Red, White and Blueberry Muffins!

My favorite go-to fast and healthy muffin recipe!

(Click here for the Chocolate Chip Muffin version)

I had just a little over a cup of blueberries in the freezer-perfect! And leftover on sale holiday (Christmas this time. Keep Christmas in your heart and money in your wallet!) cupcake liners. Festive is festive, I say. Sprinkle some white Sparkle Sugar...and red sugar (crossing fingers it wouldn't look too vampire-y!) and you've got yourself a tasty, pretty and patriotic muffin.

Red, White and Blueberry Muffins

2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar (just a bit less)
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk
3 tablespoons oil
1 egg, beaten

1 cup of blueberries

1/4 teaspoon Penzey's Cake Spice, optional

A splash of vanilla or almond extract, optional

Heat oven to 375. Line 12 muffin cups with paper baking cups. In medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cake spice - mix well. In small bowl, combine milk, oil and egg (I also add a splash of vanilla extract), blend well. Add to dry ingredients, stir just until moistened. Add blueberries. Bake for 18-23 minutes or until light golden brown. (start checking around 16 minutes). Cool for one minute, remove from pan and serve warm. If there are any left over, these also freeze well.

Healthy Cooking - Cranberry-Pecan Corn Muffins (Bread!)

From Taste of Home's Healthy Cooking magazine - October/November 2009, page 48

I thought I would try baking it in small baking pans, turning it into Cranberry Pecan Cornbread. I like muffins, but since I would probably be the only one around here eating them, I've found that small loaves of bread freeze better and make great last-minute gifts. (Seriously, wouldn't you rather have a small bread loaf with a bow on top or 4 muffins in a baggie? It just looks and presents so much better!)

Ingredients
1-3/4 cups yellow cornmeal
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1-1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cups (12 ounces) fat-free plain yogurt
1 egg
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup chopped pecans

Directions
In a large bowl, combine the cornmeal, flour, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, combine the yogurt, egg, oil and honey. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in cranberries and pecans.
Coat muffin cups with cooking spray; -- or 3 mini loaf pans -- fill three-fourths full with batter.
Bake at 375° for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

Nutrition Facts: 1 muffin equals 185 calories, 6 g fat (1 g saturated fat), 16 mg cholesterol, 217 mg sodium, 29 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 4 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 2 starch, 1 fat.

Turkey Leftovers - Turkey Spaghetti Casserole

Tonight we are trying Taste of Home's Healthy Cooking (October/November 2008 - page 64)
Turkey Spaghetti Casserole

The verdict: A solid B+ The Mexican cheese and touch of paprika kept it from being too bland. And with thin spaghetti, the oven time was reduced to one hour. A nice and different alternative to yesterday's reheated leftovers.

Pineapple Pudding Cake

Pineapple Pudding Cake is from the August/September 2008 issue of Taste of Home's Healthy Cooking magazine, page 55. (click links for the recipes) I was cleaning out my pantry and found an 8 ounce can of crushed pineapple close to the best used by date and thought this might be a good use for it today. The original recipe called for a 20 ounce can to make 9" x 13" cake. I didn't want that much, so I used a 8 1/2" x 10" dish. The recipe also said to use a package of yellow cake mix. Instead I used my tiny cake recipe, but kept the original sizes of pudding mix and cream cheese the same. Who doesn't want more of that combo?! I also subbed Neufachel Light cream cheese instead of the fat free. The fat free cost almost three times as much and I'm not a big fan of fat free cheeses. Nor Cool Whip, so I left that off, too. And the cherries, and the walnuts -- I like them, but didn't have any on hand. It looks pretty with just the pudding and pineapple on top. And a few sprinkles. OK, what's left? Tiny cake recipe, fat free milk, sugar free instant vanilla pudding mix, Neufachel Light cream cheese, 8 ounce can of pineapple, sprinkles. Who knows what the calorie and nutrition stats are now? The results? It tasted pretty good. The pudding/cream cheese was a nice alternative to a sugary sweet frosting. The AWOL Cool Whip, cherries and nuts were not missed and probably would have just put it way over the top. I would definitely make it again, in the larger size for a party. When I make the smaller version again, I will substitute cherries, peaches, raspberries or another fruit as T and L do not really like pineapple.

