Sour Cream Blueberry Muffins

Today I'm Making.... Sour Cream Blueberry Muffins

Yesterday the family went out to run errands, my husband was out of work and decided he would pack the baby bag. All was good until we were out and I realized that his lovely well packed bag had been forgotten at home. So... with a two year old we had to stop for a snack. He wanted muffins, which made me want muffins. All we could find were store bought blueberry and they were... how to put this nicely... gross. So I decided the next day to try my hand at some blueberry muffins, since at this point I had been craving them for 24 hours. The ones I made were SO much better. Here's the recipe I used:

Recipe: Makes 12 muffins

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Beat 2 Eggs, while mixing add in 1 cup white sugar (or 1/2 white, 1/2 brown), add 1/2 cup vegetable oil and 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract.
3. In another bowl mix together 2 cups all-purpose flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda,
4. Mix 1 cup frozen blueberries into the dry ingredients (this helps them from all sinking to the bottom when it is all mixed together.
5. pour the dry ingredients into the wet and add 1 cup sour cream, mix well.
6. Grease muffin tin and fill it up with the mix- cook at 400 for 20 minutes.

Review:

These muffins are so much better then the store bought yuck-fest. These are very good, not TOO sweet and very tasty. I will certainly be making these again.

Chicken and Dumplings

Today I'm Making... Chicken and Dumplings

I am southern. Okay I confess I wasn't born in the south and every time I go to school I tend to go somewhere ungodly cold but at heart I am southern and I always come back here. I really like southern food but for the most part I don't cook it, it's probably a combination of 1) not knowing any recipes, 2) being too embarrassed to buy THAT much butter, and 3) worrying that I will start qualifying for the biggest loser if I eat too much. Well I found this recipe, and it only requires 2 tablespoons of butter! You will need a slow cooker.

Recipe: (makes enough for probably 6 people)

1. Add to Slow cooker: 4 chicken breasts (the best is if they are slightly frozen), 2 tablespoons butter, 2 10.75 oz cans of cream of chicken soup (do low sodium or it really starts to add up) and 1/2 an onion chopped finely. Fill the slow cooker with low sodium chicken broth until chicken is completely submerged. Cook for 4-6 hours on low until the chicken pulls apart (like BBQ pulled chicken).
2. Pull the Chicken apart and add 2 rolls of refrigerated biscuit dough (cut each biscuit into 3 parts and squish them thin so the "noodles" aren't too thick) Cook for 1 more hour on low. Make sure you push down the biscuits a few times so that they get fully cooked.

Review:

This is a great comfort food, like a heartier chicken noodle soup. The biscuits really do turn into the consistency of noodles. I didn't use low sodium anything and it was a mistake (granted I am really sensitive to the taste of salt), if it wasn't for that however I would have LOVED this recipe. I will be making this again for sure. It took awhile to make but nothing about it was hard to do and if you are home anyway it really wasn't a big deal.

Pie Crust

Today I'm Making... Pie Crust

I have always thought that some day I would make a pie crust... but that someday always seemed far away. I just do the typical go to freezer section pie crust, it's easy and good. Well I was looking over the shelf the other day and a guy who worked at the grocery store came up to see if I needed any help. We got into a conversation and he told me his wife makes a great homemade pie crust that is easy to make (5 minutes). He ended up taking me into the back so we could call his wife, she gave me the family recipe over the phone. Here it goes:

Recipe: (Makes 1- 9 inch pie crust)

1. Mix together: 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, 1 tablespoon white sugar, a pinch of salt.
2. Add 1/2 cup vegetable oil and 2 tablespoons milk. Roll it into a ball.
3. put the ball in the middle of the pie pan and mush it out with your fingers until it looks the like the pie crust you buy at the store. You don't need to roll it out.

Review:

This was so much easier then i thought it would be. It really did only take me 5 minutes and if anything it was better then the ones I get at the store (and significantly cheaper). I made it into pumpkin pie (my brothers favorite). I didn't pre-bake it before putting the filling in and it was perfect.

* if you are going to make something savory (like a quiche) change the recipe to have: 2 teaspoons of sugar and a full teaspoon of salt instead of what this recipe says.

Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies

Today I'm Making... Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies

I love cookies, I want to find a good recipe for all major types of cookies. It takes awhile to find the right recipe- I am picky because I want perfection. These cookies remind me of Christmas parties. Since I am not going to any Christmas parties and I thought my son would get a kick out these we decided to make these on a cold, snowy Saturday afternoon.

Recipe: (makes 24 cookies)

1. Blend 1/2 cup softened butter (one stick) with 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter- blend with a hand mixer until creamy.
2. Add 1/2 cup packed brown sugar and 1/2 cup white sugar mix again with the hand mixer until it starts to fluff up a bit.
3. Add 1 egg, 2 tablespoons milk and one teaspoon vanilla extract and mix it up.
4. In another bowl mix together 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1/8 teaspoon baking soda and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Mix that all the dry ingredients together well.
5. Pour the dry ingredients slowly into the wet while mixing with the electric mixer- if you have a hand one then you will probably need a buddy- I had to use my 2 year old which was an adventure.
6. Form the dough into 1 inch balls- I used about a tablespoon in each. place them on a cookie sheet- they don't spread out very much so you can have them about 1 inch apart.
7. Bake at 375 for 12 minutes.
8. While they are baking unwrap your kisses (or other chocolate candy)- you have to put them on top of the cookies right when they get out of the oven- just mush them into the middle gently. After you do this put the cookies on the cooling rack and leave them alone- the chocolate stays soft for a long time (hour +) so don't touch them or they will stop looking like kisses.

Review:

I fail at cookies more then anything else I make which makes me not very confident- but these are a winning recipe. They tasted exactly like I imagined they would. You can sprinkle the top with granulated sugar to make them look fancier- I didn't do this but it's an option. I would recommend eating at least one while the chocolate is soft- the whole cookie will melt in your mouth. These look impressive and would make great gifts. I will no doubt be making these again.

Mini Frittatas

Today I' Making... Mini Frittatas

This is another thing I came up with while trying to find something for an office breakfast. I think individual portions are always a good idea with a crowd of people. These are also good because you can add or subtract ingredients in any or all of the servings based on who will be eating them (vegetarians etc). I think next time I will make these with bacon... because everything is better with bacon.

Recipe:

1. Preheat Oven to 350 and grease a muffin tray – This makes 12 servings.
2. In a bowl whisk together 6 eggs, ½ cup of milk, a pinch of salt and a little (1/8 a teaspoon) pepper (I also added a bit of blackening seasoning for good measure)
3. Add 2/3 cup chopped zucchini; ¼ cup chopped red bell pepper, ¼ cup sautéed yellow onion and 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese.
4. Take a ¼ cup measuring cup and scoop one into each muffin cup- this way they all end up the same size
5. Bake for 20 minutes. To get them out of the tray run a knife around the edge of each muffin.

Review:

I have a confession, I never actually got to try one of these. Everyone at my husband's office liked them so much there was nothing left. I did get asked for the recipe, so I am going to take that as this is a winning recipe. I love how easy it is to change it up, even if you only wanted to add bacon, garlic, spinach, feta or anything to even one or two you could do that. This is also a low carbohydrate meal if that is important to you or the people you are feeding.

Mini Pecan Muffins

Today I'm Making... Mini Pecan Muffins

While searching for ideas to make for my husbands office breakfast I decided to focus on individual sized foods (as opposed to something big like a quiche). My husband wanted something "christmasy" so when I came across a pecan muffin it seemed perfect! they are bite sized so you don't have to feel too guilty and there are only 5 ingredients! These alone might have inspired me to host a brunch so I can show them off!

Recipe:

1. Grease (I used Bakers Joy) a mini muffin tray and preheat oven to 350 (I only have one of these muffin sheets and it makes 18 muffins so I had to cook two batches- if you have to do that make sure the tray is completely cool before you put in round 2 or they will cook unevenly)
2. In a bowl stir together 1 cup of light brown sugar, 1/2 cup all-purpose flour and 1 cup of chopped pecans.
3. In another bowl mix together 2/3 cups softened butter and 2 eggs until smooth.
4. Mix the two bowls together- mix until JUST combined
5. Bake for 20 minutes at 350- when done cool them on a wire rack.

Review:

These are amazing little suckers and they look as impressive as they taste! My husband said he was walking around his office after the breakfast and overheard people raving about them. They were so good I had to type up the recipe because he was asked so many times for it. I will certainly be making these again... like for every party I go to from now on!