S’more Cereal Bars

~ lk529 ~ Leave a comment

When I was sorting out my planner for the month of August I decided to start writing down food holidays, too. Just in case I manage to be on top of it enough to look at my planner early enough in the day to embrace the holidays on my social media platforms.

But when I saw that today is National S’mores Day I didn’t need any further excuse to make something. I had Rice Krispie Treats on my mind and thought it’d be a simply way to celebrate s’mores without the campfire. I decided to let the butter brown before adding the marshmallows, hoping it’d give it a little bit of a smokey quality. I mixed Rice Krispie cereal and Golden Graham cereal, and stirred in some chocolate chips.

My husband and I could hardly wait for the boys to finally go to bed so we could enjoy one of these s’more cereal bars.

I hope you all have a wonderful National S’mores Day!

S’more Cereal Bars

Ingredients:

  • 3 tbsp butter
  • 1 bag (10 oz) marshmallows
  • 4 C golden grahams
  • 2 C rice krispies
  • 1 1/2 C chocolate chips

Steps:

  1. Melt butter in a large pot over medium-low heat. Cook until butter is golden brown.
  2. Add marshmallows, cook until melted and smooth. Remove from heat. Stir in the cereal. Quickly mix in the chocolate chips.
  3. Lightly spray a casserole dish with cooking spray. Spread cereal bars into the prepared pan. Allow to cool before cutting.

S'more Cereal Bars Sew You Think You Can Cook

#SundaySupper: Summer Corn

~ lk529 ~ 18 Comments

I have been waiting all year for fresh summer corn! I couldn’t have been more excited to see the theme for today’s #SundaySupper. I can’t wait to check out everyone’s incredible recipes to find new and exciting ways to prepare one of my favorite grains (corn isn’t a vegetable, you know)! Be sure to scroll past my recipe to check out what everyone made. Thanks to Ellen Folkman from Family Around the Table for hosting this weekend.

I do have to say, fresh corn is something that California just doesn’t have right. I have been disappointed in what pops up at the grocery stores. It’s probably the only thing (other than our friends) I miss about Ohio. Sigh. When I go visit my parents at the lake next month they better be prepared for lots of corn dishes made with Wisconsin grown corn on the cob. Now if only I could get it back to Cali.

Our farmers market near our home doesn’t have corn so I planned on driving to the larger one to see what was available. But. My excursion was halted before I got out of the driveway. I’d loaded up the boys and promised a trip to the farmers market and to a friends’ house for a playdate. Neither of those things were able to come to fruition thanks to our garage door.

The garage door broke. It’s had sticking problems since we moved in, but nothing that couldn’t be overcome by pushing the button a couple of extra times. But now, here I was with the car out of the garage and a baby screaming bloody murder. The garage door was neither up nor down and I couldn’t get it to go all the way up so I could return the van to its parking place. Luckily a neighbor was just leaving and he took the time to help me out. We discovered that the cable was completely off the pulley. I grabbed a step stool and he put it back for me. Unfortunately, it still didn’t do the trick. He was able to get the door completely open for me and I put the car back. I then had to do a mental exercise and take anything and everything I would need out of the trunk as I wouldn’t be able to get into it once I muscled the garage door closed. I took out the big double stroller, the beach blanket, and some sand toys.

I had to cancel with our friends. Instead, she kindly offered to pick up whatever I needed from the market and to come over to our house. She brought me some fresh white corn so I could still make my dish for today’s event!

The dish I’d been dreaming about was one in Rachael Ray’s Look + Cook Cookbook. How could I pass up cream, corn, and pasta!? Oh, and there’s bacon involved, too. I made this dinner when we invited over one of my husband’s coworkers and his girlfriend. The pasta was a hit and there wasn’t any leftover. Funnily enough, Firecracker fell asleep in my husband’s arms at the table and Treat fell asleep shortly thereafter, allowing us adults to enjoy the sunset with a cocktail in hand. (We’ve told them they need to come to dinner every day!)

