Monday, September 5, 2011

Mini Cinnamon Muffins


I bought these really adorable mini muffin pans a couple weeks ago at Home Goods, and I figured a holiday is a great day to bake. It can be hard for me to find the time and the energy to bake. And I don't think it's that baking is terribly time consuming, unless you're making a bread. I think it must just be a combination of clean-up and the fact that I don't really eat baked goods. Anyway, so these muffin pans were cute, and I was going to make mini apple muffins, but seeing as how I didn't want to peel and core apples, I found this recipe instead (through FoodGawker, of course).

I substituted whole wheat flour (because I didn't want to open our white flour and hey, this is healthier, anyway, right?) and almond milk (because we don't keep regular cow's milk anymore). I thought the muffins were pretty good, maybe a little too dry (because of the whole wheat flour or the almond milk or perhaps overmixing?), and I would probably add a little more cinnamon and maybe a little nutmeg too next time. Also, they came out perfect looking. I was quite pleased with the lovely round muffin tops.

Mini Cinnamon Muffins
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 eggs
1 cup almond milk
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
6 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 tsp vanilla

Topping
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and grease mini muffin pans or line with mini cupcake liners.
In a large bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
Melt butter in the microwave, about 30-40 seconds.
In another bowl, beat together the butter, eggs, milk, brown sugar, and vanilla.
Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated.
Drop the batter into the pans, about a tablespoon for each muffin.
Mix together sugar and cinnamon for the topping and sprinkle mixture over the top of each muffin.
Bake in the oven for 10 minutes, until muffin tops bounce back or a toothpick comes out clean.
Enjoy!

Breakfast Potatoes

I am a really big fan of three-day weekends. I decided to do a relaxing/super productive Labor Day, part of which included making a good breakfast at home. Normally during the work week I have a scrambled egg or a bowl of cereal or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and I eat at my desk when I get to the office. However, since I had today off, and that giant bag of russet potatoes, I decided I would make some breakfast potatoes and an egg after this morning's session at the gym. I've always made skillet breakfast potatoes before and I'm never satisfied with them, so today I decided to do them in the oven. Best decision ever. I didn't have to keep an eye on the potatoes, and I could just let them bake while I showered and folded laundry. Such multi-tasking! It was a perfect weekend breakfast, and I have leftover potatoes that will probably be terrific for breakfast tomorrow too! Win!

Breakfast potatoes
3 russet potatoes
1 red bell pepper
1/2 of one giant onion
paprika
salt
black pepper
Cube the potatoes. Cut the onions into wedges. Dice the bell pepper.
Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray, and add onions and potatoes. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt, pepper and paprika. Toss together and bake in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes, tossing once at the 10 minute mark.
At 20 minutes, pull out the baking sheet and add the red bell pepper and toss together. Stick back in the oven and broil for 3-5 minutes. Serve with an over easy egg on top.

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Tuna Melt & Fries



It was just me for dinner tonight, and it's slim pickings in my fridge this week. I'm not really a huge fan of tuna salad, but it's cheap and easy to throw together. I used some leftover tuna salad from Tuesday night, and made a tuna melt. To make my meal a little more fun, I made some homemade French fries.

For my tuna salad, I mixed a can of tuna in oil with diced green bell pepper, a little mayo, a little Dijon, and some ground black pepper. I've almost given up dairy (haven't dropped butter yet, and still indulge in cheese occasionally), but I'm doing a pretty good job. For this tuna melt, I used two Veggie Cheddar slices. It doesn't melt as well as real cheese, but it's not a bad substitute, in my opinion.

I sliced up a russet potato for my French fries, tossed them in olive oil, garlic powder, and Frank's red hot sauce. Baked for 15 minutes or so, and then broiled for a few minutes at the end to make them crispy. In other news, I've been on potato overload this week, and I think after this week, I'm going to have to avoid white potatoes for a couple weeks. Note to self: Don't buy a giant bag of potatoes.