Banana Bran Muffins

Hello all!
Yes..I am finally posting a RECIPE! I keep posting about everything under the sun, except for food. So here it is, another muffin :)

This recipe comes from the family cookbook! So treat it with care & make it all the time. It is a well loved recipe.
Makes 12 big muffins.
Instructions:

MASH 3 large ripe bananas.
ADD 3 large eggs.
ADD

• 1/2 cup of oil. (I used 1/4 cup of oil & 1/4 cup of unsweetened apple sauce. Less fat)
• 1 cup of skim milk
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 cup of oat bran
• 1 cup of raisins (optional)
• 2/3 cup of brown sugar
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• 2 1/2 cups of flour

MIX until combined. Spoon them into a greased muffin tin, or use muffin cups.

Bake at 400 F for 15-20 minutes!
How easy was that??

ENJOY!

What have you baked this week?


xo

Homemade Summer Sangria

Bonjour!
Sangria! Yes please! I figured I would post this on a Tuesday so you could have the time to go out & buy the ingredients for your Friday night get together! A few weeks ago we were given a bottle of red wine as a gift! It was a very nice gift, except for Dan and I don't really enjoy red wine. I KNOW, I KNOW...all of you crazy wine drinkers out there are going to think I am crazy. I am sorry, I just haven't acquired the taste for it yet. BUT add some fruit & some sugary-goodness and I am on board! I love me some sangria! So here is a very not healthy, but oh so good recipe! Enjoy!

Mix together all of the following ingredients in a punch bowl or a large(or two) pitcher. Let the ingredients sit for 24hrs in the fridge to get the best flavour!

• 1 bottle of red wine (or your choice)
• 1 lemon, sliced
• 1 orange, sliced (you can squeeze the juices into the wine)
• 1/2 can of orange juice from concentrate
• 1 small can of diced pineapples (add the juice as well)
• check sweetness. If you would like it more sweet add a tbsp of sugar.

Add the following ingredients just before serving:

• 3 cups of ginger ale (4 if you like the wine more watered-down)
• 1 container of blueberries (1 dry pint)
• a handful of strawberries (frozen or not)
• 1 kiwi, peeled and sliced ( I used it for a little decoration :)
• add ice

xo

Spiced Bran & Blueberry {Muffins}

Happy Monday everyone! I hope your day has been lovely so far! I worked 8-4 today. A man eating at the restaurant and I started up a small conversation & he told me that I had a beautiful accent! I was quite flattered! I am typically more embarrassed of my accent & I rarely get compliments on it. Then he went on to ask me if I was from Ireland! haha. I said no I am from Ontario, I'm an anglophone. He was shocked. haha he thought I was European. I met someone at the mall a few months ago and he asked me if I was German. He said I had a thick German accent when I spoke French. I laughed and said " well that's funny, because I'm English!". I must have a pretty interesting accent!
Here I am posting YET ANOTHER muffin recipe. It had been two weeks since I last made muffins. It felt wrong. I had no after work snack & I felt lost.
So I fixed that and made muffins!
Here is what you need:

• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup honey
• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cup white flour
• 1 1/2 cups oat bran
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 4 T canola oil
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp ground clove
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 3/4 cup milk
• one dry pint of fresh blueberries (551 ml)

Step one:
Preheat oven to 400F. Place muffin cups in your muffin pan. Makes 12 muffins.
In a large mixing bowl mix together the flour, w/w flour, oat bran, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, & nutmeg. Make sure it is combined well.

Step two:
In a separate medium sized bowl mix together your wet ingredients. Honey, sugar, egg, apple sauce, oil & milk.

Step three:
Add the dry ingredients to the the wet. Stir until fully combined. Stir in the blueberries.

Step four:
Pour the muffin batter into the muffin cups. Bake for 15 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean.

STEP FIVE:
ENJOY!

Here are pictures from our weekend!

It took us 2 hours on the bike to get to I'Isle aux Coudres. It's an island on the St Lawrence river. So beautiful!

Me on the ferry to the island.
I got some pretty funny looks from people. I guess I'm pretty intimidating ;)

Finished the day with my pj's on, sitting in front of the fire! Bliss..

Did you guys do anything fun & exciting over the weekend?

xo

Grilled Veggie, Hummus & Chicken Panini {Made on the BBQ}

Good morning, GOOD MORNING! How are you all doing today?  I am going to be honest, I only woke up a half an hour ago, so I am doing really good! Last night Dan, our friend Christie & I went to see the avengers in 3D! So gooooood! It took a long time for the movie to come to our theatre in English! We actually only get 1 English movie a week & it is only 1 showing :( So sad.
Today is my day off work & it  is one of those days that I have a loooooong to do list. I don't seem to mind so much today because it is sunny outside & I am sure I will take a little break midday to layout & enjoy it! Also Dan had a surprise date day planned for us tomorrow, so it looks like we have an exciting weekend ahead of us! Oh yes, now to the point of this post, the food!
These paninis are fabulous let me tell you. It was the perfect meal for a hot summers night! My in laws made this when we went for a visit last summer & I have been dying to make them myself! So here we are. The perfect grilled panini.
You are going to need:

