Food goodness

I made this up! 3 ripe peaches, halved and pits removed some maple syrup some butter or Earth Balance some cinnamon/clove/nutmeg mixture, or any one of the above Preheat oven to 350. Put the peaches, cut side up, in a glass baking dish or on a cookie sheet or whatever. Put a sliver of butter in each hold, drizzle maple syrup on top, and sprinkle the spices over everything. Bake for 45 minutes or until everything is melted and hot. Serve right away with ice cream or without.

From All Recipes . I used frozen cherries, unthawed, and it worked just fine.     2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour     1 1/4 cups white sugar     1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder     2 teaspoons baking powder     1 teaspoon baking soda     1/2 teaspoon salt     1 cup sour cream     1/2 cup milk     1/3 cup vegetable oil     2 eggs, beaten     1 teaspoon almond extract     1 1/2 cups fresh dark sweet cherries, pitted and chopped (or frozen, unchopped, or TJ's jarred Morello cherries would probably be fine too)     1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips Preheat an oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease 12 jumbo (3 1/2-inch) muffin cups or line with paper baking cups. Stir together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a separate large bowl,...

I've been experimenting with this and have found a few different ways to make it. I find I generally prefer red quinoa to the plain stuff, too, because it seems to hold its texture better when you let it sit a few days. Blueberry quinoa : Heat 1c frozen blueberries with a little bit of maple syrup, agave, or water until it's boiling. Remove from heat and stir in 2c cooked quinoa, plus a generous splash of something creamy -- milk or half and half. Serve with plain yogurt and chopped nuts on top, plus a drizzle of something sweet if desired. Coconut quinoa : Cook quinoa with coconut milk instead of water (using the same proportions). Sprinkle with that really good flaked coconut, nuts, chopped fruit, etc. Quinoa with nut butter : Pretty much what it sounds like. You can use the coconut-milk-cooked stuff for some creaminess, or stir in a little milk too. Sliced banana on top. I also want to try this breakfast grain salad but haven't yet. Mm, grains.

Adapted from: PBS Parents With a store-bought crust (I like TJ's), this comes together really quickly.  The original recipe called for salt in the fruit mixture (with the sugar and flour).  I tried that the first time I made this (last week) and I really didn't like it.  I still had some rhubarb from the farm share and the second pie crust from the package, so I decided to try again without the salt, and I like it so much better without the salt.  I used the graham crackers with the sugar on top (maybe they're cinnamon-sugar?) from Trader Joe's, and it was really good.  The graham crackers on the bottom help absorb any liquid that comes out of the fruit, keeping the crust crisp and adding an interesting flavor you wouldn't necessarily expect.  Obviously we liked this recipe, as this is the second batch in 2 weeks.  Ingredients 1/3 cup sugar 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1/8 teaspoon allspice 3 cups strawberries, stems removed and...

I love me some muesli. This recipe was a good starting place... I made some modifications below. Warning: It makes a TON -- J & I both ate it for breakfast several days in a row.    The recipe thinks it only lasts 2 or 3 days, but I may or may not have eaten it an entire week after I made it and it was still fine. 3 cups whole milk (I used low-fat) 2 cups plain whole yogurt (I used some of TJ's vanana yogurt) 1 cup apple, skin on, grated (2 apples) 3/4 cup yellow raisins (I added some dried cranberries too) 1 ripe banana, sliced (I skipped because I thought it would make the muesli go bad too quickly) 9 tbsp cracked wheat or bulgar wheat (I used bulgar. warning: do not toast this... I stuck it in the toaster because I'd already mixed it with the next two ingredients, but it burned a bit.) 9 tbsp rolled oats, toasted 9 tbsp wheat germ, toasted 1/4 cup honey (I skipped because the yogurt was sweet... but I do think this mixture needs a little sweetness to it o...

