Whole grain carrot muffins

Dont let the ingredient list fool you. These muffins are soft and moist and sooooo delicious! Healthy and homemade can be good!


Whole grain carrot muffins

1 cup fresh ground wheat flour (I used a mixture of soft white, buckwheat and spelt. I think any whole grain will work fine here)
1 cup white flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup applesauce, unsweetened
1/4 cup coconut oil (you could use canola or vegetable oil)
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup 9 grain cereal (or oats)
1/2 cup shredded coconut
2 cups shredded carrots

Combine all dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and mix until combined. You could also add raisins or nuts to the batter.

Bake 350 for 25 minutes. Makes about 18 muffins.

If you have extras, they can be frozen and taken in lunches or as a snack on an outing.

Spiced Banana Topping

3 T. orange juice concentrate
1/4 cup cream cheese, softened
1 t. sugar
sprinkle cinnamon
sprinkle nutmeg
3 sliced bananas
2 T butter

combine everything except bananas. Stir well and heat thru until combined well. Add bananans and heat til warmed thru, just a few minutes. Serve over pancakes.

I have made this a few times and added different amounts of all the ingredients each time. It is not a scientific recipe, just add what you have to the pan, it will taste good. I have omitted the butter before and the sugar, you could opt to do that if you wanted.

Buttermilk Syrup

I usually dont have buttermilk on hand. Mixing milk and lemon juice will do the trick if you dont have it either.

This stuff is delicious and a million times better than any syrup you buy at the store. It has a totally different taste and color than regular pancake syrup, but such a good replacement. Thanks for the recipe Shari.

BUTTERMILK SYRUP

1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 t vanilla
1 t baking soda
1/2 cup milk
2 tsp lemon juice
(if you have buttermilk, use it instead of the milk and lemon juice)

mix milk and lemon juice and let sit for 10 minutes

Combine butter, sugar, milk and lemon juice mixture in sauce pan. Bring to a boil stirring frequently. When it begins to boil, remove from heat. Add vanilla and baking soda. The mixture will foam when you add the soda, so be sure to use a big enough pan.

Mix well and cool a bit. Serve over pancakes, waffles, ice cream. Extra can be kept in the fridge for a few weeks.

Gingerbread Pancakes

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 t ginger
1 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
3 eggs
1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cup molasses
1 cup milk
2 tsp lemon juice

mix milk and lemon juice and set aside. measure and mix all dry ingredients together. Stir in wet ingredients. Add milk and lemon juice mixture to batter.

Cook on griddle. Serve with spiced banana topping or buttermilk syrup...YUMMM!

Homemade granola bars

These are so good! A great alternative to the junk filled granola bars you buy at the store. I have made quite a few granola bar recipes, and finally found one I like. So I have to share it!

The idea for these came from Sisters Cafe. I adapted it just a bit. They turned out so great. We are going to double the recipe and make a big batch tomorrow.

1/2 cup butter, softened (I had to add a few extra TBS to make it all stick together)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups rolled 9 grain cereal

1/2 cup rice krispy cereal

1/4 cup coconut

1/4 cup chocolate chips

1/4 cup ground flax or wheat germ (can omit if you dont have)

Cream butter, honey, brown sugar, and vanilla. Add rest of ingredients to bowl and mix well.

Press into an 8 x 8 pan and bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Cool completely at cut into bars. YUMMMM!

THE BEST dinner rolls

Whoa doggie! These rolls are delicious! I found a recipe on line and adjusted and adjust and changed until they were finally perfect (in my opinion). I could eat 5 of these for dinner and forget everything else on my plate.

Dinner Rolls

1 1/4 cup warm water
1 Tbs. yeast
1/2 cup sugar
4 Tbs. butter, softened
3 eggs
1/3 cup powdered milk
About 6 cups flour

Combine water and yeast, set aside.

In mixer combine sugar, butter, eggs, powdered milk, and about 4 cups of flour. Slowly pour in yeast mixture. Mix until incorporated. Then add enough flour til dough pulls from the sides and the bowl is clean. The dough will be soft and a little sticky. Knead for about 4 minutes. Cover and let raise in bowl til doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours. (this is important, if you dont let them raise long enough they will be dense and crumbly) Punch down and shape into rolls. Let raise another hour or so. Bake 350 for 14 minutes or until brown. Brush with melted butter when they are fresh out of the oven.

Eat 10 of them and enjoy every bite! If you shaped these into traditional rolls, they would be yummy with homemade jam on them or even used for a little turkey sandwich!

*If I make these rolls in the winter, I turn my oven on to 350 and set the dough in a bowl on top the stove while it raises. Its just enough warmth to encourage the raising process. I know this means I have to leave my oven on for more than 3 hours, but I dont mind in the cold months. If the dough does not get a little warm, it will not raise, so just setting the dough on the counter does not work for me. Its important to get it warm, but NOT HOT so dont stick it in the oven even at a low temperature.

Sloppy Lentils

I know -it is meatless and those that are married to Hymas boys might have a hard time convincing them that it can still be good without meat. When I told Mark what we were having I was sure he was serious about stopping at IN n Out on the way home from work. But believe it or not - Mark really enjoyed it!

2 cups water (the original recipe uses 3 cups, so notice the change for crockpot preparation!)
1 cup brown lentils, rinsed
salt to taste (optional)
1 cup chopped onion
15 oz can diced tomatoes (drained), tomato sauce or 2 cups fresh tomatoes, chopped
1 (6 oz) can tomato paste, optional (as needed to thicken – especially if using tomato sauce)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup ketchup
1 teaspoon mustard powder
1 tablespoon chili powder
3 tablespoons rapadura, molasses, or honey
1 Tbsp white vinegar
salt and ground black pepper to taste
4 whole wheat hamburger buns, split
cheddar cheese, grated (to top your lentils when serving)

Combine all your ingredients in the crockpot (besides the buns and cheese!). Turn on low and cook for approximately 5 hours, until lentils are tender and the mixture has thickened and absorbed most of the liquids. Serve on open faced hamburger buns and top with melted cheese, as desired.