• 1 bread dough recipe. this will make about 16 paninis. feel free to cut the recipe in half.
• 3-4 grilled chicken breasts OR we used leftover chicken thighs from a few nights ago. You would even use the store bought whole chicken & break them into pieces. Anyhow, you just need some chicken :)
• grilled veggies of your choice! we used grilled zucchini, green & red peppers
• red onion, sliced
• lettuce of choice. we used spinach
• hummus of choice. we bought chipotle hummus. it gave it a really good spice!
• grated mozzarella cheese 

Whole wheat bread dough:

IN a large bowl pour 2 cups of lukewarm water

ADD:

• 2 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup of oil
• 1 tablespoon of yeast
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon of Italian herbs

Gradually add 2 cups of whole wheat flour, then 3 1/2 cups of white flour. At first stir it with a fork, but once you can't do that any more, take the ball of dough and put it on a lightly floured surface. Kneed the dough down for about 8-10 minutes. Shape it into a ball, place it in a lightly greased bowl and roll the dough around so it gets covered in the oil. Let it sit for 30-45 minutes so it can rise.

Step one:

While your bread dough is rising prepare your chicken & grilled veggies. I brushed some olive oil & fresh garlic on my zucchini & I cooked the peppers on the stove top because I didn't want to risk losing them on the bbq! Also prepare your chicken however you would like & grate your cheese. 

Step two:

Once your bread dough has risen, pound it down & then break it into pieces. I recommend rolling it out to about the size of a medium dinner plate. We rolled out our dough into massive paninis & we only made 6 LARGE paninis. We ended up cutting them into "sandwich size" after the cooking was done. So please roll them out to be the size of a medium dinner plate. You also don't want it too thick because that it will make it harder to cook. Then oil them on both sides.

rollin..

Step three:

Make sure that both sides of your dough are greased then plop it onto the bbq! Only let it sit on the bbq for a few minutes each side. You don't want it to burn, but you want it to cook all the way through. Once cooked take it off the bbq.

**please remember that our paninis are extremely large. Basically they were the size of pizzas!**

Step four:

Now that it is off the bbq fill it will everything delicious! We bought chipotle hummus & it was amazing. Totally recommend it. Make sure you leave enough to fill all the paninis! Don't get to excited on the first one & overfill it ;)

Fold it over and grill it just for a minute or two to make the cheese all melty.

Lastly, enjoy every single bite! We will be enjoying these paninis today & probably tomorrow seeing as we have so many left! 

Sorry everyone that was a really long post! I just really wanted you guys to see the process step by step! 

I am off to go do my devos, and go for my workout!

What are your plans for the weekend? anything exciting?

xo

Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cupcakes!

Good morning friends! It is a very good morning here anyways. Dan just called and told me he was exempt at his military physical test! Which means he did SO well that he doesn't need to do it again for 2 years!Also I am sitting here munching down some 5 minute chocolate oatmeal! Great way to start the day!

It looks a little "crazy" but I assure you it is delicious & healthy! Find it here on chocolate covered Katie!
http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2011/09/21/five-minute-chocolate-oatmeal/
I am also sipping on a big cup of coffee! I have professed on here that I am a bit of a coffee "addict" but I have been cutting down my consumption to ONCE  A DAY! It's been hard, but I know it is much better for my health!

Back to business: Here I am, posting this wonderful recipe just like I promised! My sister in law Claire loves to cook, bake and make everything fabulous! She is very talented! She decorates cakes and she is very creative! So we were chatting on the phone the other night and she was telling me about these cupcakes & I asked if I could share the recipe on my blog! So here we are :)
Here is what you need!

Cinnamon Cake:

• 3 eggs
• 1/3 cup oil
• ¾ cup buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¾ cup sour cream
• Vanilla Cake Mix (not white cake mix)
• 1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon

Cinnamon Toast Crunch Buttercream:

• 8 oz cream cheese, softened
• ½ cup butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 2/3 cup Cinnamon Toast Crunch powder

(Crush the cereal in a bag and then sift out 2/3 cup)

This recipe has been taken & loved from:

http://www.yourcupofcake.com/2011/10/cinnamon-toast-crunch-cupcakes.html

Step one:

Preheat oven to 350F & put 20-22 cupcake liners in your cupcake pans.

Step two:

In a large bowl combine eggs, buttermilk, vanilla & oil. Mix in the sour cream. Add the cake mix & cinnamon stirring until smooth.

Step three:

Pour the batter into the liners until they are about 3/4 full. Bake the cupcakes for 15-18 minutes, or until you can poke a tooth pick into them & it comes out clean :)

Step four:

To make the buttercream you need to beat the cream & butter until fluffy. Add the cinnamon toast crunch powder, vanilla and powdered sugar. You can use milk to adjust the consistency, depending on how thick you like your icing. 

Step five:

Decorate your little cupcakes with the icing and a nice cinnamon toast crunch cereal on top! Enjoy every bite & of course, share! 

Enjoy your day today! Get outside and enjoy the fresh air!

xo