Cranberry Orange Muffins

So yesterday I was babysitting, and a favorite activity for one of the little girls (Elise) is baking muffins. Yes, she's 3. And, honest to god, she helps A LOT. She has mixed all of the ingredients more times than I can count, and she also loves pouring things into the bowl, and my favorite...cracking the egg (though she won't touch the actual inside of the egg, hehe).

Now yesterday Elise had the most awful cough I've heard in a while. And as a reminder, she's 3, and she's stirring the ingredients for the muffins. So where do you think the coughing was directed? Yup...right into the batter. Yuuuuuum.... I mean ew.

I decided that at 425 degrees all the germs would be killed, plus if I'm going to get sick from her, heck I'll get sick whether I eat the muffins or not. And I was really excited about these muffins. Anyway, promptly after we put the muffins in the oven, Elise was asleep on the couch. So I continued the baking activities with Evan, a cute but rascal-y 18 month-old.

So there's not much to do at this point...the muffins are in the oven, there's plenty of time, and Evan's shirt is off so we go upstairs to get a new one. We come downstairs, plenty of time still, try to put the shirt on but it's a no-go. Ok, no shirt. Wait...apparently no pants either. Great. Alright so here's the point when Evan tries to pull his diaper off. Fine. Ok, diaper off. He's starting to use the potty, so presumably he won't pee all over the floor. Hmmm...those muffins should be done...uhhhhhh wait. Evan is making all kinds of squeaky noises...I run for the potty but now he's PEEING ALL OVER THE FLOOR.

At this point I'm running for some towels, yelling for Evan to stop (which of course he can't do) and trying to get him to sit on the potty before it's too late, which it already is. I throw some baby wipes on the floor...wait Sarah, what is that exactly going to do? I recover and find some paper towels, but now Evan is bawling. Pee all over the floor, crying kid.

So I quickly pick up the miserable (naked, presumably wet
with urine) child and rock him around the room. Now, I smell burnt something...oh, burnt muffins. Of course.

Despite disasters, the second batch of muffins came out delicious, (actually I even ate the burnt ones...I kind of don't mind burnt things) and we ate them up quick.

So here's my recipe...gotta love cranberry & orange flavors together!

Cranberry Orange Muffins

1 1/4 cup white whole wheat flour
3/4 cup oatmeal (mine was quick cook)
1 tbsp baking powder
1/3 cup sugar
grated rind of most of an orange
1 large egg
3/4 cup vanilla yogurt + 1/2 cup milk
3 tsp juice from the orange you just zested!
2 tbsp butter, melted
2 tbsp applesauce
1 cup dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine all dry ingredients into a bowl and blend thoroughly. In a separate large bowl, stir together egg, yogurt & milk, orange juice, butter & applesauce. Pour dry ingredients into wet ingredients and stir until just blended. Add cranberries & again stir until just blended. Batter will look somewhat runny. Bake for 20 minutes in preheated oven. Makes about 12 regular sized muffins.

So I fully intended to take more pictures today when it was bright and sunny, but unfortunately...we ate them all. I completely forgot. Enjoy the cute pictures of Evan enjoying the muffins instead...his cute poses should be enough of a reason to try them!

Cherry & Blueberry Whole Wheat Scones

I made the scones from Farmgirl Fare a few weeks ago (with whole wheat flour) & I was so excited that they had such a nice texture & shape! Tim & I both enjoyed them in the morning as a quick breakfast.

They were easy to make, and all the ingredients sounded perfect together. I was happily mixing all the ingredients and finally got to the spices...my favorite part. I began dumping the nutmeg into the mixture with relish, and suddenly realized that...I don't actually like the taste of nutmeg.

Now of course the scones were still delicious even though it's not a flavor I love, but the next time around I decided to stick with cinnamon, and also to make them a tiny bit healthier (read: not as good) by removing some butter. I figured if we were going to eat them every morning for breakfast, I wanted them to be as healthy as possible while still tasting yummy.

Also, I suppose now is as good a time as any to reveal a secret...I don't like butter. It's not that I don't love baked goods, because I do, and I also LOVE dessert. However, I don't put butter on my bread, and I don't add it to my rice or pasta. I'm just not into it. So while I love desserts other people bake with tons of butter, I just can't bring myself to add a lot of butter to things that I bake myself.

Now that my secret is revealed, perhaps I should tell you what I actually did put in this recipe instead of all the things I left out. Instead of cranberries I used a mix of cherries and blueberries. The scones could probably use even more than I put in the recipe, but I didn't have any more on hand. For the oatmeal in the recipe, I placed it into a (tiny!) food processor and ran it a few times around to get the oatmeal smaller. I love oatmeal, but I tend to not love the big chunks in my scones, so I often use a blender or food processor to make kind of a chunky oat flour.

For the butter that is in the recipe, the original recipe suggests that you cut the butter into bits to make it easier to blend into the flour. Makes sense. Instead, I just threw the 1/2 stick into the flour & used *a fork* (I desperately need a pastry blender) to flake the butter into the flour. Took FOREVER but turned out just fine. :)

Ok, here's the recipe, a bit different from the original:

Cherry & Blueberry Whole Wheat Scones
adapted from Farmgirl Fare

3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup oatmeal
1 cup white whole wheat flour
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp light brown sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, chilled
1/2 cup cherries
1/2 cup blueberries
1/2 cup chopped almonds

1 egg
3 tbsp vanilla yogurt + milk to make 3/4 cup*

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Mix together flours, oatmeal, sugars, baking powder, baking soda, salt, & cinnamon. Add butter to mixture & blend in using a fork or a pastry blender until coarse crumbles appear. Add berries and nuts. In a separate bowl, beat together yogurt, milk, & egg. Using a spatula, integrate dry ingredients into the wet mixture until just blended. The dough shouldn't be too sticky, so if the dough is sticking to the sides of the bowl you can add a bit more flour.

