The Party Poppers

For those of you who do not know my friend Lira - the talented and wondrous Lira Kellerman (see website) - she is getting engaged. Normally, when someone I adore finds someone they adore, I am very happy for them. In this case, the someone I adore found someone she adores who also happens to be one of my dearest friends. The very happy has officially been squared. So, of course, when I was asked to provide a snack for their engagement party, I answered an unequivocal yes. I would have said yes if she'd asked me to roast a rack of lamb and grow mint leaves for the jelly, but - luckily for me - she had something smaller and sweeter in mind.

The party poppers are so easy to make - so versatile and so delicious - that they are perfect for any occasion. They are sweet and salty, so in a room full of crackers and cakes, they straddle the line of desserts and savories. Awesome, right?

Here's a simple recipe that you should guard and keep as a secret for yourself. :) Everyone deserves a tasty secret.

Party Poppers
(serves a room full of people)

1 bag salted pretzels (the normal pretzel shape)
2 small bags of Rolos
(Note: you can replace the Rolos with basically any chocolate candy - KitKat bars are good. So are Reeses. Also: candied ginger, caramel drops, and dried cherries.)

There are a couple of options on how to pull this off, but I am sharing the easiest possible method. If you want the more complex versions, I am willing to share them. Privately. *winkwink* Secrets, secrets...

Preheat your oven to 400 F. Prepare a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Lay out pretzels to cover the entire space of the parchment paper. Unwrap and halve your Rolos. Place 1 half Rolo on each pretzel until all the pretzels have a partner. Bake for 2 minutes. Remove the cookie sheet carefully - use oven gloves if you have them - and let cool on the counter for 2 minutes. Then carefully transfer the parchment paper covered in melty pretzels into your refrigerator. Let cool for ~20 minutes. In the meantime, you can re-parchment the cookie sheet and start in on your next batch until all the pretzels are chocolate covered and cooling in parchment paper layers in your fridge. Serve cold or room temperature and enjoy. :)

Warning: On this blog, I try to make things that are guilt-free. And these are. In small quantities. The trouble is that they're mildly addictive and you can't make just a few. You have to make a massive batch. So. Serve them at parties, freeze them, and use them as an opportunity to practice your willpower and portion control - those are skills that need to be worked out just the same as your muscles anyway. :) Go on, have a peace.

Nunchuck Stuffed Mushrooms

These delectable stuffed mushrooms are served with a kick. I made them to go with a miso-glazed tilapia and hijiki salad, so they have a little asian flavor to them. They are terribly delicious! I served them as an appetizer, but they would make an equally palatable party snack.

Nunchuck Stuffed Mushrooms

16 oz white mushrooms
2 tbsp canola oil
3 cloves garlic, crushed and diced
2 tbsp fresh ginger, finely diced
1 yellow bell pepper, finely chopped
1 stalk bok choy, chopped fine
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp low sodium Tamari
1/2 tsp salt
3 green onions, finely chopped
1 half lemon, juiced
1 handful garlic croutons (or plain - whatever you prefer), crushed
14 oz crumbled goat cheese

Preheat oven 375 F. Prepare a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Remove the mushroom stems and set them to the side in a bowl. Make sure there is ample space in each mushroom cap for a spoonful of filling and place any excess mushroom removed for this into the same bowl with the stems. Place the prepared caps on the cookie sheet.
Heat canola oil in a skillet at medium-low heat. Saute garlic, ginger, and bell peppers for 3-5 minutes. Don't let the garlic or the ginger burn, keep stirring.
Chop the mushroom stems, etc. into finely diced bits and add them to the skillet, along with the chopped bok choy. Cook until the liquid evaporates - about 5 minutes.
Remove the skillet from heat.
In a medium sized mixing bowl, stir together the sesame oil, tamari, salt, crumbled croutons, green onions, lemon juice, and goat cheese. Add the contents of the skillet to the bowl and combine thoroughly. You want the goat cheese to melt completely due to the heat of the items from the skillet.
Using a small spoon, stuff the mushroom caps.
Bake for 20 minutes and serve.

Go on. Have a peace!

Easter Snacks

Happy Easter everyone! I hope you're having a beautiful holiday. This Sunday is a day about rebirth, no matter how you slice it. New life, the balance of day and night and the balance in our lives.