Fresh Corn Fettuccine

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb fettuccine
  • 5 ears corn on the cob, sucked and kernels cut off the cob
  • 1 C heavy cream
  • 5 strips center-cut bacon, diced
  • 2 large shallots, diced
  • 1 bell pepper (I used 2 very small green ones we picked), diced
  • 1/2 C vegetable stock
  • 2 tsp dried thyme
  • 1 tomato, diced
  • hot sauce (to taste)
  • 1/2 – 1 C shredded parmesan cheese
  • 1/2 C fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
  • 1/2 C fresh basil, chopped

Steps:

  1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain and set aside.
  2. Put 1/4 of the corn kernels in a food processor with the cream. Blend until smooth, season with S+P.
  3. In a large skillet, cook bacon over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes. Add the remaining corn, shallots, bell pepper, S+P, cook another 5 minutes until veggies are tender. Stir in the stock, thyme, and corn/cream mixture. Reduce the heat and simmer until slightly thickened. Gently stir in the tomato. Season to taste with hot sauce, S+P.
  4. Toss cooked pasta into the sauce with 1/2 C Parmesan cheese and the parsley. Garnish with basil and extra cheese.

*This recipe is adapted from Rachael Ray’s Look + Cook*

Fresh Corn Fettuccini for #SundaySupper from Sew You Think You Can Cook

Appetizer

Breakfast

Salad

Main Dish

Side Dish

Dessert

Sunday Supper MovementJoin the #SundaySupper conversation on twitter on Sunday! We tweet throughout the day and share recipes from all over the world. Our weekly chat starts at 7:00 pm ET. Follow the #SundaySupper hashtag and remember to include it in your tweets to join in the chat. To get more great Sunday Supper Recipes, visit our website or check out our Pinterest board.

Would you like to join the Sunday Supper Movement? It’s easy. You can sign up by clicking here: Sunday Supper Movement

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Three Bean Salad

~ lk529 ~ 10 Comments

You guys, I have a story to share.

And it has absolutely nothing to do with the side dish I’m sharing with you. A dish that’s perfect for potlucks and looks like summer.

Today was a rough day. Tempers were running both short and high. The day started 45 minutes too early (when you have two energetic little boys at home, that 45 minutes is precious!), the broken garage door (full story on that Sunday) was being uncooperative putting me in a bad mood I couldn’t snap out of, and naps were not taken. My 2 year old didn’t listen even a little bit at the playground, and I have a “three strikes you’re out” rule which cut our trip quite short.

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When we got home all he wanted to do was play in his Duck Pond Water Table patio. I told him he had to prove to me that he could listen. He was charged with going into his room, getting a book, and sitting still while I read to him. My kid came back with a Chick-fil-A kid’s meal board book – a 4 sentence novel! FullSizeRender (1)Seriously, is my child that smart or was it simply coincidental? After some time playing in the water the boys had their first shared bath. Firecracker asked for dinner, which he didn’t eat. Treat was fussy, so I assumed he was also hungry (he did eat). At 6:20pm both boys were asleep at the table. Thankfully my husband was on his way home and I didn’t have to figure out how I was going to wriggle us out of our position. (See photo. –>)

It’s now 9pm and the boys are still sleeping in their beds! I’m a little nervous for what that means my tomorrow will look like. But I’m grateful for the date my husband and I ended up getting. We cooked dinner together and ate it on the patio. We then shared the kitchen clean up, and watched non-cartoon television. Ah, the exciting life of parents of young children.

Firecracker ended up waking around 9:30. He needed to come upstairs for a cup of water and to watch his nighttime programming. He then snuggled in our bed for a little bit before asking to go lay down in his room. Treat stayed asleep until his typical midnight awakening, and 4, and both were up between 6-6:30.

