Pistachio Blueberry Muffins and A New Found Like For Vegan Food?

My sister came back from Peru this past summer with an entirely new appetite. I'm not sure what they eat down in the Amazon but I do know it's a drastic contrast from our plant produced and processed American food. Most of the food she had been eating came from her back yard, the Amazon Jungle. All grown right in front of her. They kill their own chickens. We haven't had to kill our own chickens for about a century. Unless we plant a garden in our 4x4 backyards the food we eat here is mostly genetically modified for mass consumption, grown in a warehouse, or raised in a confined space so small I'm surprised chickens don't need to see a therapist for claustrophobia or social anxiety.

My sister says she is "95% vegan". She's having a hard time giving up staples like cheese. While vegan cheese is available, it's just not the same. Personally I just love cheeseburgers and could NOT imagine a life without them. Pizza, grilled cheese sandwiches, cheese and crackers, chili cheese fries, mac n cheese! I mean how could you not want to have cheese! It's essential. But whatever floats your boat. I'm all for healthy living. Even tho I'm convinced some of the vegan products out on the shelves are not "natural" and therefore are probably worse for you than non-vegan foods eaten in moderation. But my research on the subject is... limited. So I indulge her for her 95% vegan-ism. And I have to admit, some of the things, just some, are actually pretty tasty. They're not much different from their carnivorous cousins. Just a few minor changes.

The other day she was craving blueberry muffins. I usually just buy the box mix from Betty Crocker to save time. She went to a work event and they said their muffins were freshly baked but she said they were more like fresh bricks. So I baked her some myself to keep her love of blueberry muffins alive. And since blueberry muffins can be so... blue, I decided is add a little pistachio pizazz.  She's been going around the house all week saying, "I love having a chef for a sister". Like I'm adopted or something. She should say she likes have a sister who is a chef. Regardless, even my mom liked these muffins and she's skeptical on all things vegan.

(Pistachio) Blueberry Muffins

Adapted from Sweet Vegan by Emily Mainquist

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup all purpose flour

3/4 cup sugar in the raw

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup coconut milk

1/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon all natural applesauce

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 cup frozen blueberries. 

2 tablespoons chopped pistachios

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line 12 standard-size muffin cavities with paper liners.

In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt. Add the oil, milk, applesauce, and vanilla extract and mix until well combined. Fold in the blueberries and pistachios.* The batter will be very thick.

Scoop 1/4 cup of the batter into each muffin liner. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

*I kept the blueberries frozen until I was ready to use them. Blueberries can be fragile and when putting them in fresh or thawed I find they usually break. 

Oatmeal Banana Bread

Bad banana = yummy bread

Keeping up with the theme of things that go bad before I can use them I'd like to talk about this banana bread recipe I came across. I buy bananas mostly so I can make things with them. On their own I don't really like them. Therefore, I don't buy them often. My roommate had gotten some and I was in the kitchen making dinner one night and there they were sitting on the counter turning brown.

Usually, I wouldn't think anything of it and just toss them out but I was feeling crafty that day. I have a pretty good banana bread recipe I've used for years but I wanted something different. I've been thinking of ways to make recipes a little healthier. Lately healthier has been just to add a tablespoon of ground flaxseed into everything but that wasn't going to cut it this time. So I started googling recipes for banana bread that gave it a little power punch of better for you. There were all sorts of recipes out there and more so than not they called for oatmeal. I'd never thought to do that so I decided to give it a whirl.

That loaf of bread weighed like 5 pounds. But it was really good!

Mix your dry ingredients together and make a whole in the center of it all. 

Like a little well.

Next for the wet ingredients.

Mix those all together. 

Pour the wet ingredients into the center of the dry.

Mix it all up! 

Magic! 

It's all ready. 

Oatmeal Banana Bread

(Recipe courtesy of: www.food.com )

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour

2/3 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup oats (I used old-fashioned)

1 cup mashed banana

1/3 buttermilk (I didn't have any, I used 2%)

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs, beaten

cooking spray or butter (I used butter)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray or butter an 8 x 4 inch loaf pan

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl

Combine banana, oil, milk, vanilla, and eggs in a small bowl or measuring cup

Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and gently mix just until the dry ingredients are moistened

Spoon batter into prepared pan and bake for 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean

Cool on a wire rack, in the pan, for about 15 minutes

Remove bread from the pan and cool thoroughly on the rack

Or cut into it and slab some butter on it. That's what I did. I mean who wants to eat cold banana bread? Not me. I want it nice and hot with all kinds of melty butter. And again, my apologies for not having any after pictures but I ate a slice then ate it all... There would have been only crumbs. 

