Pineapple-Carrot Muffins

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Many of you know my feelings on baking... I love to bake, it hates to turn out right.  So, I tend to shy away from baked goods.  You'd think the control freak in me would love the preciseness of baking...yeah, not so much.  
Therefore, I must have been in a weird mood when I decided I just wanted to...bake something.  I've had a can of pineapple in my cupboard for the last 5 months...I figured it was time to put it to good use.  There are not very many healthy snacks to be found here for my kids and I'm desperate for something else to give them aside from granola bars.  I love muffins, all kinds, but I know they can be just has bad as eating a fist full of cookies.  
When I found a recipe claiming both pineapple and carrots, I figured, well, at least there's some veggies in these!  If I could find whole wheat flour, I would have used that too, but I'm stuck with good ol' AP flour.  The recipe was super simple, the girls helped me, and we turned out some pretty tasty muffins.  They are good at room temp, but I find them much tastier after 10 seconds in the microwave...and if you're feeling a little devilish, slide a bit of butter over the top...crap, I was trying to make something healthy wasn't I?  
These have mass potential to be tweaked...think of adding, raisins, oats, cranberries, or strawberries.  Try some slivered almonds on top!  I'd love to hear what you'd come up with!

I couldn't wait...had to take a bite!  ;)

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup white sugar1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup cup canola oil1/3 cup applesauce
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (whole wheat would work well too...just cut the amount in half)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup grated carrots
• 1 cup drained, canned crushed pineapple

Directions

1. Stir together sugar, oil, and applesauce.
2. Stir in the eggs until well combined.
3. Stir in vanilla.
4. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
5. Stir into sugar mixture just until combined.
6. Stir in carrots and pineapple just until combined.
7. Spoon into well greased muffin tin, filling to top. (I used liners, but I think next time I'll try without...the liners pulled away a lot of the muffin)
8. Bake in a preheated 375F oven for 20 minutes or until done.
9. Cool in pan for 5-10 minutes, then remove to a rack to finish cooling.
   
   
   
   

Fruity Crescent Rolls

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Today we had another ladies coffee and the feature color was red.  Wear all red, a little red, a splash of red...etc.  I had my outfit all ready to go and for the girls too.  Just needed a treat to bring.
I had these crescent rolls in the fridge and the expiration date was getting close.  I had saved a recipe to try and pulled it up this morning.
Lucky for me I was able to find a box of Fruit Roll Up's at the store...the last box mind you!  I was excited and ready to bake!
This was so simple and even more horrible baking skills couldn't mess these up.  Popped out 16 rolls in just under 45min.  They weren't too sweet, nice and flaky and just perfect.
The funny thing...I didn't even think about the fact that they were red until I got to the coffee and someone mentioned it to me!  Bonus!

Ingredients:

1 (8-oz.) can Pillsbury® Refrigerated Crescent Dinner Rolls

4 rolls Betty Crocker® Fruit Roll­Ups® Strawberry Fruit Snack

2/3 cup powdered sugar

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

2 to 3 teaspoons milk

Directions:

Heat oven to 350°F. 

Spray cookie sheet with cooking spray. Unroll dough; separate into 8 triangles.

Unroll fruit snack rolls; cut each diagonally into 2 triangles. Place each fruit roll triangle on 1 dough triangle (fold or tuck each fruit roll so all is on dough). Roll up each dough triangle, starting with shortest side of triangle and rolling to opposite point; place point side down on sprayed cookie sheet. Curve into crescent shape.

Bake at 350°F. for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheet. Meanwhile, in small bowl, mix powdered sugar, vanilla and enough milk until smooth and desired drizzling consistency.

Drizzle glaze evenly over warm rolls. Serve warm.

Crispy Curried Roasted Chickpeas

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I'm always trying to find new snacks for my girls.  My youngest definitely has a soft spot for salty foods.  While I don't mind her getting a bit of salt now and then, I'd really rather it wasn't from a bag of chips.  I've seen recipes for chickpeas a few times and never got around to making them.  Today...well, I got around to it.
Incredibly simple to make, but the real question was whether or not my kids would want to nosh on them...
Taste tested....approved!!!  Rave results.  I love the curry flavor and the best part is that these little gems are extremely low-fat and packed with protein.
At the end of the recipe, check out some other great seasonings to try...lots of options here!  Have fun!
Happy snacking!  

Quail Eggs...Hard Boiled

Pin It Now! If you're anything like me, you've seen all the cooking shows where they have elegantly showcased the quaint little quail egg.  Then the judges (or whomever is lucky enough to be eating the dish) proclaims how wonderful it tastes and how it adds just the right aspect to the dish.  
So, of course, I just had to find these little things and see for myself what all the fuss was about.  I hit up every high end grocery store within 30 miles of my house.  Nothin.  Depressed I figured it just wasn't meant to be.  Now, here's the part where the fact that I'm not a native to SoCal (and in fact grew up in the desert of Vegas) stands out.  Never did I think to check the farmers markets.  Duh.  And naturally, my first visit this past Sunday found me beaming at a dozen petite quail eggs.  
The question I asked myself when I got home was...now what?  After surfing the net for a bit I decided to settle on hard boiling them and making cute little egg snacks.  I know my girls will love peeling these babies!  Here's how to do it:

Aren't they pretty lil' things?

Bunny-Shaped Egg Recipe

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Okay, these were just too cute not to share!  What a fun snack for your little ones, and the best part is that they can help you make them!  Ridiculously easy to make too!  

Recipe and photo courtesy of Parents Magazine 

Ingredients:

• Hard boiled eggs
• Carrots for ears
• Snap peas for nose
• Cabbage for tail
• Cheese for eyes

What to Do:

1. Hard boil eggs and let cool.  Remove shells. If your bunnies will not be presented in an egg dish, then cut a very thin slice from the bottom of the egg (lengthwise) so egg will not roll around.
2.  Cut thin carrot slices and shape into rabbit ears with a knife, making sure one end is very pointy. Insert pointy ends into egg for ears.  Cut off tip of snap pea for nose.  Push the pointed end into the front end of the egg.  Make a small round tail from a white piece of cabbage, once again making a pointed end to push into the back of the egg.  For eyes, cut two small little circles, using a small straw as a cutter, from your slice of cheese.  Make sure the egg is not wet when you set the cheese eyes in place or they may slide out of place.
3.  Other veggies may be substituted for the nose and tail.

A twist for Edamame

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A versatile spice blend from Lantern's Andrea Reusing Lucky 7 At her Chapel Hill restaurant, Lantern, Andrea Reusing marries Asian flavors with ingredients sourced from North Carolina's farms and fisheries. In her first cookbook, Cooking in the Moment, the award-winning chef aims to share the simple recipes she makes for family and friends in her home kitchen with cooks everywhere. Here, she puts Asian spices into play with a colorful seven-spice powder that seasons a new-to Carolina crop: edamame. Add a pinch to flavor the soybeans, then follow Reusing's lead and use the leftover blend to add subtle heat to sashimi, noodles and soups. Warm Edamame with Seven-Spice Powder Recipe adapted from Cooking in the Moment by Andrea Reusing (Clarkson Potter)