Raspberry Muffins

When raspberries are on sale -- we make raspberry muffins :)



Raspberry Muffins - Snow White

1/2 C brown sugar
1/2 C milk
1 egg white
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 C applesauce
1 C raspberries (fresh or frozen)
2/3 C whole wheat flour
2/3 C white flour (or more whole wheat)
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. cinnamon


In a medium-sized bowl, mix flour, baking powder and cinnamon with a wire whisk.

In a large bowl, mix egg, sugar, vanilla, applesauce and milk, using a wire whisk.


Pour dry ingredients into wet ones and stir until just moist. Then, gently fold in raspberries.


Fill muffin tins (12 regular sized muffins, or 6 jumbo muffins) 2/3 of the way full.


Bake at 350 for 18-22 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Sam's Club Run!

A couple of weeks ago, I asked you, my blogging friends, what to take advantage of with a 1-day Sam's Club membership! Thank you sooooooooooo much for your expertise! Seriously, I never would have thought of yeast, and that was the biggest score of the day :)

But, the trip didn't exactly turn out as planned...


See, I didn't fully read the small print on the coupon. Everything I purchased today would be charged a 10% service charge. :( Well, that just about takes care of some of the savings.


But, Sam's Club is running a sale on summer memberships (good today for just over 100 days) for $15. That sounded appealing. Just for kicks, I thought I would ask about their student membership. It's $40... but, when you sign up, you get a $15 gift card, in effect making the membership $25. Thus, for 10 more dollars, we could have a full-year membership rather than just a summer one. So, we took the plunge.

This means, we can now enjoy bulk shopping on a regularly scheduled basis. We purchased a few good items today, and took time to scope out the store and the prices.

Here's what we brought back with us today....


Oatmeal - 100+ servings (9lbs) for $6.76
Peaches - 106oz (6+cans) for $5.38
Raisins - 4 lbs (90 servings) for $6.84
Yeast - 2 lbs for $4.16
Mushrooms (16oz) - $2.87
Brown Sugar (7 lb bag) - $4.39
Raspberries (12 oz) - $3.88
Cheese (2lbs) - $4.67

I'm super excited to make dried fruit and fruit leathers (see recipes under snacks on the left side of the blog) with the peaches, and am thrilled to have more oatmeal. We seem to go through oatmeal like water at our place.

Normally, this would have cost...

Oatmeal -- $23.00
Peaches -- $6.00
Raisins -- $18.50
Yeast -- $64.00 (yikes!)
Mushrooms -- $4.00
Brown Sugar -- $5.25
Raspberries -- $7.50 (when on sale)
Cheese -- $5.32 (when on sale)

Which, when totaled yields 133.57, and we spent $23 (out of pocket) + our gift card. We saved roughly $95!


What we noticed during our trip was that not all things are a good deal. Frozen veggies -- not good. We can get those on sale (especially when coupled with coupons) for a better price at our regular grocery store. The mushrooms are only a good deal on the weeks when our mushrooms are not on sale -- when they go on sale, we can score those for $1!

But, here are the items we found to be a really good deal -- things we'll come back for again:

-Cheese (unless we find a sale cheaper than $0.14 an ounce)
-Yeast
-Oatmeal
-Dried fruit (raisins, Craisins, cherries and blueberries)
-Pickles (speaking of which, how long do these last in the fridge once opened?)
-Spices (e.g., cinnamon, basil)
-Diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste
-Half and half
-Whipping cream
-Oscar Meyer Lunch Meat
-Turkey bacon
-Frozen blueberries (and fresh ones)

So, we're pretty excited. There's a few more items I'm calling the companies to find out if they are safe for me to eat (with my nut allergies) and then, we might be able to add olive oil to our list too!

Help making a decision

So, we're having our friends over tonight for dinner, dessert and games. I have the dinner figured out...

Vegetable Lasagna, and whole wheat bread rolls

but, I'm stuck on the dessert.... so I need your help.

Option 1a: Chocolate Raspberry Cobbler Cake (made with dark chocolate)

Option 1b: Dark Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Filling

Option 2: Ice Cream Cake

What do you think?!

Crockpot Mushroom Pork Tenderloin

This is absolutely delicious. Mouthwatering. Simple to make, and the pork is so flavorful and tender... we loved it. In fact, we were going to use the leftovers for pulled-pork sandwiches, but we'd rather enjoy it again a second night!

Crockpot Mushroom Pork Tenderloin

Small pork roast or tenderloin*
1 recipe cream of mushroom soup
1/8 C minced onion
salt and pepper
1 bag baby carrots
4 red potatoes

Place the porkloin into your crockpot; trim fat, if possible. *I buy big porkloins and then section them into three smaller "roasts" and also into pork chops; this makes them perfectly sized for the two of us!

Sprinkle some of the minced onion over the pork.

Grab your cream of mushroom soup (this time I used 8oz of mushrooms, sliced) ...

and pour it over the pork. Top with additional minced onion and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours. I added in the carrots and potatoes about 4 hours before serving and they were perfect.

Enjoy!