Three Bean Salad

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 lb fresh green beans, cut in 1/2″ pieces
  • 1 can (15 oz) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • 1 can (15 oz) red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 bell pepper, diced (I used a combination of orange and red)
  • 1/2 red onion, diced
  • 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley (I used Gourmet Garden lightly dried parsley)
  • 1/4 C + 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1/4 C canola oil
  • 3 tbsp agave

Steps: 

  1. Cook green beans in a pot of boiling salted water for 4 minutes, or until desired tenderness is achieved. Drain and place the beans in a bowl of cold water to stop the cooking process. Drain.
  2. Toss green beans, chickpeas, kidney beans, pepper, and parsley in a large bowl.
  3. In a measuring cup, whisk together the vinegar, oil, and agave. Season to taste with S+P. Dress bean salad with as much dressing as desired.

*This recipe is adapted from Marcie at http://flavorthemoments.com/fresh-and-easy-three-bean-salad/*

Three Bean Salad - Sew You Think You Can Cook

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links.

#FoodieExtravaganza: Lemonade

~ lk529 ~ 15 Comments

foodieextravaganza-300

Happy August, everyone! August is a great month, although there aren’t any legal holidays to get you a day or two off of work. August is the final month of summer, the month when most people are taking family vacations, and the month that holds my birthday!

August also has some of the best foodie holidays. It’s National Brownies At Brunch Month (say, whaaat?!), National S’mores Day is the 10th, and the last day of the month is Eat Outdoors Day (what a fun family tradition to start!). Two years ago #FoodieExtravaganza celebrated waffles and last year potatoes.

The Foodie Extravaganza is a monthly party hosted by bloggers who love food! Each month we incorporate one main ingredient or theme into recipes to share with you. We take turns hosting and this month, it’s my turn! I decided on Lemonade Day, which falls on the 20th. Why? Because lemonade is one of my favorite summertime treats. I make a minimum of 2 homemade lemonades once summer hits. (You can read more about my citrus juicing love here.)

I decided to take a different approach with this year’s new lemonade. No sugar! Instead, this lemonade gets its sweetness from honey. You can alter how cloyingly sweet you want your beverage to be by playing around with different honey varieties. (About.com has a great resource for describing the different flavor profiles of each type of honey.)

Honey Mint Lemonade Sew You Think You Can Cook

Honey Mint Lemonade

Ingredients:

  • 2 C freshly squeezed lemon juice (from 3 lb lemons)
  • 9 C water, divided use
  • 1/4 C honey (any variety of your choosing)
  • 3 sprigs fresh mint
  • sparkling water for serving (optional)

Steps:

  1. Microwave 1 C water for 1 minute, or until hot but not boiling. Stir honey into hot water until dissolved. Add mint and steep 5 minutes. Remove mint and discard.
  2. Combine honey mixture, lemon juice, and remaining 8 C water in a pitcher.
  3. Option to add a splash of sparkling water to serve.

*This recipe was inspired by SkinnyMs at http://skinnyms.com/homemade-honey-lemonade-with-fresh-mint-recipe/*

Honey Mint Lemonade for #FoodieExtravaganza from Sew You Think You Can Cook

Be sure to check out these other lemonades:

Dairy-Free Frosted Lemonade by Cookaholic Wife

Frosty Raw Strawberry Lemonade by Fearlessly Creative Mammas

Lemony White Sangria by Hardly A Goddess

Papaya Lemonade (or cocktail!) by Caroline’s Cooking

Passion Tea Lemonade by Making Miracles

Peachy Lemonade by A Day in the Life on the Farm

Pineapple Pink Lemonade Shaved Ice by Food Lust People Love

Shikanji (Indian Lemonade) by Tara’s Multicultural Table

Sparkling Apple and Watermelon Lemonade Spritzers by Sneha’s Recipe

Sparkling Blue Basil Lemonade by Culinary Adventures with Camilla

Sparkling Milk Lemonade by Our Good Life

If you are a blogger and would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our Facebook page Foodie Extravaganza. We would love to have you! If you’re a spectator looking for delicious tid-bits check out our Foodie Extravaganza Pinterest Board! Looking for our previous parties? Check them out HERE.

