Healthy strawberry Oat muffins

I love a good muffin, but I don’t like the incredible calories that come with a great muffins.

In my quest to ensure my husband and I are not throwing away food (We now have a leftover night!) I was searching for a good strawberry recipe. You see, we had a great big package of strawberry and we ate most of them, but the last third was not looking appealing to the eye to eat straight from the package. Let me get something clear here, I did not cook with stale or molded food, they were just very ripe.
We are not pie type and we have more than enough juices and shakes so I did not want to blend it with other fruits and drink it. I was looking for muffins recipe, not the cupcake type but really healthy muffins- you know those that some time look weird but taste delicious?



Anyhow, I found the following on a parenting website. It couldn’t have been further away from my usual browsing as pretty much everyone I know, know that I am not the mother type.

Ingredients:

- 1 cup whole-wheat flour
- 1 cup of rolled oats
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon of ground cinnamon (I put a whole teaspoon)
- ½ teaspoon of salt
- 1 egg, beaten
- ½ cup of milk
- ¼ fat-free, sugar-free strawberry yogurt
- ½ cup brown sugar (used brown splenda)
- ½ pint chopped fresh strawberries (I probably put twice as much)

Grease 12 muffins cups. (I use paper cups but I also sprayed a bit of butter as they might stick to the paper. In a large bowl, mix all the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, mix the milk, egg and yogurt. Mix in the strawberries. Stir the strawberry mixture into oats just until it is evenly moist. Spoon the mix into prepared muffins cups. Bake 18 to 20 minutes.



Yummy!

Crockpot apples, raisins and beef curry

I was looking for an easy Crockpot recipe the other day as I knew I was going to do a 60+ hours week and I wanted to have some healthy food ready for my husband to eat. I really don’t want him to survive on frozen corndogs and burritos when I work like crazy.

I had been browsing for about an hour when I stumbled upon this recipe. For the record, reading food blogs for an hour is my way of relaxing and day dreaming. Anyhow, the title captivated my attention, my husband wanted curry, and I couldn’t help but be drawn to this recipe since it had apples and raisins in it.
I think it would be better if I was to add more curry paste in it. I am a pretty mild person but I could have had this curry a little bit more fierce.

Apples, raisins and beef curry

- 2 pounds beef round steak or lean stew beef in cubes (I think this recipe could be done with any meat)
- ½ of all purpose flour
- 1 table spoon of curry powder
- 2 garlic cloves (I put 4 heheh)
- ½ cup of raisins
- 1 cup of chopped onions
- 2 apples, peeled, cored and sliced (I diced)
- 2 teaspoon of salt
- ½ teaspoon of pepper
- 1 ½ cup of beef broth (I ran out so I used chicken)
- 1 tablespoon of masala curry paste

Preparation



Combine the flour, curry powder, salt and pepper. Coat the meat cubes with the flour mixture. Place beef in Crockpot. Add all the other ingredients and stir gently to blend. Cover and cook on low setting for 8 to 10 hours. Serve over hot cooked rice.



Mildly yummy. Could be adapted, it may be only ok because I changed so many ingredients…..

Best Scrambled eggs ever.

A lot of people don’t like eggs. Fortunately, I am not one of them. I love eggs, hard boiled, pan fried, omelets, benedicts (awwwesome) or scrambled.

Mastering the art of the perfect scrambled eggs isn’t easy and I do think I’ve finally managed to get it right. I have been doing this recipe for three straight days and neither my husband nor I are tired of it.

The eggs shall not be overcook, yet they shouldn’t be too runny. Seasoning the eggs right at the start is a mistake as it “break” the eggs. Whipping or adding milk is also a no-no.

Best scrambled eggs ever.

- 4 eggs
- 1 big table spoon of butter (need butter, it is a must have)
- Salt and pepper
- 1 table spoon of sour cream

This will serve two.

Break the eggs in a bowl, do NOT whip or season. Start by heating the pan (medium-low), it is insane how many people start cooking on a pan not hot enough. Put the butter in; ensure it does not get colored. Throw the eggs in the pan once the butter is melted. When the bottom of the eggs start to get white (like when eggs are pan fried) remove from the heat, with a spatula, start stirring – do NOT season yet. After a few seconds, put back on heat, stir constantly like you would do for a risotto. When you see the eggs have started to cook more, remove from heat, season, and add the table spoon of sour cream. Stir. Put back on the heat to achieve your desired texture.



It’s divine.

Fabulous potatoes side.

I love potatoes! If only they weren’t that bad on the waist line! I was running out of inspiration yesterday. I was planning on doing beef Wellington but my husband was running late and Wellington is a timely meal. Anyhow, I was craving these delicious baby potatoes with herbs and onions…

So simple yet very delicious.

- Baby potatoes
- Green onions
- Garlic (my all time favorite ingredient)
- Salt and pepper
- Steak seasoning
- Greek potatoes seasoning
- Parsley
- Rosemary
- A hint of lemon juice
- Butter

Pre-cook the potatoes until they are just about ready. I boiled them for 10-15 minutes. Put the potatoes in a foil baking plate. I don’t know how it is called in English, it’s a square or rectangular 1.5 inches deep pan. Anyhow, once the potatoes are in, add the thinly sliced green onions, the garlic and all the herbs. Add 2-3 table spoon of butter and cook for 30 minutes at 350.



It’s delicious and even better roasted the next morning.

An easy meal for the busy week nights.

Chicken casserole

- 3 chicken breasts
- Salt and pepper
- Garlic (but of course!)
- 4 cup of broccoli or asparagus
- 1 small can of cream of chicken soup (I use low-fat/low-salt mushroom)
- ½ cup of mayonnaise (is use plain yogurt to reduce the fat content- can also be sour cream)
- 1 tea spoon of curry powder
- 1 table spoon of lemon juice
- 1 cup of grated cheese

Simple, simple, simple.

Cut into bit size the cooked chicken (microwaved or else). Sprinkle with salt and pepper



Cook the broccoli or asparagus until crunchy/crisp; drain and arrange in the bottom of a buttered casserole. Place chicken on top. Mix together all the other ingredients and pour over the chicken. Sprinkle the cheese on top and bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes.



enjoy!