From: Gina's Skinny Recipes I served this with the Salsa Verde Chicken and it was quite delicious.  Would also be good with fish or grilled chicken.  Maybe pork, too? 1 mango, peeled and diced 1 avocado, peeled and diced 1 plum tomato, diced 1 clove garlic, minced 1 jalepeño, seeded and diced 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro 2 tbsp fresh lime juice 1/4 cup chopped red onion 1 tbsp olive oil salt and fresh pepper to taste Combine all the ingredients and let it marinate in the refrigerator 30 minutes before serving

Adapted lightly from this recipe , which is genius. 1 1/4 c all-purpose flour 1/2 c white sugar 1/4 c cocoa powder 2 t baking powder 1/2 t salt 1/3 c canola oil 1 egg 1/3 c milk (I used skim) 1 t vanilla 1/2 c plain yogurt (fat-free works fine) 1 c cherries, cut in half (I used those jarred morello cherries from TJ's) 1/2 c chocolate chips (more! I used chunks, and they were good.) Preheat oven to 400F. Lightly oil a 12 cup muffin tin. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. In a small bowl, mix the oil, egg, milk and vanilla together. Pour the wet into the dry and use a wooden spoon or spatula to gently stir everything together. Fold in the yogurt, cherries and chocolate chips. Spoon batter into prepared muffin tin and bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the muffin comes clean. Let sit in the tin for 5 minutes and then use a knife to loosen the muffins, remove from tin and let cool ...

From: Honey & Jam I made these apple bars to celebrate all the September birthdays in our small office (half of our staff of 8 are Sept birthdays).  They were good, and everyone loved them.  I thought they could be a little less sweet, so when I make them again (and I probably will), I will try cutting down on the sugar in the apple filling first.  I'm not sure how it would affect the consistency of the crust if you decreased the sugar there... might still work. Base: 2 c. flour 1/2 c. sugar 1/2 tsp. baking powder 1/2 tsp. salt 1 c. real butter, softened 1 egg, beaten Apple Filling: 1/2 c. white sugar (could probably use less - these are pretty sweet bars) 1/4 c. flour 1 tsp. cinnamon 4 c. (about 3 medium) sliced, peeled baking apples Glaze: 2 c. powdered sugar About 3 Tbsp. milk (whole milk is best) 1/2 tsp. almond extract To prepare crust, mix flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or two ...

I do declare, these are the fluffiest and most successful pancakes I have ever made! The chocolate chips are optional and the pancakes are delicious both ways; we did half and half last night. From Skinnytaste , with some variations. 1 cup unbleached white or white whole wheat flour [I did half whole wheat and half white whole wheat] 1 tsp baking powder [I took this down from 2 t] 1/4 tsp salt 1 large banana, ripe, mashed well 1 cup 1% milk [skim worked fine] 3 large egg whites 2 tsp oil 2 tsp vanilla [I upped this from 1 t] 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips [I used big chunks; the technique of placing them individually on the top of each pancake worked well] Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl. Combine milk, egg white, oil, vanilla and mashed bananas in another medium sized bowl and mix until smooth.  Combine wet ingredients with the dry and mix well with a wooden spoon until there are no more dry spots. Don't over-mix. Heat a large skillet on medium-low heat, spray wit...

This tastes so good. Kids and grown-ups alike love it. It's my wonderful mom's recipe so it's got the wholesome stamp on it, but knowing my mom and how careful she usually is with salt, fat and sugar it surprised me that this recipe is a little heavy on all three. I've cut back on each and there testing if it's still delicious when it's a little more nutritious. So far, so good. 3 eggs 1 C oil (3/4 C) 2 C milk 1 C brown sugar (3/4 C) 1 1/2 T cinnamon 2 T vanilla 1 1/2 t salt (scant 1 t) 4 t baking powder 5 C uncooked oatmeal (rolled or quick oats both work fine) (fruit of any kind chopped is an awesome addition, I've tried pears in one batch and bananas in another) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix/Beat together all but oatmeal until completely combined. Add oatmeal and mix well. Bake in a greased two quart casserole dish. 40-45 min until golden brown.