On a floured surface, take half of the dough & form a circle, as if you were making an extremely thick pizza crust. Use a large knife (I used a floured pizza cutter!) to divide the circle into 6 pieces. Repeat with the other half of the dough, then place the sections onto a lightly greased cookie sheet.

Bake for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown. You can easily freeze these, or store them in a container for a few days.

*You can also use buttermilk...I didn't have any buttermilk and I decided to use vanilla yogurt and skip the vanilla extract. If you don't have vanilla yogurt (or if you use buttermilk), you'll want to add 1/4 tsp of vanilla extract to the recipe.

The scones were not very sweet at all, so if you prefer sweeter scones (I try to avoid too much sugar in the mornings), add another 1/4 cup of sugar.

And I won't be mad if you like the original recipe better. :) Sometimes I go over the top in my quest to be healthy!

Updated: Semi-nutritional facts

Nutrition Facts User Entered Recipe 12 Servings Amount Per Serving Calories 210.9 Total Fat 7.2 g Saturated Fat 2.8 g Polyunsaturated Fat 1.0 g Monounsaturated Fat 2.8 g Cholesterol 28.3 mg Sodium 248.7 mg Potassium 140.0 mg Total Carbohydrate 32.4 g Dietary Fiber 3.3 g Sugars 8.0 g Protein 5.9 g Vitamin A 8.3 % Vitamin B-12 0.8 % Vitamin B-6 1.4 % Vitamin C 0.2 % Vitamin D 2.2 % Vitamin E 6.1 % Calcium 9.5 % Copper 6.3 % Folate 7.0 % Iron 7.9 % Magnesium 7.9 % Manganese 33.6 % Niacin 4.4 % Pantothenic Acid 2.5 % Phosphorus 10.7 % Riboflavin 7.1 % Selenium 7.2 % Thiamin 11.2 % Zinc 4.3 % *Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

*from SparkRecipes

Rice Puddin'

I must admit, I used to love the smell of rice pudding only for its cinnamon sprinkled on top. Once I tasted it, I had an entirely different feeling about it. How could something that smelled so wonderful taste so awful?

Over time, though, I grew to LOVE rice pudding. I go through phases where I will eat an entire container in 2 days. Once I decided to try making my own, I started with the basics. And that's where I've stayed. :)

This version is super simple, but time consuming. It basically involves letting rice, milk & sugar simmer on the stove for over an hour. I never exactly time how long it takes (one of my worst tendencies when it comes to cooking), rather I watch it until the milk is mostly soaked up. It will thicken a little more once you take if off the heat, but you should get it close to the consistency you desire before you remove it from the stove.

I would love to hear if anyone has any variations. Most of the recipes I see just vary in amount of each of the ingredients. Oh, I've forgotten to mention the biggest secret to my rice pudding...skim milk.

I know, I know, skim milk does not a rice pudding make. But it's all I ever have in the house, and honestly it thickens up pretty well. And it's a guilt-free dessert! So if you'd prefer a dessert that actually tastes good (just kidding!) feel free to use whatever milk you'd prefer.

Rice Pudding

1 3/4 cups skim milk
1/4 cup uncooked long grain rice
1 tbsp sugar (more if you like it really sweet)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Pour milk, rice, sugar, and vanilla into a saucepan on the stove. Mix together & begin heating on medium until the sides of the pot begin to bubble. Just before the mixture is going to boil, turn the heat down to low or medium-low (whatever keeps the pot at a low simmer) and keep an eye on the pot for the next hour, stirring occasionally.

Add cinnamon either a few minutes before you take the mixture off the heat, or sprinkle it on top to serve.

Serves 2 (or just one if you're me!)


I actually accidentally ate most of this hot off the stove. Many people eat it warm, and it does taste good this way. I prefer it cold, but I find that I can rarely wait that long. You really just need to be patient & keep an eye on the pot. Oh, I will mention though that at some point during the process I walked away from the stove for a while & came back to a nice thick skin on the top of the milk...so I skimmed it off, threw it out, and continued cooking. I know, gross, but just remember, little mistakes often don't have that much of an impact.

Hope you enjoy!

Waffle Photos

Okay, so I keep making this awful mistake where I don't remember to write down ANYTHING about the recipes I make. Oh, but I do manage to photograph them. So I know what they look like, and the general ingredients, but the measurements...ha. Who needs measurements anyway, right?

So instead, today only (one time special offer), you get some pictures, with a promise for recipes soon because...I'm baking today... :)

Oh, and a side note I've been meaning to mention something regarding my pictures...sorry they're often so awful! In my tiny dingy apartment (in the winter, when it's been ungodly cloudy for weeks on end), I have awful lighting. And when I'm making recipes it's usually night. Hence, awful pictures. But the recipes taste very good, despite the quality of the pictures, I swear!

Today I'm sharing pictures of whole wheat waffles. I'm very into whole wheat, and I really like the taste of it, so I use it often in recipes. It's good for you too!

And just so you know, there is no way in heck that I would ever use this much confectioner's sugar on ANYTHING I make. But my darling boyfriend loves it, and hilariously when he took his first bite, he starting coughing violently. And that's what happens when you have too much of a good thing. ;)