Egg-Free Chocolate Caramel Cake

Egg-Free Chocolate Caramel Cake from the August/September 2008 issue of Healthy Cooking, page 57.

Look Ma, no eggs! Yet is it dense and chocolately and yummy! I think storing it in the refrigerator helped achieve that. This week HEB has a coupon when you buy a 3 pound bag of apples, you get a free bag of Kraft Caramels worth $1.99. I decided to go with free instead of spending for the caramel ice cream topping. I melted 6 caramels with a little bit of water in the microwave in 20 second timings. AND...I cut the recipe ingredients in half to fit into a 9"x9" pan. Having a 13"x9" cake around is too tempting! Easy enough to do until you got to the 1/3 cup measures. No 1/6 measuring cups, but easy enough to eye-ball (a little less than 1/4 cup). It baked in about 25 minutes. The frosting was an interesting twist and taste - I can see using it on an apple cake, too.

Red, White and Blueberry! Blueberry Torte Squares

From the April/May 2008 issue of Taste of Home's Healthy Cooking magazine, which I believe replaced Light & Tasty. The final verdict will be tonight's dessert, but I can attest to sampling the cream cheese and blueberry layers along the way and they are yummy! Very light and not oversweet. I easily cut the recipe in half to fit into a 9" x 9" pan. The original 13" x 9" would have been too much and too tempting for us. Next time I may keep the original quantity of the blueberries and save to put over shortcake or Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla Light Ice Cream (55% less fat, 25% less calories than the original). This is the original recipe for the 13x9 size --

BLUEBERRY TORTE SQUARES

2/3 cup butter, softened
3 tablespoons plus 1/2 cup sugar, divided
1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 package (8 ounces) reduced-fat cream cheese
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 carton (12 ounces) frozen reduced-fat whipped topping, thawed
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3/4 cup cold water
3 cups fresh blueberries

In a small mixing bowl, cream butter and 2 tablespoons sugar. Gradually add flour and mix well. Press onto the bottom of a 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking dish coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 12-14 minutes or until set and edges are lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack. In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and confectioners' sugar until smooth. Fold in whipped topping; spread mixture over crust. Refrigerate for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, combine cornstarch and water until smooth. Stir in blueberries and remaining sugar. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Cool to room temperature. Spoon topping over cream cheese layer. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. Cut into squares. Yield: 2 dozen.

One serving 1 square
Calories: 178
Fat: 9 g
Saturated Fat: 6 g
Cholesterol: 20 mg
Sodium: 76 mg
Carbohydrate: 24 g
Fiber: 1 g
Protein: 2 g
Diabetic Exchange: 1-1/2 starch, 1-1/2 fat.

The story of Chocolate Cream Delight

Today was a 2-fer in the kitchen with the October/November issue of Light and Tasty! Part II was the Chocolate Cream Delight on page 19. (Click for the recipe)

OK, for starters -- trying to find the ingredients. Once upon a time, I remember seeing chocolate cookie crumbs in the baking section. No more - at least the three grocery stores I went to! Ditto for trying to find plain chocolate cookies in the cookie aisle. So I planned to make my Hershey Chocolate Crumb Crust, check the recipe and I'm out of graham cracker crumbs. No problem, I'll use the chocolate graham crackers in the pantry, how brilliant am I? But T and L bought the store brand ones on one of their adventures and yikes, 1 gram of trans fat per two crackers?! No way, so I took off for the third grocery store and bought the Honey Graham Chocolate Sticks (low fat and no trans). Cuisinart'ed a cup, melted 2 tablespoons of butter and skipped adding the extra sugar. But wait, there's still more obstacles -- I couldn't find the 1.3 ounce size sugar-free cook and serve chocolate pudding the recipe called for. In fact, I only found it in the 5 ounce, 6 cup size at the second grocery store, but by that point I had already bought the regular Jello pudding 5 oz/6 cup at grocery store #1 since they didn't have the sugar-free version. And I also took a leap of kitchen faith thinking if the pan is 8" square, the 6 cup portion size should be OK. But then on that box, it called for 3 cups of milk. The recipe said 3 1/2 cups. At this point, I thought this dessert is already off the track and I'm sticking with what the box says. More oddities? Yes! The cream cheese. Recipe called for 3 ounces, I have an 8 ounce box. No problem, get out my little scale, weigh and give myself an extra dab for all this trouble so far! Layer this all in the pan, sprinkle a few extra bits of the graham crackers and let it and me chill. I declined to smear Cool Whip (er, "reduced fat whipped topping") on the top. (Suffice to say, I grew up when Cool Whip was first introduced. That stuff got glopped and plopped onto everything from pudding to pies to cakes to jello parfaits. And what was really an affront to nature and all which is called dessert, when someone tinted it with food coloring for cake "frosting"! Shudder! )

