Lemon Ricotta Muffins

Muffins are a wonderfully easy thing to bake.  You can whip op a batch of muffins in about 10 or 15 minutes if you have all the needed ingredients on hand.  Why anyone would resort to store bought muffins when you can quickly have delicious, warm, homemade muffins so easily is beyond me.

This is one of my family's favorite muffin recipes.  My daughters ask me to make these all the time.  The make a great snack or lunchbox treat.  And just a whiff of them baking in the oven is enough to get my taste buds going.

You can wrap the baked and cooled muffins in plastic wrap and freeze for up to 3 months.

Lemon Ricotta Muffins (adapted from a recipe by Giada De Laurentiis)

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
  
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup plus 1 teaspoon sugar
• ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest (from 2 lemons)
• 1 cup ricotta cheese (I use part skim)
• 1 large egg
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon  juice
• ½ teaspoon almond extract
  
  Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  
  Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl to blend. Using an electric mixer, beat 1 cup sugar, butter, and lemon zest in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in the ricotta. Beat in the egg, lemon juice, and almond extract. Add the dry ingredients and stir just until blended (the batter will be thick and fluffy).
  
  Divide the batter among the prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle the remaining 1 teaspoon of sugar over the muffins. Bake until the muffins just become pale golden on top, about 20 minutes. Cool slightly. Serve warm or at room temperature.
  
  
  
  
  
  

We All Scream for Ice Cream

I am a certified ice cream junkie.  I admit my addiction.  If it is in the house, I will eat it.  If I get a craving, I will give in.  I have been known to travel miles in a snowstorm to get a pint of Ben and Jerry's, Cold Stone, or a sundae from Friendly's.  And price doesn't matter.  The more super-premium the ice cream, the more I love it.

Which brings me to my latest find: Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams!

Their ice cream is fantastic.  They are artisan ice cream makers in Ohio who will ship, yes ship, their wonderful creations direct to you.  they have a menu of regular flavors (including Salty Caramel, Pistachio and Honey, Wildberry Lavender, and Bourbon Buttered Pecan), and a changing menu of seasonal flavors (which include, as of this posting, Brambleberry Crisp, Goat Cheese with Cognac Fig Sauce, Askinosie Dark Milk Chocolate, and Lime Cardamom Yogurt).  These rich, creamy, decadent ice creams will knock your knickers off!

Yes, they are premium ice cream and you are paying a premium price, plus shipping costs, but don't you deserve a premium treat every once in a while?  If you can pay $4 for a small latte, you can try these wonderful desserts.

Remember, you heard it here first.  You're welcome!

The Village People Were Right

When we first moved to Massachusetts, one of my first priorities was to find a new gym.  I was in love with my gym in Minnesota, Lifetime Fitness, and just knew that I would never find a gym that could compete with it.

Well, let me eat my words.  It took a while. I visited four gyms before I found the one.  One that had a nice cardio and weights area.  One that had a pool.  One that offered a plethora of exercise classes and spinning classes.  One with children's activities galore.  Any what is that gym, pray tell..

The South Shore YMCA!

As a YMCA virgin, I had an idea in my mind of what to expect when I first visited the Y.  A run down, sad looking establishment with old equipment and nothing that would give me any pause to take a second look at the facility.  Well, here are three words my husband hardly ever gets to hear me say: I was wrong.  The YMCA in Hanover, MA is a lovely facility with great, friendly members and staff.  The girls love going there as do I.  We have already signed the girls up for summer camp at the Y, and I am looking forward to taking advantage of all the great programs they have there.

So, the point is, listen to the Village People.  Give the old fashioned YMCA a chance.  You may be suprised!

This Isn't the Disney Movie

For those of you who don't know, just spent the majority of last week at my local hospital, suffering from Pneumonia.  It was some fun times, let me tell you. While I was there, for the first couple of days I wasn't able to eat anything, and even after that, I wasn't too hot on eating the hospital's version of vegetarian fare.

When I got home, I was so happy to be able to get back to my diet.  For some reason, I got an overwhelming craving for Ratatouille.  Usually, I make it in spring and summer, when you can get those local veggies, but I needed it!  So, I made a trip to my new favorite store, the Whole Foods Market in Hingam, MA, got my ingredients, and off I went!

Here is the recipe.  It is very easy, but a little time consuming to chop all the veggies.  I enjoy this over cooked grains or pasta, but it is just as good on it's own.  Enjoy!

Ratatouille

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 teaspoons dried parsley

1 eggplant, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

salt to taste

2 zucchini, sliced

1 yellow squash, sliced

1 large onion, sliced into rings

1 green bell pepper, sliced

2 cans Muir Glen Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large dutch oven over medium heat. Saute garlic until lightly browned. Mix in parsley and eggplant. Saute until eggplant is soft, about 10 minutes. Season with salt to taste.

