Apple Cranberry Pumpkin Muffins

Adapted from The Eat-Clean Diet Cookbook: Great-Tasting Recipes That Keep You Lean

These are a nice breakfast treat. There is no one overpowering flavor in these muffins. Instead the flavors blend well, resulting in a nice, moist, slightly dense muffin.

You will need:

• 1 C uncooked oatmeal, plain
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 C all purpose flour
• 1/4 C whole-wheat flour
• 1/4 C sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 C apple juice
• 1/2 C unsweetened applesauce
• 1/2 C canned pumpkin
• 3 eggs
• canola oil
• 1/2 C dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 375 F

Prepare a muffin tin.

In a medium bowl combine oatmeal, pumpkin, applesauce, juice, eggs and oil. Mix until well blended.

In a large bowl, combine all dry ingredients. Make a well in the center and pour in wet ingredients. Mix until dry ingredients are moistened. Stir in the cranberries. 

Spoon muffin tins 2/3 full. 

Bake 15-18 minutes or until lightly browned on top. 

Catch these when they are warm, spread a little butter on top, and enjoy! Makes ~12 muffins.

Banana Nut Oatmeal

I love oatmeal for breakfast, but I don't want to develop an oatmeal rut. like our cheerios rut.

I've been playing around with different oatmeal additives and combinations. Loved this one!

You will need:

• 2 C uncooked oatmeal, plain 
• 4 Tbsp all natural peanut butter, (I like smooth) 
• 2 C milk
• 2 C water 
• 1tsp cinnamon 
• 4 Tbsp chopped walnuts 
• 4Tbsp coarsely ground flax seed 
• 2 bananas, sliced for topping
• brown sugar for topping (optional)
• milk for serving

Bring water and milk just to a boil (watch you don't over boil it like I frequently do!). 

Stir in oatmeal, peanut butter, and cinnamon. Reduce heat and boil gently for 3-5 minutes or until mixture thickens and becomes uniform.

Remove from heat. Stir in walnuts and flax seed. Serve in bowls with desired amount of milk and top with bananas and brown sugar. Delicious!

You can of course play around with different nuts and fruit. Raisins are really good!

Crock pot Porridge

Source: Adapted from Tosca Reno's The Eat-Clean Diet Cookbook: Great-Tasting Recipes That Keep You Lean

I don't know about you, but I often find myself in a breakfast rut of Cheerios, Cheerios and more Cheerios.

A big part of that is because I often don't get going in the morning early enough to have time for anything but cold cereal.

I've decided to be a little more disciplined and introduce a little more variety into our breakfast routine (I know, New Year resolutions, right? You probably give it a week? Me too). 

This recipe was perfect because you set it all up the night before and just eat it in the morning! It is actually faster than cold cereal! Well, one downfall: cleaning the crock pot later that day sucks and pretty much evens out whatever time you saved in the morning. BUT at least you had a healthy, more exciting breakfast!

This recipe has a nice homey, stick-to-your-bones kind of taste. A perfect chilly morning treat. Just the kind of thing I envision eating in a mountain chalet before a day of skiing (if I did that sort of thing).

What you'll need:

• 2 C steel-cut oats
• 1/2 C oat bran
• 1/2 C brown rice
• 1/4 C wheat germ
• 2 Tbsp flax seed
• 3 C skim milk
• 3.5 C water (or any combination of fluids to equal 6.5 C)
• 1 C raisins (or anything, really - apple, cranberries, dates, nuts etc.) - optional
• 1.5 Tbsp vanilla
• pinch of nutmeg
• fruit toppings - optional (I like to top mine with berries and banana)
• brown sugar - optional

Place all ingredients in crock pot. Stir well. Cover. Set to cook overnight on low. In the morning, top with fruit and a sprinkle of brown sugar, and enjoy! 

Spicy Corn Cakes with Black Beans

Prep: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Serves: 4

These were a fun alternative to rice or potatoes as a side at dinner. They would be good as a breakfast food too! The kids love the corn cakes, but could take or leave the black beans. The only problem now is that I'll have to search out other recipes to use up the cornmeal and buttermilk, which I do not normally have around the kitchen.

