Quick and Easy Mini Chocolate Chip Muffins

OK morning of Kindergarten graduation has areived, it is the same day as highschool graduation.   You have family in town.   You have extra people staying at your house. You have the high school grad party where you graduate may or may not have invited the entire graduating class via the 2018 class Facebook page, you are the kindergarten room mom, you have the kindergarten class gift, but you forgot you were supposed to make mini muffins for the kindergarten graduation/ literacy show

Kindergarten Graduation!  Such a fun morning!  It just so happens to fall on the same day as high school graduation, you have company in town staying at your house, you have a graduation party where your grad may have just invited the entire graduating class on the 2028 Facebook page - no worries. . . You’ve got this! You’ve got the kindergarten teacher gift, you are running on time - until you remember you were supposed to make mini muffins for the graduation/literacy party.


Enter these simple, quick and deliscious little gems to the rescue.

Mini ChOcolate Chip Muffins

• 2 cups  all-purpose flour
• 1⁄3cup  light-brown sugar, packed
• 1⁄3cup  sugar
• 2 teaspoons  baking powder
• 1⁄2teaspoon  salt
• 2⁄3cup  milk
• 1⁄2cup  butter, melted and cooled
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon  vanilla
• 1(11 1/2 ounce) package milk chocolate chips
• 1⁄2cup  walnuts or 1⁄2 cup pecans, chopped.  

DIRECTIONS

7. DIRECTIONS

10. Oven 400
11. Grease mini muffin tins
12. Stir together flours, sugars, baking powder and salt,
13. In separate bowl stir milk, egg, butter and vanilla until blended. .
1. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients.  Add milk mixture and stir until just combined.
2. Oven 400
3. All the wet ingredients mix together in 1 bowl
4. All dry in 1 bowl.  Make a well and pour  in the wet.
5. Stir in the chocolate chips and the nuts ( I didn’t add nuts)
6. Bake until just golden and toothpick comes out clean.  About 8-10minutes
8. Bake 8-10 ish minutes
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10. Dump out on cooling racks.  
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12. * bonus points!! These muffins freeze well.
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Sheet Pan Lemon Chicken with Roasted Potatoes and Green Beans

This is simple.  Looks hard.  Adapted a bit from the Our best Bites Blog.   Great to make when you need to feed a crowd.

Lemon Chicken Skillet Dinner
Adapted from Cooking Light January 2015

Ingredients

12 ounces baby red potatoes, halved
1 tablespoon olive oil, divided - I used more
4 (6 ounce) chicken breast halves, pounded to 3/4-inch thickness*
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
4 ounces cremini mushrooms, sliced or quartered - I Didn't Use
2-3 cloves minced garlic
1/4 cup whole milk
5 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme, or 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves

I didn't use thyme i used everyday seasoning spice blend (margoram, fennel,thyme, ginger, cilantro, anise, sea salt, garlic, onion and dry mustard)

1 can low-sodium chicken broth- divided
6 very thin lemon slices
8 ounces trimmed haricots verts (French green beans)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

*If your chicken breasts are particularly thick, consider slicing them in half instead of pounding.
** If you are using ground thyme, start with 1/2 teaspoon and add more to taste

1. Preheat oven to 450°.

2. Place potatoes in a medium saucepan; cover with water. Bring to a boil, and simmer 12 minutes or until tender. Drain.

3. Line a baking sheet with foil and set aside.  Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 teaspoon oil to pan. Sprinkle chicken lightly with salt and pepper. Add chicken to pan; cook 5 minutes or until chicken is browned. Turn chicken over and cook for 1 minute.  Transfer chicken to foil-lined pan and place in oven for 10 minutes or until chicken is done.

4. While chicken is cooking, add remaining 2 teaspoons oil to skillet. Add potatoes, cut sides down to one side of the skillet, and the mushrooms and garlic to the other. Cook for 3-5 minutes or until browned, stirring mushrooms and garlic.  Remove vegetables from pan and set on a plate to the side.

5.  Combine milk and flour in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk.  Add  flour mixture and 3/4 cup of the chicken broth along with a sprinkle of salt and pepper to the skillet and whisk until smooth.  Bring sauce to a simmer, and add beans.  Simmer 2-3 minutes or until sauce starts to thicken. Add lemon slices, potatoes and mushrooms, and chicken.  If sauce is too thick, add small amounts of chicken broth to thin.  Reduce heat and simmer 3-4 minutes or until beans are crisp-tender. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste and then sprinkle with parsley.

Nutritional Information: 1 chicken breast and 3/4 cup potato and bean mixture: Cal: 342, Fat 8.6g, Protein: 46 g, Carb: 23g, Fiber 4g

Over the Top Watermelon Slushie

 It is time to sing my love for this ruby-red fruit. Watermelon.  It simply screams summer my friends!   This is ridiculously easy.  Everyone will ask about it.  It takes zero effort other than cutting up watermelon and freezing it for a few hours.

This is adapted from the minimalist bakers blog.

COCONUT LIME WATERMELON SLUSHIE

 

Prep time

4 hours

Total time

4 hours

 

Super simple, 3-ingredient watermelon slushie with coconut milk and lime juice. The perfect refreshing, naturally sweetened summer treat!

