Quick Breakfast Bread - courtesy of Aunt Sandy

So scrolling through Facebook yesterday I came upon a picture of beautiful bread.

Picture Courtesy of my Aunt Sandy

Isn't that bread gorgeous!? Studded full of dried fruit and looking absolutely delicious. I had to know.

So going through the post I discovered that my Aunt Sandy had made this bread, she calls it "Quick Breakfast Bread." In the words of my Aunt "Just made Quick Breakfast Bread - my own creation. This recipe is super easy to make and pretty healthy - no oil, low sugar, and full of healthy fruits and nuts! Took some last night to a gathering and it disappeared! Had to make another loaf this morning for our house."

After that description on top of the picture I had to make it. Of course I'm cheap so I didn't buy any nuts to put in it but I can tell you it would just make it taste even better I'm sure.

So I scanned the ingredients. Flour, check. Brown sugar, check. Baking powder, check. Salt, check. Ground cloves and cinnamon, check. Milk, check. Only thing I didn't have was the dried fruit and nuts.

So after working out and sending the handsome man off to work I headed to Walmart for the missing ingredient and to maybe hunt down a fruit and nut mix.

Upon entering Walmart in any town of any state you are bound to have an adventure. Honesty there really isn't a way not to in some way. You are at least entertained. It's comical to me.

Anyway, my adventure began soon after entering the doors. I had walked in wearing my sweaty workout clothes (they do fit and cover all parts necessary). As I walked in there was this little girl (about 7) who had stopped dead in her tracks as she had been leaving with her mother and her eyes popped out of her head and she started to bounce. She had spotted a friend at the Subway in the entry and was obviously excited. Her mother stated "Well don't have a heart attack" and I proceeded to head for the back of the food section. Then about 20 feet in I hear this LOUD belch come from between the two doors you walk through. I turned around momentarily and just kind of snickered to myself. After walking past the produce this young man looked and me and said "do you run track?"

I had to quickly think, well technically no but I ran track in 7th grade and then in June as well. Mind you this was internal talk to myself. I smiled and said yes, because I do run everyday. The man had this triumphant look on his face as he said "I knew it, I have a knack for these things." I just smiled and kept walking. It was 9 pm and I really wasn't in the mood to chat with someone as I was on a mission.

I found the dried fruits but couldn't find a delicious combo of fruits and nuts that would work in my bread that wouldn't cost me more than $3. (I'm a cheapskate - ask Mike).

So headed home and break out all the ingredients and begin to follow the directions:

It already looked magnificent. Though I changed a few things. I didn't add nuts and I used 1/2 flour and 1/2 oats. Up the fiber a bit since I was using unbleached white all purpose flour.

Then add milk.

It smelled heavenly with the cloves and cinnamon, almost Thanksgiving like.

Now the fun part, deciding on a pan. For whatever reason I have not replaced the loaf pan I used to have and tossed due to wear and tear. So I found this pan hiding under all the casserole dishes.

Make due with what you have. So I do.

The recipe said to bake for 1 hour at 325 degrees F. Well, my electric oven runs a bit hot. Also, on another note, I can't stand electric ovens/stoves. I miss my old gas oven. So I only baked for 20 minutes to start. It wasn't done so I added another 10. It came out perfect at 30 min in a larger pan and my oven.

Anyway, I digress. This came out beautifully. Flat - but beautiful. I think I may have actually forgotten to add the baking powder. Oh well, still amazing.

So this is fresh and smelling wonderful. My kitchen now smells irresistible. I of course, cannot wait to dig in. 1. It's fresh, hot bread out of the oven. 2. Perfect timing to add butter or other toppings as desired. 3. This just looked AMAZING.

So I sliced up a sliver and taste tested.

I must say this is DELICIOUS! Perfection in a loaf. You could of course add any sort of dried fruits you want or any nut. My aunt recommends pecans or walnuts but get creative by all means. The fruits I used were a berry mix (cherries, blueberries and cranberries). I found this combination to be perfect. Though I can guarantee I will try apples, raisins, goji berries etc. Whatever strikes my fancy that time.

I will probably be making another loaf tonight just because I could literally eat this whole pan of bread by myself in one sitting. Hopefully Mike likes it too, he didn't get home until 8 this morning and am unsure if he had some for breakfast or not.

So thank you Aunt Sandy for the delicious recipe :) Keep them coming.

Quick Breakfast Bread
Courtesy of Aunt Sandy

Makes roughly 8 servings

Ingredients
2 cups flour (or 1 cup flour and 1 cup old fashioned oats)
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup dried fruit of choice (I used cherries, cranberries, and blueberries - get creative with your choices)
1/2 cup chopped nuts (I omitted because of cost - that's me)
1 cup milk (I used skim)

Directions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Grease a 9 1/2 inch loaf pan (or 8 inch square pan in my case) and set aside.