This post is linked at Slow Cooking Thursday and Ingredient Spotlight.

URS: Grillin'

Click the image for more grilling recipes!

Grilling is one of my favorite parts about summer. Right now, our George Foreman is our grill proxy and we can't wait until we have a grill of our own.

Until then, we just hijack our parent's whenever we're in town ;)

One of our favorite things to grill when visiting Frog Prince's parents are the "famous" white hot dogs. Growing up in the land of the frozen tundra, I never had heard of such a thing. Frog Prince took care of that and introduced me to ...


Zweigle's. Pop-open "white hots" as they're referred to by the locals. They are basically a pork version of a hot dog with great flavor! They are the official ball-park hot dog for all of the regional teams... baseball, hockey and football! Just pop these puppies on the grill and then enjoy a special treat.


Even without a "real grill" these are quite tasty on our Foreman!

One of our favorite "grilling" recipes is Italian Grilled Chicken. This chicken is loaded with flavor and is great accompanied by veggies (like the potato packet -- see recipe below), great in a tasty homemade hamburger bun, or is amazing on top of a salad.

Italian Grilled Chicken

3 T extra virgin olive oil
1 T lemon juice
1 T Italian seasonings
1-2 garlic cloves, minced (or 1 tsp. garlic powder/salt)
1/4 tsp. pepper
4 chicken breasts

Fire up that grill!

Meanwhile, combine all ingredients except chicken, in a microwavable bowl. Microwave on HIGH for 1 minute. Stir.

Dip chicken into the mix and coat evenly.

Place on the grill and cook for 6-8 minutes per side until chicken is 165 degrees and juices run clear. Allow to sit for 5 minutes before serving.


And, to accompany these chicken breasts, you can grill up a potato pocket.

Potato Pockets

4 potatoes, sliced thinly
1/2 onion, sliced thinly
1/2 green pepper, diced
1 T butter, melted
salt and pepper, to taste

Slice the potatoes and the onion and toss with diced green pepper. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Pull out a piece of tinfoil and lightly spray it with cooking spray. Place the potato mixture in the center of the tinfoil and cup up the edges slightly. Drizzle with melted butter and then wrap potato mix into a nice tight packet. Place on the grill (usually the upper level) and grill for 10-15 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.

To mix things up a bit, change the seasoning... add cheese, or use Italian, or parsley to the potatoes.

Crockpot Cherry Cobbler

This is my second crockpot "dessert" trial and again, we have a winner! The dough is very cakelike and deliciously light. With the cherries, it's a perfect combination.

Crockpot Cherry Cobbler - Modified from Fix-It and Forget-It Lightly

1 batch cherry pie filling (or 1 can light cherry pie filling)
1 C flour (whole wheat/white mix)
1/4 C sugar
1/4 C butter, melted
1/2 C milk
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. vanilla (or almond) extract
1/4 tsp. salt

Grease the crockpot with non-stick cooking spray. Pour in the pie filling.

Mix together remaining ingredients, until smooth.

Then, spread this mix over the pie filling.

Cover and cook on high for 1.5 - 2 hours.

Served topped with ice cream or whipped cream!


Serves 6.
Without ice cream: 230 cals, 0.5 g fat

This recipe is linked to Slow Cooking Thursday!

In-Season Recipe Swap: Rhubarb

This week, Tammy's theme is rhubarb. Rhubarb is easy to grow in the garden and plentiful year after year. I grew up eating tons of delicious rhubarb recipes... rhubarb torte, rhubarb cake, and strawberry rhubarb dump cake.

This recipe is kind of "dump-cake" like, and super delicious!

Mom's Rhubarb Dessert - Mom

4-6 C sliced rhubarb
1 small can crushed pineapple, with juice
1/2 - 3/4 C sugar
1 pkg (3oz) strawberry jello (or cranberry)
4 C sliced strawberries (or 1-2 C cranberries, if using cranberry jello)
6 T butter
1 yellow cake mix
1 C coconut
1/2 C water + 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Lightly grease a 9x13 glass baking dish. Place sliced rhubarb in the pan and spread out evenly to cover the bottom.

Spread over the rhubarb 1 can of crushed pineapple with the juice. Spread out sliced strawberries and sprinkle with sugar, to taste. Shake jello over the top of all the fruit.

Mix together cake mix with butter and coconut. Sprinkle over the top of the fruit mixture. Press down a bit with your hand. Combine water with vanilla extract and drizzle over the top of the cake.

Bake at 350 for 45-60 minutes until rhubarb is tender and topping begins to brown.

Excellent warm or cold, topped with ice cream or whipping cream.

Whole Wheat Hamburger Rolls

These rolls are amazing... they have the texture and everything of hamburger rolls! They go together in less than 1 hour and are delicious. Thanks, Lynn -- you've done it again.

40-Minute Whole Wheat Hamburger Rolls - Lynn's Kitchen Adventure

1.5 T yeast
1 C + 1 T warm water
1/3 C oil (I used just a little less)
1/4 C sugar (I used less)
1 egg
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 C whole wheat flour
1 1/2 C flour + 1/2 C (as needed)

Dissolve yeast in water. Then, add sugar and oil and allow the yeast mix to rest for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, lightly beat the egg, and add to it salt; stirring to combine.

