Banana-Raspberry Muffins

Yet another muffin offering! I seem to be going wild for muffins right now; could be the fact that my son is turning into a late-night snacking machine, and since he is a very slender young man, with a pretty spare appetite due to his medication, I try to have healthy snacks available for him. This is most definitely not an original recipe; lots of other bloggers have bananaberry muffin recipes floating around, and I am sure that a few got all mushed together in my head to help create this one.

Banana-Raspberry Muffins
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp  cinnamon
2 ripe mashed bananas
2 eggs
2/3 cup brown sugar
3 tbsp canola oil
3 tbsp low fat plain yoghurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups raspberries (I use frozen)

Directions:
 Preheat oven to 400°F
Grease or line 12 muffin cups.
In a large bowl, sift together dry ingredients with a wooden spoon until almost blended and make a well.
Beat bananas, eggs, brown sugar, butter and vanilla in a bowl until well mixed. Add to dry ingredients and
stir just until combined.  Gently fold in berries
Spoon into prepared cups evenly. Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden. Cool on wire rack.
Makes 12 good-sized muffins

Nutritional Analysis:
 Amount Per Muffin
  Calories     216.4
  Total Fat     4.9 g
          Saturated Fat     0.7 g
          Polyunsaturated Fat     1.4 g
          Monounsaturated Fat     2.5 g
  Cholesterol     31.4 mg
  Sodium     202.1 mg
  Potassium     206.4 mg
  Total Carbohydrate     43.5 g
          Dietary Fiber     2.3 g
          Sugars     19.3 g
  Protein     4.6 g

Brown Rice Meatloaf

So, I have a friend, the awesome Lou, who lives in the UK and has never had meatloaf! Omg! I know! So, I thought I would throw my healthier version of meatloaf up here so she can give it a gander.
Here you go Lou! Just for you, because you're fab xoxo!

Brown Rice Meatloaf
Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef (not extra lean, as you do need a bit of fat to help bind everything together well)
3 cups cooked brown rice (1 cup uncooked)
1 small onion, finely diced
1 1/2 tsp minced garlic
1 tbsp worchestershire sauce
1 tbsp barbecue sauce
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup ketchup
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tbsp brown sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 F.
Lightly spray two loaf tins with cooking spray. I like to use one glas pan, one disposable pan, so that I can freeze the disposable for a later meal.
In a large bowl, combine the beef, rice, onion, garlic, worchestershire sauce, barbecue sauce, bread crumbs, and egg. Mix very, very well.
Divide in half and pat into pans.
In a small bowl, mix together ketchup, dry mustard, and brown sugar with a fork. Spread evenly over both loaves.
Either pop both in the over and cook for 1 hour, 15 minutes, or, bake one and wrap the other in plastic wrap, then put in a freezer bag, and freeze for a later meal.
Let stand for 10 minutes before slicing.
Makes 2 loaves, 5 servings per loaf
Nutritional Analysis:
Amount Per Serving
  Calories     297.5
  Total Fat     15.3 g
          Saturated Fat     6.0 g
          Polyunsaturated Fat     0.7 g
          Monounsaturated Fat     6.4 g
  Cholesterol     69.5 mg
  Sodium     342.7 mg
  Potassium     255.1 mg
  Total Carbohydrate     23.7 g
          Dietary Fiber     1.3 g
          Sugars     7.3 g
  Protein     14.5 g

Lower Calorie Chicken Enchiladas

Lower-Cal Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 boneless skinless chicken breast halves, boiled and shredded or 2 cups leftover shredded chicken
1 medium onion, chopped
1 small green pepper, chopped
2 cups 2 % cottage cheese, drained and pureed in a food processor or with a stick blender
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp salt
1 pinch ground black pepper
6 large tortillas
1 cup shredded low fat cheddar cheese
1 batch red enchilada sauce   Please do yourself a favour and actually use the recipe I've linked to. Trust me.
1/4 cup water

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.
Saute onion and green pepper together until soft yet crisp; sprinkle with cumin, salt, and pepper.
Add chicken and 2 tbsp enchilada sauce. Cook just til heated through; remove from heat and stir in cottage
cheese.
Combine 1/2 cup enchilada sauce and 1/4 cup water in a small bowl; set aside.
Spray a 9x13 casserole dish with cooking spray; pour enchilada sauce/water into the dish.
Set up two plates next to casserole dish. On one, place your tortillas. One at a time, place tortillas on empty plate.
Place 1/6 of filling down the center of the tortilla and roll up. Place seam side down in casserole dish.
Repeat with all tortillas and pour remaining enchilada sauce over top.
Sprinkle with cheese and bake for 20 minutes or until bubbly.

Serve with cilantro-lime rice or tossed salad.

6 Servings
Nutritional Analysis:
Amount Per Serving:
  Calories     448.2
  Total Fat     12.5 g
          Saturated Fat     3.3 g
          Polyunsaturated Fat     1.7 g
          Monounsaturated Fat     5.0 g
  Cholesterol     32.8 mg
  Sodium     1,973.0 mg
  Potassium     327.0 mg
  Total Carbohydrate     51.0 g
          Dietary Fiber     3.7 g
          Sugars     1.9 g
  Protein     31.0 g

Zucchini Basil Muffins

Had to make room in the freezer for the cookies I'll be swapping with my friend Dani and her lovely family, so pulled some shredded zucchini and threw together these yummy little savoury bits of goodness. Enjoy!