And yet, Easter is also a day full of processed stuff that leaves your body completely UNbalanced. Why?

My parents sent me an Easter basket this year as they do every year - my parents are ridiculously awesome.
This year, they sent me an incredibly soft, snuggly bunny and some delicious sugar free snacks. One of the things they sent that was not sugar free was a yummy, yummy chocolate from 3400 Phinney Chocolate Factory.

Here's my rule about candy - you have to recognize and be able to picture all the ingredients and you have to eat it in moderation, as a treat. This bar is dairy free, gluten free, soy free, and vegan. The ingredients include and are limited to cocoa beans, sugar, cocoa butter, almonds, figs, fennel, and ground vanilla bean.

Now. If you're like me, you've probably hardboiled and dyed a boatload of eggs. But what do you do with all those hardboiled eggs once you're done admiring them? Personally, I love just munching on hardboiled eggs as a snack. But if you want to do something else with them, here's a few ideas:

Deviled Eggs

Avocado Eggs
1 avocado
8 hardboiled eggs, peeled
~1/8th of a small red onion
1/8 cup lemon juice, to taste
salt and pepper to taste

Cut the hardboiled eggs in half. Scoop the yolks out into either a bowl or a food processor. Lay out the remaining egg whites on a plate.

Cut your avocado in half, throw away the pit. Again, if you have the food processor, add the avocado to the yolks there. If not, add it to the yolks in the bowl. Mash it all together.

Take 1/8th of a small onion and chop it into tiny, tiny bits. You might not want to use all of the onion, it's up to your personal taste. Add as much as you like to the mashed up avocado and yolk. Now add a tiny bit of fresh ground sea salt and fresh ground pepper. Sprinkle in the lemon juice - again to taste. Mix it all together.

Scoop the mash up into each of the hardboiled egg whites and serve immediately. :) That's it! It's creamy, delicious, and tastes like guacamole!

Yum yum yum!

Tea Eggs - I made these with Good Earth green tea bags, 2 cups of boiling water, and a 1/2 tbsp of low sodium soy sauce and they were delicious!

Irenic Salad
This is my go-to lunch when I'm short on time. It's filling, delicious, and healthy.
8 leaves romaine lettuce, broken into bite-sized pieces
1 hardboiled egg, sliced in half and then diced into little bits
4 grape tomatoes
2 stalks of celery, sliced in half lengthwise and then into bite sized slices across
1/8 cup edamame or fresh green peas (optional)

For dressings, you'll want to use something that isn't cream based. You won't need it. You can make a simple dressing by drizzling a tiny bit of olive oil and/or balsamic vinegar over the salad. Or you can make my personal favorite dressing.

Irenic Dressing
This dressing is easy to make and very tasty.  
1/4 tsp minced garlic
3 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp dried basil
4 leaves fresh basil
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp toasted sesame oil
black pepper to taste

Take the olive oil and put it into a small skillet, heat it over medium high and throw the garlic into it until it browns and smells delicious, about 1-2 minutes. Pour the olive oil and garlic into a blender or food processor, then add all the other ingredients. Blend it all together. You can triple or quadruple this recipe and save the remainder in your fridge to use for the next couple days. :)

I hope you all enjoy this beautiful day! Happy Easter; have a peace.

A Satisfying April Fool's Day Meal

You know what to expect here, right? I mean... really. So here's a couple little tricks that you can play on your friends if you want. :)

Jello Juice 
Okay. This is the easiest "prank" ever.

1 package strawberry or lemon flavored Jello
miniscule amount of either strawberry or cranberry juice (for the strawberry) or lemonade (for the lemon)

Follow the package directions and then, instead of pouring the Jello into a mold or tin, pour it into a clear juice glass with just a tiny bit of juice poured in on top of it. Insert a drinking straw and put in the refrigerator to set. Then, when someone asks for something to drink, pull out the glass and watch them try to get that juice out. :) [If you're concerned about top texture, you can add a little more juice on top the jello before you serve it.]


Protein Cupcakes
This one could be really mean, so don't pull this on your veggie or vegan friends... Remember, April Fool's is about playful pranks and is not an excuse to be recklessly cruel to people.

"Cupcake":
2 lbs lean ground chuck
1 cup chopped fresh spinach
1 cup chopped tomatoes
1 tsp dried thyme
salt and pepper to taste

"Icing":
Either Velveeta or blue cheese, melted, and mixed with a cheerful food coloring. Spread liberally on top.

