Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins

Peanut butter and chocolate is probably one of my top favorite combinations! I just love anything peanut butter and chocolate, and these muffins are among the many! They are a larger muffin and they have great height, which I like! Fresh out of the oven, I hate to admit that I ate my fair share of these!! Also, I have to mention how EASY this recipe is....very simple, took only a few minutes to whip up! Because this recipe makes 1 dozen muffins, I kept out 6 and then wrapped the other muffins in plastic wrap, and froze in a freezer bag to reheat when I wanted one! They taste basically fresh out of the freezer with just a hint of dryness but nothing that I was concerned about! I defrost mine in the microwave and they look just like they came out of the oven! These muffins are great for a snack, dessert, or even breakfast if you feel like indulging! I know I will make these muffins again and again! 

Recipe: 

2 ¼ Cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

2/3 Cup brown sugar 

6 TBS melted and cooled 

½ Cup peanut butter

2 eggs

1 Cup milk (I use skim)  

¾ Cup chocolate chips

Directions: 

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and line 12 muffin tins with liners or cooking spray 

In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder, salt, and brown sugar. Set aside. 

In another bowl, mix peanut butter, butter, eggs, and milk and whisk until smooth. Add in the flour mixture and mix just until combined (over mixing batter yields dry muffins, so don't over mix). Stir in chocolate chips. Divide batter evenly among the tins and fill up to the top.  

Bake 17- 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool for a few minutes in the pan and then take out of the muffin pan and let cool longer on a wire rack. Makes 12 muffins.

adapted from: http://annies-eats.com/2008/10/09/peanut-butter-chocolate-chip-muffins/

Whole Wheat Pita Bread

   

I have made this whole wheat pita bread twice now and I love it! I don't really think I will ever buy store bought pita bread again...this recipe is so much better that I probably couldn't eat the store bought kind. This bread is soft, chewy, and so amazing. My husband can testify to that seeing as I made this pita bread today and he came home, ate two for a snack and then   ate another piece as part of his dinner. He says it's the best pita bread he has ever had! Works for me! Now, this may seem like too much work for you, but I assure you it is quite simple! If you have a day where you will be home for a few hours, you can complete many tasks in between all the rising of this dough! I really hope you give this homemade pita bread a try, it's so worth it!

Recipe:

2 ¼ tsp instant yeast

1 TBS honey

1 ¼ Cups warm water, divided

1 ½ Cups bread flour, divided

1 ½ Cups whole wheat flour, divided

¼ Cup olive oil

1 tsp kosher salt

Cormeal, for sprinkling

More flour for dough, if it is too sticky

Directions:

In a bowl of a stand mixer add the yeast, honey and ½ Cup of warm water. Stir gently to blend. Whisk ¼ Cup of the bread flour and ¼ Cup of the whole wheat flour into the bowl until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit until doubled in bulk and bubbly, about 45 minutes.

Remove the plastic wrap and return the bowl to your stand mixer, fitted with the dough hook. Add in the remaining ¾ Cup of water, 1¼ cups bread flour, 1¼ cups whole wheat flour, ¼ cup olive oil, and 1 tsp. salt. Knead on low speed until the dough is smooth and not too sticky.( I had to add about another ½ Cup of bread flour and ½ cup of whole wheat flour to my dough to get this consistency. You may or may not have to do this, just check your dough and if it is too sticky and not pulling away from the edge of the bowl, add more flour a little at a time until it is smooth.  Put dough into a lightly oiled bowl and let sit in warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. You will know that your dough is dough if you poke it and a dimple remains in it, if it springs back it needs more time to rise.

Preheat your oven, with a rack in the middle, to 500 degrees with a pizza stone it in, if you are using one.

Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and divide the dough into 9 equal pieces, roll them into a ball and then flatten into circles using a rolling pin. They should be about 6 inch circles. Transfer disks of dough onto a surface sprinkled with cornmeal and cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rise for 30 minutes or until puffed up a little.

Transfer 4 pitas at a time into the oven on your pizza stone or set them on a flipped over baking sheet surface and let sit for 2 minutes in the oven until slightly puffy. Turn them over with a tongs and let cook 1 minute more. Remove from oven and put the rest of the pitas in and do the same. Transfer pitas to a cooling rack and let cool completely. Store in an air tight container for up to 3 days.