What you'll need:

• 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 tsp oregano
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 2/3 C ground yellow cornmeal
• 2 Tbsp flour
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• salt and pepper
• 3 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 C buttermilk
• 1 egg 
• 1/2 C frozen corn
• 2 tsp canola oil
• sour cream and salsa for serving

In a saucepan over medium heat, stir together the beans, oregano, and 1 tsp of the chili powder. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the beans are heated through. Set aside. 

In a medium bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, flour, baking soda, remaining 1 tsp of chili powder, a bit of salt and a bit of pepper. 

In a small bowl, whisk together the butter, buttermilk and egg. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry until just blended. It will look lumpy. Fold in the corn. 

Heat a large cast0iron pan over medium-high heat. Brush with oil. Working in batches, add the batter like you would for small pancakes (~ 1/4 C at a time). Use a flipper to keep the batter in a small circle. Cook the cakes, turning once, until brown and puffy (about 4 minutes). Transfer to a plate and cover with foil. Stir the batter and brush the pan with oil in between batches. 

Top the cakes with the beans, and serve with salsa and sour cream.

Egg Foo Young

Ease: 4/5     Kid-friendliness: 4/5     Taste: 3/5     Time: 4/5

Prep: 15 minutes
Cook time: 5 minutes

I love eggs. I love their versatility. This dish makes a nice lunch but if you don't care for bean sprouts, then you probably won't like it.

What you'll need:

• 3/4 C finely chopped onion
• 1/4 C finely diced celery
• 1 C fresh bean sprouts, coarsely chopped
• 6 eggs, well beaten
• 1 tsp salt

Lightly grease and warm a medium sized pan over medium heat. Make sure the pan is good and warm. 

Combine the above ingredients. 

Fry by 1/4 cup fulls. Keep patties shaped with a pancake turner by pushing the egg back into the patty. When set and brown on one side, turn and brown the other side (~3 minutes). Nice served with hot rice, rice cakes or some raw veggies or fruit. 

Toast Strips

Ease: 4/5     Kid-friendliness: 5/5     Taste: 5/5     Time: 4/5

Happy Father's Day! 

This recipe is perfect for getting the kids involved in preparing something for someone special. In our home, my husband is the pancake guru. In all honesty, he's way better at getting them just perfect than I am. So I didn't want to touch his well-earned title of Pancake-Extroidinaire. Toast strips are a fun alternative to pancakes and french toast. I found the recipe in Blender Baby Food: Over 125 Recipes for Healthy Homemade Meals.

What you'll need:

Toast

• 1 egg
• 2 Tbsp milk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp grated orange zest
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp butter/margarine
• 1 slice bread cut into 1 inch strips
• Strawberry yogurt dip (see below)

In blender, on high speed, puree egg, milk, vanilla, orange zest and cinnamon until smooth. Transfer to a shallow bowl or pie plate. 

In a skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Dip bread strips in egg mixture, turning until well coated. Arrange in a single layer in skillet. Cook, turning once, until both sides are golden (~3 min/side). Serve warm with fruity yogurt dip. 

I doubled the recipe, which soaked 3 slices of bread. 

Strawberry Yogurt Dip

• 1/2 C plain yogurt 
• 1 Tbsp honey
• 1 banana
• 1/2 C sliced strawberries (fresh or frozen - I used frozen)
• 2 tsp lemon juice

In a blender on low speed, blend yogurt and honey until smooth. Add banana, strawberries, and lemon juice and puree until smooth. (In place of the banana and strawberries you could use almost any fruit combination. The recipe also suggested using 1 C chopped peeled pear and 1/4 tsp ground ginger, which I haven't tried yet, but sounds good).

Serve with fruit fresh (which also tastes great dipped in the strawberry yogurt dip), and you've got a nice breakfast. 