Set your oven to 350F. Place opaque muffin papers into a muffin tin.

Mix the "cupcake" ingredients together in a large bowl - if you have a food processor, blend them first. Then divide the "batter" into the muffin papers. Bake for about an hour, or until the meat reaches an internal temp of 160 degrees. Take out and allow to cool to room temp, then place in the fridge.

Next, make your icing. If you use the blue cheese, you'll want to blend it so that it's a smooth texture. I'd use something innocuous like pink or blue for the coloring so it's more innocent looking. Once it's nice and gooey, spread it liberally on top of the "cupcakes" and return to the fridge to cool again.

Serve with pride. :)

Bad Ass Yamekins

My mom calls me a "sweet potato kid". Apparently, when I was in the womb, sweet potatoes always made me rumble around in her tummy like a happy kitten. You can take the girl out of the womb, but sweet potatoes still make me grin like a loon.

So, I had a satchel of small sweet potatoes from TJ's and was in a savory snack mood. Plus, I have friends who don't like bananas or raisins.... What to do, what to do... Oh! Right! Invent cookies!

These are easy, healthy, and delicious. They require no tools more complicated than a fork. You're welcome. :)

Bad Ass Yamekins
(makes ~35 cookies)

4-5 small sweet potatoes, baked (makes about 1.5 cups sweet potatoes, mashed with a fork)
1 cup almond meal
1/4 cup flax seed meal
1/4 cup honey
1/8 cup agave nectar
1/3 cup egg whites
1/8 cup coconut oil, melted
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup sliced almonds (toasted, unsalted)

Preheat oven to 400 F. Paper a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Scrub the sweet potatoes well, lightly brush the outsides with olive oil and lay them on the cookie sheet. Bake for 40 minutes. Remove and allow to cool.

When the potatoes are cooled, remove the skins. [Sweet potato skins are a yummy snack. You can munch them as you cook or set them in a bowl in the fridge for later. Nom nom.]

Preheat the oven to 375 F.

Place the peeled potatoes in a large mixing bowl, mash with fork. Add the cinnamon. Stir. Add the honey. Stir. (Make sure each time you stir that you're combining the elements well and leaving no lumps.) Add the almond meal and flax seed meal. Mix well. Add the coconut oil and egg whites. Stir. Add the baking powder. Mix until well combined. Add the agave nectar. Stir. *If you want, you can use a hand mixer, but I simply used a fork and whisked it through the mixture firmly and that turned out fantastic.

Once you've got your "batter" all mushy and blended, add the sliced almonds and mix with your fork until they're all through the mixture.

Paper two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Using the same mixing fork, drop one scoopful of the mixture, separated by about an inch. They won't expand outward.

Bake for 15-20 minutes. Remove from the oven; let the cookies cool on the cookie sheets for about 10 minutes. Then remove to a drying rack to finish cooling the rest of the way. Enjoy! 

I was so excited about how these turned out, I dragged Janet out and made her try one. They have been approved by taste buds other than my own. These are simply awesome. Soft, moist, not too sweet. And best of all: there's no flour, no butter, and you get the protein from the eggs and the antioxidants, vitamin A, and vitamin C from the sweet potatoes. Crazy, right?

Sunflower Bites

Another pair of bananas going dead, so I had no choice. I was forced to make breakfast cookies once more. Now, there's just no point in repeating a recipe when I'm always trying to think of new, interesting recipes to share with you, so I decided to go a little off script for this. 

Sunflower Bites

2 bananas

2 heaping spoonfuls of crunchy sunbutter (This is sunflower butter. Delicious!)

1/8 cup honey

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup rolled oats

1/8 cup almond meal

1/8 cup flaxseed meal

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds

1/2 cup golden raisins (alternatives: diced apricots, dried cranberries, dried cherries)

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Paper two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, mash two bananas. Stir in sunbutter, honey, and vanilla until well combined. Add pumpkin pie spice. Stir. Add almond and flaxseed meal. Stir. Add in raisins (or alt of your choice) and rolled oats.

Using a large spoon, scoop one large spoonful at a time on to the cookie sheets, leaving the scoops a couple inches apart. Flatten the cookie scoops with a fork.

Bake for about 16 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool.

