Flax Seed Muffins with Orange and Bran

This is so COOL !!  You use the whole orange in this recipe.
I mean everything, peel and all!  And there's lots of other healthy stuff here too.

1  1/2 cups oat bran or oat flour
1 cup flour
1 cup ground flax seed
1 cup bran
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp salt

2 oranges (washed and quartered, zest 1)
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup buttermilk (yogurt or soured milk)
1/2 cup canola oil
2 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup dates, optional

Combine first 6 ingredients in a large bowl, set aside.

Before pulverizing your oranges, zest one of them so you have a bit to sprinkle on top before baking. In a food processor combine brown sugar and oranges.
Here it is after just a few pulses.

Add the balance of the ingredients.

Pour into the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix just until blended.  Add dates if using.

Fill muffin papers, sprinkle on the zest and bake in a 375F oven for 18-20 minutes.

Makes 21 medium muffins

Teriyaki Salmon

Here's another salmon recipe adapted from http://damndelicious.net

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 tbsp. mixed dehydrated vegetable flakes
• 1 tsp parsley
• 1 tsp chives
• 2-3 drops sesame seed oil
• 1 cup water
• 4 salmon filets

Mix cornstarch and 1/4 cup water, set aside.
Mix the remaining ingredients and simmer in a saucepan over medium heat,  whisk in the cornstarch/water. Cook 2 minutes or until sauce thickens slightly.  Cool completely.

Put salmon in a ziplock bag, pour sauce over and marinate at least 30 minutes or overnight.

Place on a parchment lined baking sheet with some of the sauce and bake in a 400F oven for 20 minutes.

You might also like:

http://hotandcoldrunningmom.blogspot.ca/2014/08/nutty-salmon-fillets.html

http://hotandcoldrunningmom.blogspot.ca/2013/07/cedar-plank-salmon-with-mixed-greens.html

Three Meat Pie (La Tourtière)

This recipe makes 2 pies so you can have one today and freeze the other one for a day when you don't have time to cook. (Like that ever happens, right?)

Don't forget to checkout the mashed potato-topped variation at the bottom of this recipe too.

Ingredients:

2  1/2 lbs ground meat trio (equal mix pork, veal, beef)
3 small onions, chopped
1/2 cup water
1  1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp savory
1 medium apple, shredded
1/2 cup plain or Italian bread crumbs
1 carrot, shredded
2-3 celery stalks (with leaves) chopped

2 - 9 inch uncooked pie shells

Mix everything together in a large pan and fry just until there is no longer any pink meat.  Remove from heat.

Once cooled, fill the pie shells, cover with top crust and seal.
Brush with egg wash (beaten egg with a little milk or water) or simply with milk like I did here.  I sprinkled the top with some coarse salt seasoned with herbs.

Bake in a 425F oven for 25 minutes.

If you are freezing one pie don't bake it now.  Simply cover with foil, label with the instructions for defrosting and baking.  Put it in the freezer.  When you want it just defrost in fridge for 6 hours and bake as above.

Serve with gravy or BBQ sauce.

And a variation is to put a layer of meat in the shell and top it with a layer of mashed potatoes.

Bake as above. 

Double Chocolate Tapioca

It's called minute tapioca for a reason.  It only takes a few minutes and you have a creamy dessert. Add chocolate, and well, you add chocolate to just about anything and it makes it better.  Funny thing......everyone here said it tasted like cinnamon, but no cinnamon was added.  Funny.

1/3 cup sugar
3 tbsps minute tapioca
pinch salt
3 cups milk
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
3 tbsps. cocoa
2 tbsps. mini chocolate chips

Whisk together in a saucepan the sugar, tapioca, salt, milk, egg and cocoa.  Let stand 5 minutes.

Slowly cook over medium heat, whisking constantly.  Once it starts to get warm add the chocolate chips.  Continue cooking for a total of 15-17 minutes.  Remove from heat and add vanilla.  Let cool 15 minutes, whisking a couple of times.
Pour into serving bowls and cover with a piece of waxed paper to avoid a skin forming on top.

Add a dollop of whipped cream if desired.

Serves 6

Ham 'n Cheese Waffles

This is a tasty brunch waffle. The recipe makes 19 so you can eat some now and freeze some to pop in the toaster for a quick breakfast later.  If you don't want to make so many the recipe may be divided in half.

Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat flour
1  1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup cornmeal
2 tbsps sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tsps baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp chili powder  

4 eggs
3 cups buttermilk (or soured milk)
1/2 cup melted butter
1  1/2 cups chopped ham
1  1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Mix together the milk and melted butter. (If you don't have buttermilk simply add a tsp of vinegar to your milk)  Add eggs and milk/butter to a well in the center of the flour.  The batter will be a bit lumpy. Add the ham and cheese and stir together.

Preheat your waffle iron and prepare with cooking spray (just once, not each time you pour the batter in).

Put about 1/3 cup batter in each waffle form.  Check your soup ladle for this.  Mine was exactly the size I needed.

Close the waffle iron and cook for about 3 minutes, remove and continue until all the batter is used.

Serve with maple syrup or sweet chili sauce.