Mix all ingredients except milk.

Add milk and mix well.

Put batter into the prepared pan and bake for 1 hour. (I baked for 20 to start then had to add another 10 min to that to cook completely).

My aunt recommends toasting and serving with butter or cream cheese.

Also can mix up all the dry ingredients the night before and then just add milk in the morning and bake while you get ready in the morning. Warm breakfast bread fresh from the oven in no time. :)

Now go out and cook!

Flavors of Fall: Homemade Apple Butter - In your slow cooker (crockpot)

Since we received the foodie pen pal box and since the day of Rugged Maniac and eating at Cracker Barrel with mom I have been dwelling on apple butter.

Our lovely foodie pen pal was gracious enough to make apple butter and send it our way - sorry honey, I didn't share.

Hers was smooth and creamy. Delicious too. Cracker Barrel tends to have a more grainy texture to it, not much though, still delicious.

I've always enjoyed apple butter but can never really justify the cost to buy a small jar of it. Well no need to try and justify the cost now.

Find apples on sale - like 88 cents a pound from your local grocer (or local apple orchard) and use ingredients you already have in house probably (ground cloves, apple pie spice, cinnamon, sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla) then add to your fabulous crock pot and fo-get about it! (done in my best Brooklyn accent I can muster).

So to google I went to find a recipe. I searched and searched to find one that didn't contain 10 bazillion cups of sugar or required me to buy applesauce, I mean, that's cheating right? I want to make it myself not use Mott's applesauce to help me. Gosh, I will buy the apples - especially during apple season and when they are dirt cheap. Of course I'm that anti-box mix baker usually (not that I don't use boxed mixes on occasion).

So after searching and still modifying I found one over here at My Baking Addiction. A lovely blog if I do say so.

I still ended up modifying her recipe, which you will see here shortly.

First I had to go buy some apples - and by some, I mean about 15.

Then I had to prepare to peel, core, and slice. Of course do I have an apple corer? No, so old fashioned knife and wood shop made cutting board (from high school days) it was.

That's my apple army if you couldn't tell. They were taking over my counter space (what little my kitchen has - I hope to one day have a big kitchen with more room than I know what to do with. One day)

I ended up using 5 different types of apples - I wanted variety and something more than just a monotone flavor. I wanted depth, sweetness, tartness, and appely. Yes, appely - it's a word now.

So after peeling - which seemed to take forever and a day - my father called while I was doing so to congratulate me on my costume win at work.

After peeling for forever I finally was able to slice them up into pieces and add them to the crock pot.

Then it was time to cover in the cinnamon, cloves, spices, and sugars.

At this point it looks like I'm making apple pie filling.

So in all it took about 14 hours to make. You have to stir a few times, no biggie really - this turned out fine without excessive stirring (I slept through the first 10 hours of this cooking).

The recipe is as follows:

Slow Cooker Apple Butter
6 1/2 lbs apples - peeled, cored, and sliced (about 15-16 medium apples)
1 cup granulated sugar (I only used 1/2 cup)
1 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed (I only used 1/2 cup)
1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp salt
1 Tbsp vanilla extract (pure tastes best)

1. Place apples in slow cooker. In a medium bowl combine spices and sugars. Pour mixture over apples and mix well.
2. Cook in slow cooker for 10 hours, stirring occasionally (or like me only stirring AFTER 10 hours because I went to bed), until the mixture is thickened and dark brown.
3. Use an immersion blender (if you have it - or use a potato masher like I did) and puree apples until smooth.
4. Spoon mixture into sterile containers, cover and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks or freeze.
5. Serve on whatever suits you - breads, muffins, sweet potatoes, pork chops, or even just eat straight up with a spoon (like I do)

NOTES:
---I cut back from 1 cup of each sugar to 1/2 cup of each due to the variety of apples I used. If your apples aren't as sweet you are more than welcome to add more sugar.
---My apples included, 3 gala, 3 braeburn, 2 golden delicious, 4 granny smith, and 3 Fuji. You are welcome to experiment with whatever suits your fancy.

And here is the final product, I used cans that I have collected from foodie pen pals and friends who can. I do not. I don't have the materials to can quite yet, though Mike and I would love to have a garden and do so.

Yum! This is a bit grainier due to not having an immersion blender to use to smooth it out. Oh well, tastes great anyway even when mashed with a potato masher.

That is all my friends. This proves you don't need to buy most things, you can make just about anything you find jarred, canned, or packaged at the store.