Awesome Granola Goodness

I was in the mood for some healthy snacking options, so I went looking for all the things I loved and tried to figure out how to combine them into one nutritious dish. These granola bars are what I came up with. The toasted flax seed meal gives the granola a slightly smokey, warm taste, the fruits make it chewy and sweet, the nuts give it a delicious crunch. I made these not too sweet, because my lack of exposure to processed sugar has made my tongue and body more sensitive to such things - did I tell you all about Valentine's Day? Someone brought over this amazing smelling strawberry layer cake. I had a small slice and felt dizzy and jittery the rest of the night, like I'd drunk six cups of caffeinated coffee. Yikes!  All that said, if you're sweet tooth is unstoppable, you can add more honey, agave, or even maple syrup. If you're sweet tooth rules you, add cacao nibs to the top of the bars after they've baked and put them back in the oven for another 1-2 minutes so they melt over the top.


Awesome Granola Goodness
(makes about 21 pieces)

2 large bananas

2 tbsp spoonfuls of sunbutter (could use peanut butter)

2 tbsp earth balance spread

~¼ cup honey

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup rolled oats

½ cup steel cut oats

2 tsp cinnamon

½ cup flax seed meal

¼ cup raisins

¼ cup dried apricots, cut into small pieces

~¼ cup agave nectar

½ cup sliced almonds, unsalted (can be toasted)

½ cup walnut pieces, unsalted

½ tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Parchment paper a square casserole dish, grease the sides.

In a bowl, toss the oats and nuts together. Transfer to the casserole dish and toast for 10 minutes.

Over low heat, toast the flax seed meal in a dry pan for about 1 minute. Transfer to a large mixing bowl. Add the apricots and raisins to that mix.

In a soup pan, heat earth balance, sunbutter, honey, agave nectar, vanilla, salt, and cinnamon over high heat, until it has all melted together become bubbly. Turn heat back to low.

Take out the toasted oat/nut mix and transfer to the flax seed/fruit bowl. Pour the butter/sugar liquid into the mixing bowl.

Set the oven to 300 F.

Stir until the mixture is well combined. Mash two bananas and stir until the whole mixture is thick and firm.

Pour the mix into the lined casserole dish. 

Put the casserole dish back into the oven for about 35 minutes.

Allow to cool for 30-60 minutes before slicing into bars. Then store in fridge for another 20-30 minutes. The cold of the fridge will help the granola jell into delicious, chewy pieces. 

Nom Nom Breakfast Cookies

My last batch of flour-free oatmeal cookies were delicious, but crumbly. This time, I decided to work on the crumbliness, while still not adding anything processed or guilt-inducing.

Nom Nom Breakfast Cookies

2 large bananas, mashed
3 heaping spoonfuls Better n' Peanut Butter (can use normal peanut butter or sun butter - if you choose to use peanut butter, avoid brands that add sugar and chemicals)
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup rolled oats, processed to a fine powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup roasted pumpkin seeds (or sunflower seeds)
1/2 cup raisins (alternatives: cranberries, cacao nibs, dried cherries)

 Preheat the oven to 350 F. Paper two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, mash two bananas. Stir in peanut butter (or alt of your choice), honey, and vanilla until well combined. Pour 1/2 cup oats into a food processor and grind into a fine powder. Add that powder, plus half a cup of rolled oats to the wet mixture. Add cinnamon and baking soda. Stir. Add in raisins (or alt of your choice) and remaining rolled oats.

Using a large spoon, scoop one large spoonful at a time on to the cookie sheets, leaving the scoops a couple inches apart. Flatten the cookie scoops with a fork.

Bake for about 16 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool.

These come out yummy and filling, with a delightful combination of textures - both soft and crunchy. Enjoy. :)

Kick-Ass Cookies

Most oatmeal cookies involve flour - which basically makes them normal cookies with oats mixed in. Here, I made up an oatmeal cookie recipe that is delicious, flaky, crumbly, naturally sweetened, and totally flour-free.