Breakfast Smoothie

Ease: 4/5     Taste: 5/5     Kid-friendliness: 5/5     Time: 5/5


This is what I got to stare at all weekend:

I sacrificed warmth and sleep to do so, but even bad weather camping is good camping. But as those of you who camp know, coming home sucks. Everyone is grumpy and all your stuff is dirty and smelly. Nobody in this house felt much like making breakfast this morning. Smoothies are my go-to when I don't have the time or ambition to make "food" for breakfast.

The downside to smoothies is that I never feel satisfied for long. This smoothie recipe adds oats and I find they help to keep us feeling fuller for longer.

What you'll need:

• 2 1/2 C skim milk
• 1 C frozen fruit (I used mangoes this morning)
• 1 banana
• 1/4 C sugar
• 1/2 tsp coconut-flavoured extract
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 C quick-cooking oats
• nutmeg (optional as a garnish - I prefer to garnish with cinnamon)

Place all ingredients in a blender, and puree until well blended. Divide among 4 tall glasses and garnish with nutmeg or cinnamon. 

Recipe variation: I often like to substitute a cup and a half of juice (berry or apple is my favourite) and a hand full of ice for the milk and 1/4 C of sugar. Makes the smoothie a little more slushy - great for hot days!

Adapted from Karen Bellerson's Low Fat, No Fat Cooking

Cheater French Toast

Ease: 5/5     Kid-friendliness: 5/5     Taste: 5/5     Time: 5/5


Easiest French Toast!

Here's hoping the mother's out there were properly celebrated today for the true heros that you are (My daughter came and wished me a "Happy Valentine's Day", but I felt special nonetheless).

110 years ago, approximately 44 hours a week were spent on preparing meals and cleaning up after them (Bowers, 2000)! Yuck. Post- World War II, most magazines portrayed the ideal wife as, "intelligent and well-educated, could cook delicious meals, did housework efficiently, and spent lots of time nurturing her children." (Bowers, 2000). This doesn't really sound all that different from the ideal wife in many of today's popular magazines, does it? (Only, in addition to the above she also has an exciting career and makes her delicious meals from scratch using nothing but organic, locally produced ingredients). A tall order! Before letting myself get all anxious about how far from the ideal I am, I made incredibly simple, but absolutely delicious cinnamon french toast for Mother's Day brunch with my Mother-in-law. It's not particularly low fat, not organic, and not locally produced, but when you see how easy it is to make, and how good it is to eat, you'll still feel like a rock star in the kitchen! I've tried a variety of methods for making french toast and it usually ends up soggy. This version is hands down the best yet.


What you'll need:


Raisin Cream Topping

• 1/3 C sultana raisins
• 1 C boiling water
• 1 C whipping cream (I used low fat)
• 2 Tbsp instant vanilla pudding powder (I used light)
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

Stir raisins and boiling water in small bowl. Let stand for 10 minutes, until the raisins plump up. Drain and blot raisins with paper towel. Cool. 

Beat whipping cream, pudding powder and cinnamon in medium bowl for two minutes, until soft peaks form. Fold in raisins. Set aside until french toast is cooked. 

Cinnamon French Toast

• 3 large eggs
• 3/4 C milk (I used skim)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp hard margarine or butter
• 6 day-old cinnamon buns without icing, cut horizontally into two layers

Preheat oven to 200F, then turn off. 

Beat the first 4 ingredients in medium bowl until smooth. 

Melt 1/2 the margarine in large non-stick pan over medium heat until sizzling. Reduce heat to medium-low.

Quickly dip the cinnamon bun halves, one at a time, into egg mixtures. Cook, about six at a time, approximately two minutes per side (until lightly browned). Keep warm in the oven until the remaining 6 buns are cooked. 

Top with raisin cream topping. So good!

Recipe from Weekend Cooking: 40 Menus for Casual Entertaining (Company's Coming Special Occasion)


Bowers, Douglas E. "Cooking trends echo changing roles of women". Food Review Vol. 23, Issue 1(2000): 23-29 . 


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