Mini Sweet Potato-Apple Morning Glory Muffins

Last Saturday night Heath and I were needing an activity and I noticed nobody had signed up to bring snacks for church in the morning so I searched out a mini muffin recipe. We had just bought some sweet potatoes (rich in fiber and beta-carotene) and I had never thought to use them in a muffin the same way as shredded carrots, but they were delicious!

We based the recipe off of this website, our edits are below. http://www.babble.com/best-recipes/sweet-potato-morning-glory-muffins/

The regular sized muffins were a bit dense, but they all tasted best hot and fresh from the oven. And we know because of the ice storm we got Sunday morning when church was relocated to an online google chat and we had a few dozen muffins for our breakfast :)

Mini Sweet Potato-Apple Morning Glory Muffins
1 cup all-purpose flour and 1 cup whole wheat (or 2c. of what you prefer)
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
3 large eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup applesauce
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cups coarsely grated raw sweet potato
1 apple, coarsely grated
1/2 cup raisins

Preheat the oven to 350˚F and line 24 mini or 12 regular muffin cups with paper liners.
In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugars, cinnamon and salt. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil, applesauce and vanilla. Add to the dry ingredients along with the sweet potato, apple, raisins and walnuts and stir just until everything is combined.
Spoon into lined muffin cups, filling them 3/4 full. Bake for 15-20 minutes (for mini muffins) or 20-25 minutes (full-sized muffins), until the muffins are golden and springy to the touch. This recipe yielded 2 dozen mini-muffins and 1 dozen regular sized muffins for us.

Tomato Soup

This week I'm trying to burn through the cupboards and skipped the grocery run for the weekend. So night #1 I wanted to use the cans of diced tomatoes and vegetable broth I had and thought, surely there is an easy recipe for tomato soup out there that I could combine with some grilled cheese to get that Campbell's taste I'm accustomed to. Well I googled and searched two of my own recipe books, and did not like any of the five I came across. But I felt like I got a good enough feel for the process that I could wing it- so I did- and it turned out amazing. I didn't measure everything, just tossed in a little at a time so I will try and estimate here on amounts. I did a hybrid of methods here with our BlendTec blender, but I'm sure the final steps can be done as most recipes recommend with an immersion blender.

Tomato Soup

2 cans 14oz diced tomatoes (Italian Style with seasoning)
1 can vegetable broth
1 stalk of celery sliced
1/2 of yellow onion diced
~2 teaspoons minced garlic
~1 teaspoon dried basil
~1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
~1/2 teaspoon sugar
~4 oz Half&Half
~3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

In saucepan, bring to boil all ingredients but the half&half and cheese. Keep on a low boil/simmer for ~12 minutes until celery and onion are tender. I poured ~ 3/4 of the soup into our blender and added half&half as well as cheese, then used the 'Soup' button which runs for 90 seconds (this step essentially purees). I placed that portion in my serving dish and then put the remaining 1/4 of the soup in the blender with a little more cheese and 'pulsed' only a few times to leave some of the veggies in bits and not completely pureed. Add to the rest of the soup and stir.

Served with grilled cheddar cheese sandwiches!

Baking Tuesday: Apple Raisin Oat Muffins

Tonight marks J's final evening class of the semester- YYYAAAAAAYYYYY!!!!! That's the last three hour commitment to two night classes that had him out of the house approximately 30 times in the last four month, but whose counting. As part of my single parent coping, I've been trying to have engaging time for Heath and Mama on the Tuesday nights (Thursdays we eat with our homegroup). Tonight we walked across the street and invited our neighbor over to bake with us- a real special treat. Heath's friend is four and just became a big brother three weeks ago so we thought he might enjoy hanging with us instead of that new kid for a bit, we were right.

The boys were so funny together baking. They took that excitement of Emeril in the kitchen and put a toddler twist on it. "I will stir my bowl SO big bwahahahah" they had laugh offs with each other. We committed to making two dozen muffins so they each could make their own bowl of ingredients. It wasn't the prettiest go round in the kitchen, but the flavor was still amazing. I let them do a German measurement for most things and then made sure I did the baking powder and salt.

They enjoyed the baking time in the oven where I cleaned up and they had a play break. The taste test proved successful!

