Peanut Butter Banana Muffins

Muffins are my new go-to breakfast.  Making a batch of muffins takes almost no time, but I like a home-baked muffin so much better than the same English muffin I've been eating for months.

Try out this great recipe from Chelsea Eats Treats.

Light Peanut Butter Banana Muffins

Ingredients
2 ripe bananas
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup peanut butter (reduced fat)
2/3 cup fat-free plain yogurt (Greek)
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup sugar
1 3/4 cup whole wheat flour

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In mixer, mash bananas, and add in peanut butter, honey, yogurt, and vanilla. Then, slowly add flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and sugar.

Place liners in a muffin sheet and lightly spray with nonstick pray. Spoon muffin mixture into pan until 3/4 full.
Bake 20-25 minutes.

Pumpkin Apple Muffins

I heart fall.  I love everything about it-- mostly, I like baking with apples and pumpkin!  This is one of my favorite dessert recipes of my mom's, and I'm so excited to share it (and also adapted to make it a little healthier).  I eat these muffins for breakfast, snacks, dessert, and everything in between.  I actually try to give them away, so I don't eat them all :)

Pumpkin Apple Muffins

Ingredients

• 1.5 cups whole wheat flout
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tbs pumpkin pie spice
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 cup pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 cups apple, peeled, cored, and sliced into small chunks

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Add muffin liners to muffin tins (about 18).

Combine dry ingredients.  Add eggs, pumpkin, and oil.  Stir until moist, and stir in apples. 

Spoon mixture into muffin tins.  Bake 35-40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

3 weight watchers points per muffin.

Apple Cinnamon Pancakes

It's the weekend- yay!  Time to make a good family breakfast :)  This weekend I experimented with pancakes and apples since I have apples coming out of my ears.  The apples are from our CSA, and I have no idea what kind is which, but I know they're all delicious.

Anyone want to tell me know about apples and which kinds are best for making certain kinds of foods?  In the meantime, I'll use whatever apples I grab first out of the fridge :)

Oh, and now-- let's talk about my new, fabulous gadget!!!  It suction cups to your counter, so it doesn't move.  When you attached the apple, the gadget peels, slices, and cores your apple while you turn a crank.  It is the best thing ever!!!!

Now onto these delicious pancakes!!!

Apple Cinnamon Pancakes

Ingredients

• 1 apple, peeled, cored, and sliced
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk
• 2 tbs oil
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1 tbs sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt

Directions

Combine all ingredients except apple.  Fold in apple pieces.

Heat griddle/frying pan, and spray heated pan with cooking spray.  Spoon 1/2 to 1 cup of pancake mix on pan and cook.  When done, top with your favorite pancake accessories.

Enjoy!

Chocolate, Peanut Butter, and Strawberry Baked Oatmeal Cups

When I told Austin I was making Chocolate, Peanut Butter, and Strawberry Baked Oatmeal Cups, he asked if I wanted to throw some more ingredients in the title.  Yeah, I guess the title is a mouthful, but what do you leave out?  Each piece is important to the recipe, and I think it all goes well together!!  I adapted the recipe from Happy Healthy Mama, and it's a great combination of breakfast and dessert!

Chocolate, Peanut Butter, and 

Strawberry Baked Oatmeal Cups

Ingredients

2 cups old fashioned oats

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 cup skim milk

1 egg

1/2 cup pure maple syrup

1 cup strawberries, cut into small pieces

1/4 cup peanut butter chips 

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Grease muffin tin or use muffin liners.

In a large bowl, combine the oats, flour, baking powder, salt, and cocoa powder.  Add the milk, egg, and maple syrup.  Stir well.  Add in the strawberries and peanut butter chips.

Divide the mixture evenly among muffin cups.  Bake 20-25 minutes.  

Great to eat right away, or you can freeze and eat later!

Brown Rice and Zucchini Casserole

Zucchini is coming out of our ears, so when I saw this recipe after logging onto e-tools, I printed it out immediately for dinner that night.  Recipe was good, not great.  If I were to make again, I would add more seasonings and maybe even some ground sausage.  The recipe below reflects the changes I would make.

Brown Rice and Zucchini Casserole

Ingredients
3 medium zucchini, shredded through the large holes of a box grater
2 tsp salt
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 cup cooked medium-grain brown rice, cooled to room temperature
1 cup low fat ricotta cheese
1 Tbs fresh, chopped basil
3 oz low-fat mozzarella cheese
1 Tbsp all-purpose whole wheat flour
1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Cooking spray
1/4 cup breadcrumbs, mixed Panko and Italian style
2 Tbs Parmesan cheese
1 pound Italian sausage (casings removed)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Brown Italian sausage, drain, and set aside.

Toss zucchini and salt in a large colander; set in the sink for 10 minutes. Rinse well to remove salt. Squeeze it by handfuls to remove all excess moisture. Transfer to a large bowl.

Stir in the eggs, brown rice, ricotta cheese, mozzarella, flour, lemon zest, thyme, basil and pepper until well-combined.  Add Italian sausage and mix well.