Now go out and cook!

October 2012 Foodie Pen Pal Reveal

It's foodie pen pal reveal day!!! HOORAY!!!!! Got my box Monday and was sooo excited about it. I had been waiting and hoping just crazy excited. It's just nice to get a package in the mail now and then that is specifically for you and has delicious treats in it. So this is my trick-or-treat FPP box.

When this loveliness arrived after my run I immediately took it home and ripped open the box - ok I didn't RIP open the box, just cut the tape. I pulled out the pretty orange card with a description of what was inside - all local Washington state items and homemade goodies. Libby - my pen pal for October also collects salt and pepper shakers so she shared some with me.

Firstly we have apple butter - OMG! I had just had some after Rugged Maniac at Cracker Barrel and was thinking to myself "Sarah, you need to go buy some." Well now I don't have to. This is delicious and I could totally eat it by itself but I'm restraining myself and using only a little at a time on bread items or oatmeal.

Yes, ran a 5k mud run Saturday Oct 27. In the 35 degree weather in Missouri. Brr but fun. Back to the food!

Then there was this loveliness. Apple Cider Syrup - OMG now I just HAVE to make some pancakes, maybe some cinnamon pancakes with apple slices and then this syrup or cook down the apple slices IN the syrup. Ooooo so many options. I could drink this, tastes like cider.

An then there is applesauce, I adore applesauce. I don't buy it enough that's for sure and with apple season I should really just make some. This was cinnamon-y but not over the top and had a nice apple flavor but wasn't tart like some get - you know to the point you pucker. No this was perfectly balanced. And I loved it so much it was finished off in 2 days. I told myself I would share these things with Mike but I just couldn't help myself and he told me to just enjoy. So I did.

Totally snarfed it up all by myself. Hehe. Sorry honey. Love you!

Libby also sent over mulling spices for hot cider or tea or whatever your imagination can think up for this. I will probably go buy some apple juice and make some cider. This smells amazing! I may just hang one of those little baggies in my car window and have my car smelling so deliciously Fall. Mmmm, nothing beats that cider smell. Well, except for maybe a handsome man all clean and showered up and dressed up ready to go out for a night on the town. (Yes you Mike).

There was also Rhubarb Rosemary Jam. Wasn't sure about this. I like rhubarb. I like rosemary. Hmmmm, so I tried it. Smelled a lot of rosemary upon cracking that jar open. Was unsure but I live by "try everything once." I actually enjoyed this. Would be good on wheat toast or something simple. You wouldn't want to put it on something too crazy. Would work with savory or sweet dishes. Maybe could turn it into a glaze for pork chops. Oh the creative juices are flowing today hehe. 

I can't recall if I said that I liked peanut butter or not. Libby had asked what our favorite fall flavor was, we said apples/apple cinnamon. So that is why we have all the apple stuff. But then, yes then, there was this loveliness of peanut butter goodness that was honey roasted. OMG I am in love with peanut butter (as far as foods go). It's gotta be my #1 favorite food on the planet. So yes, I was stoked to see this in the box, though somehow the post office cracked the tub and some of the peanut butter was in the box and not in the tub. I think I just about salvaged as much as I could, from the tub not that box eww. I have it in my fridge to be on the safe side too. Delicious peanut butter. Will be using this for a while. If it lasts that long.

These are those adorable salt and pepper shakes I was talking about. The seasoning comes out their butts. Too freaking adorable. Perfect to go next to my hippo salt and pepper shakers. :)

A few final words before I leave you for the day. Happy halloween for one, this is my lion costume for the work contest today. Also Mike and I will be hosting a guest blogger for their reveal of the box we sent him. :) Super excited for our first guest blogger.

You can go see what Libby got here

Here is how the FPP system works:

-On the 5th of every month, you will receive your pen pal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your pen pal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.

-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your pen pal! -The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)-Foodie Pen pals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you are to write a short guest post for your pen pal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month. -Foodie Pen pals is open to US & Canadian residents.  Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. We've determined things might get too slow and backed up if we're trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa. 

If you’re interested in participating for November, please CLICK HERE to fill out the participation form and read the terms and conditions.

You must submit your information by November 4th as pairings will be emailed on November 5th!

*If you’re from somewhere besides the US, Canada or Europe and want to participate, send me an email and I’ll see if we get enough interest this month!

Go out and cook and maybe join FPP for November.

Chili Weather - Welcome Fall

Well it's finally here. Autumn has finally arrived and descended upon the midwest.

found these cuties at Whole Foods

Well at least temperature wise. I'm enjoying the fact that it isn't a scorching furnace outside and can actually enjoy my runs without having to take my shirt off. (Don't get all excited now.)

