Sneaky Chocolate Brownie Muffins II

Hope everyone had a great long weekend!!  We were on the road most of the weekend, but today I had an entire day to relax and have some "me" time.  I dropped the boys off at Heritage Ranch, they went for a monster bike trip and I did a quick 4km run through the trails.  I went shopping for the week and then came home and did some experimenting with an old recipe for Chocolate Surprise Muffins.  This is my famous recipe that includes spinach as the main ingredient!  I fooled around with the fats and flours and here's my latest rendition of these muffins!  I'm just starting to cook with coconut flour and wanted to see what it would bake like - just as good as whole wheat flour in my opinion and smells really yummy!!

Sneaky Chocolate Brownie Muffins II
Ingredients:
3/4 cup white flour
1/2 cup coconut flour
1 cup oatmeal, pulsed thru the food processor
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups packed baby spinach leaves
1 whole apple, quartered
1 ripe banana
2/3 cup coconut oil (in it's solid form, then melt in microwave and it will equal 2/3cup + 1 tbsp liquid coconut oil)
1/2 cup skim milk
1 cup agave syrup
2 extra large eggs
seeds scraped from 1/2 vanilla bean

Method:
Preheat oven to 350degrees and coat mini muffin tins with non-stick cooking spray.  Set aside.  In a large mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients, including the ground oats.  Don't bother rinsing out the food processor at this point!

Now combine all of the rest of the other ingredients in the food processor and pulse till liquid.  If your kids are super picky, you may want to really go nuts and pulse completely, otherwise they may object to the tiny green flecks once baked!!  Nick didn't notice... YET.... it's funny when kids pick up on these things though!

Anyways, add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and give it a good stir.  Spoon little plops into your mini muffin tins and shove in the oven for 15-18 minutes... today 17 minutes seemed to be my magic number! 

Remove from oven and let cool slightly before removing from tins - they're done and unless the kids were helping you in the kitchen, it's unlikely that they will figure out the secret ingredients!!  This batch makes 5 dozen little moist muffins.  They freeze really well and are a pop into lunch bags quite nicely!!  Only thing I DON'T know: is coconut considered dangerous on the nut-allergy listing??  If anyone knows, please leave me a little message!

Easter Feaster Redux Part Deux: Hawaiian Pizza Puffs!

I will admit that I have a love/hate relationship with cooking for the holidays - it's great to spend all day toiling in the kitchen (oops, did I say "toiling" - I meant "cooking for loved ones") BUT there can sometimes be the unfortunate by-product of holiday cookery... the dreaded LEFT-OVERS!!  Luckily I have a sister who appears with her own tupperware and friends who seem to enjoy my cooking and don't mind taking stuff home SOOOO this year we only ate left-overs for like 2 or 3 days after!  YAYAYAYAYYA! 

If you can believe it, I didn't even really document the cooking of Easter Feaster 2012, but I made quite a lot of yummy foods INCLUDING a ham cooked in the slow cooker with COKE!  As in cola!  Turned out so nom nom and the leftovers ended up tasting better as the days went by.   But there are only so many days that you can serve a seven year old turkey buns and ham buns, so I thought I better re-invent some of the leftovers and do it before a revolt broke out at our house!  I literally threw these together, using some of Nick's fave flavours and cubes of my left-over ham

Hawaiian Pizza Puffs
Ingredients:
1/2 pkg Tenderflake puff pastry, thawed
1/2 cup crushed pineapple
1 cup chopped ham
2/3 cup grated cheese (mozza mix or Italian cheese mix)
1/2 cup pizza sauce
2 tbsp egg whites
sliced fresh basil, for garnish

flour for surface and rolling pin

Method:
Preheat oven to 400degrees and line a cookie sheet with baking paper.  In a bowl, combine the pineapple, ham and pizza sauce; set aside.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pastry into a rectangle about 10x15ish?  Enough to get 6 decent sized squares (I went with 5x5inches).  Once you have your squares, divide the ham/pineapple mixture between the six of them. 

Top with cheese and fold over into little triangles - top with cheese and seal with the tines of a fork.

Transfer to the baking sheet and lightly brush with the egg whites.  Pop in the oven for about 25 minutes, until golden.  Remove from oven and let sit for about 5 minutes.  Top with fresh basil and extra pizza sauce.



Cheese explosions! 



I wish I made more!!

S'mores Cups - so easy the kids can help!!

I know I've already mentioned that the weather here has been extremely cold... yes, I know I need to get over it!  I live in Central Alberta - it's freakin cold and yes, this happens every year.  Maybe as I am getting older I am getting less able to deal with the climate - time to move to Arizona!!! Oh wait, can't retire for another 22 years - le sigh - looks like it's going to be another LONG winter! 

Anyways, too cold even for the kids to play hockey outside, which meant entertaining a seven year old for the afternoon!  We did some crafts for a bit, then decided to make these s'mores cups - so easy and really tasty!  I've seen a few pictures of these on Pinterest but I decided to make up my own recipe... not sure if I made the right choices or not, but since they seem to be a big hit, I'm going to say they are super good!!

