Black and Blue Muffins

Pin It Breakfast food is amazing any time of day.  I love having a muffin as a snack.  I also love sharing breakfast goodies with others.  These were sent to work with my husband along with some Snickerdoodle Muffins and all I got back was an empty platter.  I also tried to make these healthier by adding some whole wheat flour and substituting some of the oil with applesauce.  If whole wheat isn't your thing feel free to use all white flour. 

Black and Blue Muffins
1 1/2 cups allpurpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup sugar
3 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1 cup milk
1/8 cup oil
1/8 cup unsweetened applesauce
3/4 cup blueberries
3/4 cup blackberries

Topping:
2 Tbsp butter
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup brown sugar

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Generously spray muffin pans with cooking spray.
2. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and spices in a bowl.
3. Make a well in the middle and add wet ingredients to the middle. Stir with a fork until just combined. Batter will be lumpy.
4. Stir in berries.
5. In a separate bowl use a pastry cutter or fork to cut butter  into flour and sugar until it forms pea size balls. 
6. Spoon batter into 12 muffin cups. Sprinkle topping on top of muffins.
7. Bake 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Vegetable Fried Rice

Pin It Looking for a quick and delicious side dish?  Look no further.  This fried rice is super fast and easy and you probably have all of the ingredients in your fridge right now.  And if you don't you can definitely substitute with what you have.

Vegetable Fried Rice
2 cups cooked rice
1 egg
1 onion, diced
1/4 cup shredded carrots
1/4 cup frozen peas
1/4 cup frozen edamame
1/2 bell pepper, diced
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
3-5 Tbsp soy sauce
Optional: dash of soyaki sauce
green onions for garnish

1. Heat oil in a large skillet or wok.  Add vegetables and stir fry until starting to get brown and tender.
2. Add egg to skillet and stir vigorously until cooked and broken into bits.
3. Stir in rice and soy sauce.  Cook for about 2 minutes or until heated through.

Chocolate Chip Banana Cake Bars

Pin It Another awesome use for over ripe bananas!  These bars are a cross between banana bread and chocolate chip cookies.  It definitely has a more cake-like consistency than banana bread or muffins.  It makes a great breakfast or fast snack with a glass of milk.  I made a pan of these for work and they were gobbled up quite quickly.

Chocolate Chip Banana Cake
Original Recipe from Onesie Twosie
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter or margarine
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 medium sized bananas, mashed
1 large egg
1 1/2 - 2 cups chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a jelly roll pan (or 9x13 pan for thicker bars).
2. Beat butter and both sugars until creamy.  Add bananas, vanilla and egg.  Mis until smooth.
3. Slowly add flour, baking powder and salt.
4. Stir in chocolate chips.
5. Spread mixture into pan. Optional: Sprinkle top with brown sugar
6. bake 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
6.

Garden Vegetable Medley

Pin It My parents have an awesome garden and they are very generous with sharing their vegetables with me.  All of the veggies, except the mushrooms came from their garden for this dish.  This is a simple substitute for your usual vegetable at dinner.  It also looks pretty on your plate.  You could use any vegetables that you have in you fridge or that you grab from the farmer's market.  I think eggplant or asparagus would be an excellent addition.

Garden Vegetable Medley
1/2 lb fresh green beans, trimmed an cut in half
1/2 white onion, thinly sliced
1 green pepper, thinly sliced
1 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
1 small summer squash, thinly sliced
1/3 cup sliced mushrooms
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1-2 Tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper

1. In a large skillet heat olive oil.
2. Add veggies and garlic and saute until tender, about 5 minutes.
3. Season with salt and pepper.

Mixed Berry Breakfast Cake

Pin It My husband likes to take baked goodies to work.  I love making baked goodies so it works out perfectly.  This is probably one of the best coffeecake recipes I have ever tried.  It was so good I made it twice in one weekend because I was sad I gave the first one away.  It is fluffy, moist, berry perfection.  It is absolutely perfect with a cup of coffee.  It's the perfect way to start your morning.

Shared at Weekend Potluck and Strut Your Stuff Saturday.

Mixed Berry Breakfast Cake
Recipe adapted from Eat Drink Pretty
1 stick butter, softened
1 (8 ounce) package nonfat cream cheese
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 cup milk
2-3 cups fresh or frozen mixed berries, unthawed ( I used blueberries, blackberries and raspberries)

Topping:
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large mixing bowl cream butter and cream cheese until smooth.
3. Beat in sugar and eggs until fluffy.  Add vanilla extract.
4. Sift together flour, salt and baking powder.
5. Slowly add dry mixture to wet, alternating with milk, until just mixed.
6. Stir in berries.
7. Smooth batter into a greased 9x13 pan.
8. Mix cinnamon and sugar.  Sprinkle on top of batter.
9. Bake 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool before cutting.

Grilled Cauliflower

Pin It I'm getting the most out of my grill before it is too cold to go outside.  I was grilling some chicken skewers for dinner and was planning on making cauliflower as a side dish.  Well I had a few extra skewers so I decided to put the cauliflower on and see what would happen if I grilled it.  The result was terrific.  I was also incredibly easy.  This is going to become a regular side dish when we grill.

Grilled Cauliflower
1/2 head cauliflower, chopped into florets
4 Tbsp butter, melted
2 Tbsp Mrs. Dash Southwest Chipotle Seasoning (or seasoning of choice)

1. Skewer cauliflower on wooden or metal skewers.
2. Brush with butter and sprinkle with seasoning.
3. Grill over high heat for about 10 minutes or until tender, turning several times.  Feel free to add additional butter or seasoning as it cooks.

Tiny Steakhouse Potatoes

Pin It I love teeny tiny tiny potatoes from Trader Joe's.  They cook so fast and they look good on your plate.  I had a bag that I was just planning on roasting with Albert's go-to seasoning Season All, but wanted to switch it up a bit.  We were having steak for dinner so my steak seasoning was already out on the counter.  I sprinkled some on the potatoes before baking.  I loved the smokey, peppery flavor that it gave the potatoes.  Dip them in a little steak sauce or ketchup and they are amazing!

 

 

Tiny Steakhouse Potatoes
1 lb Teeny Tiny Potatoes, or potatoes cut into small chunks
1 Tbsp olive oil
1-2 Tbsp steak seasoning

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Place potatoes on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil.  Toss to coat.
3. Sprinkle with steak seasoning.
4. Bake 25-35 minutes or until crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.   (I test mine by poking them with a fork) I also recommend turning the potatoes half way through baking to ensure they are crispy on all sides.