Oatmeal-Raisin-Pumpkin Seed Cookies, or Kick-Ass Cookies
(Makes 24)

1.5 cups rolled oats, for processing
1.75 cups rolled oats (I used Bob's RedMill Old Fashioned)
1 tsp baking soda
3 heaping tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup melted coconut oil
1/4 cup agave nectar
3 tbsp liquid egg whites
1 tsp pure vanilla
1/2 cup roasted, salted pumpkin seeds
1 cup seedless raisins

Preheat oven to 350 F. Cover two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Pour 1.5 cups rolled oats into your food processor and process into a consistent powder. Pour that "oat flour" into a mixing bowl and add baking soda and cinnamon. Stir with a fork until well combined.

In another bowl (preferably slightly larger than the first), beat together coconut oil, agave nectar, egg whites, and vanilla until well combined with a hand mixer. Slowly add the oat flour into the oil/nectar mixture until suitably blended.

Now, fold in the oats using a spatula. Once those are well blended in, add the seeds and raisins. Fold again until all are well combined. Stick the bowl of batter into the fridge for about 20 minutes so it can sort of solidify. Now take the bowl back out and, using a spoon, form 2-inch balls of the mixture and place them onto the parchment paper about 2 inches apart from each other. You should end up with 4 rows of 3 (or 3 rows of 4). :) Use your fork from earlier to flatted each ball slightly.

Bake in the preheated oven for about 12 minutes, or until lightly browned. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for about a minute, then transfer to racks to cool completely. (But first, steal one to taste test for yourself!)

Yummy, healthy, oatey cookies ready for guilt-free munching! Enjoy. :)

Banana-Walnut Muffins

So there I was, looking at a pair of wilting bananas and I thought - banana bread? No. Too big and heavy. I know! I'll make muffins!

Banana-Walnut Muffins
(12 servings)

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
2 overripe bananas
1/8 cup Splenda-sugar baking blend
3 tbsp egg whites
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
~1/4 cup walnut "baking bits" *you can get these in bags at Trader Joe's

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a muffin tin with paper liners.

Mash the bananas in a bowl until they're really mushy. Add sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract. Stir well with a spatula. Add the applesauce. Stir again. Add the baking powder and baking soda and salt; then slowly add in the flour.  Stir until well combined (don't forget to scoop up the bottom and the sides).

Next, scoop the batter into the prepared muffin cups and put in your preheated oven for 20 minutes.

Ta da! All done! And in no time at all. You can replace the walnuts with raisins or some other nut or fruit as you prefer. Carob chips would probably be awesome too. :) Enjoy.

Garbanzo Poppers

Ok. This is by far one of my favorite recipes. It's ridiculously easy and simply delicious - as well as utterly mutable for whatever occasion you like. I've baked batches of these for party snacks, movie treats, side dishes, even decorative toppings for main dishes and salads.

Why Garbanzo beans (also known as chickpeas) rock the kazbah:
These little guys are one of the best things you can eat. They're a good source of cholesterol reducing fiber and also help to prevent blood sugar levels from rising too rapidly.  They're virtually fat-free, high in protein, and are an excellent source of iron and manganese. And best of all - they are super yummy!

Garbanzo Poppers
( ~ 3 servings)

1 can garbanzo beans
1 tbsp olive oil
a sprinkling of salt

Optional additions: rosemary, garlic powder, cinnamon, sage, mint, curry, or anything else you can think of

Set your oven to 400 F.

Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper and coat it lightly with olive oil.

Open the can of garbanzo beans and rinse them well in a colander. Shake all the excess water free, then dump the rinsed beans into a large mixing bowl and add the olive oil. Stir the olive oil and beans well, then pour through the colander again to clear out the excess olive oil. Return to the bowl and salt. Add any other ingredients you want to here. [I've used all of the above listed components and they're all yummy - just don't mix them all together! I tend to add maybe 1-2 tbsp garlic powder or 2 tbsp minced garlic because I'm a garlic fiend.] The key is - with whatever ingredients you choose to add - make sure the additional flavoring is well combined so that every bean has a little bit on it. Stir until the beans are all well coated.

Now, using a spoon with holes, transfer the beans to the baking sheet - careful to not transfer too much (if any) of the leftover olive oil. Any extra oil that pools on the tray will keep the beans moist, rather than crispy.

Now pop the tray in the oven, on the top rack, for 20 minutes. [Note: Different ovens take different amounts of time. If this is your first time, just keep an eye on them after 15 minutes have passed and see how they go.] Depending on how much oil you've gotten onto the parchment paper, you may want to put them in for another 5-8 minutes to attain the right browning. Sometimes I take the whole tray out and prod one or two of them with a toothpick to check if they've gone to crispiness yet.

