Vanilla Berry Muffins

My friend is really having to watch her diet right now for health reasons so making her a "treat" isn't very easy. I came across this recipe in my folder and since it doesn't have very much butter or sugar and is flavored with yogurt I thought they'd be a somewhat healthy thing to make for her. I had honey flavored greek yogurt on hand so I used that instead of vanilla - these turned out quite tasty. Maybe not as amazing as Ina Garten's triple berry (click here for that post) but still good (and healthier!).

• 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 3/4 cup (6oz container) vanilla-flavored yogurt
• 1 egg
• 1 cup fresh blueberries (I used frozen)
• sugar to sprinkle over tops of muffins

1. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
2. In a mother bowl, stir together the melted butter, yogurt and egg.
3. Stir the liquid ingredients into dry ingredients gently just until dry ingredients are moistened.
4. Blend in the blueberries.
5. Spoon into 24 mini or 12 regular muffin tips (spray with non-stick spray first). Sprinkle tops of muffins with sugar.
6. Bake at 400' for 10-12 minutes for the mini muffins or about 15 minutes for regular sized.
7. Serve hot.

Scrambled Eggs

can you tell the color in this picture?
soy sauce turned them a weird color...

I read on a magazine site (can't remember which, maybe Cooking Light) that the secret ingredient you really must add to scrambled eggs (their words, not mine haha) is ... soy sauce instead of salt. Not sure why I wouldn't just add salt but ok, I'll bite ;). What I found was that yes, soy sauce works just fine and there wasn't much taste difference surprisingly - but it turned the eggs a weird color that I found unappealing. So I'll stick with salt, but try the soy sauce and see what you think!

I like soft small curd scrambled eggs but mine usually don't turn out like that - I just saw these tips on how to achieve it tho and I'll be trying these next time: 1. don't whip the raw eggs into a froth, that creates dryness and 2. pour the eggs into a cold or slightly warm nonstick pan coated with oil. Starting cold prevents eggs from cooking too quickly. Stir almost constantly over medium-low heat for small creamy curds.

Organizing...Salad Dressing

Easy idea - I keep all the bottles of salad dressing in a plastic tote in the fridge, then when we are having salad I just pull out the whole thing instead of removing individual bottles so everyone can have their choice. Another good idea that my sister does is to put a spinning lazy susan on a shelf in the fridge to keep dressing and condiments on - much easier to find them that way.

the label is perhaps overkill...you can clearly see this is salad dressing bottles ;)

Coconut Curry Sauce

From Mickey - 

Kyle is making coconut curry sauce with fish and rice. The recipe is:

Chop 1 orange pepper and 1/2 onion. Put in sauce pan. Add 3 cloves minced garlic. Simmer until soft. 

Add 2 cans coconut milk, teaspoon of brown sugar, 1 tablespoon of soy sauce and 2 tablespoons of regular curry. 

Stir all together and let reduce. It will thicken to the consistency of ranch. 

Cook fish (or anything you want) and rice, top with sauce. 

"it kind of looks like baby poop but it tastes amazing!". Nice visual Mick. 

Planting Zucchini

Cute and clever idea from Mickey and Kyle that I want to do - they planted zucchini in an old tire. Love...now I just gotta find an old tire!

Kneading Bread Dough (outtake!)

Quick out take video of Brooke - she makes me laugh and I wanted to share. Check out two other posts here and here of her actually making the bread along with the recipe.

Kneading Bread Dough ...by Brooke

Here's a quick little video of Brooke showing how to knead yeast dough. Tomorrow I'll post a funny little out take video of her to make you laugh :)

Braided Herb Bread

Brooke and I made this yeast bread and I have to tell you - this turned out amazing! We surprised ourselves :). After watching Brooke make more slime (the kid is obsessed) and kneading it just like you do when making bread I asked if she'd ever made yeast bread before...nope - so I found this recipe in a Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook and she was game to try it. So so good!

Homemade Hair Treatments

After all the product I put in my hair last weekend for dance recital I thought these homemade hair treatments I saw on BHG.com would be a good idea - figured it couldn't hurt! I'm going to do these 2 (getting rid of residue and strenthening/repair), there are others on their site if you want more hair "recipes". 

The key to more lustrous locks? Get rid of the residue your styling products leave behind. Blogger Cara Brook of Maskcarahas a simple, two-ingredient remedy to banish the buildup.

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup baking soda
• 4 Tbsp water

Directions: Mix together until it forms a paste. Massage into hair from the ends to roots. Let it sit for 10-15 minutes, then wash as usual.

Got hair damage? Grab a banana. On her blog, beauty expert Michelle Phan says the fruit is rich in potassium, which strengthens and repairs hair. It's especially good for fine hair, since this mask won't weigh it down like a rich conditioner does.

Ingredients:

• 1 ripe banana
• 1 Tbsp honey (optional) 

Directions:

Blend the banana and honey in a blender until smooth. Apply the mix to dry hair and cover with a shower cap. Let sit for 15-20 minutes. Rinse, then shampoo and condition as usual.

Butternut Squash and Arugula Salad with Goat Cheese

It's not every day that I hear "I think this is my new favorite salad" from the hubby, trust me when I say that means this is a VERY good salad! And I'm with him, it's also my new fave.

I came across "butternut spirals" at the grocery store, they are like the zucchini noodles that are suddenly everywhere (click here for a recipe) only made out of butternut squash. I made the recipe on the back of the package and didn't change a thing except I added more arugula and used cherry tomatoes - and I will be making it all the time now! Yum.

10.7 ounces butternut spirals (I think shredded, grated, or chopped in small pieces would also work)
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 oz. crumbled goat cheese
2 cups baby arugula
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
1 diced roma tomato

Heat skillet over medium-high, add oil and butternut spirals and toss for 3-4 minutes until al dente (don't cook too long or they'll get mushy). Remove from heat, toss with arugula, pine nuts and tomato. Add salt and pepper to taste. Top with goat cheese and enjoy with your favorite vinaigrette (optional. note I drizzled with a little olive oil and sprinkled on some white wine vinegar).

we had it as a side to grilled pork tenderloin. 

Sarge just waiting for something to leap out of the bowl and onto the floor :)