Ultimately, what a pain in the butt to shop for and make. It tasted pretty good and we all liked the chocolate cream cheese layer. My grade: C-/Make every once in awhile, maybe. Once a healing and sufficient amount of time has passed.

Pumpkin Corn Soup

Did you stock up on the after the holidays 25 cent sale cans of Libby's Pumpkin, too? Here's a different, savory use for canned pumpkin. From the October/November 2007 issue of Light and Tasty, page 50. My changes/substitutions are in italics. I thought it was a nice twist on a vegetable soup. Grade: B+/I'll make it again (no one else in my family will touch this, so I hope it freezes well!)

PUMPKIN CORN SOUP

1 large onion, chopped...1 medium sweet red pepper, chopped...2 tablespoons olive oil...1 11 ounce can Green Giant Niblets corn...2 minced garlic cloves...1 teaspoon Penzeys Chili Powder...1 teaspoon Penzeys Chili Con Carne...32 ounces vegetable broth, made with 1 tablepoon of Penzeys Vegetable Soup Base + 32 ounces water...1 15 ounce can pumpkin...dash cayenne pepper...1/2 teaspoon salt...(omitted: 1 jalapeno pepper seeded and chopped, 2 tablespoons lime juice) (substituted for 2 tablespoons butter, 2 cups fresh or frozen/thawed corn, 2 14.5 ounce cans vegetable broth, 2 teaspoons chili powder)

In medium/large pot, saute onion and red pepper in oil until almost tender. Add the corn, garlic and chili powder, saute 2 minutes longer. Stir in broth, pumpkin, salt and cayenne until blended. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. 7 servings.

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Update April 23, 2009 -- I've made it it serveral times since, and instead of a can of corn, in this version I used 2 cups of Costco's frozen organic mixed vegetables (corn, green beans, peas and carrots). A very tasty substitute combination!

Objects in the photo are tastier than they appear

No comparison to the photo, yet when I photographed it, my flash, as probably also theirs, made it look a lot lighter. This looks...dingy! Must be the balsamic vinegar. Even the bowl took on a tobacco-like hue. Oh well, surprisingly it tastes pretty good! Though I don't think I'll be taking it to any potlucks, it just doesn't look that pretty. Let's see how it goes over tonight. From the August/September 2006 (can you tell I was organizing my piles of magazines like a good New Year's resoluter yesterday?) Light & Tasty magazine.

VEGGIE PASTA SALAD

8 oz. uncooked tricolor spiral pasta (about 3 cups)...3 small tomatoes chopped...1 cup each red bell pepper, zucchini and carrots chopped...3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar...2 teaspoons dried basil...2 tablespoons olive oil...1 tablespoon sugar...1 teaspoon dried oregano...2 minced garlic cloves...1 teaspoon salt...1/8 teaspoon pepper...1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese.

Cook pasta according to package directions. In large bowl, combine the vegetables, vinegar, basil, oil, sugar, oregano, garlic, salt and pepper. Drain pasta and rinse in cold water, stir into vegetable mixture. Add parm cheese, toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving. Serving size 1 cup, 10 servings.

108 calories, 5g fat (1g sat), 4mg cholesterol, 352mg sodium, 13g carb, 2g fiber, 4g protein

--- You can also add 1 cup sliced green onions, 1 cup chopped celery and use fresh instead of dried basil and oregano, 2 and 1 tablespoons respectively. Obviously this is a summer garden bounty recipe. But when it is 32 degrees outside (!) and the HEB was not heated (!!!), I grabbed and got the heck out of there. Mind, celery and onions were MIA. I also didn't use as much salt, pepper or sugar.