So 'tis the season to start making warmer foods for dinner. Since it has been a bit chilly lately, 50 degrees and lower, Mike and I thought chili sounded good. This all stemmed from the fact that there is a chili cook off at my office on October 17. I'm entering my mom's hearty chili and hope to win that $20 gift card. I could use some free money.

So Mike and I thought about chili and what type to make. We eventually came down to wanting white chili. White chicken chili to be exact. White chili, for those that do not know, is white beans (navy or northern or both), chicken, broth, jalapenos, onion, and herbs and spices.

We used a Paula Deen recipe for reference. It's her white chicken chili recipe. We just used the same basic ingredients. Didn't follow exactly. Mike likes to make things his own. No problem with me, I prefer tweaking recipes myself. (I'll post about that later).

So we used boneless skinless chicken breasts, two jalapenos, 1 poblano pepper, 1 medium onion, 2 cloves garlic, 3 cans great northern beans, 2 cans navy beans, 1 pkt white chili seasoning, salt, pepper, poultry seasoning, garlic powder, bay leaf, cumin, and some other spices added as we went along and tasted.

When trying to figure out the flavor it took a bit to find that right balance. It tasted good, just didn't have the right flavor to it. We were trying hard to figure out what it was missing. Couldn't quite put our finger on it. Mike at one point said "what about poultry seasoning." Tried that. Ok, better but not quite right. We soon came to a point where the light bulb came on. Mike was more or less like "DUH! CUMIN!" Every chili has to have cumin. So once that was added it was just right. Much like the three bears porridge, except chili.

So we started off by sauteing the onions, peppers, and garlic together before adding in the beans, chicken, and spices. Then it sat on the stove on med/low heat for probably 2 hours until chicken was cooked through and finished.

We served with corn bread muffins, which I guess I was supposed to add jalapenos to, but I didn't because there was a little miscommunication between Mike and I. I missed that somehow. Oh well, all is right in the world. Though I do have to say that after a day or two those boxed muffins start tasting a bit off. Maybe it's just me but they get this chemically flavor. Hmmm---probably just my suspicions of boxed anything right? Right...well, yeah - whatever.

After dinner he began to work on his layout since he had the possibility of hunting the next day if they could get the spot. Turned out he wouldn't be going hunting perse but he did get to go scouting and then would come stay at my place till morning so he could go test for a new job possibility.

Preparing his layout for hunting - added "grass" to it.
 Fun to watch this process.

So once the weekend was over I headed to work Monday morning and took some chili with me, I mean, come on - just can't leave ALL of it there. He's gracious enough to let me have some and share. Such a good man. I thoroughly enjoyed that as lunch that Monday morning.

So when Mike and I aren't together, we obviously text and call each other often. Well, things like this happen.

Yes, we are dorks. We belong together - for obvious reasons right?

So Monday morning and afternoon he was off to the sporting goods store in search of a marsh foot and push pole. (I have had to have him explain these things to me since I have never dealt with hunting before.) Basically he's a gondolier when he's in his layout boat hehe. Of course after going out with the boat and push pole he has decided to purchase a small motor to make life a little easier come hunting time. Well while he was out with his buddy and out scouting the hunting grounds and looking for geese, I found the geese on my lunch walk.

Honk Honk!

He didn't get any geese while out, unless you count the decoys he came home with. Eventually he can go goose hunting. I'm all for it, go have fun and kill the birds and bond with the boys. As long as he takes me shooting now and then I'm happy as a clam with guns and hunting.

So this last weekend we didn't see each other because of his job and being super busy and then Roomie's parents coming in town to boot. Better to just not get involved in that and only see him for maybe a few hours after he has recovered from overtime at work. That and we get a long weekend together this weekend for the pig roast. I'm sure we will have pictures.

So as is typical of me, when I get bored at home I tend to bake. So this time I had found a "donut muffin" recipe. Sounded simple enough and sounded good with the cinnamon sugar topping it promised.

Well I made it, and the first time I made it I followed the directions to the letter. Of course while following the directions I was thinking to myself - this is an awful lot of nutmeg. This can't be right. Then thinking I said to myself "well, the recipe says..." So I put the full amount of nutmeg into the muffin. Well, yeah, that was a bad idea. Can we say spice overload? Ugh, it wasn't terrible but it was a truly too strong nutmeg taste. So I ended up tossing those. Then I decided I would try again. I did and had success by cutting the 3/4 tsp nutmeg down to 1/4 tsp and then adding 1/2 tsp cinnamon to the batter. Much much better flavor.

