at the house is the BEST thing?) and then pick up my oldest from co-op and drive my 12 year old to her normal ballet class the opposite direction from the other class!  Sometime in there dinner will be made….actually I’m getting ready to pre-make the potatoes and the tenderloin was already pre-made and froze until ready for use!  How convenient!  This recipe for the pork tenderloin is very, very good!  I made it a couple of months ago and ran out, went out and bought another huge tenderloin, and divided it in three and mixed the marinade in the bag and froze them for a later date.  All I do then is take it out of the freezer to thaw the night before and then plop it on the grill to cook!  It is one of my husband and my favorites!

Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients

2/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup Olive Oil
2 tbsp soy sauce
4 1/2 tsp Brown Sugar
3/4 tsp pepper
1/2 cup rosemary, fresh, finely chopped
5 cloves Garlic, minced
2 Pork Tenderloins, 2 1/2 lbs
1/8 tsp salt, to taste

Notes / Directions

Directions:
To make the balsamic-rosemary marinade, in a food processor, combine the vinegar, olive oil, soy sauce, brown sugar and pepper and pulse until blended. With the motor running, drop the rosemary and garlic through the feed tube and continue to process until fairly smooth. Place the tenderloins in a nonreactive dish and pour the marinade over them. Cover and let stand at room temperature, turning occasionally, for up to 2 hours.

Prepare a charcoal or gas grill for direct grilling over medium-high heat. Remove the tenderloins from the marinade, reserving the marinade.

Well, my dinner is all made!  I made some glazed baby carrots and everything is ready to be warmed up for my husband when he gets home from work!

Have a great day!

 

Garlic Cheddar Mashed Potatoes

Boiling the potatoes and garlic

Ready to hand mix with other ingredients

All done! Yum!

I made these potatoes and froze them a couple of months ago and they tasted very good.  I am making them fresh for dinner today with my pork tenderloin.  I figured I’ll steam some carrots with them and it will be a healthy, yet tasty dinner.  Make sure to check out my pork tenderloin recipe post.

Here’s the recipe for the Garlic Cheddar Mashed Potatoes:

Ingredients

6 potatoes, peeled and diced
6 cloves garlic, peeled-not minced
1/3 cup buttermilk  (check out recipe for this down below))
3/4 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp paprika

Notes / Directions

Cook potatoes and garlic together until tender. Mash with buttermilk, cheese, salt and paprika.To make buttermilk, use just under one cup of milk and add 1 tbsp of white vinegar

This is very simple and very good!

Enjoy!

Beef Tips and Noodles

I actually have a recipe for a different meat…….beef!  I make this quite a bit.  It’s easy and quite good.  Here’s the recipe:

1-2 lbs of round steak, cut up into bite size pieces

1-2 packets of Au Juice

1 packet of onion soup mix

3-4 cups of water

Simmer all together for about 2-4 hours until meat is tender.

Serve with noodles or rice.

Chicken Empanadas

I just realized that I use chicken a lot in my recipes! We all like chicken so it’s not a problem. I like to take my leftover roasted chicken and make something yummy with it the next day. I have also used this recipe with leftover roast beef and used my leftover broth from it and it’s also delicious! Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 yellow onion, diced
1 tbsp flour
3/4 cup chicken broth
10 oz peas and carrots, frozen
1 cup chicken pieces, leftover shredded-can use more
pinch of salt
pinch of pepper
2 refrigerated pie crust, 9 inch (I haven’t used my crust for this yet)

Directions

Heat oven to 400° F. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 3 minutes.

Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute.

Slowly stir in the broth. Cook until thickened, about 3 minutes. Add the peas and carrots, chicken, and ¼ teaspoon each salt and pepper. Remove from heat.

Cut each pie-crust in half. Spoon the chicken mixture over one side of each half-circle, leaving a ½-inch border. Using your fingers, wet the border with water. Fold the crust over the chicken. Press to seal. Make three 1-inch slits in the top of each.

Transfer the empanadas to a baking sheet. I have found it easier to make it on the baking sheet. I make mine too big to transfer!!

Bake until golden, 15 to 18 minutes.

Take out and enjoy!  Have a great day!

Chicken and Noodles in Slow Cooker

Last night for dinner I found a recipe in a slow cooker cook book that I thought I would try. I threw it together in less than 10 minutes and have to say it was pretty tasty! I made a chicken and noodles recipe, but used mashed potatoes instead of noodles. Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients:
3-4 lbs of boneless and skinless chicken
1 can of condensed cream of chicken soup ( I used cream of celery soup)
4 cups of chicken broth
1 package of wide egg noodles ( I skipped this part and made mashed potatoes)

Directions:
Combine the soup and chicken broth in the slow cooker
Cut chicken into cubes (I cooked mine uncut) and add to slow cooker
I also added a bag of frozen peas to the slow cooker
Cook on low for 8-10 hours or high for 3-4 hours until is done
Add the noodles and cook for 30-45 minutes until noodles are tender (I didn’t add noodles, but I did add flour to thicken the broth up to make it thick like gravy for the mashed potatoes
Season with salt and pepper

That’s it! Easy isn’t it? This isn’t my picture because, again, I forgot to take one!