This recipe surprised me. It is supremely quick and easy and the pears were perfectly spiced, sweet and delicious. They were so delicious by themselves I didn't even have the urge to use the pears as a topping for ice cream or anything typical of me and the hub loved it too. Score. It's from an ayurvedic email newsletter called Joyful Belly. (They probably would not have approved of using it as an ice cream topping, so we're in the clear there too.) 1/2 tsp Star Anise 1/2 tsp Cinnamon 1/4 c Raisins 2 tbsp Oatmeal 1/2 tsp Cloves 4 pear Pears Preheat oven to 350. Powder the spices in a coffee grinder or pulverize with a mortar and pestle. Peel and halve the pears, slicing out the core. Place pears in a baking pan. Add 1/4c of water. Sprinkle with spices and raisins. Bake, covered, for one hour or until pears are tender. Uncover, sprinkle rolled oats and, optionally, pecans. Broil for five minutes for a grilled effect.

Modified from Gina's Skinnytaste -- I originally followed the recipe exactly, using this disgusting unsweetened unsalted almond-flaxseed butter that is awful by itself, and the batter tasted just like it, so I had to start modifying. If you were using good nut butter, her suggestion to have a blob of it in the middle is probably a nice one; if you're using a butter you're just trying to get rid of, I'd skip it. Her recipe originally came out to 4 WW points per muffin... I used less PB and exchanged some AP for whole-wheat flour, but then added chocolate chips and a little more sugar, so I'm not sure where that ends up exactly. Ingredients: 3 ripe medium bananas 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce 3/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour 3/4 cups whole-wheat pastry flour 3/4 tsp baking soda 1/4 tsp salt 2 tbsp Earth Balance, softened 1/2 cup light brown sugar 2 large egg whites (I used a big splash of EggBeaters) 1 tsp vanilla extract 7 tbsp nut butter as...

One of the other things I cooked during the marathon cooking day was a pot of barley. I had never really thought of using barley as a side dish grain, like rice, but again, that cookbook suggested it, so I gave it a shot. It was surprisingly good, actually. The kids ate rice. I haven’t convinced them yet. They did, however, try this salad. They love beets, but mostly because they make you pee pink. The other prep work I did was to roast some beets in the oven, when I was roasting acorn squash for dinner. I slipped the skins off before I put them in the fridge, which cut down on my work. We had this with the sausages and apple s. It was a lovely fall-ish meal. adapted from "time for dinner" Two cups of cooked barley, in a large bowl. Toss with cooked, peeled beets, 1 can of (drained) mandarin oranges. Toss with a dressing made of 1 part orange juice, 2 parts olive oil.

So...I had some bratwurst in the freezer, and these cooked apples in my fridge. This was super quick. from "time for dinner" In a medium skillet over medium-high heat, brown brats (or whatever sausages you're using) on all sides. Remove, reduce heat, and add a little olive oil and a sliced red onion, 1/4 head of red cabbage (shredded), and the cooked apples (sliced). Saute until the cabbage wilts. Add some of the leftover cooking liquid from the apples, along with a few Tbsp. of cider vinegar. Turn the heat up, add the sausages, and cook through.

Adapted from: Annie's Eats Ok, so, I would definitely make this again, but with some changes. I am going to put the original recipe here since this is what I followed, and I will explain the adaptations I would make next time. Basically, this was too sweet for me, but still worth eating, and I am about to polish off the whole thing, which I have been eating every morning for breakfast for the past week (it makes a lot). If you prefer your oatmeal on the less-sweet side like I do, cut back significantly on the sugar Also, I didn't think there were enough bananas for the amount of oatmeal that this made. Third, I think next time I will try this with apples on the bottom instead of bananas, because I think the tartness from the apples would work nicely with this recipe, and would offset the sweetness a bit. But, with those things in mind, I will make this again, but I will play around with it a little bit. Ingredients: 1 cup steel cut oats 6 tbsp. unsalted butter, divided 4...

