Carrot Bran Muffins

Like everyone, I seem to go in vegetable phases and recently we have been eating a lot of carrots whether it is raw, cooked or in baking.  Today I decided I would try to use up some bran I have had in the pantry for a while and since my horse is on a diet I thought making carrot bran muffins for me to eat would be a perfect way for me to save him the calories.  Lucky for me, Libero does not have a computer and I am pretty sure he can read.  He would not be happy to see that I made muffins instead of spoiling him.

I love having a muffin stash in the freezer because they are so handy for a quick snack or breakfast on the run.  Since I have a new born quick food that is easy to grab is a necessity.  The recipe was quick to prepare (a must at the moment) and tastes great.

Carrot Bran Muffins

1 1/2 cups flour

1 cup bran

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs

3/4 cup butter milk

1/2 cup canola oil

2 tbsp molasses

1 cup raisins

1 1/2 cups grated carrots

1. Mix together the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.  In a separate bowl combine the buttermilk, oil, molasses and eggs.
2. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until everything is just moist.
3. Fold in the raisins and grated carrots.
4. Divide the batter into muffin tins. (Makes about a dozen).
5. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Raspberry Montreal Marinade

I know it may be a little early for some people to think of barbecuing but in our house it is more of a year round thing.  I love being able to cook meats easily with not much fuss for clean up.
This great tasting marinade makes a big batch so you can keep it in the fridge or freeze it in smaller portions for later use.  You can use a home made steak spice mix or go for the easier store bought variety.  It goes well with many different types of meats and taste nice on potatoes too.

Raspberry Montreal Marinade

2 cups olive oil

1/2 Montreal steak spice

1/3 cup honey mustard

1/3 cup raspberry vinegar

1. Whisk the ingredients together.
2. Marinate the meat for at least two hours before grilling.

7 Up Cake

My grandmother made this cake once when I was growing up and a couple years ago I decided to try to find the recipe.  When I finally got around to making it, I was very happy that it was as tasty and moist as I remember.  I don't usually like posting recipes involving packaged mixes but I thought this could be an exception.  It is too tasty not too and it is nice to have easy things on hand for last minute guests.

7 Up Cake

1 box vanilla cake mix

2 small boxes lemon pudding

4 eggs

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1 can 7 Up

1 tsp vanilla

1. Put the cake mix in a large bowl and add the pudding. Mix these dry ingredients together well.
2. Add the eggs and beat well.
3. Add the oil, 7 Up and vanilla.  Stir to combine.
4. Pour into a pan and cook at 325 for 40-45 minutes.
5. Allow to cool and ice if you would like.

Baked Asparagus with Balsamic Butter Sauce

I love using balsamic reductions on different vegetables.  I wanted to try something new with asparagus the other night so I decided to try it with a balsamic reduction.  The asparagus was amazing and the remaining reduction is being saved to use again tomorrow night for a salad or on some other vegetables.

Baked Asparagus with Balsamic Butter Sauce

1 bunch asparagus

salt and pepper

cooking oil

2 tbsp butter

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp soy sauce

1. Preheat the oven to 400.
2. Break the woody ends off the asparagus and toss with oil, salt and pepper.
3. Place in a baking dish and bake for 12 minutes.
4. While the asparagus is in the oven, melt the butter in a saucepan.  Once it has melted add the balsamic vinegar and the soy sauce.  Bring it to a simmer and allow it to reduce while the asparagus is baking.
5. Pour the reduction over the asparagus just before serving.

Cocoa Puffed Wheat Squares

Sometimes the easiest recipes make the yummiest treats.  This is easy to through together at the last minute and has always been one of my favourite guilty pleasures from childhood.  Strangely enough I always thought they would be hard to make.
I remember having it as a snack at an ex's parents house and asking his mom for the recipe.  I was surprised how easy it was to make and it is pretty easy to clean up after making it too.
Growing up we would always have rice crispy squares but I always hated having to scrub the pot afterwards to remove the marshmallow goo.  As long as you soak this pot, it is really easy to clean.

Cocoa Puffed Wheat Squares

8 cups puffed wheat

3 tbsp cocoa powder

1/3 cup corn syrup

1/3 cup butter

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1. Measure out the puffed wheat into a bowl.
2. Combine the other ingredients in a saucepan on the stove.  Melt the ingredients together over medium heat.
3. Pour the chocolate syrup over the puffed wheat and stir with a spatula until the puffed wheat is coated.
4. Using a spatula press the puffed wheat into a 9x9 inch greased pan.

Warmed Marinated Olives

For as long as I can remember I have been a huge fan of olives.  Normally I will just but them already marinated, bulk at the grocery store.  I came across this recipe in one of my cookbooks and thought it would be easy enough to make so I thought I would give it a try.  They were very easy to make and the flavour was amazing.  It is a perfect appetizer for the summer and really wows guests.

Warmed Marinated Olives

1/2 cup picholine olives

1/2 cup moroccan olives

1/2 cup nicoise olives

1 orange

1 lemon

2 sprigs fresh thyme

1 clove minced garlic

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1. Rinse the olives under cold water to remove any brine.  Pat them dry with paper towels.
2. Remove the zest from half of the orange in long thin strips with a citrus zester. Remove the zest from half of the lemon as well.
3. In a bowl toss the olives with the olive oil, garlic, thyme, orange and lemon zest.
4. Before serving, sauté them over medium-low heat.  Just enough to bring out their flavours and gently warm them.

Roasted Garlic and Onion Hummus

I have always enjoyed hummus and found it to be a great way to have some extra protein.  The other day I was eating some hummus with my sister and she had mention how she once bought a caramelized onion hummus that was amazing but hasn't been able to find it since.  I thought that it must be easy enough to make a similar hummus to what she was talking about so I decided to search online for a recipe.  It didn't take me long to find a recipe to try.
It was very simple to follow this recipe and the end result tasted great!  So great that my husband decided to lick the bowl clean so that none of it was wasted.
A thought we had while eating the hummus was they only problem with this one is the time it takes to roast the garlic and onions for the recipe.  Then I thought that it would be easy enough to make enough for a couple of batches for the hummus at once and then freeze.  All you would have to do would be defrost the onion and garlic and through the rest of the ingredients into the blender.  Next time I make it I plan on trying this.  I will let you know how it works out.

Roasted Garlic and Onion Hummus

4 heads of garlic

1 large onion

1-2 tbsp vegetable oil 

1 can chick peas, rinsed

1/3 cup tahini

3 tbsp lemon juice

1. Preheat the oven to 400.
2. Cut off the tops of the heads of garlic and remove any of the papery skins from the sides.  Place them each individually on a sheet of tinfoil and drizzle with the vegetable oil before wrapping them up.
3. Peel and cut the onion into 1/2 inch slices and place them onto a piece of tinfoil.  Drizzle with the oil and wrap it up.
4. Place the garlic and onion foil packets onto a cookie sheet and bake for about 45 minutes or until they begin to brown.
5. Once the garlic has cooled squeeze out the cloves into a dish.
6. In a food processor, combine the garlic, onion, chickpeas, tahini and lemon juice.  Process until it reaches the desired consistency.