Jam Muffins

I haven't tried this recipe yet but thought it looked easy and yummy.

• 2 cups of flour
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 1 Tbsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 eggs beaten
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup of milk
• add jelly or jam

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Combine dry ingredients and mix.

Combine liquid ingredients and mix.

Combine liquid and dry and mix until all dry ingredients are moist.

Fill 8 muffin cups 1/2 full of mixture.

Add 1 tsp. of jelly or jam to the center of each and cover the jam/jelly with more batter.

Bake 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Cool for 10-15 minutes before removing from muffin pan.

This recipe was discovered on Prudent Baby

Great-Grandma's Pumpkin Bread

mix together:
3 cups sugar
1 cup oil
4 eggs

sift together:
3 1/3 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp soda

Combine all ingredients with 2 cups pumpkin & 2/3 cup water. Bake at 350* for about 60 minutes. YUM!

Green Smoothies

Don't let the color of these smoothies fool you. They may look awful, but they taste like the fruit that you put in them.

Really you can make these out of a variety of combinations. You want to have a green (spinach, cale, collard greens) and fruit. I have heard it said that you should have 40% green to 60% fruit. I don't know that mine always come out with those percentages.

The favorite combination that Mark and I have is spinach, strawberries and oranges. Here's how we make it:

1) Fill the blender with fresh spinach. Add water. (I don't measure out how much I add, but I would guess that it's around 1/2 a cup. Really the purpose is to make your spinach blend easier, so adjust the water as you like.) Blend spinach and water until smooth.

2) Add 2 peeled oranges. Keep blending.

3) Add 10 - 20 frozen strawberries. Blend until you reach the consistency you like.

This makes 2 tall glasses of green smoothie.


As I said, there are a ton of different ways you could make these. One thing that Mark and I have learned is that bananas are overwhelming so they are pretty much what you taste if you add them. Here is the blog that first taught me the glories of the green smoothie.

Ham Jambalaya

This is really easy to make and it's pretty healthy too. Mark and I like it a lot. We like to make it spicy, but you can tone down the cayenne pepper and it won't be too hot.

2c diced ham
1c diced green pepper
1c diced red pepper
1c diced red onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
28oz can diced tomatoes, undrained
1/2c water
3/4c long-grain white rice, uncooked
1t paprika
1t basil
1t thyme
1t cayenne pepper

Saute green & red peppers, onion & garlic until soft; about 10 minutes. Mix in ham, tomatoes & spices. Stir in water & rice. Bring to a boil, cook on low for about 25 minutes.

Stuffing

This is the stuffing I made for our Holiday Dinner 2008. The good news is that it is a healified stuffing recipe. You don't have to tell your husbands that though. They will never know. Evidently it is supposed to be better for you because it doesn't use butter and therefore it cuts out 2/3 of the fat.

Stuffing
from www.eatbetteramerica.com

Makes 12 servings (1/2 cup each)

15 slices bread
2 TBS olive oil
1/2 c. chopped celery
1/2 c. chopped onion
1/2 c. chopped carrot
2 c. chicken broth
1 tsp. dried sage leaves crushed or 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh sage leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme or 1 1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1/4 teaspoon pepper

1. Heat oven to 350. Spray 2-quart casserole with cooking spray; set aside.

2. On large cookie sheet, place bread slices. Back 15 to 20 minutes, turning each slice once, until firm & very light golden brown. Remove bread slices from cookie sheet; cut into 1/2-inch cubes.

3. In 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add celery, onion & carrot; cook 6 to 8 minutes, stirring frequently, until tender. Stir in broth, sage, salt, thyme & pepper; heat to boiling. Remove from heat. Stir in bread cubes until well mixed. Spoon mixture into casserole.

4. Cover; back 30 minutes. Uncover; bake 15 to 20 minutes longer or until hot and top is light golden brown.

Nutritional information per serving:
120 Calories (35 from fat)
4g Fat
0g Cholesterol
380mg Sodium
18g Carbohydrates
4g Protein

Pizza Sauce

Did you know you can make pizza sauce out of a small can of tomato paste? I used one of the really small ones from Wal-Mart. They cost something like $.49 each. To make my sauce, I added some olive oil and water until the consistency looked right. Then I just added spice to taste.

We're don't put a lot of sauce on our pizza, so I was able to get 3 large pizzas out of one $.49 can. I froze the sauce in between pizzas.

Bread Machine Whole Wheat Bread

After more than one experiment with wheat bread in our bread machine, this one came out the winner. Not crumbly or dense - I think the wheat gluten helped control that.

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
3 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 tablespoons white sugar ***
1 1/2 tablespoons nonfat dry milk powder
1 1/2 tablespoons margarine
1 1/4 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
3-4 tbls Vital Wheat Gluten

***I use 1 1/2 tabls of honey instead of white sugar. This helps keep the bread from getting too dry.

DIRECTIONS
1.)Place ingredients in the bread machine pan in the order suggested by the manufacturer.

2.)Select Whole Wheat setting and press start. You may also need to select a crust preference. I choose medium.

3.) When it is finish, let it cool completely. I slice it right away and freeze it in a plastic container. I pull it out as we need it. This helps it last longer and keeps it softer.