A couple more pictures

i added some more pictures to flickr today. check them out. click here.

morning glory muffins

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/4 c white sugar
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups grated carrots
1 apple cored, peeled and cut into little pieces
1 cup raisins

1 egg
2 egg whites
1/2 cup apple butter
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1tbsp vanilla extract


2 tbsp chopped walnuts
2 tbsp wheat germ
(1 tbsp sugar)


Preheat oven to 375. Place muffins cups in muffin pan. In large bowl mix together the first group of ingredients. In a medium bowl whisk together the second group. Stir in apple butter mixture until just moistened. Spoon batter into muffin cups, filling them 3/4 full. In a small bowl combine walnuts and wheat germ (and I added sugar), sprinkle over muffin tops.

bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes (mine took more than 20 in a convection oven, so go more toward 20).

everyone loved them. next time i might add flax seeds to the batter, too...

Clean food

i got several new cookbooks for christmas and i've been cooking a lot out of one called "clean food." i am still forming my opinions on this cookbook, but a few thoughts on it before i go on...

1. this is no beginner's cookbook. you need to already be committed to really nourishing your family, not just feeding them. if you're not, you will take one look at the recipes and give up. it has a lot of hard to find ingredients and things you've just plain never heard of.

2. it is organized seasonally, which is fabulous. that way you can actually cook with things that are grown locally, or at least not too far away :)

3. i fully subscribe to the philosophy of training your taste buds not to need so much salt, sugar, etc. but to learn to truly appreciate the taste of beautiful, natural food. even still, i've had to slightly "fix" a few of these recipes so far (e.g adding greek seasoning or a dipping sauce). some have been just a little bland. having said that, there are also some recipes in here that are satisfying on every level: extremely healthy and extremely tasty.

anyways, here is what we had for dinner last night, all from the clean food cookbook. it was a homerun. even the kids loved it.

homemade  pomegranate vinaigrette  

atop

winter salad

6 cups romaine lettuce

2 d'anjou pears

seeds from 1/2 pomegranate

topped with

sugared walnuts

1 Tbsp maple syrup

1 Tbsp walnut oil

1 Tbsp maple sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

2 cups walnuts

preheat oven to 350. in medium bowl combine syrup, oil, sugar, cinnamon. add walnuts and toss to coat. spread on parchment lined cookie sheet and bake until lightly browned (about 20 minutes). remove from oven and set aside.

place greens in salad bowl, combine with most of the sliced pears, drizzle with pomegranate vinaigrette and toss to coat. arrange remaining pears and sugared walnuts over salad greens. top with pomegranate seeds and serve.

and

simply delicious spaghetti squash

1 spaghetti squash

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

3 garlic cloves minced

2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley

coarse sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

preheat oven to 400. place squash on cookie sheet and bake 1 hour or until soft. remove from oven and set aside.

in small skillet over low heat, saute garlic in oil until soft (about 2 min). cut squash in half lengthwise and remove and discard seeds. hold half of squash upside down over serving bowl and using a fork, scrape out flesh from to to bottom to separate the strands of squash. repeat with other half, toss with garlic, oil, parsley, and salt and pepper to taste.

 top with favorite spaghetti sauce and garnish with parmesan cheese. lots of it :)

YUM!

Midnight Snack

I have to brag on my husband for a moment. This is not hard to do. He is awesome in many ways. One of which: his mad midnight snack skills. When I ask Dan to be "snackmaker" he will most likely come back with one of two things: bluebell ice cream or a Masterpiece. These snacks are quite often so beautiful I can't bear to eat them until I have taken a picture. So I present a little collage of my dining pleasure for your viewing pleasure....