S'mores Cups
Ingredients:
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup brown sugar
12 large marshmallows, cut in half
about 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Method:
Preheat your oven to 350degrees.  Bust out your mini muffin pans and lightly spray with a non-stick cooking spray (this recipe makes exactly 24 little sugar bombs).  Melt the butter in the microwave and let cool slightly.  Combine with crumbs and sugar.

Put1 tbsp scoops into each of the muffin cups and "push" down to form little cups.  Kids love doing this but watch out b/c my "exact" counting on the recipe can dwindle quick!!

Bake in the oven for 5 mins.  Remove from oven and put 4-5 chips in each little cup. 

Top with with a marsmallow half and put back in the oven for anywhere from 1 minute (if you like the marshmallows white and still pretty in tact) for up to about 6 minutes (if you like them golden browed and about to explode).  I baked them for about 6 minutes.

this is after a minute and a half...

this is after about 6 minutes - looks more like I did them on the fire, don't you think?

Remove trays from the oven and let cool on a rack - after about 6 or 7 minutes, the cups should lift right out of the trays fairly easily.  Melt the rest of the chocolate chips and drizzle on top of the cups when they are cool.

My cups came out really crisp and crunchy - the marshmallow took on almost a meringue-like texture too.  I'm wondering if other types of sugars would have different effects - or if we could get away with less sugar?  If you have a tried and true recipe for these things, I would love to know and try!!

Anyways, store the cups in an airtight container - not sure how long they will even last in the house!!  Enjoy ;)

Pantry Parmigiana

Ughghghgh!  Another cold and rainy day!  Rather than BBQing chicken breasts, I decided to whip up an easy chicken parmigiana - using stuff from the pantry.  Super easy to make - here's my recipe:

Pantry Chicken Parmigiana
Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts
3/4 cup Italian bread crumbs
1/2 cup parmesan
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp basil
salt & pepper to taste
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
2 eggs, lightly beaten
Marinara sauce:
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
3 cloves garlic
1/4 onion, finely chopped
1tbsp balsamic vinegar

Method:
 In your food processor, pulse bread crumbs, parmesan & spices and pour into a shallow bowl.  In another shallow bowl, beat the eggs.  One breast at a time, dip into the chicken breasts into the egg mixture and then into the crumb mixture to coat both sides, even pressing into the chicken.  Set chicken aside, and get your pan ready.  In a large, non-stick frying pan over medium high heat, melt the butter and olive oil.

Add the chicken into the hot oil (still on med-high) and brown on both sides.  Don't be tempted to flip too early b/c your coating will stick to the pan if it's not ready!  And there ain't no going back when that happens!

Perfection!

Once both sides are golden brown, remove chicken breasts and set aside.  In the same pan, add the tomatoes, garlic, onions and balsamic vinegar.  Bring to a boil and simmer for about 5 mins.  Did I mention that you need to preheat the oven to 375degrees?  Get that on the go too.  If you would rather, use a jarred sauce and skip this step altogether!  My recommendation: PC Brand Sweet Basil Pasta Sauce.

Spread the sauce in a baking dish and arrange the chicken breasts on top.  Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and some parmesan cheese.  Bake at 375 for about 25 mins.  Serve over whole wheat pasta.  Or skip the pasta and serve with a salad.

Shove in the oven for about 25 minutes!

Dinner was a big hit - kid and husband friendly!!  Not even a speck of left-overs and I even forgot to take a picture of the finished dinner!

BBQ Apple Lime Pork Chops

Yesterday I planned out the meals for the week; I knew that I wanted to do pork chops tonight, but I needed a kid-friendly recipe... hmmm what to do?  Normally I like to have a spicy kick when I put some pork on my fork, but kids aren't always down with that!  Soooo I looked around the kitchen and here's what I came up with:

BBQ Apple Lime Pork Chops!
Ingredients:
4-6 centre cut chops
1 apple juice box (200ml)
juice of large lime
1tbsp freshly grated ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp soy sauce

Nice grill marks Hot Toddy!

Method:
Put the chops in large ziplock bags - double bagged even b/c sometimes those pork bones cut plastic.... Mix the rest of your ingredients in a bowl then add to the bag.  Marinate overnight in the fridge.

Shrum's chops - they're from Stettler and sell at the RD Farmer's Market every Saturday.

 Go to bed and get some sleep - you know you're not getting enough!  Next day, get your grill going, medium high - maybe about 400degrees.  Transfer the chops to grill and grill as you like, but reserve the marinade!  Pour the marinade into a small sauce pan, bring to a boil, then simmer on medium until the sauce has reduced by half. 

Keep watch b/c that brown sugar likes to bubble quickly!!

You're going to serve this with the chops - deeeeeelish!!!  Once you're done grilling the chops, remove from grill, put on a plate and tent for about 5 minutes under some foil.  Serve with whatever turns your crank! 
This recipe would also taste great served spicy, so you could add some jalepenos into the marinade if you want to kick things up a notch!