Zucchini Basil Muffins
Ingredients:
2 large eggs
1/4 cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup nonfat milk
1/3 cup canola oil
1/3 cup plain yoghurt
2 1/2 cups white flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp baking powder
2 cups grated zucchini (about 2 medium zucchini)
1 tbsp dry basil
2 tsp light parmesan cheese

Directions:
 Preheat the oven to 425°F
 Grease muffin tins.
Combine the eggs, evaporated milk, milk, yoghurt and oil in a large bowl. Combine the flour, sugar, salt, basil and baking powder in another bowl; make a well in dry ingredients. Add liquid to the well and stir just until combined. Batter will be slightly lumpy.
Add the zucchini and stir to blend.
Fill each muffin cup and sprinkle the top with the cheese.
Bake for about 25 minutes or until a light golden colour.
Makes 12 muffins

Nutritional Analysis:
 Amount Per Muffin
  Calories     199.2
  Total Fat     7.7 g
          Saturated Fat     1.1 g
          Polyunsaturated Fat     2.1 g
          Monounsaturated Fat     4.1 g
  Cholesterol     33.3 mg
  Sodium     311.8 mg
  Potassium     191.1 mg
  Total Carbohydrate     27.3 g
          Dietary Fiber     1.3 g
          Sugars     6.4 g
  Protein     5.2 g

Cream of Onion Soup

My teenager hates onions. Despises them. Her life becomes particularly tragic on the occasion that I make this soup, while my son and I both become deliriously, ridiculously happy. It's probably for the best that I'm single right now though, as I imagine my breath is a frightening thing to encounter after scarfing down a bowl of this super yummy, super indulgent soup.
Marla and April (and I guess your husbands MAYBE): this one is for you!!!!!!!

Cream of Onion Soup
Serves 6 (1 1/2 cups soup per serving)
Ingredients:
3 lbs onions, approximately 8 large, peeled, cut in half, and sliced. I like to use a mix of red, yellow, and white
1/2 cup low fat margarine
1/2 cup flour
4 cups low sodium vegetable broth
1 370 mL can fat free evaporated milk
1 cup skim milk
1 head garlic, approximately 9 cloves, oven roasted
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp basil
3 scallions, sliced, white discarded

Directions:
     Slice top of garlic off and wrap in tin foil; roast at 400 F for 45 minutes.
     In a stockpot, melt margarine over medium heat, being careful to avoid browning. Toss your onions in and allow to sweat for approximately 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Here's how mine looked:

     You want them nice and shiny; soft but not mushy, and definitely not browned. Trust me on this.
     Yum.
     Next you're going to gradually stir in your flour, being sure to stir with a wooden spoon constantly and somewhat vigorously (show these onions who's in charge; you're the boss, NOT the onions) to avoid too much stickage to the bottom. Cook for maybe 1-2 minutes, but no longer. Deglaze the pan with about half the stock; stir constantly to mix really well. Stir in the rest of the broth and then grab your roasted garlic and squeeze the heck out of it to get as much of the soft, squishy goodness into your soup as possible. Toss in your basil and sea salt. At this stage I like to stir for a couple minutes until things are looking really nice and bubbly.
     Grab your can of evaporated milk and gradually stir it in. This soup requires a lot of stirring; I've gotten pretty good at soup over the past few years, but it wasn't always this way. I used to think I could wander away from a 'cream' soup; I used to be silly and wrong. Other types of soup, sure. Not 'cream' soup.
     Once things are nice and thick, pour in the skim milk aaaand... yeah, you guessed it, keep stirring. I PROMISE this will all be worth it. I usually stir for anout 3-5 minutes or so and then turn the heat down to low and wander away to prep the salad, or buns, biscuits, whatever. Tonight I made my super yummy, super easy, AND super cheap garlic cheese buns. I'll post that recipe later. Maybe tomorrow. Soon.
     Anyway, here's my soup at this stage:

     Looks okay, but not quite right. Hmm.......
     OH! Oh yeah, one final thing to make this perfection: ladle soup into bowls and garnish with your sliced scallions, like so:

     My son wolfed this down. I tried to be polite and eat like a civilized human being and failed miserably. I pigged. It was delish. Even my teenager deigned to try a bit and pronounced it 'really good for something made with onions'. Aaaah... the highest praise!
Nutritional Analysis:
Per 1 1/2 cup serving

Calories		319.4
Total Fat		17.4 g
	Saturated Fat	2.7 g
	Polyunsaturated Fat	4.2 g
	Monounsaturated Fat	9.3 g
Cholesterol		4.0 mg
Sodium		858.2 mg
Potassium		550.7 mg
Total Carbohydrate		35.7 g
	Dietary Fiber	4.0 g
	Sugars	5.2 g
Protein		6.7 g