Add the zucchini, squash, onion, pepper, and tomatoes to the pot.  Mix well, sprinkle about half the cheese into the veggie mixture and mix well.  Sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top of the veggie mixture.

Cover and bake in the preheated oven for about 45 minutes.

All I Want for Valentine's Day is to Stop Coughing

Well, here we are again.  Another Valentine's Day is upon us.  This is never a huge deal in our family - maybe my husband and I will try to go out to dinner and we usually get the girls a little gift or something, but for the most part, we leave the heavy celebrating to the school's Valentine's Day parties.

This year in particular is going to be a quiet day, as I just was released from the hospital after spending four days there battling pneumonia.  I am still feeling a little week, and can't get rid of this cough that is keeping me from getting a good night's sleep, but otherwise doing pretty good.

While it isn't life threatening, being as sick as I was certainly makes you realize how a person, including me, can easily take one's health for granted.  We go about our busy lives trying to cram in as much stuff that "needs to get done RIGHT NOW!"  We don't listen to our bodies when they are telling us to slow down, take a break, eat, drink, be merry!  Then an illness strikes and, BAM!, all you want is just to feel well enough to want to sit up in bed and maybe read People Magazine.

So this Valentine's Day, I am going to sit with my family, tell them how much joy and happiness they bring to my life, and just...be.  Be quiet.  Be still.  Be happy!

It's Chili Time

Today is Superbowl Sunday, and we all know what that means. Chili! At least for my family. Chili is our traditional Superbowl food.

Now, everyone says they have a chili recipe to beat all chili recipes, but they will not beat this one. This is THE BEST chili recipe you will ever find, I promise you! don't let the long list of ingredients scare you; it is well worth it.

I am posting the recipe using the "traditional" meat ingredients, but I do make it vegetarian buy substituting meatless sausage crumbles and tempeh for the ground sausage and beef.

Enjoy!

Tailgate Chili (courtsey of Allrecipies.com); serves 12

2 pounds ground beef chuck
1 pound bulk Italian sausage
3 (15 ounce) cans chili beans, drained
1 (15 ounce) can chili beans in spicy
sauce
2 (28 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with
juice
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
1 large yellow onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 green chile peppers, seeded and
chopped
4 cubes beef bouillon (or vegetable bouillon, if going vegetarian)
1/2 cup beer
/4 cup chili powder
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons hot pepper sauce (e.g.
Tabasco™)
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 (10.5 ounce) bag corn chips such as
Fritos®
1 (8 ounce) package shredded Cheddar
cheese

Heat a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Crumble the ground chuck and sausage into the hot pan, and cook until evenly browned. Drain off excess grease.

Pour in the chili beans, spicy chili beans, diced tomatoes and tomato paste. Add the onion, celery, green and red bell peppers, chile peppers, bacon bits, bouillon, and beer. Season with chili powder, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, oregano, cumin, hot pepper sauce, basil, salt, pepper, cayenne, paprika, and sugar. Stir to blend, then cover and simmer over low heat for at least 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

After 2 hours, taste, and adjust salt, pepper, and chili powder if necessary. The longer the chili simmers, the better it will taste. Remove from heat and serve, or refrigerate, and serve the next day.

To serve, ladle into bowls, and top with corn chips and shredded Cheddar cheese.

Flat Stanley Travels Cross Country in a Chevy HHR

Right before we left Minnesota to move to Massachusetts, Ellie's class had just started the famous Flat Stanley Project.  For those uninitiated, Flat Stanley is a series of books that follows the adventure of a little boy who was flattened by a wayward bulletin board. He proceeds to travel the world (via mail) having adventures wherever he ends up.

Since we were going to be traveling to the East Coast by car, Ellie thought it would be good to take Flat Stanley with us and record his adventures on our drive so that she could still participate in her class's project, even though she was moving.  Ellie was very excited to show all the exciting restaurants, rest stops, and budget hotels that Stanley visited with us, and after the trip was over and we had moved into our new house, Ellie put together some fun facts she found on Google about each city where we stayed.

So, without further ado, here are the adventures of Flat Stanley and Ellie.


flat stanley

Busy, Busy Busy

Hey all.  sorry I haven't posted in a while, but there is a good reason for that.  We finally moved!  Yes, the Minnesota to Massachusetts move is now complete.  I drove with Ellie and Maggie from the Twin Cities to the Boston area.  We left on Monday, January 24th and arrived on Thursday, January 27th.  Then, we closed on our new home on the 28th, moved in on the 29th, and have spent the last 3 days just unpacking and sorting and organizing.

Now we are in the midst of the HUGE winter storm that most of the country is experiencing in one form or another.  I thought I would be able to leave all this snow in Minnesota, but no luck.  It just followed me here.

Anyway, that is a brief synopsis of my last week and a half!  I hope those of you who are in the storm fare well.  I will get back to more regular posting in a week or so.  Until then...keep on baking!