Mango, Lime and Coconut Muffins (GF)

I used the recipe base and used coconut flour, coconut milk, lime zest and 2 chopped mangoes.

delish!

shredded coconut would have been great too if you're a fan,

Berry & white chocolate muffins (GF)

the weekend before I made these as i had some yoghurt in the fridge which the kids had rejected for school recesses.  the kids loved them though G & I found them wayyyyy too sweet. i think the sugar in the flavoured yoghurt AND the chocolate was probably too much with the 1/2 cup of added sugar.

they were very quick and easy to make though so i'll definitely make them again when we have yoghurt. i used frozen mixed berries though i think any kind would be good.

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Muffins

OMG i think i will have to buy some PB and try these - like a reeses muffin!!!
a recipe i found in 2003 on the 'friendly freezer' yahoo group

2/3 cup smooth peanut butter
2 tspn butter, melted
3/4 cup sugar (this sounds like a lot - it's an american recipe so probably safe to cut back)
2 eggs
1 1/2 tspn vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup SR flour
1/2 cup milk
6 oz (170g) chocolate chips

preheat oven to 350'F (180'c)
mix PB and butter until well blended. mix in sugar, eggs, vanilla
add flour, milk and choc chips, mix until just combined.
spoon into 12 lined muffin cups
bake 20-25 mins or until muffins spring back when lightly touched in centre

updated the next day:
made these, gluten and dairy free - they are very yum and rora and i both love them! they are not like a reeses but good anyway. i used brown sugar and forgot to reduce the amount, but you definitely could.

oops!

missed posting yesterday! in my defence i wasn't feeling well and went to bed super early (as soon as I'd said good night to the kids ;))

we have no bread in the house and we had very ripe bananas and a tub of yoghurt to be used up. i just made these for breakfast. i don't recommend it LOL they are fine for a snack but they are wayyyyyy too sugary and not substantial enough for breakfast.

I will make these again, but next time I will halve the sugar and add some other bits and pieces to make them healthier :)

Review - Muffin Break

On Boxing Day I took the girls out to the sales as soon as we all got up - I wanted to get more Christmas lights plus get out of the house for a while so G&R could rest (apparently ryan didn't wake til nearly 10am!!!)

I promised them we'd get something to eat after we'd had a look at a few shops (I found the sales very disappointing) so, knowing MB has gluten free, we headed there.

I do go to Muffin Break occasionally for this reason - and not only do they have GF (like most cafes), but they'll usually have 3-4 different options, whereas most cafes only have one. I have had a few of the GF cakes and slices before (shared rora's) and they were quite nice.

I do like knowing that they are recommended by the coeliac society (so they must have an idea of how to be really GF) but I generally don't go there because:

• Their muffins used to be a cheap snack but for us as a family to go there for morning tea now usually costs us over $30, which is way too much for a snack IMO
• They only accept cash
• I don't actually like their muffins - except the bran ones - as i think they are over-mixed, pre-packaged cakes, not proper muffins at all, and not remotely like homemade

The day we went and I had made it quite obvious that Rora needed gluten free - check milk shake ingredients etc, and yet they still brought out her babycino with chocolate on top, which they had no idea if it was GF or not...

I had also been there before christmas with girlfriends and we'd gone there because they told me they were open til 10pm when i asked. They were quite rude though, actually coming out to ask if we were going to order when we were still waiting for a few to turn up (no, we're sitting at the tables closest to the kitchen jsut to look pretty humph) and then they packed up totally all around us and gave us 'get out' hints, when it was only about 920pm!!!!!!!!!!

if you have a review about Muffin Break, especially in regard to their gluten free products please feel free to post in my comments :)

oh and PS: i didn't escape the gastro bug :( am just hoping the girls don't get it next :(





posted by Karen on http://brazen20au.blogspot.com/

Links - Sweets (cakes, slices, pancakes etc) #3

first lot of links
second lot of links

apple pancakes

big batch banana trail mix bread

buttermilk sweet potato pie

chocolate almond bars

chocolate cheesecake brownies

chocolate cream pie (aka chocolate bavarian pie)

pumpkin pie with pecan crumble topping

sweetened condensed milk cake

buttermilk lemon bars

lemon cupcakes filled with lemon curd

lemon torte

sweet potato muffins

Mandarin cranberry bread

apple fig & walnut bread

chewy chunky blondies

lime yoghurt cake

snickerdoodle blondies

ginger cherry chocolate chip bars

Bread Pudding Muffins

this sounds like a great way to use up stale bread - which could be handy as our neighbour usually brings over a bag of day old bakers delight loaves a few times a month (i think he gets them through his church and he seems to share them out around his neighbours)

i got it from here and originally from here

Bread Pudding Muffins
350'F 35-45 minutes

8 cups packed cubed bread
1 cup milk
4 eggs
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup melted butter
2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup dried cranberries, cherries or raisins

