Faux Muffins

Second Attempt at making a healthier breakfast snack for my son

Faux Muffins:5 out of 5 enjoyed

My first step it to take out a stick of butter at lease an hour before I start. This way it is soften when I'm ready to bake. Then I boil water so that I may add it to the oats. Then I set to the side to cool.

While cooling I puree the squash

Cream butter, sugar, apple sauce, and vanllia

I add the oats and puree mixure together and blend well

Add sugar mixture to that mixture and mix well

Add all dry ingredients to a sifter

slowly sift in dry ingredients to the mixture. At lease 4 batches

Place mixture in cupcakes liners sprinkle with a little raw sugar and bake.

Faux Muffin Nutritional facts and concerns

I am determined to make a healthier snack for my son. I have mentioned several times how picky he is. So I have to find way to sneak in vegetables just to add the vitamins and minerals it offers. I cant say this is the healthiest muffin but I believe its healthier then many other things he can eat. I can also say before he wouldn't eat breakfast at all now he grabs one every morning with a small glass of milk before school. I entered all the ingredients on this website I found to get some of the nutritional fact. After reading I didn't think it was that bad. I know there are still some ingredients I can substitute to make it healthier. Slowly but surely I am making adjustments each time I make it. At the end of the day my family loves them and i see them grabbing on through out the day.. If they only knew they were eating vegetables, oats and flax seed.

After I compared it to normal breakfast gotos like pop tarts and granola bars, there are some areas where the muffins is a little better and there are some areas where it is not. In the areas where its not better I believe I can change to make things better. I know its the flour, butter, sugars, (white, brown and raw) and eggs. I have to be able to change those things to make it better but still not sacrifice on the taste. If I do then I will be back to square one of he not eating anything for breakfast. This batch is almost over and I have to make another batch. I would like to have a batch with more fiber, less cholesterol, less fat, and less carbs.

This recipe came from an oatmeal cake that I made awhile ago that was so good it was hard not to eat as much as you could while it was around. In the back of my mind I knew it was the worst thing to eat. The coconut topping along was a diabetic shock and a heart attack waiting to happen. I knew I had to change it. The first thing that came to mind was the cake part was great and would go well as a base for carrot cake with out the coconut top. Then I thought about a zucchini bread/muffins http://tastee1.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-path-to-my-craft.html. The nutritional facts was more because of all of the ingredients. After making it for a second time I took out a lot of things and added others, I feel like I'm getting there but I still have a long way to go. Going to go bake to original recipe and make adjustments again. Fingers crossed. After doing some research looks like this is going to be a lot harder to make all these changes. Baking with honey and whole wheat flour is going to be a bit tricky. I know I can use apple sauce to replace the eggs, 1/4 cp to 1 egg; maybe use both wheat and white flour. Baking is so tricky and precise any wrong moves and its garbage.

Salsa Verde Chicken Enchiladas (flour tortilla)

Salsa Verde Chicken Enchiladas (flour tortilla) : 5 out of 5 enjoyed

Cooking something I am more familiar with seems so much easier. It's not a traditional enchilada dish because I made it with four tortilla instead of corn. My husband said he had it once with corn and he didn't like it. I think the secret to making it taste better it to fry the corn tortilla a little before preparing them. Going to have to try that the next time. I usually make this dish with the red sauce, since I am not a big fan of the red sauce I made it with the green. My kids pf course made a face when I told them of the change but I said "trust me and try it". Well it was a big hit everyone loved it. Very pleased with the end result of course I wanted a little more sauce but still a great dish.

 First I started with chicken breast seasoned with salt, pepper and taco seasoning and 1/2 water. Cover pan and simmerd until cooked

Then I pulled the chicken apart with a fork to shred the meat.

Then I returned to the pan add a little more seasoning to taste with about 1/4 cup of water. returned to heat then simmered to heat and add flavor.

Then I placed one can of salsa verde to bottom of pan before I started my enchilada. This helps them not stick to the bottom. Here is where I wish I had a little more sauce. I only had two can so I had to make it work. I also would love to see how to make my own salsa verde enchilada sauce. Umm have to look that up!!UPDATE: Looks like it is just salsa verde that is pureed...

Then after rolling all of the enchiladas (10 fits in the 8x13 pan) I covered it with another can of sauce. Baked it until warmed through. I usually look for bubbling action.

Once the bubbling action happens I take it out to put cheese on top return to the oven to melt the cheese. Here is another substitute I made I usually use a Mexican cheese blend which has Sharp Cheddar, Colby, and Monterey Jack. Didn't have it so i used what was on hand which was extra sharp cheddar cheese. 

Once cheese has melted its time to serve.. yummy....

I wish everything I made was this simple and produced great results every time.

Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

This first picture is from the first batch without the nutella. Forgot to take a picture of the second patch mixture. It produced a darker moisture mixture.

Chocolate Chip Granola Bars:
Another favorite of my youngest son, figured I make it so I can make it healthy and homemade. This one wasn't that hard to make. Add all dry ingredients together and mix. Add all liquid ingredients together and mix. Then add wet to dry mix and cook. Pretty simple.. I wish I swear sometimes I feel like I can't cook. When I have to make things over and over until I get it right. I have made this batch twice and It still was a waste. The first time I made it I had a friend listen out for my timer to beep while I was doing other things. He didn't hear it and I forgot about it, by the time I remembered it was too late it burned. The second time I cooked it I keep an eye on it looking at it making sure it didn't burn and waiting for the top to form a golden crisp. It never did all it did was get a crust around the edge and the middle stayed liquid and it bubbled. I took it out in fear that it would burn. Let it cool then took it out turned it over to release the wax paper and it stuck to it and I couldn't get it off.. Grrrrr.... So I scooped out the middle greased a square container placed it in the refrigerator to help it cool completely so that I can cut it. Oh yeah and both times the chocolate chips melted. Looking back at everything I did here is where I went wrong:

• The first batch burned 
• The first batch chocolate chips was completely melted
• The first batch I made it in a 13x8 glass baking dish (recipe called for a 8x8x12)
• The first batch I omitted the 1/3 cp of nutella
• Second batch never formed a crust on top
• Second batch was baked it in a 8x8 glass baking pan (not sure what a 8x8x12 is all I know is I don't think I have one)
• Second batch stuck to the wax paper

After doing some research on the difference between wax paper and parchment paper which I should have done before. They both have different coating, wax paper is not meant for use in the oven—the wax paper is coated with wax which will melt if the paper is exposed to direct heat. Parchment paper is coated with silicone to give it a nonstick, heat-resistant surface. The recipe also called for 1/3 cp of peanut butter or nut butter. He doesn't like peanut butter so I used nutella instead as a substitute  After doing some research on the difference in nutella and peanut butter it is not a 1 for 1 substitute. Nutella  has a higher sugar content which will make the product produce more moisture. (No wonder why it didn't form a crust) Grr. It also made the granola come out dark and have a very strong chocolate flavor. I also did some research on how to cook chocolate chips in a batter without melting the chips. It mentioned I should freeze the chips and coat it with a little flour before placing it into the batter. It also said I should use good quality chips and not expose them to high temps with prolong cooking. (Chocolate chips keep it shape). You would think I would no better then to use substitutions without doing research first. I am so mad at myself all I'm doing is wasting money by not paying attention and not doing research on products when I use substitutions. I did taste the mixture it did have a great taste All of that product just to produce 5 bars...Oh well gotta try again..Third times a charm I guess :( 

Salsa Verde

Salsa Verde: 1 out of 5 enjoyed
My youngest sons favorite snack to eat with chips, taco, burrito or anything Mexican. I thought it would be the best to make from scratch for so many reason. It will save me money, the amount of money I spend on a store brought salsa compared to to the amount I would spend on the fresh ingredients will yield so much more, and to me homemade items are always/sometimes better. Away I gathered all my fresh ingredients and  got started. Not pleased with the finish products. Wasn't a fan of the chard taste and it felt like it had no flavor to it. I could taste the heat from the peppers but the taste was just blah.... Next time around I'm going to:
1. Less char
2. More cilantro
3. Maybe a little bit of lime/lemon
Not sure if I had to much char on the vegetables or if it was just a bad recipe to begin with. Oh well back to the drawing board..

Take 2 Salsa Verde: 3 out of 5 (2 other house members don't eat Salsa Verde)
 Did a little more research checked out different authentic Mexican websites to see the best way it should be prepared. First method was to boil the Tomatillos instead of roasting it. Which is probably the way the store brought salsa is made. The second method is the way I made it earlier. Since we are not use to the taste roasted Tomatillos and peppers  it wasn't something we enjoyed. One of my family members enjoy the chard taste, the rest of us however did not. 
After doing the boiling method and mixed all my ingredients together, it still wasn't quite the tastes and color I was looking for. Once again I had to think of how to fix it, So after tasting again and looking at the mixture I had to recognize where I went wrong. I thought of all of the ingredients and it came to me. That the large white onion I brought was extra large. I did ask a member of my house hold if the onion was larger then normal. I had a feeling it was big but I didn't have another to compare to. All of the onion were the same size. Anyway I threw in more cilantro and seasoning, packed it up and put it in the refrigerate for a yet again fix. I needed more Tomatillos and peppers to supplement the extra onion in the batch. I needed to go to the store again in the morning. After buying 3 more  Tomatillos and 2 more  serrano  more salt and pepper. It produced the color I was looking for, the flavor I was looking for and that spicy kick in the end. After all of that It was finally done. Now the big test is will my son like it tomorrow for lunch???? !!! Oh yeah I also made his homemade roasted tortilla. Probably should have fried them. Nut I have to stay healthy  Knowing my picky son he'll have something to say about them :)
UPDATE: BIG HIT WITH MY SON AND HIS CLASSMATES!!!!!!!!!!!