Chocolate Cream Cheese Bars

This is why I was buying the sweetened condensed milk! From the April/May 2007 Light and Tasty magazine, they call them "Makeover Cream Cheese Streusel Bars" but I call them yummy! Click to go to the recipe.

Chocolate Chip Muffins

This is our favorite, fast and easy and healthy muffin recipe. They are just as fast to whip up as using those chemical store-bought mixes. It's from the September/October 1992 issue of Fast and Healthy magazine.

Lite Muffins

2 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup milk

3 tablespoons oil

1 egg, beaten

3/4 cup chocolate chips!

Heat oven to 375. Line 12 muffin cups with paper baking cups. In medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt (and 3/4 cup chocolate chips) - mix well. In small bowl, combine milk, oil and egg (I also add a splash of vanilla extract), blend well. Add to dry ingredients, stir just until moistened. Bake for 18-23 minutes or until light golden brown. (I start checking around 14 minutes). Cool for one minute, remove from pan and serve warm. These also freeze well.

Variations:

Chocolate Chip - Add 3/4 cup chocolate chips

Apple - Decrease sugar to 1/4 cup and add 1 teaspoon cinnamon to flour. Stir 1 cup chopped and peeled apple into dry ingredients. Substitute apple juice for milk.

Blueberry - Stir 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries and 1 teaspoon grated lemon or orange peel into dry ingredients.

Whole Wheat - Use 1 cup flour and 1 cup whole wheat flour

Streusel Topped - In small bowl combine 1/4 cup packed brown sugar, 1 tablespoon softened margarine or butter, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/4 cup chopped nuts or flaked coconut, blend with fork until crumbly and sprinkle over muffins before baking.

Yummy! Panna Cotta with Blueberries

This is from the April/May issue of Light and Tasty magazine on Page 52, "Trimmed Down Desserts" It takes a little bit of time -about 45 minutes- particularly for the berry sauce, but it's so worth it.

Panna Cotta with (Mixed) Berries (Mary Bergfeld)

1 envelope unflavored gelatin
3 cups whole (yes, whole!) milk
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup water
1/2 cup Spenda
2 cups frozen blueberries
1/2 cup grape juice
1/2 cup fresh blueberries (I just set some frozen aside to defrost)

In a medium saucepan, sprinkle gelatin over milk; let stand for 1 minute. Heat over low heat, stirring until gelatin is completely dissolved. Stir in sugar until dissolved. Stir in extract.

Pour into 6 6 oz. ramkins (I used the 1 cup size) coated with nonstick cooking spray. Cover and refrigerate until set.

Meanwhile in a medium saucepan (rinse and use the same one from the milk mixture part!), bring water and Splenda to a boil. (At this point I also added the grape juice and brought all three to a boil at the same time. No harm, no foul!) Add the frozen berries and juice, if you haven't already. Return to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer uncovered for 5 minutes. Mash and strain berries, reserving juice. Discard seeds. (But I kept them, I'll experiment and add to my smoothie tomorrow morning and report back. It tasted too good to toss.)

Return juice to the pan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer uncovered for 5-10 minutes or until sauce is reduced to 3/4 cup. Pour this definitely staining hot syrup into a measuring cup?! Uh, no! I just went ahead and simmered for 7 minutes instead. Turned out fine. Transfer to a bowl; cover and refrigerate until chilled. Instead I used a quart sized yogurt container with a lid I can toss afterwards if necessary.

Unmold panna cotta onto dessert plates. Serve with sauce and berries.

Nutrition facts: 1 serving equals 174 calories, 4 g fat (3 g saturated), 17 mg cholesterol, 64 mg sodium, 27 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 6 g protein. Diabetic exchanges: 1 starch, 1/2 fruit, 1/2 milk.

By making this with whole milk instead of traditional cream, you save 336 calories, 44 g fat, 24 g saturated fat and 146 mg cholesterol. Wow!

(The original recipe called for 2 cups of frozen unsweetened mixed berries, 1/2 cup fresh raspberries in addition to the fresh blueberries, and you could also use 1/2 cup port wine instead of the grape juice.)