hide N seek muffins (kid friendly cooking)

I recently picked up this book - part of the Moosewood family of awesomeness.   It's designed with short, simple recipes that kids can make - with a little parental support.  There are illustrations for the kids to read, and nothing we've made so far requires ingredients we wouldn't already have on hand.

We went strawberry picking yesterday, so naturally we wanted to find recipes that could incorporate the FIVE POUNDS of strawberries we have.  We picked "Hide N Seek Muffins" which is really just a basic (if bland) muffin mix where you shove a sugared strawberry into the middle.   They tasted pretty good - we garnished them with some vanilla greek yogurt - but more than that, they were fun to make together.  Pardon the hasty iPhone pics, but it's all I use these days!

 

Definitely recommend the book if you have a kid who loves helping in the kitchen! 

Directions & Ingredients:  
*** My only modification to this would be to GREASE the muffin papers before pouring the batter in.  They were a bit hard to take off.  

Black Bean Lasagna Rolls

...Nonni is in town. We eat well.

Black Bean Lasagna Rolls

Prep: 25 minutes. Cook: 30 minutes
Yield: 8 servings.

INGREDIENTS
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 (15-ounce) carton part-skim ricotta cheese
1 (4 ½-ounce) can chopped green chiles, drained
½ teaspoon chili
8 lasagna noodles, uncooked
2 cups canned and drained black beans
Vegetable cooking spray (i.e. PAM)
1 (151/2-ounce) jar salsa
Fresh cilantro sprigs (optional)

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS
1. Combine first 5 ingredients, stirring well.
2. Cook lasagna noodles according to package directions. Drain well.
3. Spread cheese mixture over one side of each noodle. Spoon black beans evenly
over cheese mixture. Roll up noodles, jellyroll fashion, beginning at narrow ends.
4. Place lasagna rolls, seam sides down, in an 11 x 7 x 1 ½ inch-baking dish located
with cooking spray. Pour salsa over rolls. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 30
minutes or until heated thoroughly heated. Garnish with cilantro sprigs, if desired.

Make believing it's wintery outside

It's been a pretty mild winter--even by Floridian standards.  For the last week, temperatures have been in the 80s and the humidity and bugs are already breathing down our backs.  BUT...last night...last night...the temps fell all the way down to the 40s!  To celebrate I made this delicious vegetarian soup: Barley and Lentil Soup with Chard (or Kale in our instance).  It's easy, super healthy with all the veggies and low in fat but still very filling.  This recipe makes a lot of soup but looking over the reviews it freezes well.

At the farmers' market last weekend, the girls talked me into buying a bushel of zucchini. A week later and we're all sick of zucchini so I started hunting for ways to make something less zucchini-y but still used zucchini.  And I found this: Chocolate Zucchini Mini-Muffins.   I made all sorts of substitutions and our take on the recipe is below.  The girls were skeptical, especially when I subbed in applesauce for some of the oil (zucchini AND applesauce? AND chocolate? AND orange zest? No frosting???....EWWWWW!!!!!"  Have I mentioned that their acquiring reading skills often makes life more complicated, especially when it means reading rude graffiti on Costco shopping carts and freaking out when you start to play fast and loose with a recipe.)  But the muffins turned out delightfully and with a lot less fat and calories than the originals.  

Lighter Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup of coconut oil (melted and cooled)

1/4 cup of plain applesauce

2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 large eggs

1/3 cup buttermilk or plain yogurt

2 1/4 cups shredded zucchini

Zest (finely grated) and juice of 1 orange

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup of whole wheat flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

11/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 -1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (depending on how chocolatey you want them)

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease standard muffin pan with nonfat cooking spray.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, oil, applesauce and 2 teaspoons of the vanilla. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking well after each, then add the buttermilk. Whisk in the zucchini and half the orange zest.

3. In a medium bowl, combine the flours, cocoa, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon, whisking to aerate. Stir half the flour mixture into the egg mixture, then the other half. Fold in the chocolate chips and distribute the batter evenly into the muffin tins.

4. Bake on the center rack until springy but firm to the touch and lightly browned around the edges, about 22 minutes. Cool in the pans for about 10 minutes, then remove and let cool completely.

Clare's Soup (..or Kielbasa & Cabbage Deliciousness)

...as I mentioned on the "anything goes" blog, Clare is a woman who used to work with my mom. A long while ago she gave us a recipe for this kielbasa & cabbage soup that is so easy and so good. We always called it Clare's Soup so I am continuing the tradition here. It is wonderful with warm buttered sourdough and a little bit of parmesan cheese sprinkled on top. I think it might actually be ridiculously healthy, too.

Ingredients:
1 medium head cabbage
2 medium carrots, cut into ½ inch slices
1 (10 ounce) Polish sausage, cut into ½ inch slices (we use Turkey Kielbasa for this)
1 (28 ounce) can stewed tomatoes
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
4 cups of chicken broth
½ teaspoon allspice
½ teaspoon paprika
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Combine onion, cabbage, carrots, sausage, tomatoes, sugar, stock, allspice, paprika,
and salt and pepper to taste in a 4-quart non-aluminum pot. Bring to boil. Simmer,
covered, until carrots and cabbage are tender, about 20 minutes. Adjust seasonings
to taste.