Eating "healthy" (Oat Applesauce Muffins)

Not too long ago I was on a bit of a muffin kick.  I had a touch of the muffin madness, I was making a double batch of pumpkin chocolate chip muffins every weekend.  I even to so far as to roast my own enormous pumpkin after Halloween, puree said pumpkin, and keep pumpkin puree stockpiled in my freezer in case I need an impromptu batch of these little gems.  The madness ran so deep that I bought myself a mega-muffin pan (think Costco size) and a mini-muffin pan (makes 24 mini muffins per batch). 

I hadn't made a batch in a while, but knew I needed to make something yummy to put on this blog for my readers, so I decided to find a muffin recipe that I hadn't tried before.  We have been eating baked oatmeal every weekend, so I have a large amount of oats in the house at any given moment, and I had made a batch of slow cooker applesauce about a month ago and froze the delicious results for future use, so I needed something that incorporated both oats and applesauce.  And VOILA, Oat Applesauce Muffins was the winner!  Allrecipes onces again provided an excellent and easy recipe for a healthly little muffin.

On the topic of buttermilk: I never buy it.  I have purchased it in the past pre-made, and frankly I never use a whole half-gallon, so I always just make my own by mixing a cup of milk with a tablespoon of vinegar.  It thickens, it gets tangy, and I always have milk and vinegar so it saves an unnecessary trip to the store.  I live 5 minutes from Walmart, and still avoid going whenever possible.

Oat Applesauce Muffins (from Allrecipes, posted by Sal)

1 cup rolled oats

1 cup buttermilk

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup applesauce

1 egg

There are oats in that there buttermilk

Place oats in a small bowl, pour in buttermilk. Let sit for two hours at room temperature. (I actually only did this step for as long as it took to get the rest of the ingredients together, per the recommendations in the recipe reviews)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease 12 muffin cups or line with paper muffin liners.

In a large bowl, stir together whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda and brown sugar. 

Homemade applesauce = bees' knees

Secret ingredients, the vanilla is the homemade whiskey vanilla that I am absolutely obsessed with

Stir in oat/buttermilk mixture, applesauce and egg; mix well. Pour batter into prepared muffin cups. (I also added a splash of vanilla and some cinnamon, about 1/2 to 1 tsp. of each is good)

 A big bowl of muffins

Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of muffin comes out clean. 


Full disclosure: these are not overly sweet and they are a little dense, and when eaten warm I thought they seemed a little "eh".  I put all of the muffins in a gallon freezer bag and let them sit and cool, and this made them soft and chewy and oh so delicious, so if these aren't your cup of tea right off the bat try the plastic bag trick while the muffins are still warm and you won't be sorry.

Coming up next: slow cooker beef stew, from another Allrecipes recipe.  It is cooking as I type this, and the smell is making me think that this one will be a keeper!  Keep you posted! 

Shark Week (Coca Cola Cake)

No, I don't allude to The Discovery Channel's "Shark Week", this is a delightful new euphemism I use for "Aunt Flo", the "Crimson Wave", and "that time of the month" that I have started using regularly, as it illustrates the delightfulness that is being a woman.  Do you need to know when it's Shark Week in Casa de la Swan?  Probably not.  Am I going to force this information on you anyways.  ABSOLUTELY.  Because now I know the perfect panacea to make the affliction of femininity that much more tolerable.  COCA COLA CAKE.

Sunday the 27th was National Chocolate Cake Day, so I decided to take advantage of the fortuitous cosmic alignment of Shark Week and Chocolate Cake Day by making this Coca Cola Cake.  This is apparently a VERY Southern dessert, but I attempted (and succeeded) in making my own Northern version.

The recipe I used called for mini-marshmallows (that I did have but completely forgot to put in).  The marshmallows probably would have been great, but the finished product was still extremly edible and quite delicious.

I don't make homemade cakes, I usually just use a box of mix and call it good, but I think I might make the exception again in the future for this cake.  It was perfect.  So good, in fact, that it was difficult to photograph due to how fast it got eaten by kids, a husband, and co-workers alike.

Faking the OG (Faux Zuppa Toscana)

I love the Olive Garden's Unlimited Soup, Salad and Breadsticks, although I try not to indulge too often in the real thing.  I've tried my hand a couple times at making my own version of Zuppa Toscana, and Sunday I ended up making a big pot of it with only a little peek at a recipe online (I needed a little guidance on what order to throw the ingredients in).

This is a super easy, hopefully somewhat healthy (what do I look like, a nutritionist?) take on the OG classic, try it out on a week night and be amazed at how fast it is to get on the table!

Faux Zuppa Toscana
7-8 Italian sausages
1 onion, chopped
1 tsp minced garlic
10 c water
3 tbsp chicken base
3 russet potatoes, sliced
2-3 c raw kale, chopped
1 can evaporated milk

I started with a package of Italian sausage, kale, 3 potatoes, an onion and some chicken base (pictured), as well as some minced garlic and a can of evaporated milk (not pictured, because I kind of threw them in last minute.

I pushed the sausage out of the casings while Elora took pictures, and started it browning in the bottom of my Dutch oven. 

I added the onions to the browned sausage, and let them cook until soft. 

Add in the water and chicken base (you can use stock or bouillion, I just keep the base around and love that it dissolves faster than a cube), and bring to a boil.  Add in your potatoes and let cook 20 minutes or so, until potatoes are cooked.

Throw in your kale and let it wilt for a few minutes, then toss in the can of evaporated milk.  This makes a creamy soup but leaves out all the fat that heavy cream would add.  The finished product is quite delightful with some homemade breadsticks (try this recipe if you have a bread machine, they are ridiculously easy and have great Italian flvor) and a big bowl of salad!!!