The Dough after it is rolled into balls 

My flattened out disks of dough

 There are tons of things you can do with this pita bread, like gyros, pita pockets, dip in hummus, and much more, but our personal favorite....Individual Pita Pizzas! Top with sauce, cheese and seasonings, and place under broiler for a few minutes and you have a quick and delicious dinner!

adapted from: http://annies-eats.net/2010/04/20/whole-wheat-pita-bread/

Homemade Granola Bars or Granola

I am excited to share this recipe with you since I absolutely love granola bars and granola! I have yet to find a really good store bought granola bar that I love....I am just not very happy with them and the long list of questionable ingredients in some of the varieties can be somewhat scary! I would much rather eat something without all the additives and "junk"! I love granola as an afternoon snack or with my breakfast on top of yogurt and fruit! Also, a granola bar is a great snack to have around the house when you are running out the door or are in the mood for a sweet treat! These bars have only a few simple ingredients and are very tasty! Enjoy! 

Recipe: 

2 Cups Rolled Oats 

2 Cups Kashi Go Lean Crunch Cereal (I used the honey almond flax flavor) 

1/3 Cup Almond Butter (could use peanut butter too) 

1/3 Cup honey (I used half clover and half raw cinnamon honey I bought at the farmers market-AMAZING) 

1 tsp vanilla 

1 handful semi-sweet chocolate chips 

Directions: 

Place Rolled oats and cereal in a bowl. In small saucepan, melt almond butter, honey and vanilla together until hot and well combined. Pour over cereal mixture and add in chocolate chips! Place in foil-lined square baking dish and press down mixture. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and then remove from pan and cut into bars. 

A few of my bars were slightly crumbly, so I decided to make granola out of them, and crumbled them into a storage container! A perfect topping to fruit or yogurt! 

adapted slightly from: http://www.espressoandcream.com/2011/05/make-your-own-chewy-granola-bars.html

Crispy Baked Oven Fries

I have been trying to make crispy baked fries for quite some time now and finally mastered it!! If you love baked fries, you have to try this recipe! Mine always came out too soft and mushy, but this time they were delicious, crispy and the perfect homemade version of fries, in my opinion! I served these with a simple grilled cheese sandwich and of course, the simplest meal I have made in a long time, gets rave reviews!!



Recipe:
4 Russet potatoes (washed, peeled and sliced into wedges)
5 TBS canola oil or vegetable oil
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

Directions:

• Cut potatoes into wedges and then soak in very hot water for 30 minutes (I soaked mine for over an hour) 
• Preheat oven to 475 degrees
• Place 4 TBS of oil on rimmed baking sheet and then tilt side to side to spread oil around evenly. 
• Sprinkle salt and pepper evenly on baking pan
• Drain the potato wedges and then lay on paper towel and pat them dry with more paper towel
• Rinse the bowl and dry it and then add the remaining 1 TBS of oil to the bowl and toss the dried wedges into the oil until evenly coated. Place in single layer on baking pan 
• Cover pan with foil and bake for 5 minutes, remove the foil and return to oven to bake for about 20 minutes or until bottom of fries are spotty golden brown, rotating the baking sheet after 10 minutes. 
• Using a spatula or tongs, flip the fries over and continue baking until fries are golden and crisp, about 10 more minutes. Rotate the pan often to ensure even baking. 
• When fries are finished, you can season with more salt and pepper if you like, but we did not and they were still delicious! Enjoy! 

adapted from: http://www.thecomfortofcooking.com/2011/03/crispy-oven-baked-potato-fries.html

A Workout and a Recipe

Well, I have two things to share with you today. A work out and a delicious oatmeal recipe! I am not going to lie, working out right away in the morning is hard work! I have realized that if I don't work out right away in the morning, before I start my day, then I just don't do it more often than not. Working out, for me, is one of those things that takes me so much motivation to start it, but once I have started working out, I usually love it and love the feeling after I am done! The work out I did this morning is a great one that will make you sweat, I sure was! Also, I am always trying to discover new, different work outs that keep things exciting and interesting...I cannot do the same thing 2 days in a row, I get bored way too easily with that! I really enjoy circuits because they provide something new and different and it's actually fun to work my way through a circuit! Todays workout was a combination of Cardio on the treadmill and a quick circuit! Hope you enjoy it!
WORKOUT:
15 minute jog on treadmill
15 lunges (do 15 on each leg)
20 squats
30 second wall sit
30 crunches on the floor with legs up in 90 degrees
30 bicycle crunches
10 reverse crunches
Repeat this circuit 3 times (not the cardio on treadmill part) and FEEL THE BURN!