Truth is, we haven't been make a lot of earth-shattering recipes lately. Sometimes we fall back on old favorites -- like braised short ribs -- and other times we just fall back on quick and easy. This seems to be the season of quick and easy. Lucky for me, I got a couple new cookbooks for my birthday, and so I'm back in the kitchen. With quick and easy. This is adapted from the "Crockpot Slow Cooker Best-Loved Recipes," which Gaby and Katie picked out for my birthday. 4-6 boneless pork chops 4-5 medium apples, sliced (the recipe calls for Golden Delicious, but I used gala) 3 Tbsp. brown sugar 1 tsp. cinnamon 1/2 tsp. salt Place pork in crockpot. Cover with apples. Combine brown sugar and salt in a small bowl; sprinkle over apples. Cover; cook on low for 6-8 hours. (definitely 8 if you start with frozen pork, like me)

What do you do when you pick 11 pounds of blueberries in half an hour? Cook something that will make them take up less space. I'm planning to eat this on yogurt for the rest of my life. Adapted from a Seattle Times recipe , mostly to increase the quantity and try to make it reduce faster. 6 cups fresh blueberries 1/2 cup sugar 2 tablespoons water 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice Combine the ingredients in a large, heavy-bottomed pot and cook over medium heat until the blueberry skins have popped and the mixture is thickened, about 20 minutes. Let cool and refrigerate until ready to serve. Makes two large jelly jars (about 3 cups?) of sauce.

Adapted from the Wood Prairie Farm website (and just about the most poorly written cookie recipe ever). 2 C whole wheat flour 1 t baking powder 1 t cinnamon 1/2 t soda 1/2 t salt 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened 1 C white sugar 1 C dark brown sugar 1 T light corn syrup, optional* 2 large eggs 1 t vanilla extract 3 C old fashioned (rolled) oats--do NOT use instant 1 C dried blueberries 1 C chopped lightly toasted walnuts Preheat oven to 350. Combine flour, leaveners, cinnamon and salt in a small bowl, whisk together and set aside. In your stand mixer, beat butter and sugars until lighter in color and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, corn syrup (if using) and then vanilla. Slowly add in flour mixture and be sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl and beater to ensure everything is thoroughly mixed before adding the remaining ingredients. Add oats, berries and walnuts and stir on slow just until combined--the blueberries can be a bit fragile so be careful. If using a small cookie sco...

There's a long and complicated story about how I wound up baking something that involves Crisco, but I did, and it was this , and it was amazing. Best cobbler I ever made. Do I have to support Crisco now? 6 cups Fresh Or Frozen Blackberries [I used about 3.5 cups blueberries and 2.5 cups frozen peaches; I think this would be good with just about any fruit, and you can get away with a little less] 1/2 cup Plus 4 Tablespoons Sugar 1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice 1/2 whole Zest Of Lemon 2 cups Flour 1/4 teaspoon Salt 1 Tablespoon Baking Powder 1/4 cup Crisco (vegetable Shortening) 4 Tablespoons Butter 1 whole Egg 1/2 cup Milk Preparation Instructions Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine blackberries, ½ cup sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest in a mixing bowl. Stir and spread out in a buttered pyrex dish. In a separate bowl pour flour, salt, baking powder, and 1 tablespoon sugar. Add shortening and butter and work mixture together with a pastry blender (or your fingers) u...

Adapted From: Annie's Eats and Chukar Cherry Recipes I wanted to make cranberry-orange scones to serve at the coffee hour at church this morning, but I didn't have the heavy cream called for in Annie's recipe, but I did have plenty of Greek yogurt, so I improvised, recalling the cherry scones recipe that Todd likes to make. I also added a glaze to these scones, because I thought the orange zest was a tad bitter. Perhaps I went too far into the pith with the zester. Anyway, these were very pretty, and everyone loved them. 1½ tbsp. freshly grated orange zest 2½ cups all-purpose flour ½ cup plus 3 tbsp. sugar, divided 1 tbsp. baking powder ½ tsp. salt 6 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces 1¼ cups fresh or frozen cranberries, coarsely chopped 2 large eggs 3/4 cup Greek yogurt 1/4 cup milk (or, sub a total of 1 cup heavy cream for the yogurt and milk) Additional sugar for sprinkling, or make a glaze (see below) Directions: Preheat the oven to 400˚ F. Line a bak...