Cranberry-Orange Muffins - revised

I made these muffins last Christmas. I made them again this morning for Thanksgiving dinner. I made a couple changes.

The basic recipe comes from Betty Crocker's Cookbook, New Edition (2005), from their Blueberry Muffins recipe on page 67. I made some substitutions based on a recipe I followed years ago and cannot recall where I got it (maybe an older Betty Crocker Cookbook).

Ingredients

3/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 large egg
1/2 cup agave nectar
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup fresh cranberries, coarsely chopped*
1 tablespoon grated orange rind
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or other nuts, if desired

Instructions

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Line muffin tins with paper liners or grease or spray the bottoms of the cups with some kind of shortening.

Mix orange juice, vegetable oil,  egg, and agave nectar well in a large bowl. Add the dry ingredients and mix just until ingredients are moistened. Fold in the remaining ingredients. Divide batter among muffin cups.

Bake 20-25 minutes or until tops are golden brown. Cool on wire rack.

Makes 12 muffins

*I have found a hand cranked nut chopper works quite well for chopping fresh cranberries quickly. While I have left cranberries whole or have cut them in half with no issues, I get more cranberries by chopping them.

This is a most excellent recipe for baking in a toaster oven, baking 6 muffins at a time. I laid out all the paper muffin liners and divided up the batter among the cups to ensure it was distributed evenly before baking.

Clean Zucchini-Eggplant Muffins

A Fun part of my job (direct care) is to help the clients cook. Yesterday, some really odd vegetables had appeared in the kitchen, likely from the weekly farm share they get. It took some thought, but I identified orange zucchini; skinny, curved eggplant, and purple okra. Cooking the okra will be a challenge, since I’ve heard from Southerners that it’s quite delicious and not slimy if cooked correctly. I’m wondering if I can coat it and bake it, to avoid all the fat from frying it, and still make it come out good.

We made muffins out of some of the zucchini and eggplant. It was sort of an invention, and I took a quick peek online to see if eggplant bread had ever been done: it had. I didn’t look for a zucchini-eggplant combination – I didn’t want to know if it had been done before, so we could think it was our own invention. And since most recipes use white sugar and white flour, I’m sure ours was different.

I put this recipe through an online nutrition calculator. At 180+ calories per muffin, it’s not low calorie, but if you leave out the optional add-ins, you’ll reduce the calorie count. Each muffin, with the add-ins, has 3.2 grams of fiber, though.

INGREDIENTS

3 cups whole wheat flour

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

½ tsp. nutmeg

½ tsp. baking powder

1 ½ cups shredded zucchini (summer squash should work, also)

1 ½ cups shredded eggplant

1 ½ cups agave nectar

2/3 cup olive oil

2 tsp. vanilla extract (use the real thing for the cleanest muffins)

4 large eggs

½ cup dried cranberries, raisins, or other dried fruit (chop larger fruit into raisin-sized pieces) – optional

½ cup chopped almonds, walnuts, or other nuts – optional

½ cup chocolate chips (use real chocolate for the cleanest muffins) – optional

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare 24 muffin cups (four 6-cup tins or two 12-cup tins), either with paper liners or cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and baking powder.

In a large bowl, mix the zucchini, eggplant, agave nectar, olive oil, vanilla, and eggs. Stir in the dry ingredients. Stir in the remainder of ingredients, if using.

Divide batter among the muffin tins. Bake until toothpick inserted in the center of the muffins comes out clean, about 15-20 minutes.

This should also make a good bread, using 2 bread loaf pans and cooking about 40-50 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean.

Aunt Sybil’s Coleslaw – Cleaned Up

I got this recipe from my mom, who got it from her Aunt Sybil. I don’t know where Aunt Sybil got it. My mom said Aunt Sybil chopped the cabbage by hand, with a knife. It would make your life easier to use a food processor. Or better yet, get the pre-chopped coleslaw mix sold in the produce section of stores. I like the prepackaged coleslaw mixes that have a variety of cabbages and even carrots, sometimes. If you don’t find the prepackaged stuff, you can always add your own carrots and other stuff. It’s a good time to be creative and try chopped broccoli and/or cauliflower. There is even a pre-shredded broccoli slaw mix in some stores. Look in the salad section of the produce section for the available options. I’ve seen similar coleslaws in restaurants that add craisins (dried cranberries) or other stuff.