Blueberry Pie Oatmeal
1/2 Cup rolled oats
A little less than 3/4 Cup milk (I use unsweetened vanilla almond milk)
1/4 Cup water
1 tsp heavy whipping cream
(Microwave these ingredients for 2 minutes)
Then Add:
1 tsp vanilla
A few sprinkles of cinnamon
1/2 Cup Blueberries
1 TBS egg whites
(Microwave for 1 minute more)
I added a dollop of Plan non-fat Greek yogurt mixed with a little maple syrup on top of mine and it was pretty delicious!

I thought I would add the benefits of this breakfast for you- pretty interesting!

Blueberries * have one of the highest concentrations of antioxidants of all fruits and veggies. Their anthocyanidins counteract free radicals, which damage cells and tissues. One study demonstrated that blueberries improve memory and learning capacity in aging animals. They also protect against all forms of cancer, especially colon and ovarian cancer.

Oats * are complex carbohydrates, meaning they will not spike your blood sugar and are slow to digest.

This recipe is from http://wholewheatorbust.wordpress.com/2010/06/04/blueberry-yum-yum/ 

Fresh Blueberry Muffins

 These muffins are so good! I absolutely LOVE muffins! When we first moved into our apartment in San Diego last year, the only pan I had was a muffin pan and because I love to bake, I just made a lot of muffins! I have so many muffin recipes I want to try, but this will be my go-to blueberry muffin recipe from now on. I really love the fresh blueberries in this and I wouldn't recommend substituting frozen. I also love that this recipe is really simple. It's basically a one-bowl kind of recipe....easy clean up, gotta love it! I found it kind of weird that the recipe called for only 8 muffins as opposed to the usual 12 but I went with it and they turned out amazing. The streusel topping makes them slightly crunchy on top!


Recipe :
1 1/2 Cups flour
3/4 Cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/3 Cup vegetable oil
1 Egg
about 1/3 Cup milk
1 Cup blueberries

Streusel Topping:
1/4 Cup sugar
2 TBS plus 2 tsp flour
2 TBS cold butter, cubed
3/4 tsp cinnamon

Directions:
Grease or line muffin cups. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Combine the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl. Place vegetable oil in a 1 cup measuring cup and then add the egg and pour milk into to fill up to the 1 Cup line. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and fold in blueberries. Pour the batter into 8 muffin cups, filling almost all the way to the top.
To make the streusel topping, combine all ingredients into a bowl and cut with a fork until crumbly. Sprinkle on top of muffins. Bake 20-25 minutes

Original recipe found at Allrecipes.com

Orange Teriyaki Chicken

This recipe is really delicious. I was very impressed with it and liked it a lot more than I expected! I have been on an Oriental food kick lately and I love trying new recipes like Sweet and Sour Chicken, Cashew Chicken and Pad Thai. I will be sharing lots of Oriental recipes on this blog because it's one of my favorite dishes to make! All I can say about this recipe is that it has just enough Orange flavor, a little sweet and a tad bit spicy! I served it over brown rice and I will continue to make this again and again!

Recipe:
1 TBS corn starch
1 TBS Cold Water
1/2 Cup Soy Sauce
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
1/4 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/2 tsp pepper
Zest of 1 Orange
Freshly squeezed Juice of 1 Orange
2-3 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts

Directions:
Chop the thawed chicken breasts into bite sized chunks. Add all the rest of the ingredients to a medium saucepan and cook on medium heat until thickens slightly and boils. Add the chicken and stir a few times. Add mixture to a baking dish and bake at 400 for 1 hour. Serve over Brown rice