Peanut Butter Crepes

~ lk529 ~ 1 Comment

Last month we went strawberry picking. Battling traffic for 2 1/2 hours (one way) for 50 minutes of picking time was absolutely worth it! These strawberries had the sweetest scent I’d ever sniffed. We had 4 1/2 pounds of strawberries making the road trip back home with us. Some green bell peppers, green beans, cherry tomatoes, and local honey hitched a ride, too.

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I’d put out a request to some of my local SoCal bloggers for their best strawberry recipes. And then, I didn’t use a single one! These strawberries barely made it a week. (To be fair, I froze about a third of them right away.) When something is just that good you almost don’t want to waste it as an ingredient. Instead, I decided to do crepes for dinner, filling them with our freshly picked strawberries.

I was quite hesitant with the crepe batter. It’s essentially all egg white and some peanut butter. I thought, “There’s no way!” But, I found the recipe from Natural Noshing’s Secret Recipe Club reveal of my dear friend Tara’s blog. I told myself that, if two people can succeed with these crepes, then it’s bound to work!

The first crepe is always a throw away – me, I ended up with a severely burnt crepe due to a child required my immediate attention. I told myself, “one more try”. And if it doesn’t work, I’ll throw in a bunch of flour and just make regular pancakes. Plan B was never needed. The only problem is that this recipe doesn’t make very many crepes! However, the use of peanut butter actually makes them filling and satisfying enough to feed 2 (and a half) people. You can always stretch out the crepes with whatever fillings you decide.

My crepes were filled with softened cream cheese, cinnamon sugar, and fresh sliced strawberries. Stuart filled his crepes with Nutella, fresh sliced strawberries, and honey. Firecracker had his with Nutella and fresh sliced strawberries.

Other filling options could include banana, jelly, chocolate chips, and/or maple syrup.

Peanut Butter Crepes

Ingredients:

  • 1 whole egg
  • 6 egg whites
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 heaping tbsp sugar
  • 2 tbsp creamy peanut butter

Steps:

  1. Using a hand mixer, whisk the egg and egg whites until frothy. Add in the vanilla, sugar, and peanut butter until smooth.
  2. Pour 1/4 C batter into a small greased skillet. (I used 1-2 tsp butter between each crepe) Swirl the pan around to create an even crepe. Once the surface bubbles flip and cook another minute. Remove, repeat with remaining batter.
  3. Serve with desired fillings.

*This recipe is adapted from Nora at https://naturalnoshing.wordpress.com/2015/07/26/peanut-butter-crepes-with-cinnamon-cream-cheese-filling-grain-free-src/*

Peanut Butter Crepes Sew You Think You Can Cook

And if you need an idea for all those leftover egg yolks, might I suggest chocolate frozen custard?

#SundaySupper: Kids Favorite Recipes

~ lk529 ~ 20 Comments

I got pretty excited when I saw the theme for this weekend’s Sunday Supper announced a few weeks ago. Kids Favorites! As a relatively new mom, I can answer this prompt from the parental side of the equation.(If you were asking me as a child, my answer would have been Kraft mac and cheese…)

When I thought about what my 2 year old likes to eat, I immediately thought: chocolate. He will occasionally come up to me and straight up ask for chocolate. Now, when he asks for chocolate he really means Nutella. So really… I could just share a recipe for my kid’s favorite food… It’d look like this: Open jar of Nutella, provide a spoon, have a wet napkin handy.

I decided to expand upon that. Another of his favorites: ice cream. I could have done a Nutella ice cream, but when I had this planned on my menu my dad was here for Firecracker’s 2nd birthday. My dad, who is allergic to nuts, needs to have a little something sweet after dinner, so I stuck with plain chocolate. In all actuality, I kind of made the frozen custard more for my dad than for my son; not that Firecracker didn’t get excited for his small bowl of ice cream!

Chocolate Frozen Custard (toddler) Sew You Think You Can Cook

I started out with one ice cream recipe in mind and then completely switched it up to make a frozen custard as I found myself with 5 egg yolks leftover from a crepe recipe that I’ll be sharing another day.

This ice cream or frozen custard, if you will, is incredibly rich and fully intended for those who adore chocolate. I found serving it with mint or raspberries helped cut the richness. My husband was out of town for work the week after I made this and he was quite bummed to discover that I’d only left him one serving when he returned! Sorry, I’m not sorry.