Raspberry Cornmeal Muffins

It started snowing like a muthaplucker, which of COURSE made me want to bake. But what? What should I sabotage my diet with today? Squares? Tarts? Bread? Cookies?
The sad reality is that I wanted to bake cookies but realise that this would be a colossal error in judgement at this time of year. Cookie season will soon be upon us, and the smart thing to do is to wait until then to give into my cookie desires.
Which left me pondering what to bake.
I also had another dilemma to face, namely, what on earth to do with all the leftover apple and blueberry baby food that is sitting in my cupboard, not being fed to my baby, who, alas, is nearing the end of her babyhood *sniffle*. I have a ton of this stuff, which was given to me by a friend:

Then it hit me: MUFFINS! I could make muffins and substitute the applesauce/oil with some baby food! SaWEET!
So, here they are, without further ado:

Raspberry Cornmeal Muffins
12 muffins
Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 1/2 tbsp ground flaxseed
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup low fat buttermilk
1/4 cup applesauce OR apple and blueberry baby food
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 whole egg + 1 egg white   
1 1/4 cups raspberries or 1 1/2 cups blueberries

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 F.
Grease or line 12 muffin fan cups with paper   
In large bowl, mix first 7 ingredients.
In small bowl, beat buttermilk, applesauce, vanilla, and egg until blended; stir into flour mixture just until flour is moistened (batter will be lumpy). DO NOT OVERMIX!
Fold in berries.
Spoon batter into muffin cups.
Bake muffins 20 to 25 minutes until toothpick inserted in center of muffin comes out clean.
Immediately remove muffins from pans; serve warm.
This is how mine looked in my really disgusting muffin pan:

And this is how one of them looked on my less than gleaming stovetop:

Nutritional Analysis: 
Per muffin

Calories		128.5
Total Fat		1.5 g
	Saturated Fat	0.3 g
	Polyunsaturated Fat	0.7 g
	Monounsaturated Fat	0.4 g
Cholesterol		15.8 mg
Sodium		308.5 mg
Potassium		117.8 mg
Total Carbohydrate		25.5 g
	Dietary Fiber	2.4 g
	Sugars	7.5 g
Protein		4.0 g

Farfalle Bolognese

     So, I've started to develop a guilty fondness for Rachael Ray's recipes. My guilt stems from the fact that my hips are never going to get any smaller if I keep trying out various meals of hers. She can claim that her 'Yum-O' recipes are healthy all she likes, the reality is that anything utilizing a ton of oil, whole milk or cream, and a whack of cheese just isn't healthy. It tastes great, don't get me wrong, but is naughty comfort food at its best.
     It is in light of this fact that I looked at one of her lazy lasagnas and decided to tweak it, play with it, and make it a bit more reasonable for my family. To that end, I present the inaugural recipe of this blog:

 Farfalle Bolognese
Serves 8

Ingredients:

1 375 g box farfalle (bow tie) pasta
1 tsp margarine
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
3/4 lb lean ground beef
2 cups chopped fresh mushrooms
1 onion, finely chopped
1 1/2 tsp minced garlic
1 large carrot, finely chopped 
1 1/2 tsp dry rosemary
1 generous dash ground cloves
1 5.5 oz can tomato paste
1 cup white wine
2 cups beef stock
1/2 cup reserved pasta water
1/4 cup margarine
1/4 cup flour
3 cups nonfat milk
nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup light Parmesan cheese

Directions:

     Preheat oven to 400 F
Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt it, add the pasta and cook to al dente. Be sure to reserve 1/2 cup pasta water.

In a large skillet or saucepan, heat the margarine and extra virgin olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the beef and mushrooms; brown well. Add the onion, garlic, carrot, rosemary, cloves and salt and pepper and cook for approximately 10 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste for 1 minute, then deglaze the pan with the white wine for 1 minute. Stir in the beef stock and reserved 1/2 cup pasta water; simmer for 15 minutes or so. My sauce looked like this at this stage:

In a saucepan, melt the margarine over medium heat. Whisk in the flour, then the milk, and cook until thickened and bubbly; season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.
Toss the pasta with the meat sauce and arrange in a casserole dish. This is what mine looked like. Excuse my crappy photography, as always:

Pour the bechamel sauce over the top in an even layer. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Turn on broiler for last 3-5 minutes, watching to make sure it doesn't burn.


 My final result ended up looking like this:

 I really need to work on my photography. Or get a better camera. In any case, there you have it, Farfalle Bolognese. Exceptionally easy, very tasty, and incredibly satisfying, especially when served with a nice tossed salad and garlic toast.

Adapted from Rachael Ray's Lazy Lasagna Bolognese

Nutritional Analysis:
Per serving

Calories		652.8
Total Fat		20.5 g
	Saturated Fat	5.7 g
	Polyunsaturated Fat	3.2 g
	Monounsaturated Fat	8.9 g
Cholesterol		59.9 mg
Sodium		1,028.4 mg
Potassium		844.9 mg
Total Carbohydrate		88.4 g
	Dietary Fiber	7.3 g
	Sugars	19.9 g
Protein		26.6 g