Faux Chocolate Chip Muffins and Spicy Vegetarian Red Beans

Faux Chocolate Chip Muffins: 4 out of 5 people enjoyed

Over the last couple of months I've had to reevaluate my life/career choices. I have chosen to return to school  for a degree in Gourmet Cooking and Catering. This has been a long time coming and I have no excuses holding me back so here I come. I have decided to start this blog so that I may be able to track my Cooking successes and failures. As a Mother's Day present my husband brought me my lifetime dream present, a "Kitchen Aid". I am more excited then ever to get in the kitchen. My first item I cook after receiving this gift was an Oatmeal Cake recipe  that was given to me by a friend of mine. This cake is absolutely delicious but very fattening. The cake came out so moist and delicious but in the back of my head I knew I had to find a way to make it healthier. I have to be able to cook great tasting food "healthier" and something my family of picky eaters will enjoy to eat. So I went back to the recipe and did my research and made some adjustments to the recipe.   I used the same oatmeal cake base but add 2 cups/ 3 medium size Zucchini  to the mixe and omitted the buttery coconut topping. As I mentioned earlier my family are very picky eaters vegetables or "the enemy". With that being said I figured I pureed the Zucchini ,  it would be totally hidden while given it a healthy kick. Of course after adding the puree it wasn't the consistence I was looking for and the color was bright green so I had to make more adjustments, added a little more flour and baking soda to have a better consistence and coca powder to change the color from green to brown with a touch of chocolate. With these changes I made my first batch of 12 ( should have made just 1). After 35 minutes of continuous cooking it was still raw in the middle. So in the trash it went did a little more research and added more flour as well as 2 tbs of baking powder, and Tada  delicious muffins my sons loves. If only he knew he was eating oatmeal, Zucchini  and flax seed,  all of which he says he hates. Now he has one for breakfast with a glass of milk every morning. On my next batch I try to make I have to figure out and change:

1. omit butter for apple sauce

2. figure out how to keep the chocolate chips from melting

3. Use less raw sugar crystals for the top
4. Haven't baked with splenda but I need a better sugar substitute 

5. how to make other flavors so he doesn't get tired of the same one. Cant very well eat this everyday forever. lol.

Spicy Vegetarian Red Beans: 3 out of 5 enjoyed

Umm where to start.First I would like to say once I've mastered them they will be great. Today I realized I cant use cheap products. Cheap products produces cheap food. Let me say it one more time so that I can practice what I preach "Cheap products produces cheap food" I followed the receipt to the teeth. Over night soaking, the right amount of liquid and the time frame of which the beans should have been ready, 1 1/2 hr I believe. Well 3 1/2 hours later beans still could have cooked for another hour or two. Anyway here is where I messed up.

1. I used the cheapest beans I could find

2. My homemade chicken stock I used instead of water, I added seasonings and chicken bullion to give it more flavor. After reading some tricks on making dry beans you cant use salt in the beginning cooking phase or it will make the bean tough... grrr I should have just used  plain water like the receipt stated. Well now that I am writing this I guess I didn't follow the receipt to the teeth

3. All though the beans had a great taste I didn't have  onion powder, smoked paprika or a bay leaf (dried bay leaf was used). I did add garlic herb seasoning instead.

I can say even with all these errors my husband cleared his plate, my other picky eater  He says "he is allergic to vegetables" just to get out of eating them. This recipe had onions,  green peppers, carrots, kale and red beans. 4 out of 5 things he says he doesn't like. lol

With the left overs I will continue to cook it So I can change it to 4 out of 5 people enjoyed. I am my worst critic.

On my next entries I will include pictures and maybe nutrition facts with my post for others to see, maybe it could help. As well as help myself fix my errors and/or remember how perfection looks so I can be consistent. 

Update: Take 2 Spicy Vegetarian Red Beans 4 out of 5 enjoyed
Re cooked beans  in a pot with about 4 cups of water. Brought to a boil and then simmered on low for 3 hours. Didn't think it would take 6 1/2 hours to make beans... I did a lot of research today on dried beans to see what I did wrong
1. Better quaily beans
2. Didn't get rid of the floaters
3. After bringing to boil I need to simmer on low not medium
4.Had salt in my liquids while cooking whice caused the small cracks to clog not allowing moisture in..
5. Still not clear if I should cook covered or uncovered
With all of these errors its no wonder why they took so long...