Butter and flour nonstick muffin pan or line with paper cups. Mix bread cubes with milk in a bowl. Let sit for about 10 min. until milk is soaked up.

Combine eggs, sugar, butter, vanilla and cinnamon in separate bowl. Add dried cranberries and mix. Combine egg mixture and bread mixture. Spoon into prepared pan, filling to the top press down and fill to the top again. Bake 350� 35-45 minutes. Let cool in pan for about 15 minutes, then remove.

Tips: Muffins can be rewarmed in the microwave for about 20 seconds.

Garlic Knots

dinner tonight was lentil soup with garlic knots.

i made them based on this recipe but was too lazy to go and find the recipe to check out to make them LOL hence they didn't quite work as they were supposed to, but doesn't matter - everyone loved them and there are NONE left! lol

i used the thermomix pizza dough. after letting it rise, punch down and then re-rise, i cut it into around 14 pieces. i then rolled it into balls and then between my hands into 'snakes'. tied them into tight knots.

i drizzled olive oil over them, and sprinkled them with a little salt (won't next time, the kids didn't like that), dried rosemary and lots of chopped garlic. i also put a little cheese on half of them.

i chopped 6 cloves of russian garlic (equivalent to about 12-18 cloves of regular garlic in quantity) in 2 seconds in the thermomix - i love my thermomix!

the lentil soup wasn't all that good tonight :( not sure why. didn't stop rory eating all hers and all ryan's too though lol

i also made applesauce puffs tonight. they are very yummy :) next time i will change the recipe though, won't worry about the topping plus i think i'll put a little more applesauce and less sugar. oh and i'll put less in the holes so i make 12 instead of 6 lol

Links - Breads, Fruit Loaves & Muffins

aloo paratha

Bran Muffins

NEW Ciabatta

tenina's crackers

Cranberry Almond Multigrain Scones (breakfast)

dosa - masala paper

Garlic Knots

Naan Bread (thermomix)

Onion Flatbread with Mustard and Fennel

NEW Perfect pita pockets

Quick Fruit Loaf

steamed varoma bread (thermomix)

tortillas

vegan gingerbread muffins

Whole Wheat, Honey, Almond, Linseed and Cardamom Bread

za'atar bread (foccacia with middle eastern spices)

zucchini cake

My favourite ever muffin recipe

(Lemon) Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins
Makes 12
Topping
1/4 cup oats uncooked (quick or old fashioned)
2 tabs white sugar

Muffins
1 1/2 cups oats uncooked (quick or old fashioned)
1 cup plain flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tab baking powder
1/4 tspn salt (optl)
1 cup skim milk
2 egg whites or 1 egg, slightly beaten
2 tabs vegetable oil
1 tspn grated lemon peel (optional)
1 tspn vanilla
1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen

Heat oven to 205’c / 400’ F.
Line 12 muffin cups with paper baking cups or spray bottoms only with no-stick cooking spray.
For topping, combine 1/4 cup oats and sugar; mix well. Set aside.
For muffins, combine 1-1/2 cups oats, and remaining dry ingredients; mix well.
Add combined milk, egg whites, oil, lemon peel and vanilla, mixing just until dry ingredients are moistened. Gently stir in blueberries.
Fill muffin cups almost full. Sprinkle with reserved topping, patting gently.
Bake 20 to 24 minutes or until light golden brown. Let muffins stand a few minutes; remove from pan.

Nutrition Information: 1 muffin Calories 160,
Calories From Fat 27, Total Fat 3g, Saturated Fat 0g,
Cholesterol 0mg, Sodium 140mg, Total Carbohydrates
29g, Dietary Fiber 2g, Protein 4g

i have used this recipe to make all sorts of muffins - sweet and savoury! try it with raspberries and white chocolate chips - mmmmm! oh, and i never put the topping on, too lazy lol

i know i've said it before, but it is SO important - DON'T over-mix your muffins! you only mix a muffin mix until it is just barely combined... if you mix it well you will end up with cakes, not muffins.

it originally came from this website.

