Cinnamon and Sugar Muffins

Cinnamon and Sugar Muffins

I found a very easy muffin recipe whilst browsing pinterest.com. It is an awesome website and now I believe I'm addicted to it. Of course, I made my own version of these muffins since I don't enjoy overly sweet desserts anymore thanks to zone eating and Crossfit! Here's the original recipe and I'll have my notes at the bottom of what I changed.

Ingredients:

1/3 c. butter, melted
1/2 c. sugar*
1 egg (preferably room temperature)
1 1/2 c. all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. nutmeg**
1/2 c. milk

Topping:
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. butter, melted
1 tsp. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a medium bowl, stir together all dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and stir until combined. It’ll be a little bit lumpy and that’s okay. Using a large ice cream scoop, scoop batter into muffin tins that have been sprayed. I got 6 large muffins out of this batter. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until they just start to turn a bit golden at the edges.

If you'd like to bake them without the extra step of dipping them in butter then sugar/cinnamon mixture after they bake, sprinkle the tops of the muffins with the mixture minus the butter and bake accordingly. They'll turn out just as good.

*I used a little bit over 1/4cup sugar instead of the entire 1/2cup
**I used a little bit of cinnamon instead of nutmeg (I hate nutmeg).

ENJOY!!!

Scalloped Potatoes

Scalloped Potatoes

I love, love, love scalloped potatoes! They are creamy, rich, and cheesy and I love anything with cheese! This was a great side dish we had tonight and very easy.

Ingredients:

2tbsp unsalted butter

+ more for the dish

1/2 to 1 tsp salt

1/2tsp pepper

2 large baking potatoes

2tbsp all-purpose flour

2cups whole milk at room temperature

3/4cup grated cheese + 1/4cup grated cheese

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Bring to boil enough water for the potatoes and salt the water. While the water is coming to boil, thinly slice the potatoes with a mandolin or a food processor. Boil the sliced potatoes for 8-10 minutes.

In the meantime, butter a 9x13 baking dish and have that ready.

Once the potatoes have cooked, strain them and set them to the side.

Over medium heat, add 2tbsp butter and 2tbsp flour and let the flour come to bubbles but make sure you don't burn this. Stir it with a wooden spoon.

Once the butter has cooked approximately 1-2 minutes, whisk in the room temperature milk and keep whisking for 3-5 minutes. You should add it slowly but whisk quickly .. this will help ensure there are no lumps in the mixture. If there are lumps, simply strain it before moving to the next step.

Add the salt and pepper and stir to combine.

Add the potatoes and the milk mixture to a large bowl and combine. Add 3/4cup grated cheese and combine. Pour into baking dish and sprinkle with remaining 1/4cup cheese.

Bake 10-12 minutes.

Turn the broil on high *and make sure you watch it so it doesn't burn!* This will brown the cheese on top and give it a delicious taste. If it's golden brown, it's ready to come out.

Set to the side for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Eat and ENJOY!

S'mores in the oven

S'mores in the oven

Who doesn't love s'mores? I absolutely love the warm, soft, gooey marshmallow and the hot, melted chocolate with the sweet graham crackers. To me, it's the easiest dessert to make that fills my tummy with joy!

My friend, Heather, shared the easy way of making them in your oven... here's how!

Ingredients:
Graham crackers
Chocolate
Marshmallows

Directions:
Pre-heat oven to the "Low" setting on broil and get a cookie sheet prepared. No oil or spray is needed, just a dry pan.
Place both sides of the graham crackers down and put a marshmallow on one and the chocolate on the other one. Broil on low until the marshmallow is as dark as you like. I like mine slightly browned and gooey.
Mush, technical term, both of the sides together to make the s'more sandwich. Eat and enjoy! It's that simple!

Trust me.. when there is "nothing else to eat", this is the best thing to have! One is definitely enough but two are worth it!

Pumpkin bread with cream cheese filling

Pumpkin bread with a cream cheese filling

Thanks to a fellow blogger, Christy Cutler, I found this delicious recipe! It's a spin on the pumpkin roll.. I can never seem to roll them properly or they become soggy!

Cream cheese filling ingredients:

1 package cream cheese - softened
3/4 cup sugar*
1 T all-purpose flour
1 large egg
1/2 t vanillaBread ingredients:1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour**1 t baking soda1/2 t salt
 2 t pumpkin pie spice
10oz. pumpkin puree
1/2 cup vegetable oil***
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar*
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Preheat the oven to 325.  Grease and flour two loaf pans.