Also, for those of you truly health conscious people out there, if you click on the link above to go to the website you get all sorts of fun nutritional facts. So you can pretend to calorie count as you cut yourself another slice. 

Sausage Cream Cheese Casserole

I was introduced to this recipe a few years ago by a friend. I was a little skeptical about it because I'm not a big pork eater, particularly sausage. It's kind of amazing tho. This will pretty much rock any breakfast table. It's ridiculously simple to make and really easy to eat.

You need 1 pound of sausage. 

Break it up so it will cook evenly over medium heat.

As it browns, break it up some more.

You're going for something along the lines of ground beef here.

You don't want it really chunky.

Once it has been cooked through you need to drain it.

Then put it back in the skillet.

Everything's better with cream cheese. 

The whole thing...

goes into the skillet with the sausage. 

Break it up a little so it gets all melty and stir it into the sausage.

Keep stirring

Looking good!

Spray an 8x8 baking dish with Pam. 

I take a paper towel and spread it around so it's not too greasy.

All greased up and ready to go! 

Add 1/2 a package of crescent rolls to the bottom the dish.

Pinch together the perforations and stretch it up the sides.

Add sausage mixture.

Spread it around.

Add the other half of the crescent rolls.

Again, pinching together the perforations and this time pushing down the sides.

Bake at 375 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes.

It should be golden brown.

It's buttery and flaky on the outside.

Spicy and creamy on the inside. 

Win! Win!

I make it and eat it all day. 

I can't resist.

Sausage Cream Cheese Casserole

1 pound of sausage

1 8 oz. package of cream cheese

1 8 count package crescent rolls

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Break up sausage in a large skillet. Cook over medium heat until browned and cooked through.

Drain sausage as needed and return to skillet. With the heat turned to low, add the cream cheese.

Melt the cream cheese into the sausage.

Grease an 8x8 baking dish. Place half of the crescent rolls in the bottom of the dish. Stretch them up the sides and pinch together the perforations. 

Add the sausage mixture and add the remaining crescent rolls to the top. Again, pinch together the perforations. Also, push down the sides. 

Bake for approximately 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. 

Tip: Need a great idea for party appetizers? Instead of making a casserole, make this with individual crescent rolls. Just add the filling and roll them up. Baking according to package directions. 

It's sure to be a crowd pleaser. 

Homemade Biscuits - Take 2

The last time I made these, while they were good, they were not made to their maximum potential. So I made some alterations and what a difference that made. They were so fluffy! Like a cloud of biscuit heaven. They were just pretty darn amazing.

(Recipe based on: Tyler Florence, Buttermilk Biscuits.)  

INGREDIENTS

• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 cup vegetable shortening, cold, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 1/2 to 2 cups milk

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Sift together the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Cut in the shortening using a pastry blender or your hands until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well in the center and add 1 1/2 cup milk. Using your hands, quickly fold the dry ingredients into the milk until a sticky dough forms. 

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Gently fold the dough over itself 3 or 4 times to create layers. Press the dough out to 1 1/2-inches thick and cut with a floured 3-inch biscuit cutter. Lay the biscuits on an ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until risen and golden brown.

Um can we say delicious?!?! 

Jane sure did enjoy it!

Buttermilk biscuits w/ blackberry jam

I had some leftover buttermilk from the cake I made the other day and well, I couldn't just let it go to waste. There are a lot of things you can do with buttermilk but I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to make some homemade biscuits. They're so worth it. Light and fluffy, smothered with creamy butter and sweet blackberry jam... Ah, there's nothing better.
My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

(Recipe courtesy of The Food Network. Tyler Florence, Buttermilk Biscuits)

Ingredients

• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 cup vegetable shortening, cold, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 1/2 to 2 cups buttermilk, plus additional for brushing

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Sift together the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Cut in the shortening using a pastry blender or your hands until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well in the center and add 1 cup buttermilk. Using your hands, quickly fold the dry ingredients into the buttermilk until a sticky dough forms. You may need to add more buttermilk.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Gently fold the dough over itself 3 or 4 times to create layers. Press the dough out to 1 1/2-inches thick and cut with a floured 3-inch biscuit cutter. Lay the biscuits on an ungreased cookie sheet and brush the tops with buttermilk. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until risen and golden brown.