Spray a 9-inch square baking pan with cooking spray. Spoon and spread the zucchini mixture into the pan. Mix the breadcrumbs and Parmigiano-Reggiano in a small bowl; sprinkle evenly over the casserole.

Bake 25-30 minutes.

Serves 8, 4 points a serving (without meat).

Strawberry Banana Muffins

When I came home last night, I saw that I had two bananas getting close to past their prime, so I decided to make something with them.  I perused Pinterest, and I found a great recipe from Sweet Peas Kitchen.  It includes two of my favorite fruits:  strawberries and bananas, and it can serve as a great breakfast in the car on the way to work or a dessert.  

Since today is Good Friday, I thought a meat free and spring recipe was in order.  I even made the cupcakes in Easter egg cupcake liners :)  Enjoy and happy spring!

Strawberry Banana Muffins

Ingredients
1/2 stick butter  
 3/4 cup packed brown sugar  
 2 large eggs
 1 tsp vanilla extract  
 2 large bananas  
 1 cup unsweetened frozen strawberries (or fresh)  
 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour  
 1 1/2 tsp baking powder  
 1/4 tsp baking soda  
 1 tsp ground cinnamon  
 1/2 tsp table salt  

Yummy batter!

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 12 muffin cups with muffin liners.

Melt butter in microwave and set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together brown sugar, egga, vanilla, mashed banana. Add melted butter and stir to combine.

 In another bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, salt. Fold in wet, chopped strawberries, making sure they are coated with flour. Combine wet and dry ingredients.

Divide batter evenly into 12 muffine cups. Bake 20-24 minutes.

Serves 12, 6 points a muffin.

Farm Shares and Frittatas

Over the past month or so, I have been reading American Wasteland by Jonathon Bloom.  It talks about food waste and how to combat it.  I am not a huge environmentalist (and not really an environmentalist in any sense of the word besides for I recycle, don’t litter, unplug things when I go on trips, turn off my air conditioning when I leave the house, etc—of course some of these things are really to economics more than the environment), so I have been intrigued by this book.  I have been learning a lot, and it helped me think of things that I can do.

Some things I already do.  I buy lots of frozen food, so I do not waste the fresh stuff, but that probably doesn’t count J  I eat leftovers like it’s my job and always leave the restaurant with doggie bags.  When I travel for work, I still get doggie bags and in many cases can pass my leftovers on to the homeless in the area. 

What do you do to prevent food waste?  Any good suggestions to help me and the other 10 readers?  Share it below in the comments….

One of the things Bloom mentioned was participating in local CSAs and farm shares.  When I lived in central PA, the highlight of my week was the farmers market where I could get produce for cheap but also from local farmers.  Reading the book sparked my interest in getting local produce, but also saving money!

Doing some research, I found Zina’s produce, which was 10 minutes from where I live.  I called and chatter with her and then Austin and I visited the farm and to learn more about the CSA program.  Zina is AMAZING, and in addition to the eggs that she has on her farm (and the cutest cow with a heart shaped white spot on its forehead—don’t worry, we won’t be eating this cow!), she works with 35+ local farms, butchers, fishermen, etc. 

Eggs from the farm share

We signed up for a meat share and a summer produce share.  Every two weeks, we get a variety of meats, fruits, and veggies.  I was excited but I was also nervous because before starting this blog (and maybe even now), I am not a very adventurous chef.  We’ll be getting things that I have never cooked before—It will be a challenge, but it’s something I’m looking forward too.

When we were leaving the farm, Zina gave us a dozen eggs and a pound of specialty sausage.  To celebrate, we shared a frittata the next day for lunch.  It was heavenly!

Sage Sausage and Spinach Frittata

Ingredients

1 medium onion, chopped

½ lb sage sausage (I’m sure any flavored sausage would work, but this sausage was amazing, and I am so so excited to get more!)

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

1 cup fresh spinach

6 eggs, lightly beaten

½ cup shredded cheddar cheese, reduced-fat (I meant to use mozzarella but used cheddar by accident.  Both would be delicious.)

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  In large skillet that can go in the oven, add sausage and onion; brown sausage.  Drain grease/liquid.

After beating eggs, mix in salt and pepper.  Pour eggs over mixture in skillet.  Add spinach.  Cook over medium heat.  As food sets, run a spatula around end of skillet and let uncooked portion flow underneath.  When mixture sets, top with cheese and bake 5 minutes.

 

Serves 4 heart portions, 6 points each. 

Egg in a Mug

A woman who goes to our Weight Watchers' meeting told us her favorite and easiest breakfast.  She calls it egg in a mug- crack an egg in a mug, add a little bit of milk, whisk with a fork, and pop in the microwave for 45-60 seconds.  The egg is light, fluffy, and yummy.  Best of all, it's 2 points and a filling breakfast.

When I was little, I ate microwaved eggs all the time.  My mom tells me stories of how I would tell her to cook my eggs:  "One egg, one minute.  Two eggs, two minutes."

Hope you enjoy an egg in the mug.  A great breakfast for when you're short on time (like I am every morning) or you only want to dirty a mug instead of a pan.

And thanks to our friends Mike and Katelyn Furr who gave us these great glass mugs for their wedding favors.