Author: Minimalist Baker

Recipe type: Beverage, Dessert

Cuisine: Vegan, Gluten-Free

Serves: 2

Ingredients

WATERMELON JUICE

• 1 small seedless watermelon, cubed

WATERMELON SLUSHIE

• 4 cups frozen watermelon (~3/4 of 1 small seedless watermelon)
• 2 limes, juiced
• 1/3 cup (80 ml) light coconut milk
• 1/2 cup (120 ml) watermelon juice (plus more to ease blending)

Some like to add 1 tsp sea salt but I DO NOT

Instructions

1. Halve 1 small, ripe, seedless watermelon and scoop out rounded Tablespoon amounts (or cube with a knife). Arrange on a parchment-lined baking sheet. or just throw in a bowl. Freeze until firm - about 3-4 hours.
2. In the meantime, halve another small seedless watermelon and add the fruit (leaving the rind behind) to a blender. Blend on high, adding a touch of water if needed (I didn't), until completely smooth and pureed.
3. OPTIONAL: Drape a large, thin dish towel over a mixing bowl and pour over juice. Then gather corners, lift up and squeeze the juice out leaving the pulp behind - there shouldn't be much, but this makes the juice extra smooth. Transfer to a mason jar, cover, and refrigerate - should keep for 3-4 days, or more.
4. Once watermelon is frozen, add ~ 4 cups frozen watermelon (I found this was about three-quarters of one small watermelon), coconut milk, lime juice, and watermelon juice to a blender and blend on low until creamy and smooth. You will need to scrape down the sides and blend on low to encourage it along. If it has trouble blending, add a bit more watermelon juice, but not too much or it will become too thin.
5. Once the slushie is blended and smooth, taste and adjust flavor as needed. Add more coconut milk for creaminess, lime for brightness, a pinch of salt to enhance sweetness, or 1 Tbsp sweetener of choice to sweeten. Blend and sample again - repeat as needed.
6. Serve in empty watermelon rinds or chilled serving glasses and garnish with a lime wedge.
7. This recipe serves 4 . Best when fresh! TIP: Freeze leftovers in Popsicle molds.

Rice Pudding

Today Quincy got her braces put on.  This could only mean one thing, rice pudding was on order.

EVERYONE at our house loves this except for Heston which is a first for any food EVER.

INGREDIENTS:

• 3/4 cup Arborio rice, rinsed
• 6 cups whole milk
• 1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped or 1-2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 1/4 cup heavy cream

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a medium saucepan, combine rice, milk, vanilla bean and seeds, sugar, and salt. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; reduce heat and simmer, stirring frequently, until rice is tender and liquid has absorbed, about 40-45 minutes.
2. Remove vanilla bean; stir in heavy cream. Rice pudding may be served warm, at room temperature or chilled (personally I prefer it slightly warmed).

I like to add in a bit of chocolate pudding, or a few berries, or a shake of cinnamon and sugar.

The Dip

Need a quick appetizer - you need this dip
Need something to feed hungry crowd of teenagers - you need this dip
Need something different than sandwiches for lunches - you need this dip made and separated into smaller sized portions.     There are many a dip out there in the world, but this has been deemed THE DIP.   Say it and we know what you mean. Deliscious was.  Tastiness. A meal but not a meal.   Serve with tortilla chips and everyone will be happy.   The End.


Ingredients :
I chopped up Onion
1 brick of cream cheese, cut into chunks
1 jar roasted red peppers, drained and chopped
( if I don’t have this I roast a red pepper quick in the oven on broil.   Let it cook and peel the charred skin off)
1 can Hornel Chili with beans ( * trust me on this.   It looks and sounds totally disgusting but it works and this dip is so good)

A bunch of shredded pepper jack cheese on the top.  


Put in oven at 350 and leave until all melted and bubbly.
Everyone asks for this recipe

Grandmas Chocolate Pudding

Chocolate pudding is not taken lightly on 3 Blanchard Road.   Having a hard day? You must need some pudding.  Getting new braces?  Pudding coming up!  A special friend needs a treat delivered?  We are quick to whip up a batch. It is very easy, and the effort is minimal for the reward. Store bought pudding will be a thing of the past once this has been tried..
Recipe comes from My Grandma MacKinlay and brings the best memories.   ~ warm chocolate pudding with a scoop of coffee ice cream at grandmas condo in Calgary on Brandy Lane.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (Dutch-process or regular)
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 3/4 cups whole milk
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup milk chocolate chips (or 6 ounces bar milk chocolate chopped)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a large saucepan, combine the brown sugar, cocoa, cornstarch and salt, whisking lightly. Whisk in the milk and cream to the sugar mixture until it is smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips and bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat, whisking or stirring occasionally. Once the mixture is at a simmer, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture is thickened and large bubbles pop at the surface, 2 to 3 minutes. Take the pot off the heat and stir in the vanilla.
2. Transfer the pudding to a large bowl and cover with plastic wrap, pressing the plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the pudding to avoid a skin starting to form ( because that’s gross ). Refrigerate the pudding until it is completely cool, at least 4 hours but up to 3 days, if it is stored in an airtight container. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream…or not.

***this is super rich.   A little goes a long way!

Bushels of Brussel Sprouts Please

Growing up I thought brussel sprouts were used as a form
Of punishment.   Be rude - you must eat a brussel sprout.   Disobey - you must eat a few brussel sprouts . . .    My thoughts however have changed, I now quite like them.  And I am glad to report that my children actually like them. ( OKAY, not all of the girls but a few).   Here’s how we cook them:

These Honey Balsamic Roasted Brussels Sprouts are not only beyond easy to prepare, but I guarantee they will be gone in no time so make plenty!

Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 lbs brussels sprouts
• 3 tbsp olive oil separated
• 3/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 2 tsp honey - even a little less

1. Preheat oven to 425°F.
2. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil or use a Silpat silicone baking mat.
3. Trim off the outer, dry leaves, cut the bottom off and slice sprouts lengthwise.
4. In a large bowl, toss brussels sprouts with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper to coat thoroughly.
5. Transfer the brussels sprouts to baking sheet and roast until tender and caramelized, about 20 minutes.
6. Place brussels sprouts back in bowl. Add remaining tablespoon olive oil, balsamic vinegar and honey and toss to coat evenly. Taste and season with kosher salt if necessary and serve.