It’s easy to chop parsley using kitchen shears (scissors). You can use dried parsley (don’t use as much as you would fresh), but I don’t think it tastes as good. (Sometimes, you can find frozen parsley in the freezer section. I have made my own frozen parsley by cutting up fresh parsley with scissors and storing it in a plastic container in the freezer. I can then take out as much as I need for a recipe. It keeps much longer than fresh does in the refrigerator and I don’t think taste is compromised. Maybe the most discerning palates can still tell the difference.)

I’m sure Aunt Sybil used vegetable oil, cider vinegar, and white sugar. I’ve made a few changes to make it my own!

This will make about 6-8 servings.

Ingredients

1 package (14 oz.) cole slaw or broccoli slaw

½ cup chopped fresh parsley

½ cup chopped onion

3 Tablespoons agave nectar

3 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon Himalayan sea salt

How to assemble

Mix everything together. Make it ahead of time, so the salad can set for a while and the flavors can blend. This will keep a long time in the refrigerator (maybe not weeks or months, but at least a few days).

You can adjust any of the ingredients to taste, and this recipe doubles or triples, etc., well to make for pot luck suppers.

No Bake Oatmeal-Peanut Butter Protein Balls

Remember those chocolate, peanut butter, and oatmeal no-bake cookies when you were a kid? They were easy to make and oh-so-tasty to eat. And I don’t think we ever thought about the calories in them.

I found several versions of the no-bake cookies online. Most called for ½ cup butter, 2 cups sugar, ½ cup milk, ¼ cup cocoa powder, ½ cup peanut butter, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, and 3 cups quick-cooking oats. Not all the ingredients are “bad,” but added together, they make 230 calories a serving, if you can stop at two cookies (and who can stop at just two?). You’ll also get 14 milligrams of cholesterol. Who needs that, these days?

I have found a couple different versions of another no-bake cookie. These cookies don’t even need to be cooked at all, making them ideal for kids to make and for summertime, when no one wants to cook, anyway. They leave a lot of room for substitution, so you can add your favorite ingredients. And if you stop at just two cookies (as if!), you add only 162 calories to your daily intake (though this number will change, depending on what ingredients you actually use). You’ll also get about 5 grams of protein and no cholesterol.

Here is the basic recipe:

Ingredients:

½ cup old fashioned rolled oats
¼ cup soy protein (any brand, any flavor – it will determine the flavor of the cookie)
2 tablespoons hulled hemp seeds (I find these at Whole Foods) (Chia seeds or any other seeds work well, also)
½ cup slivered almonds (any nut can be used)
½ cup chocolate chips (though any flavor chip can be used or use dried fruit)
2 tablespoons honey
1 cup natural peanut butter (or any natural nut butter)

Directions:

In a large bowl, mix everything together. It’s easier to mix if you use your hands. Shape into about 36 balls. Store in the refrigerator for about a week.

Makes 36 cookies.

Peanut Butter and Jelly French Toast

I worked Saturday, and a client and I “invented” PB&J French Toast. It has probably been done 1,000 times before, but we thought we were really onto something. Since peanut butters and jellies differ greatly, this recipe can be as clean* as you want to make it.

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients:

6 slices bread – whole grain makes the meal more healthful
6 eggs
1 cup milk – anything, regular, skim, almond milk, soy milk…whatever you would normally use
Peanut butter – or any nut butter…or any other PB substitute
Jelly – or jam…or preserves…any flavor
1 T or so of vegetable oil (or any cooking oil)

Directions:

Whisk the eggs and milk. Make PB and J sandwiches. Heat the oil in a skillet or griddle. Dip the sandwiches in the egg mixture and then fry until golden brown on both sides.