Prepare the cream cheese filling by combining cream cheese, sugar, flour, egg and vanilla.

Mix until creamy.  Set aside.
Prepare the bread batter by mixing together the flour, baking soda, salt and pumpkin pie spice in a large bowl. Mix so that all dry ingredients are well incorporated.
In a separate bowl combine the pumpkin puree, oil, eggs and sugar.  Mix together until creamy. Stir the pumpkin mixture with the flour mixture until just combined. If you want to add the nuts, fold them in gently. (I added chopped walnuts to the top of one bread so that I'd have one loaf with nuts and one without.)
Pour half of the batter evenly into the two prepared loaf pans. Spoon the cream cheese mixture on top of the batter in each loaf pan. Top with remaining pumpkin batter. Take a knife and stick it through the top pumpkin layer and the middle cream cheese layer. Swirl the knife threw the two layers to create a marble effect while baking. Place the loaf pans in the oven and bake for 55 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Once you remove the bread from the oven, let the loaves cool in the pans for a few minutes before moving to a cooling rack.  Allow the bread to cool completely.

*I used half of the sugar that was in the ingredients only because I try to eat as clean as possible and also because I don't like desserts to be too sweet. The extra sugar in this recipe would have been a cavity waiting to happen!
**I also used 1cup organic all-purpose flour and 2/3cup organic whole wheat flour and it tasted awesome!
***I used olive oil instead of veggie oil.

ENJOY!

Crock-Pot Lasagna

What could be easier than cooking with your crock pot? You pretty much cook your beef and then assemble the layers in your crock pot and 'set it and forget it.' Super easy and super delicious lasagna! Best part of it is it's made using alfredo instead of ricotta.. YUM!

Ingredients:
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 can (26-28oz) tomato paste
1 can (8oz) no-salt-added tomato sauce
1/2pkg (about 8) no-boil lasagna noodles
1 jar (1 lb.) alfredo sauce
3 cups (12oz) shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated parmesian cheese

1. Brown beef in skillet over medium-high heat until cooked all the way through. Drain grease.
2. Spray slow-cooker with olive oil spray and spread 3/4cup tomato paste sauce on the bottom.
3. Add tomato paste, tomato sauce and browned meat in a bowl and combine.
4. Layer noodles on top of the tomato paste then add 1/3 alfredo sauce, 1/3 mozzarella cheese and top with the paste/sauce/meat mixture and keep doing these layers until all ingredients are used.

5. Sprinkle the grated pamesian cheese on top.

6. Cook on low setting 3.5-4 hours.

Tip: After the lasagna is finished cooking, let it set in the crock pot for about 45 minutes for everything to settle or it'll be a sloppy mess if you try to get it out before it's ready.

Eat and ENJOY!

Turkey and Butter Bean Cassoulet

Turkey and butter bean cassoulet

 This was the easiest meal I've made in a long time and it was delicious! You've got to try it. I made it with chicken legs because I don't care for turkey too much but you can use whatever you have. Breast, thighs, legs will all work just fine!

Turkey & Butter Bean Cassoulet
Ingredients:
2 tbsp olive oil
4 6-ounce skinless turkey legs
pinch paprika
fresh cracked black pepper to taste
¼ tsp sea salt
5 ½ cups low-sodium chicken broth, divided
3 ½ cups crushed tomatoes, divided
2 tbsp pure maple syrup
2 large yellow onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 sprig fresh thyme
¼ cup flat leaf parsley, chopped
1 bay leaf
¼ cup cooked butter beans

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 325F. In a large nonstick pan, heat oil on medium-high. Add turkey legs and sprinkle with paprika, pepper and salt. Sear for 2-3 minutes per side, until golden. In a 4qt. roasting pan, combine 4 cups broth, 2 cups tomatoes, maple syrup, onions, garlic, thyme, parsley, bay leaf and beans. Add turkey legs, cover with foil and cook in oven on middle rack for 2 hours. Every 30 minutes, add ½ cup broth and ½ cup tomatoes to pan. Remove roating pan from oven and serve.

Calories: 452, Total Fat: 13g, Sat. Fat: 3g, Monosaturated Fat: 7g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g, Carbs: 40g, Fiber: 6g, Sugars: 19g, Protein: 77g, Sodium: 516g, Cholesterol: 142mg