This recipe is an adaptation from a Koinonia cookbook my mom sent me from the Fresno Church of God:

Apple Raisin Oat Muffins

2c. rolled oats, ground into flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 c. applesauce
1/4 c. honey
1 egg
1 c. orange juice
1/2 c. seedless raisins
1 c. chopped apples
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
(Add walnuts if you like)

Combine oats, salt, cinnamon and baking powder. Combine applesauce, honey, egg, orange juice, raisins and apples. Mix the wet and dry ingredients together. Batter should be stiff enough to mound slightly in muffin tins, if needed add more oats. Fill well oiled tins full and slightly mounded,

Bake at 325 for 18~22 minutes.
Makes one dozen

Making Meatballs

Tuesday and Thursday evenings this semester Jonathan has class. Thursday nights our community group gathers, dinner included, so it is nice I can still go there with Heath and have some extra hands. But Tuesdays I am going to try and be more intentional this semester for Heath and I to have planned activities. Last night it was cooking together. I wanted to make our family recipe for German meatballs and I thought he would enjoy the experience. I was right. 

   

Getting ready to mix it all up!

The missing text above is (20-30) minutes of simmering the meatballs.

Our finished product!

We had our neighbors over tonight to share in the meal with us. Heath enjoyed sitting next to Eli (3 yrs) and we certainly enjoyed the company of his parents, even if it meant we had to share these delicious bites and not have leftovers.

Zuppa Toscana

I found this recipe a few years ago on a copycat website. I've adjusted it a bit to fit our family's taste.

1 lb ground Italian Sausage (I use sweet Italian)
1 tsp. crushed red pepper (more if you like it hot)
1 large white onion diced
4 tbsp bacon pieces
2 tsp garlic puree (I use fresh minced)
10 cups water
5 cubes chicken bouillon
1 cup 1/2 and 1/2 (or heavy cream if you like the thick calories)
1 lb sliced russet potatoes (about three large)
1/4 of a bunch of kale

Sauté Italian Sausage and crushed red pepper in pot. Drain excess fat and refrigerate the meat (or set aside in different bowl). In the same pan, sauté bacon, onions, and garlic for 15 minutes or until onion is soft. Mix together chicken bouillon and water, adding it to onions, bacon and garlic. Cook until boiling. Add potatoes and cook until soft (about 20 minutes). Add cream and stir in sausage and cook until heated. Add kale before serving.

Makes 6-8 servings

After washing the kale, I think it is best to cut around the veins and slice the bunches into your preferred size. Fresh, uncooked kale will taste crunchier than what you may be used to so I like to put it in the bowl first and then pour the hot soup on top of it to help 'wilt' the greens a bit.

As is served in the restaurant, a garlic bread sure partners with this soup well.

Enjoy!

Yummy Chowder

You have got to try this recipe this winter! I first had Jody's Cheesy Vegetable Chowder recipe in November and loved it. I tried making it at home and added some green chilies. Then Vanessa introduced her sister's blog to me with her corn chowder recipe and we enjoyed that one as well. With the snow days I feel like I have been given great opportunity to perfect what I love most about these two recipes in the combination of what we will call Cheesy Vegetable/ Corn Chowder. Eat your heart out!

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 6 stocks of celery, sliced
• 5 carrots, sliced
• 4 medium red potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1 can whole kernel corn
• 1 can cream corn
• 1 small can green chilies
• 1/4 cup butter or margarine
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 cups milk
• 2 cups (8 ounces) shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
• 
  

Preparation

Bring first 5 ingredients plus the seasonings to a boil in a large stock pot. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 15 to 20 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Remove from heat, and stir in corn and green chilies.

Melt butter in a heavy saucepan over low heat; add flour, whisking until smooth. Cook 1 minute, whisking constantly. Gradually whisk in milk; cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until mixture is thickened and bubbly. Add cheese, stirring until blended.

Stir cheese mixture gradually into vegetable mixture. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thoroughly heated. Serve immediately.

For reheating leftovers- use the stove top vs. microwave so you keep a good texture of the cheese and milk with no curdling.

Seriously- you are crazy if you don't try this at least once this winter- you will love it! Enjoy :)