Once they're nice and brown and yummy crispy, take 'em out, and enjoy. :)

In Ovis Apalis (Boiled Eggs) : A Saturnalian Dish

Yep. I went looking for Roman grub recipes. I am writing in a recipe taken from this website, which houses a collection of "antique roman dishes". Another source for Roman recipes is Patrick Faas's "Around the Roman Table: Food and Feating in Ancient Rome", which is an awesome book that you should definitely get if you're interested in more traditional Ancient Roman eats, but I'm not writing any of his recipes here because I fear the terrors of copyright infringement. 


In Ovis Apalis (Boiled Eggs) 


Ingredients:
8 hard-boiled eggs (not too well done)
50g stone-pine kernels
honey, pepper, vinegar, Liebstoeckl*, Liquamen** or salt, to taste (*Liebstoeckl. In Latin, it's called 'levisticum officinale'. It's an umbelliferous plant with yellowish flowers and it's roots, when dried, are used as a spice. It seems to be a kind of celery.) (**Liquamen is a salty fish sauce. I think it's either the same or similar to the traditional "garum" of Mediterranean cuisine. Most of the time you can replace it with salt.)


Directions:
Dressing for the boiled eggs- mix together pepper, Liebstoeckl, soaked pine kernels. Add honey and vinegar and season with Liquamen. Serve together with the eggs.


Note: I have not made this dish, so I don't know how it tastes or turns out. But it looks to be similar to deviled eggs, just with different seasonings, and you dress the whole hardboiled egg rather than filling the boiled whites with a yolk mash.

Whole Wheat Apple Muffins

Cold + family + a season full of wanting to provide for those you love = lots of food. We all know this, we luxuriate in the the holiday season as an excuse to toss our diets out the window and enjoy all the splendors we usually deny our taste buds. Which is great, in small doses. But being surrounded by piles of delectable, high sugar/fat/cholesterol treats can also be very dangerous. I like to try to make sure that everything I offer to my friends and family on these festive occasions is something that I won't feel guilty about giving to them. If it's not something I would eat, I don't think I should be offering it to someone I care about. Here is a delicious recipe for muffins that are utterly sin-free for this celebratory season. They are vegan, fat-free, and have just enough cinnamon to let your taste buds snuggle together with holiday feeling on your tongue.

Whole Wheat Apple Muffins

Ingredients:
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tbsp sugar* (You can also use Splenda baking sugar or another sugar substitute. Just follow the instructions on the package. I've made this recipe with three different white sugar substitutes and it always turns out yummy.)
3 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt, or less to taste
1 tsp cinnamon, or more to taste (I like more, but use your personal discretion)
1.25 cups water
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce (I like the chunky kind, but again, its up to you)
1 large apple or 2 small apples*, chopped** (*I adore granny smith apples in general, but especially for this muffin recipe. The tartness really jives very nicely with the cinnamon. If you like things sweeter, use red apples.) (**Again, personal discretion time. The apples are going to get nice and soft when baked. I like to chop them rather fine, but you can leave them in bigger chunks if you want to.)

Directions:
Set oven to 425F.

Combine flour, salt, baking powder, sugar (or substitute), and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl. Add in chopped apples and mix to coat the apples thoroughly. Combine water and applesauce and stir them together before adding to the dry ingredients bowl. Fold together until thoroughly combined. The batter will be sort of thick and goopy when it's good and ready.

Spray muffin tray with something so the muffins don't stick (I use Baker's Joy, but you can use Pam, Pam with Butter Flavoring, vegetable oil spray...whatever you want.) Bake for about 20 minutes, or until lightly browned. Let cool and enjoy.

Makes 12 delectable muffins for breakfasting or snacking.

Options:
If you want them to be a little more "cupcakey," you can sprinkle a little cinnamon sugar or brown sugar on them when they first come out of the oven. The sugar will melt a bit and give them an extra sweetness and a little crunch.
I've also mashed up walnuts and tossed them on to the tops of the batter before baking, which turned out delectable as well.

Enjoy!

Broccoli Salad

Here’s a delicious recipe for broccoli salad that appears every year at family gatherings. It’s good for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and is a nice chilled addition to predominantly warm meals. If you're veggie, simply leave out the bacon or use a bacon substitute. Either works.