Or both : - )

Spread any leftover waffles in a single layer on a parchment lined baking sheet and put in the freezer for 1 hour.  Remove and place them in a ziplok bag, removing as much air as possible (use a straw).  Label and you're good to go!

Note:  I saw this trick on Pinterest for cleaning your waffle iron.  When finished place 2 wet paper towels on the iron and close for a minute or 2.  It makes the wipe up easier.  Easier still would be if I had a waffle iron with removable griddles but I digress!

Recipe adapted from Today's Parent

Spicy Roasted Butternut Squash

Since butternut squash is one of the hardest vegetables you'll find,  you'll need to pierce the whole squash a couple of times then pop it in the oven at 400F for 25 minutes to make it alot easier to cut.

Once cooled you can peel it, scoop out the seeds and cube it.

Put the cubes in a bag with a couple of tbsps olive oil and toss. 

Mix these spices together and toss with the squash:

1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 - 1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp celery seed
1/4 - 1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp salt

Spread the squash out on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake at 400F for 25 minutes.  Broil another 4-5 minutes.

You can serve it plain, but it does go well with sour cream.

Creamy Basil Baked Pasta

Comfort food for me is anything pasta.  This is a good one. 

2 tbsps olive oil
2 tbsps butter
4 tbsps flour
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups chicken broth
1  1/2 cups 10 % cream
1/4 cup chopped sundried tomatoes
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
1 small hot chili pepper, chopped
1 tsp lemon zest
454 g medium shell pasta
1/2 tsp salt, plus more for pasta water
nutmeg
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
1/4 cup bread crumbs

Heat oil and butter to medium and add garlic. Add flour stirring well, then the chicken broth and continue to whisk for a couple of minutes.  Add chili, sundried tomatoes and salt.  Pour in the cream.  In the meantime cook the pasta and drain.

Remove sauce from heat and add basil and lemon zest.  Give it a little shake of nutmeg and toss the sauce with the cooked pasta.

Prepare a casserole dish with cooking spray, then pour the pasta and sauce in.
Shred the cheese and toss with bread crumbs.

Sprinkle over pasta and bake at 350F for 25 minutes. Set 5-10 minutes before serving.

Beet Bread

I started off using this peasant bread recipe from
www.alexandracooks.com

 Ingredients

• 4 cups (510 g | 1 lb. 2 oz) all-purpose flour* (do not use bleached all-purpose)
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 2 cups lukewarm water
• 2 to 3 teaspoons sugar 
• 2 teaspoons active-dry yeast
• room temperature butter, about 2 tablespoons

Take 1/2 cup boiling water and add 1  1/2 cups cold.  That will give you the right temperature for lukewarm water. Add the sugar and dissolve, then sprinkle the yeast over top. Don't stir.  Let stand 15 minutes then, once foamy, mix in the flour and salt.

I only made half the recipe with beets and left the other half white.  It's a wet dough so it's kind of tricky to separate in half.  I used a large spoon to pull it apart and you have to kind of plop it into separate bowls.

For the beet bread wear gloves and peel 1 small raw beet.

Slice and put in blender or food processor to purée, adding 1/4 cup milk.

Final measure is about 3/4 cup beet purée. (Once I baked this bread I found it very beety which is very good if you really like the taste of beets.  Personally I think I would only add a little less than 1/2 cup of the beet purée next time.)

Add 1/2 cup flour and an extra teaspoon or two of sugar to the beet dough half of the bread. Mix well.

Turn oven on to 170F for a couple of minutes then turn off.  It will be warm enough for the bread to rise in. In 2 greased bowls set the dough to rise.  Cover each bowl with a damp tea towel and put in previously warmed oven for 2 hours.

Once risen, butter pyrex bowls (any oven-proof bowl) and turn the dough into each.  The dough will be very goopy. Rest 20 minutes.

Place a pan of water on the lower rack.

Bake in a 425F oven for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 375F for an additional 15 - 20 minutes.

Turn the bread out onto a rack to cool.

You can see on the right how I didn't have all the beets completely mixed in.  It's a little streaky so you want to make sure the beets are well mixed into the dough.

But I love the colour!

Eat 'em up!

Fresh Pumpkin Cookies

I had used this little pumpkin as part of a table centerpiece.  It was just about the size of a softball. When I had the oven on for something else I put it in there too, right on the rack.  At 375F for 40-50 minutes this little guy was cooked.  Check it by piercing with a fork.  It should be soft.
Once cooled you can remove the seeds and scoop out the flesh.  I got 5 tbsps. of pumpkin which was perfect for this recipe.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup melted margarine
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
5 tbsps. cooked pumpkin

1  1/4 cups flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1  1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup Skor toffee bits
1/4 cup chopped pecans

Mix the first 5 ingredients together. If you don't like to see the fibres of the pumpkin, then put it in a food processor or blender to purée first.  Otherwise just mash it abit with a fork.  Mix all the dry ingredients together.  Mix the two together, cover in plastic wrap and chill 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350F.  Scoop the dough into 1  1/2 tbsp sized balls, place on parchment lined baking sheet and flatten with a floured fork.

Here you can see the pumpkin fibres in the dough.

Bake 8-10 minutes.

Yield:  2  1/2 dozen