A big thank you to Ellen of Family Around the Table for hosting a great event. To discover more dishes loved by children, scroll past my recipe.

Chocolate Frozen Custard

Ingredients:

  • 3 C heavy cream, divided use
  • 1/4 C unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 C semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 5 egg yolks
  • 1/3 C sugar

Steps:

  1. Combine 1 1/2 C heavy cream with the cocoa powder in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk continuously until the mixture is smooth. Remove from heat, add the chocolate chips, and stir until melted. Mix in the vanilla. Set aside. (Having only one medium saucepan, I simply scraped the mixture using a spatula into a glass bowl.)
  2. In a medium bowl, vigorously whisk the egg yolks with the sugar until pale yellow.
  3. In another (if you have it) saucepan, heat remaining 1 1/2 C heavy cream over medium heat. Bring to a simmer.
  4. Temper the egg yolks: Take about 1/4 C of the hot cream and whisk into eggs. Constantly whisking, add eggs to milk. Cook over low heat, stirring continuously with a wooden spoon, until the mixture thickens and reaches 170 degrees F. The custard should coat the back of a spoon so that your finger will leave a path.
  5. Strain the custard into a large bowl. Stir in the chocolate mixture from Step 1. Place the bowl of custard in a bowl of ice water to cool, stirring occasionally for 10-20 minutes. (Don’t let the water into the custard!)
  6. Cover the custard with plastic wrap, making sure to make contact with the custard. Place in the refrigerator a minimum of 3 hours.
  7. Follow ice cream maker instructions and freeze. Set frozen custard out at room temperature a few minutes prior to serving.

*This recipe is modified from Sara at http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-mexican-chocolate-and-almond-ice-cream-dessert-recipes-from-the-kitchn-59333*

Chocolate Frozen Custard for #SundaySupper from Sew You Think You Can Cook

Appetizers

Snacks

Main Dish

Desserts

Sunday Supper MovementJoin the #SundaySupper conversation on twitter on Sunday! We tweet throughout the day and share recipes from all over the world. Our weekly chat starts at 7:00 pm ET. Follow the #SundaySupper hashtag and remember to include it in your tweets to join in the chat. To get more great Sunday Supper Recipes, visit our website or check out our Pinterest board.

Would you like to join the Sunday Supper Movement? It’s easy. You can sign up by clicking here: Sunday Supper Movement

Chicken and Broccoli Teriyaki

~ lk529 ~ 15 Comments

I think kids have a natural-born radar for sweets. The other day I was enjoying a homemade rice krispie treat and Firecracker walked over to me and took a bite of it right out of my hand. Now, he’s never seen a rice krispie treat before, how was he to know what it was?! He wouldn’t have done the same thing if it were celery in my hand instead. I was highly amused and slightly baffled.

While I’m on that note: Can someone please explain to me why if it comes out of a package or box my 2 year old will devour it?

As is normally the case if it comes from a restaurant. Chicken Teriyaki from the mall food court, perfect. Chicken Teriyaki made by Mom, no thanks. Maybe he sensed that the chicken wasn’t battered and fried…? My 8 month old enjoyed it at any rate. I think my husband enjoyed it most of all, if only just for the excuse to use his Darth Vader Lightsaber Chopsticks.

Chicken and Broccoli Teriyaki

Ingredients:

  • 2/3 C sugar
  • 1/2 C + 2 tbsp water, divided use
  • 1/3 C soy sauce
  • juice 1/2 lemon
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 tsp grated ginger
  • 2 tbsp cornstarch
  • 2 tsp canola oil
  • 1 large chicken breast, chopped or sliced
  • 2 C broccoli florets
  • 1-2 scallions, thinly sliced (optional)

Steps:

  1. Combine sugar, 1/2 C water, soy sauce, lemon juice, garlic, and ginger in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to a simmer. In a small bowl whisk together the cornstarch and 2 tsbp water until smooth. Add to the sauce. Allow sauce to thicken over low heat.
  2. In a wok or large skillet, heat canola oil over medium-high heat. Season chicken with S+P, saute chicken until browned and fully cooked. Add the broccoli to the pan and cook until tender.
  3. Add as much teriyaki sauce to the chicken and broccoli as desired, tossing to coat.
  4. Serve over a bed of rice and garnish of scallions.