WAIT! There’s more! Instead of a sugary syrup, I made a fruit sauce to go on top of the French toast. It’s like applesauce, only I used several fruits, whatever we had on hand.

FRUIT SAUCE

Ingredients:

2 apples
2 oranges
2 bananas
8 strawberries
Water
Agave nectar (or any sweetener…when I’m not being clean, I’ll choose brown sugar)
Cinnamon

Directions:

Peel and chop the fruits. Put into a medium saucepan. Add a little water, about ¼ cup (you can always add more, if needed). Heat and stir until the fruits are mushy – this can take 20 minutes to an hour or longer, depending on the fruits you choose. Add agave nectar and cinnamon to taste.

Eat warm or cold or use to top French toast, waffles, pancakes….

*”Clean” being preservative- and other extra junk-free.

How to pull a party out of thin air

I’m sure I’ve mentioned before that I do direct care. I work in a group home, with adults with developmental disabilities. I help them live as normal a life as possible, so they can enjoy the things you and I enjoy. Parties are no exception, except at their parties, no adult beverages are served.

I’ve helped throw many parties, and I enjoy it almost as much as the clients do. However, sometimes I find myself in situations in which I have to create enough food for 10 or 15 people, and no one in the house has had a chance to do the grocery shopping before the big day.

Here is what I have done in such a situation:

I take stock of what food is in the house. Four or five potatoes. A box of macaroni. A few carrots. An onion or two. Several cans of beans. A smattering of other vegetables.

Salad! I’ll make salad! Salad is easy, and it’s a popular party food.

Some people ask me for my recipes. I don’t use any. I make it up as I go along, with whatever is available in the house. After you get over the initial panic, it’s quite easy to accomplish.

All you really need for potato salad are the potatoes. Chopped onion, celery, peppers, etc., are nice to throw in, too. Hard cook a few eggs, if available, and chop and toss them into the salad. For dressing, I use mayo and a little mustard. That’s my secret – really. But everyone loves my potato salad. And if I think of it, I’ll add a little of whatever McCormick herb blend is available.

For macaroni salad, I add a little of the onion, celery, peppers, carrots…whatever I add to the potato salad, I can add to the macaroni salad. And I use mayo and an herb blend as a dressing. Or I’ll change it up and use Italian salad dressing.

I make 3-bean salad (or 4-bean salad…or 5-bean salad…) out of the cans of beans. I use chick peas, garbanzo beans, whatever is available. And also toss in a can of green beans. I use either an Italian salad dressing or I’ll use oil, vinegar, and herbs as a dressing.

If there is cabbage, I’ll shred some of that with carrots and onion and add a little balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil (or whatever vinegar and oil are available) and an herb blend (if there are enough herb blend varieties on hand, I chose a different one for each type of salad).

For some reason, I just can’t make salads wrong. I think some people think of me as the crazy salad lady.

Fast food comes clean

BAKED CHICKEN NUGGETS

Easy and delicious. A great alternative to fast food. I found the original recipe here, then tweaked it based on what was on hand.

Ingredients:

2 slices whole wheat bread (or use 1 cup commercial Italian bread crumbs and omit the herb blend)
1 tsp. Italian herb blend (or another herb blend)
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
½ cup butter, melted (next time, I’ll try extra virgin olive oil)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray baking sheet with cooking spray.

Toast the bread and process into crumbs using a food processor or Magic Bullet. Blend Italian herb blend and Parmesan cheese with the bread crumbs. Place this mixture into a 1-quart storage bag.

Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces, about ½ inch cubes. Stir into melted butter. Add to bag with the bread crumb mixture. Close the bag and shake until chicken is coated. Spread chicken pieces in a single layer onto baking sheet. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until chicken is cooked.

OVEN FRIES

Easy to make!

