Brenda's Bran Muffins

My lovely (soon to be) mother in law passed along this recipe. She and her girlfriends go to the beach each year and make a big batch of these. They truly are delicious, but be warned. This recipe makes a LOT of muffins!

3 c. All-Bran cereal
1 c. boiling water
1/2 c. oil
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 c. sugar (You can use Baking Splenda)
2 c. buttermilk (I used Original, unsweetened Almond Milk)
2 1/2 c. plain flour (I always use self-rising flour and don't have to add
 the baking soda and salt. Whole wheat flour works great!)
2 1/2 t. baking soda
1 t. salt
12 oz. apple butter
1 c. chopped nuts (I used almonds, but walnuts would be good)
2 c. raisins

Divide bran cereal in half. Pour 1 cup of boiling water over 1 1/2 c. bran
cereal, add oil, mix, and let stand. Mix together beaten eggs, sugar,
buttermilk, flour, baking soda, salt, and apple butter. Next, add dry bran
cereal and bran cereal mixture. Add nuts and raisins last. Spoon into
greased muffin tins and bake 15 to 20 minutes at 350 degrees.

This muffin mixture can be kept in the fridge for a few days and cooked
whenever you want to bake a few at a time.

Southwestern Quinoa Salad with Black Beans, Red Bell Pepper and Cilantro

This is great as a summer side! I served it with Grilled Shrimp (with a pineapple, orange sauce)

Salad:

3/4 cup quinoa (rinsed if needed, check the package)

1 1/2 cup water

1/2 tsp salt

1 red bell pepper, chipped into small dice

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

1/2 cup thinly sliced green onion

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Dressing:

2 tbsp fresh-sqeezed lime juice

1 tsp spike seasoning (optional but highly recommended by recipe)

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp ground Ancho chili pepper (or use regular chile poweder)

fresh ground black pepper to taste

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Check the quinoa package to see if it needs to be rinsed (it often does) and rinse in a fine-mesh strainer if needed.  Combine quinoa, water, and salt and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer covered for 15 minutes, or until all the water is absorbed.  Fluff quinoa with a fork and let it cool while you prep other ingredients.

Drain the beans into a colander placed in the sink and rinse well with cold water, until no more foam appears.  Let beans drain until they are quite dry (or pat dry with paper towels if you want to speed it up.)

Cut out the stem and remove seeds from the red bell pepper and cut into very small dice (about the size of the black beans.)  Slice the green onions into thin slices and wash, dry, and chop the cilantro.

When the quinoa is fairly cool, combine quinoa, black beans, diced red bell pepper, and sliced green onion in a bowl.  Add enough dressing to moisten all the ingredients.  (You probably won't need all the dressing, but save the extra to stir into any leftover salad that's been in the fridge.)  Gently stir in the chopped cilantro and serve.

This keeps very well in the fridge for several days.  The salad absorbs the dressing when it's refrigerated, so it's best with a little more dressing stirred in when you're eating the leftover salad.

Enjoy!

Pico De Gallo

5 plum tomatoes
1/2 large or 1 small onion
1 jalapeno
cilantro
1/2 lime
salt

Chop jalapenos, onion and tomatoes in a very small dice. Leave seeds in your jalapenos for a hotter pico. Adjust the amount of jalapenos for your preferred temperature. Next, chop up a nice-sized bunch of cilantro. Disregard the long stems before chopping. Stir together. Add the juice of half a lime and add salt to taste.

Baked Garlic and Brown Sugar Chicken

This is a really tasty, and quick dinner! Goes great with just potatoes or rice.

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
4 garlic cloves, minced (note: be sure you Mince! Not dice. the thinner the better)
4 tbsp brown sugar
3 tsp olive oil

1. Preheat over to 500 degrees and lightly grease a casserole dish.
2. In a small saute pan, saute garlic with the oil until tender
3. Remove from heat and stir in brown sugar
4. Place chicken breasts in a prepared baking dish and cover with garlic and brown sugar mixture
5. Add salt and pepper to taste
6. Bake uncovered for 15-30 minutes.

Note: When I sauteed the garlic, I got the pan too hot, so when I added the brown sugar, it got really hard. Be sure your pan is at a medium heat, just hot enough to make the garlic tender.

Tortilla and Black Bean Pie

This was an interesting recipe for me. It was very tasty, but it took a little longer to prep than I expected. I was also missing the cumin, which I think made a huge difference. Again, David loved this, but I thought it would be better as a side dish.

4 flour tortillas (10 inches)

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 large onion, diced

1 jalapeno chile, minced (remove seeds and ribs for less heat)

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 tsp ground cumin

Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

2 cans (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed

12 oz beer, or 1 1/2 cups water (I used water, but I bet the beer would add a little a flavor)

1 package (10 oz) frozen corn

4 scallions, thinly sliced, plus more for garnish

8 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded (2 1/2 cups)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. With a parking knife, trim tortillas to fit a 9 inch spring form pan. Use the bottom of the pan as a guide. Set aside.

2. Heat oil in large skillet over medium. Add onion, jalapeno, garlic and cumin; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 5 to 7 minutes.

3. Add beans and beer, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium; simmer until liquid has almost evaporated, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in corn and scallions and remove from heat. Taste and adjust for seasoning.

4. Fit a trimmed tortilla in bottom of springform pan; layer with 1/4 beans and 1/2 cup of cheese. Repeat three times, using 1 cup of cheese on the top layer. Bake until cheese melts, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove side of pan, sprinkle pie with scallions. To serve, slice into wedges.

Apple Chicken- Weight Watchers

Yeilds 4 servings

4 pieces of chicken breast, deboned
1/2 tsp of dried thyme
1/4 tsp of iodized salt
1/4 tsp of ground pepper
2 tbsp of vegetable oil (I used Extra-virgin olive oil)
2 pieces of apples (golden delicious variety), cored and sliced with skin on (I used 2 or 3 apples. Enough to cover the bottom of the pan, but cater to your preference)
1 piece of onion, sliced into thin rings
1/2 cup of apple juice
1 1/2 tsp of apple cider vinegar
1 tsp of cornstarch

1. Rub chicken with thyme, salt and pepper
2. Heat half portion of oil over medium-high heat and fry chicken until brown on both sides
3. Transfer chicken to plate
4. Add remaining oil to pan. Stir in apples and onions, for 5 minutes or until golden.
5. Add apple juice and bring to a boil before stirring.
6. Return chicken to fry-pan. cover and cook over medium heat, turning once, for 7 minutes or until inside flesh is no longer pink. Transfer to  platter and set aside.
7. Mix cornstarch with vinegar and stir in fry-pan. Continue cooking for another minute or until glossy and thickened. Pour over chicken to serve as sauce.

Almond Tea

My dear friend Bethany Todd made this tea for a girls night one night and I fell in LOVE! I have only made it once since then (4 years ago?) but I will never forget this recipe!

4 cups of strongly-brewed tea
6 oz frozen lemonade (thawed)
1 & 1.4 cup water
1 cup sugar (maybe a little less)
2 teaspoons almond extract (The REAL stuff!)

Stir together and enjoy!!