*The sauce recipe is adapted from Kylee at http://www.kyleecooks.com/2016/06/homemade-teriyaki-sauce.html*

Chicken and Broccoli Teriyaki Sew You Think You Can Cook

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Tuesday Tattles: 2nd Birthday

~ lk529 ~ 18 Comments

Tuesday Tattles

It’s finally time to share my Firecracker’s second birthday party, with you!

When we moved to California and became regulars at the playground I quickly realized it’d be a great place to have the kids’ birthday parties. I scoped out the venue for months to determine when would be the best time of day to throw a party at a public park, to figure out if it’d be allowed, and to decide which picnic table to claim. I then had to start asking around about how big the 4th of July got around here. The answer was a resounding “crazy!” So I knew that we simply wouldn’t be able to celebrate on THE day. (Good thing it wasn’t his 1st birthday!)

We celebrated on a Sunday at 10:30 am. Firecracker is only two weeks older than our friends’ son and so we did a dual birthday bash for the 2 year olds. Our guest lists would have been identical anyway. The party was attended by other families who moved out to California from Ohio the same time we did. And by happy coincidence, my dad had meetings in Los Angeles the following week so my parents came out for the party and my mom stayed out here to play and help with the kids while my dad was in his meetings!

IMG_9583I had originally planned (aka – when he was born I picked out his first four birthday themes) on having an Auburn themed birthday party. It was hard for me to change my mind, but I knew that my train obsessed toddler would much prefer a train themed party. So, I let go of my planning and switched gears.

This party was much smaller than his 1st birthday, so instead of ordering a cake, I decided to simply make cupcakes. I made 4 dozen cupcakes – way more than I needed. About half of them ended up in my freezer unfrosted. I displayed the cupcakes on Twizzler train tracks on our dining table. I made Busy Day Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting and Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes, my friend made the frosting for the vanilla cupcakes.

Cupcakes for a Train Themed 2nd Birthday Party

 

Down at the playground we set up a table with snacks. I cut out black circles and taped them to disposable aluminum loaf pans to create train cars. My friend had popsicle sticks which we used to create a track for the food.

A fruit train of pineapple, cherries, and red and green grapes was led by Orange Cream Dip and Chocolate Hummus. A veggie train of cherry tomatoes, broccoli and cauliflower, and carrots was led by Sour Cream and Onion Dip and Ranch. We also had a container of hummus. Salty snacks of pretzel sticks, potato chips, and “pigs” in a blanket joined the party, too. I traced a train cookie cutter to cut out the labels for the respective dips.

A train themed 2nd Birthday Party

After a couple of hours at the playground we moved the party to our place for grilling and cupcakes.

Decorations were fairly minimal too. I used the major Thomas and Friends character colors as my inspiration, blue, red, and green for Thomas, James, and Percy, respectively. I wrapped streamers around the banister for the stairs and tied some balloons on each end of the staircase. Balloons were attached to chairs at either end of the table were the cupcakes were displayed. Two sets (1 balloon of each color) of balloons were placed on Thomas the Tank Engine balloon weights and taken down to the playground to bookend our picnic table.

The biggest decorating endeavor was the Happy Birthday Banner. The banner was placed above our awesome 80’s style mirrored fireplace. I didn’t have a single hole puncher (I do now!) and couldn’t fit the train shapes in our stand 3 hole puncher, so my mom strung the banners together with a needle and thin yarn.