Ingredients:

Red or white potatoes – allow 1 or 2 potatoes for each person
Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
Commercial herb blend (you can use salt instead, but the herb blends add flavor without the sodium; of course, you can also make your own blend)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.

Wash the potatoes and cut into “shoestrings,” the length of the potato and ¼ inch on the sides. Place into a bowl. Add a splash of EVOO and a teaspoon or so of herb blend. Toss well. Spread out onto the baking sheet in a single layer. Bake for 30-45 minutes, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are cooked.

“Is this consistent with my goals?”

Someone posted the title question on Facebook around the end of last year or the beginning of this year. It’s a good mantra for 2012.

What is the best use of my time? Should I be playing around online all of my waking, non-work hours? Some of this time is on social media, such as Facebook and various forums on topics that interest me. Sure, a social life is important, but should an online social life replace face-to-face time?

I think a well-balanced life consists of a balance of work and leisure, some socializing and some physical and mental activity. It includes a balance of online time and offline time. It also includes some alone time.

Yoga is good for the mind and body. I joined a 21-day online challenge, but soon dropped out, not because the routines were too difficult or not challenging enough, but because the videos kept buffering, regardless what I did to try to stop it. This affected my enjoyment of the experience. Strike one against online. Someone online pointed out that the whole challenge was available online. I have ordered the DVD set and am awaiting their arrival. One point for online.

I have a Y membership, but haven’t been going lately. Not good. Not only am I paying for the privilege of not going, I am missing out on the social aspect of working out with others. Another good aspect of working out live, in a gym, is the instructors can tell me if I’m doing something wrong, risking injury. When I use a video in the privacy of my home, I’m really on my own.

It is tempting to pick up a lot of extra shifts at work. This helps the budget, but too many shifts makes me tired and hampers my exercise and social life. Again, a balance is called for. A nice mix of work and play and everything else.

So…what is consistent with my goals? A nice mix of reading and writing, of working and working out and resting. Some days, of course, will be heavier on one than the other, but over the course of a week or a month, it will all even out.

A Few Recipes

I work in a group home, and sometimes the cooking falls to me. I don’t mind, as my workplace is my playground. I’ve always got willing participants to help pour and stir, and the best part for everyone is getting to eat what I make.

CORN SOUP

This was adapted from a vegetarian cookbook. I made it at work and 2 out of 4 clients loved it (the other 2 don’t love soup).

The herb amounts are approximate – I just dumped some in. I would like to try it again with fresh ginger and mint, if they are available. All that was available was fresh basil. Don’t put too much in at a time and adjust to taste, and you’ll have a personalized soup.

I used frozen corn, but the original recipe called for cooking ears of corn before doing anything else.

Ingredients

1 T vegetable oil
2 medium onions, chopped
8 scallions, sliced
2 tsp. ground ginger
¼ cup fresh basil, chopped
2 tsp. dried mint
32 oz. vegetable broth
1 ½ cups corn
2 red potatoes

Directions

Heat the vegetable oil in a Dutch oven or stock pot. Add the onions, scallion, ginger, basil, and mint, and sauté. Add the vegetable broth, then the corn and potatoes. Cook for about 30 minutes or until corn and potatoes are cooked.

Makes 8 servings.

BLUEBERRY MUFFINS

I tinkered with the Cranberry-Orange Muffin recipe again and made blueberry muffins at the request of a client who isn’t crazy about cranberries (not that I can blame her – cranberries are rather tart). I again used agave nectar in place of sugar and tried using unsweetened applesauce instead of vegetable oil. It made for a denser muffin, but it was still tasty. I imagine this version would be great for those who are trying to cut back on their fat intake – if they can avoid dousing the muffins with butter before they eat them.

Ingredients
3/4 cup milk (I used skim)
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 large egg
1/2 cup agave nectar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup blueberries (1 dry pint)

Directions

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Line muffin tins with paper liners or grease or spray the bottoms of the cups with some kind of shortening.