Zucchini and Banana Muffins

well, these were a bit of a disaster, but totally my own fault :(

do NOT be lazy and do your muffins in the thermomix!!! the zucchinis were chopped too fine so you couldn't see them, and the muffins are way overmixed (my pet hate, so many people just don't understand that you don't combine a muffin mix til well mixed, you do it til barely mixed, and here i am going even further! ack!)

not to mention my stupid oven that overcooked them, i had it on 160-170' and only in there for 20 mins and they are overcooked!

anyway here is the recipe i used , i will write up my version after lunch - we are about to pack our hot muffins in a container and head out for a morning tea playdate :D (*waving hello to my stalker laurel lol*)

busy foodie day

and i'm kind of over it now (ok, i'm very over it - we're having leftovers for dinner and the kids are having oven baked nuggets and chips from the freezer lol)

first this morning i tried to turn my favourite muffin recipe into a strawberry yoghurt muffin recipe with dismal results :( i threw them out this afternoon as even *I* didn't want to eat them...

i then cooked the apple for this cake http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/14581/custard+and+apple+teacake though it ended up more like a chunky apple sauce so i hope it works ok.

off to the markets after that to stock up on spices (nearly $70 worth lol) so i can make my own spice mixes, which won't happen til next weekend now. lunch was a treat of homemade nachos and then i made the custard for the apple cake, the cake itself (now cooking) and the thermomix orange cake which ryan loves.

i also need to work out something interesting to make with the humungous pumpkin our neighbours gave to us, which their neighbours grew. it's just not cold enough for soup!

is anyone else a wimp about cutting pumpkins? it's the whole reason i usually buy jap pumpkin *blush* i think this one is a bloody ironbark LMAO!!!

Introduction

crazy i know, but i decided to start another blog (like i don't spend enough time online already) - i'm hoping it might get me a bit more inspired with food.

i USED to be great with food, in the kitchen. pre-kids this was. now i just resent it (until i get in there usually). on the other hand i'm trying (TRYING) to save money by cooking as much as i can, and reducing the number of pre-prepared food we have in our lives to reduce preservatives etc etc.

we buy organic F&V, that started because i wanted them home delivered and didn't want to have to pick what i wanted (http://www.organicexpress.com.au/) and then became hooked on the taste and freshness of organic F&V. i now buy some from organic express and as many things as possible from Choku Bai Jo in North Lyneham, which is run by the same people who have a stall at the local farmers market (which is too hard for me to get to) and is super cheap. sometimes the produce has only been picked that day too!!

i try to menu plan, but get bored with it easily lol

i have a cookbook addiction which i have severely curbed - i can't afford them and i rarely use them for anything other than inspiration! last count i had nearly 70 books - have sold some since then but also acquired more *blush*

in the kitchen i love gadgets and atm my favourite is my thermomix which i talked dh into buying last year. i don't use it much for cooking whole meals (though he does) but more for preparation and i am addicted to my fruit porridge every morning which tastes like heaven with way more calories than it has LOL

i had to fill my empty freezer so during the past weekend (after i recovered from being sick last week) i made several snacks for the kids:
chocolate chip cookies with oats and rice bubbles in them (i couldn't find any recipes so just kind of invented one based on this one which i hadn't been all that excited by, and this one (cna't find it now, will add link later) which i also wasn't excited by LOL
fruit truffles based on the thermomix vitality truffles (i used almonds and added cocoa)
apple muffins

tonight i'm trying to use up what's in the fridge as we're going away for the weekend so i'm planning to make pasta with a sauce based on a weight watchers recipe - with bacon, and grated zucchinis and carrots in a tomato base:

low fat pasta sauce:
finely dice 1 onion, fresh garlic (i used 4 cloves!) & bacon with all fat removed
fry lightly in a pan
add in grated zucchini and carrot
fry lightly until softened
add in diced tomatoes (fresh or tinned) and herbs if desired. (i like a little salt too)
cook until ready LOL (depends how much time you have)
and serve over pasta eg: penne