Add egg mix to the yeast mixture and stir. Slowly add in the flour.

Knead dough, adding enough so that the dough is smooth and elastic. DO NOT LET RISE :)

Cut the dough into 12 (if you want large-sized rolls), or 16 (if you want smaller rolls) sections and roll into balls (hamburger rolls) or logs (brat/hot dog rolls).


I'm still not excellent at shaping these, but they tasted great nonetheless!

Place the rolls on a lightly greased cookie sheet and cover. Let rise/rest for 10-30 minutes. I let mine rise for about 30, allowing them to puff up a bit more (since I opted to make 6 hot dog rolls and 10 hamburger rolls).

Bake at 425 for 8-10 minutes until lightly browned.

What's Cooking?

Happy Memorial Day weekend! It is a true blessing to celebrate our freedom... and what a better way to do it than with beautiful weather, great food and wonderful friends.

This week is my big "free-day" at Sam's Club! I have a 1-day free pass to shop at Sam's club, and I'm looking forward to stocking up. Thanks for all your suggestions! I'll be sure to post what I find :)

In the kitchen this week, we're working on using up what we have, while increasing our fruits and veggies! Our grocery trip should be for produce only, which is wonderful! This week, I'll be posting recipes for:

Whole Wheat Hamburger Buns
Crockpot Porkloin
Fruity Dessert (I have yet to decide which one we're going to try this week)
Pulled BBQ Pork Sandwiches
Raspberry Muffins

Thanks for stopping by our kitchen! Have a wonderful week :)

Many faces of Cauliflower

I don't know about you, but I really enjoy cauliflower. I've only recently started branching out in my preparation of cauliflower -- but these are some of the recipes I've come to enjoy!



Cauliflower absorbs the flavors it is cooked with really well -- so spice it up a bit, you'll enjoy what you get.


Instead of Potatoes...
2 C cauliflower, chopped
1 T cream cheese (fat free or low fat works fine)
1 T butter
2 T Parmesan cheese, grated

Boil cauliflower in about an inch of water for about 6 minutes, until tender. Drain. Then, puree with cream cheese and butter. Stir in the Parmesan cheese, and serve warm.


Instead of Rice...
1 C cauliflower florets, sliced lenthwise
1 leek (white part only), sliced
1 T olive oil
2 T water

Saute the sliced leek in the olive oil. Add 1 C florets and 2 T water. Cover, and cook for 2 minutes. Serve warm.


Instead of Couscous...
2 C cauliflower florets
1 T olive oil
1/8 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. coriander
1/4 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. nutmeg

Toss the cauliflower together with the oil and spices. Place in a glass baking dish and bake at 450 for 25 minutes.

Orange Creamysicles

We love orange creamsicles! Making them yourself is (1) easy and (2) delicious.

Orange Creamysicles

1/2 C half and half
1/2 C whipping cream
1 C orange juice (or 6oz OJ concentrate)


Take your ingredients and mix them in a bowl/cup with a spout.


Pour into popsicle molds.


Freeze for at least 4 hours, or overnight.

Run a popsicle under warm water if you have trouble getting it out of the mold.

Enjoy!

This post is linked to Tasty Tuesday!

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cake

This recipe is one of my favorite ways to use zucchini.  The cake is moist, chocolaty, and perfect topped with whipped cream. This brings back memories of summer with my Grandma and Grandpa :) You can't even taste the zucchini!

We've recently made them into cupcakes... and we are loving that way to enjoy this cake.

Grandma's Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cake - Grandma

Ingredients

• 1/2 C applesauce
• 1/6 C oil
• 1/2 C packed, and slightly heaping brown sugar
• 1/2 C white sugar
• 2 eggs (or 1 egg + 1 egg white)
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 C buttermilk (or, 1/2 C milk + 1 T vinegar)
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. cloves
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 2 1/3 C flour (I mix white and whole wheat)
• 4 T cocoa powder (dark chocolate is our fav!)
• 2 C shredded zucchini
• Dark chocolate chips, to taste

Directions
Cream together applesauce, oil and sugars.

 

If you don't have buttermilk, make some sour milk, and allow it to "curdle" while you mix together the dry ingredients.

In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients and mix well.

 

Add eggs and sour milk to the sugar applesauce mixture.

Then, add dry ingredients to wet ones and stir to combine.

Stir in zucchini.

Pour into a greased 9x13 pan.

Or, divide batter among 24 muffin cups.

 

Sprinkle dark chocolate chips on top. Bake at 325 for 40-45 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.  If baking cupcakes, check after 25-30 minutes.

Allow the cake to cool before slicing and serving.  

If making cupcakes, remove the cupcakes and place them on a cooling rack.

Serve with fresh whipped cream.

This recipe is linked to: Chocolate Friday, Recipe Sharing Monday, Tasty Tuesday, Ingredient Spotlight