Mix milk, applesauce, egg, agave nectar, baking powder, and salt well in a large bowl (I used a wire whisk). Add the flour and mix just until moistened (I used a wooden spoon). Fold in the blueberries. Divide batter among muffin cups.

Bake 15-20 minutes or until tops are golden brown. Cool on wire rack.

Makes 12 servings.

POTATO AND CARROT OVEN FRIES

This is a big hit at work, and I kind of wing it with a drizzle of this and a drizzle of that. You really can do what you want with this one, and you can adjust quantities of potatoes and carrots to match the number of people you are serving. You can use whatever herb blend you have on hand. This may be good with fresh herbs. The important thing is to cut the carrots and potatoes to somewhere close to the same size, so they cook at the same rate.

4 out of 4 clients gave this a thumbs up.

Ingredients

Carrots, cut into sticks.
Potatoes, cut into sticks.
Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
Balsamic vinegar (if I get a hold of malted vinegar, I’ll try that)
McCormick Perfect Pinch Vegetable herb blend
Olive oil cooking spray

Directions

Place carrot and potato sticks into a large bowl. Drizzle on some EVOO and balsamic vinegar and sprinkle on some herb blend. Toss until the vegetables are well coated. Spray some cooking spray on a baking sheet or two (depending on how many fries you are making). Spread the potatoes and carrots onto the baking sheet(s). Bake at 350 degrees until vegetables are cooked (I made tiny fries and it took an hour to cook; your oven may cook differently).

Improvised menu plan

I started the year following a menu plan in the January 1012 issue of “Oxygen” magazine. Several people in a Facebook group were doing it (and I don’t know if they still are – we’ve all stopped posting about it).

The article starts on page 94 of the magazine (in case you want to follow the plan) and is called “10 Pounds Down!” The idea is to eat clean (non-processed or processed as little as possible and without preservatives) foods and lots of canned tuna in several different ways so it doesn’t get boring, and you'll lose weight in 4 weeks. Other forms of protein are also included, such as chicken breast, pork, and haddock.

I started modifying recipes right away, because I don’t particularly like some things that were called for, such as avocado (taste is too strong for me). Other things, I thought I didn’t like, but tried anyway – sardines (which I had probably last eaten when I was 8) and cottage cheese (I’m not sure if I had ever tried this). I’ve already ended up using the menu as a guideline and did what I wanted, keeping my foods as clean as possible.

I’ve found a good, filling snack is 1/2 cup cottage cheese mixed with 1/4 cup trail mix (pretty much any nut-fruit trail mix will do, but I like the Cherry-Chocolate Trail Mix from Whole Foods).

Not on the Oxygen menu, but I also tried carambola (star fruit – a bit bland, like kiwi) and pomegranate (yum!).

KALE-APPLE STIR FRY

This is a modification of a suggestion in the Oxygen magazine article. I liked it and will probably tamper with it some more in the future.

Ingredients:

1 T olive oil
3 c. chopped kale
1 medium apple, diced
1 T onion, chopped
1 T soy or pine nuts
1 c. cooked brown rice

Directions:

Heat olive oil in frying pan. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir fry until cooked.

Makes 1 serving.

CRANBERRY-ORANGE MUFFINS

I changed the original recipe for these muffins to use agave nectar, instead of sugar, making it a cleaner product. I’ve found the extra fluid provided by the nectar is absorbed nicely by the whole wheat flour.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1 large egg
1/2 cup agave nectar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup cranberries
1 tablespoon grated orange rind
1/2 cup walnuts or other nuts, chopped, if desired

Directions:

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Line muffin tins with paper liners or grease or spray the bottoms of the cups with some kind of shortening.

Mix orange juice, olive oil, egg, agave nectar, baking powder, and salt well in a large bowl. Add the flour and mix just until moistened. Fold in the cranberries, orange rind, and walnuts. Divide batter among muffin cups. Alternately, you can place in prepared loaf pan.

Bake 15-20 minutes or until tops are golden brown. Cool on wire rack.

Makes 12 servings.