I found templates for a train engine, train car, and caboose through Google searching. I printed those out on colored card stock. I had two blue trains for the birthday boys’ names, a red train, and a green train. 4 red cabooses, and 19 grey train cars!  For the letters, I used the font Ariel. Three letters at a time were typed in WordArt at font size 96, then I sized the WordArt graphic to be 3.48″ x 8.81″, making sure the letters would fit inside the train cars, and then selected Rotate Flip Horizontal so that the text would be backwards. The words “2nd” and “and” followed the same method except that the WordArt graphic was sized at 1.52″ x 3″. The letters were arranged to look like railroad crossing signs and put on two 5″ yellow circles. Everything was cut out using a craft knife and adhered to the train cars using small glue dots.

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My attempt at getting a photo of the birthday boys with their cupcakes was a slight fail.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links.

#MuffinMonday: Apple Blackberry Muffins

~ lk529 ~ 10 Comments

fb5cd-muffin2bmonday2bcrop#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins to brighten their Mondays. There isn’t a theme to #MuffinMonday posts so anything goes, as long as it’s a muffin!

You can see all our of lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday can be found on our home page.

I am sharing with you this month a muffin I made way back in May after one of our weekly trips to the Farmers Market. I had picked up some blackberries from one of my favorite vendors for my husband. I am not the biggest blackberry lover mainly due to their texture. I didn’t think my husband would actually eat the entire carton of berries before they started to spoil so I decided to make muffins with about half of them. While assembling all of the baking supplies and getting my little helper situated, he started eating all of the berries! I knew I couldn’t use the fruit in the muffins, now; anything healthy my picky eater will willingly eat is all his! We had frozen blackberries for smoothie making, so I carried on with my muffin plan.

You’ll notice the recipe doesn’t call for any butter or oil, making them a little bit healthier than most breakfast treats I bake. I mean, there’s still sugar and syrup involved so it balances out, right? The downfall to not having butter or oil in the recipe means they’ll stick to muffin liners, so be sure to spray them as you would a non-lined muffin tin.

Apple Blackberry Muffins (toddler) Sew You Think You Can Cook

Firecracker really enjoyed these muffins. I’m pretty sure he had 3 in one day.

I froze half of the muffins and had a quick morning snack throughout the month, I simply popped them in the microwave for 20-30 seconds.

This recipe makes 2 dozen muffins.

Apple Blackberry Muffins

Ingredients:

  • 3 C whole wheat flour
  • 3 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tbsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/8 tsp baking soda
  • 1 large apple, peeled and finely diced
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 C brown sugar
  • 1 C milk
  • 1/2 C Greek yogurt
  • 1/2 C cinnamon applesauce
  • 1/4 C maple syrup
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 C blackberries, chopped

Steps:

  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Grease a muffin tin, even if using liners.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda. Add the apples and toss to coat until evenly distributed.
  3. In another bowl, whisk together the eggs and brown sugar. Mix in the milk, yogurt, applesauce, syrup, and vanilla.
  4. Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined. Gently fold in the blackberries. Fill muffin cups 3/4 of the way.
  5. Bake muffins for 5 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees F and bake another 15 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out cleanly.

*This recipe is adapted from Sally at http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2013/10/14/sky-high-blackberry-apple-muffins/*

Apple Blackberry Muffins for #MuffinMonday from Sew You Think You Can Cook

And don’t forget to check out these other muffin recipes:

Cappuccino Chip Muffins by Palatable Pastime

Cheesy Chile Corn Muffins (Gluten Free) by Farm Fresh Feasts

Cinnamon Swirled Muffins by Passion Kneaded

Fresh Peach Muffins by Karen’s Kitchen Stories

Lemon Meringue Muffins by Making Miracles

Phase 3 Muffins by A Day in the Life on the Farm

Raspberry Mini Muffins by Food Lust People Love

#SundaySupper: Hamburgers and Hotdogs

~ lk529 ~ 11 Comments

4th of JulyWhen we found out how big the Fourth of July is here we knew that we’d be hard pressed to leave our home via vehicle that weekend. We also knew that we’d be able to see multiple firework shows from our balcony. With that in mind we were on the hunt for patio furniture. And we cut it close. Father’s Day weekend we drove all over town stopping at different furniture stores doing price checks. We did not purchase anything. We then re-measured the patio because I was quite skeptical that what we were thinking would actually fit. I’m glad I did because we would have definitely over purchased seating! The following weekend we went to Home Depot in the hopes that what we wanted would be in stock or delivered in time for the following weekend. Luck was on our side and we managed to fit all items in the back of the van. We then spent a couple of nights that week assembling chairs after the boys went to bed. Mission accomplished, we watched fireworks under Old Glory while the boys dozed off to sleep in our laps. It was the only thing that went right that weekend as I had come down with a 30 hour stomach bug – there wasn’t any company, grilling, sangria, or rice krispie treats.

IMG_9435The following week, we finally broke out the grill! And just in time, too, for today’s themed Sunday Supper of Hamburgers and Hotdogs. July is National Hotdog month, but the tastemakers at Sunday Supper Movement broadened the recipes to include the hotdog’s best friend, hamburger. Be sure to scroll past my recipe to see more great ideas for your next summer grilling bash. This event is hosted by Christie of A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures.

I am not afraid to admit that I love a good hotdog. I enjoy mine topped with mostly yellow mustard and just a little bit of ketchup.  but, if it’s really good (aka Boar’s Head all-beef) I don’t require anything to dip it in either. I’ve never tried any fancy toppings, so I am sharing a fun hamburger with you instead.

A miso glazed chicken burger. This chicken burger is full of flavor and incredibly moist. Stuart labeled it our best executed burger yet! Instead of 4, I divided the meat into 5 patties, taking that 5th one and turning it into meatballs for the boys. The original recipe served these burgers with a cabbage apple slaw. Unbeknownst to me, my husband took our last apple to work that day! I ended up just “winging it” and created a dressing from the glaze for the coleslaw. The apple would have provided an extra crunch and freshness, but we had no complaints. There’s celery in the patty (which I thought was quite strange) that helps provide some of that texture anyway.

Miso Glazed Chicken Burgers

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb ground chicken
  • 1 rib celery, finely diced
  • 1/3 C finely diced onion
  • 1/2 C panko breadcrumbs
  • 1 egg white
  • 1 tbsp sesame oil
  • 1 tsp Kosher salt
  • 1 tsp pepper
  • 1/4 C miso paste
  • 5 tbsp apple cider vinegar, divided use
  • 1 1/2 tbsp brown sugar, divided use
  • 2 C coleslaw or shredded cabbage
  • 4-5 sesame seed hamburger buns

Steps:

  1. In a large bowl mix the chicken, celery, onion, panko, egg white, sesame oil, S+P with your hands until combined. Divide into 4-5 patties. Cover and put in refrigerator at least 30 minutes to firm up.
  2. In a small bowl combine the miso, 4 tbsp vinegar, and 1 tbsp brown sugar.
  3. In another large bowl, combine 1/3 of the miso glaze from Step 2 with the remaining vinegar and brown sugar. Add the slaw and toss to coat. Set aside.
  4. Grill burgers 6 minutes on each side. Brush the burgers with the remaining glaze from Step 2. Cook another 2 minutes, flip, brush with more glaze, and cook 2 more minutes, or until an internal temperature of 165 degrees F is reached.
  5. Place burgers on a sesame seed bun and top with the dressed cabbage.

*This recipe is modified from Cheryl at http://www.countryliving.com/food-drinks/recipes/a3885/miso-glaze-chicken-burgers-cabbage-apple-slaw-recipe-clv0612/*

Miso Glazed Chicken Burgers for #SundaySupper from Sew You Think You Can Cook

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Dessert Burger

How to

Sunday Supper MovementJoin the #SundaySupper conversation on twitter on Sunday! We tweet throughout the day and share recipes from all over the world. Our weekly chat starts at 7:00 pm ET. Follow the #SundaySupper hashtag and remember to include it in your tweets to join in the chat. To get more great Sunday Supper Recipes, visit our website or check out our Pinterest board.

Would you like to join the Sunday Supper Movement? It’s easy. You can sign up by clicking here: Sunday Supper Movement