Broccoli Salad 

Ingredients:
3 cups fresh broccoli, broken into small pieces
1/2 cup red onion, chopped
1 cup sunflower seeds
8 slices cooked turkey bacon
1 cup raisins
1 cup fat free mayo (or miracle whip light)
1/2 cup sugar (or splenda baking sugar)
2 tbsp white vinegar

Directions:
Mix together and allow to set in refrigerator about 1 hour for better flavor. Serve chilled.

See how easy that was? Enjoy.

Deviled Eggs

Deviled eggs are a yummy, healthy snack. My Gram makes addictive ones. She claims, as many of my kitchen-talented relatives do, that they’re easy and there really ‘is no recipe’. Which is true, in a way. You have to do it to your own taste. But here’s a base to start from:

Deviled Eggs 

Ingredients:
10 eggs
4 yolks
Miracle Whip Light
Organic Yellow Mustard
Salt and pepper.
Optional- paprika and/or olives

Directions:
Hard boil your eggs.* (Gram says the peel comes off easier if you use an egg cooker to hard boil them. The steam helps. But either way works fine.) Put them in the refrigerator until cool.

Peel the eggs and slice them lengthwise. Drop the yolks in a mixing bowl. Set the egg halves to the side on a plate or in a tupperware container.

Mash the yolks with a fork until there are no large lumps. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Scoop 1 large spoonful (~1 tbsp) mustard into the mixing bowl and mash it around with the fork until well mixed.

Scoop 4 large spoonfuls (~4 tbsp) light miracle whip into the mixing bowl and mash it around with the fork until the mixture is smooth, but not too thin.

Taste. If you want more of anything so far, now’s the time to add it. As Gram says, “You can always add more, but you can’t take away.”

When you’re satisfied, fill the half eggs with a generous spoonful of the yolk mixture.

Gram says you can use a melon scooper or a small ice cream scooper if you want them to be ‘fancy’, but if you do that, you need to make the mixture a little thinner.

Optional- Slice pimento filled olives for decoration and/or sprinkle (carefully) a tiny amount of paprika over the tops of the eggs.

Set in refrigerator at least 1 hour. Eggs keep in the fridge up to 4 days without spoiling.

Enjoy!

Zucchini Bread

Thanksgiving is a time for giving thanks for all the love in your life by feeding the people you love with delicious food. This year, I brought a zucchini bread of my own machinations to make up for a rather embarrassing incident with a rice crispy treat attempt. Don’t ask. 

Healthy Zucchini Bread

Ingredients:
6 egg whites
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1/4 cup Splenda baking sugar* (You can use 1/2 cup sugar if you want, but this tastes just as good.)
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
3 tsp ground cinnamon
2 cups shredded zucchini (~3 zucchini, depending on size)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup raisins (thompsons seedless are great, or the big goldens)
1/4 cup dried cranberries (optional)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350F. Lightly coat two 9x5 loaf pans with cooking spray (Baker’s Joy is what I use). 

In a large bowl, add the egg whites, oil, applesauce, sugar sub, and vanilla.  Using an electric mixer, beat the mixture on low speed until thick and foamy.

In a small bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon. 

For the zucchini, I used the thick holed end of a wide cheese grater. When you get down to the end, use a corn cob sticker or a fork to hold the zucchini to avoid chopping your fingers along with the mix. This is not a meaty bread.

Slowly add the flour mixture to the egg white mixture and turn the electric mixer onto medium speed until all is well blended. Turn off the mixer. The rest is by hand.

Fold in the shredded zucchini, then the walnuts, then the raisins and cranberries. Stir with a spoon or spatula until well combined.

The batter should be thick and not runny. If you need to thicken it, add whole wheat flour 1 tbsp at a time until satisfied.

Pour half of the batter into each prepared loaf pan. Bake until a toothpick stuck into the center of each loaf comes out clean, about 50 minutes.

Let the bread cool in the pans on a wire rack. I used those predone loaf pans from the store this round because I was travelling with the bread and I wanted something with a cover. The ones at Ralphs come in three packs and are very handy. Just let the bread cool in those, stick the plastic top on, and you’re done.

If you’re using a normal loaf pan, let the bread cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn the loaves out of the pans onto the rack to let them cool completely.

Each loaf should make 9 1-inch slices. Delicious.