Sugar overload -
yes I did lick up the extra sugar on the pan

So during this week that I knew I wouldn't see Mike he did text me a picture that made me grin ear to ear. I have seen this decal in sporting goods stores and thought it was cute. I mean, the browning buck and then a doe to create a heart. Too cute. Of course Mike makes a face and says "Ewww mushy stuff!" Ha ha! But this made me smile, he saw it on someones vehicle and sent me a pic. Made my day.

RECIPE:

Donut Muffins
Makes 24 Mini muffins or 6 regular sized muffins

For Muffin:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup all-purpose flour

For topping:

1/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375 F (190 C), Grease muffin tin of choice.

Mix 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup butter, nutmeg and cinnamon in large bowl. Stir in milk, then mix in baking powder, and flour until just combined. Fill prepared cups 1/2 full.

Bake in oven until tops are lightly golden, 15-20 min.

While muffins are baking, place 1/4 cup melted butter in a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix sugar and cinnamon.

Remove muffins from their cups, dip each muffin in melted butter and then roll in cinnamon sugar. Let cool and serve.

So this weekend we have a pig roast and a road trip to St. Louis area. Great outdoors here we come!

Now go out and cook!

Peanut Butter and Bananas - and oats, and cinnamon, and sugar

Ok, so quite obviously I'm a bit banana obsessed and this time it involves peanut butter. Which, is one of my all time favorite combos and foods. I love to eat peanut butter and banana sandwiches with a little honey drizzled on them. Mmmmmmm, yum. I know what's for dinner tonight :)

So, what we have here now is a brainstorm of an idea for me to not have to make breakfast in the morning and now that I have time to relax in the AM instead of pop out of bed like a Pop Tart and begin my day with insane amounts of exercise I just want something I can grab and crawl back in bed while watching the news sleepily or talk on the phone with Mike, should he be at work that morning.

I searched the web, and for some reason I was thinking about oat bars, or oatmeal bars. That got me thinking that I wanted something healthy, simple and easy. Nothing pre-packaged but still not so complex it would take me a week to gather ingredients. I finally landed on Gingerbread Bagels blog thanks to Google.

I found her fabulously easy, simple and so very delicious recipe for Peanut Butter Banana Oat Squares, which she says to have gotten from Pinterest. Why I didn't see these I have no idea, since I have this multitude of things I want to try on my Pinterest.

Anyway, so I looked through the ingredients, checking them off as I went to make sure I had them and I did. Hooray for not having to go to the store! So I began, at 10pm. That seems to be normal for me, late night baking. But as they say----

Being proud of myself for buying rolled oats from Whole Foods and only spending $2 for this giant amount I decided that despite what the recipe called for (quick oats) I would use mine instead and hope for the best. As you can clearly see the brown sugar jar is empty, after using it up for these puppies.

I was pleasantly surprised at how easy and simple this recipe was, I decided to add a protein boost to mine by using some of the whey protein powder I had on hand. I used Naturade with 80 calories per 2 scoops, but you are welcome to use whatever you like, chocolate flavor may even taste good if you want something different.

I of course have now made this recipe twice since Tuesday and love love love it. This second batch I didn't add protein powder due to running out. Guess I should go pick up some more.

Now THAT is a banana,
and yes I have Hippo salt and pepper shakers

So here is the super simple recipe and the calories for the non protein version:

Peanut Butter Banana Oat Squares:

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups quick oats (I used rolled, they work fine)
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar (didn't pack mine and it tasted great)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp Kosher salt (I used iodized table salt)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract (I used imitation no alcohol kind)
1/2 cup milk (I used skim)
1 large egg, beaten lightly
1 large banana, mashed (obviously I found an EXTRA large banana)
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter (I used 365 (Whole Foods) Creamy PB as that is my current favorite)

Instructions:
Mix together the quick cooking oats, light brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and ground cinnamon.

Ad in the vanilla extract, milk, and egg. Mix the ingredients together.

Add in the mashed banana and peanut butter. Combine all ingredients well.

Pour mixture into a lightly greased 8x8 inch metal baking pan (or an 8-inch round cake pan, or a loaf pan). Bake at 350 F degrees for 20 minutes, or until center is no longer gooey.

Cut into square, triangle or slices and enjoy! (I topped mine with butter - YUM)

Now go out and cook!

Nutritional Info Per Above Recipe and it's Ingredients
141 calories
5.5g fat
0.5g saturate fat
0g trans fat
22.2mg cholesterol
279.4mg sodium
129.4mg potassium
16.8g total carbs
2.6g dietary fiber
4g sugar
6.1g protein

0.9% vitamin A
2.9% vitamin C
3.6% Calcium
5.6% Iron