Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Muffins

Most of the oatmeal muffin recipes I have tried have left me sorely disappointed. They are overly tough, flat, and often have an oily texture. These muffins are a different story entirely. With only 1/3 cup sugar and 1/4 cup butter per pan, you don't even have to feel too bad about the chocolate chips. They really do taste like an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie!

Original recipe from How Sweet It Is

**Note-the recipe says it makes 12 muffins, but I only get 11 out of it.

1 cup whole wheat or all-purpose flour

1 cup rolled oats

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/3 c. brown sugar

1 egg

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 c. milk

1 c. chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Add oats to a bowl and add 1/2 c. of the milk. Let soak for 5-10 minuteswhile you prepare the first steps of the muffins. In a large bowl, combine egg and brown sugar and whisk until smooth and caramel in color. Add in vanilla and butter, whisking well. Try to smooth the batter as much as possible-there still may be some small butter chunks. Add flour, oat/milk mixture, baking soda, salt and cinnamon and mix. Add remaining milk and combine until smooth. Fold in chocolate chips. Pour into muffin tins and bake 15-18 minutes or until cooked through. Serve warm! If you're eating a leftover muffin, I highly recommend popping it in the microwave for 15 seconds or so. Yum!

When I broke open the warm muffin and saw this, I knew we had a winner. Talmage readily agreed.

Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart Bread

This recipe is kind of time-intensive, but it's not too labor intensive. You just have to plan ahead a little for all the rising/baking time. Like Annie says, it really does taste like that inner part of a cinnamon roll. Yum!

Original recipe from Annie's Eats via Joy the Baker

2 3/4 c. all-purpose flour, plus more as needed

1/4 c. granulated sugar

2 1/4 tsp. yeast

1/2 tsp. salt

4 Tbsp. unsalted butter

1/3 cup whole milk

1/4 cup water

1 tsp. vanilla

2 large eggs

To make the dough, combine the flour, sugar, yeast and salt in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a dough hook (or mix/knead dough with a fork/your hands). Combine the butter and milk in a small saucepan and heat just until the butter is melted. Set aside and let cool briefly until it feels warm but not too uncomfortable to touch (115-125 degrees F). Add the milk mixture, water, vanilla, and eggs to the mixer bowl. Mix on low speed until a cohesive dough forms. Continue to knead until smooth and elastic, adding additional flour as needed until the dough clears the sides of the bowl and is tacky but not sticky. Knead about 3-5 minutes. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, turning once to coat, and cover. Let rise until doubled.

While the dough rises, melt 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter in a small saucepan and cook until browned. Set aside. Combine 1 cup sugar, 2 tsp. ground cinnamon, and 1/2 tsp. nutmeg in a small bowl.

When dough has doubled, transfer to a lightly floured surface and gently deflate. Roll into a ball, cover with a towel, and let rest 5 minutes. Roll dough out into an approximate 12x20 inch rectangle. Brush the dough with the browned butter. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture over the top of the butter (it will seem like a lot, but put it all on). Lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan. Slice the dough into rectangles--6 down, 6 across. Stack all the squares on top of each other and put into the prepared loaf pan. Cover loosely with a kitchen towel and let rise 30-45 minutes.

Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes until the top is golden brown and a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. (That's important! The top of mine looked great but the middle was all goo.) Remove from the oven and let rest in the pan 20-30 minutes. Run a knife around the outer edge and turn out onto a plate. Serve warm.

Swiss Bacon Salad with Poppyseed Dressing

This is another one of those BYU cooking class recipes. The original recipe says to marinate 1 1/2 c. thinly sliced mushrooms in the dressing for a while before mixing them into the salad with the dressing, but I still despise mushrooms, so I put in toasted almonds instead. But if mushrooms are your thing, feel free to take that route! It also calls for 1/2 medium red onion, thinly sliced (which I didn't use this time around). This is one of my favorite salads...so yummy.

1 large pkg. spinach, coarsely chopped

3/4 lb. grated Swiss cheese

3/4 lb. cooked and crumbled bacon

1 1/2 cups cottage cheese

3/4 c. toasted almond slivers

Combine salad ingredients in a large bowl. If you have a glass salad bowl, layering the ingredients creates a very pretty effect. I like to spoon the cottage cheese over the spinach, then top with the remaining ingredients and repeat the layers.

Poppy Seed Dressing

1/4 c. sugar

1/2 tsp. dry mustard

3/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. grated onion (not dry onion. Use actual onion and grate.)

3/4 c. oil

1/4 c. + 2 Tbsp. vinegar

1 1/2 tsp. poppy seeds

Combine all ingredients except oil and poppy seeds. Mix until sugar is dissolved. Slowly whisk in oil and beat well. Stir in poppy seeds. Cover and chill. Start by topping the salad with 2/3 of the dressing mixture and add more as desired.

**Note: this salad needs to be served right away since the dressing and cottage cheese will make the spinach wilt. We ate it with rolls for dinner one night and used it as a main dish, or you could obviously cut the recipe down to make the amount you need.

Fruit Salsa and Cinnamon Chips

A friend of mine brought fruit salsa and cinnamon chips to our house when we had them over for dinner over a year ago. When I asked her how to make it, she mentioned the things that were in it, but no amounts, so I just kind of tried my own thing. I discovered that this recipe has a lot of flexibility to it. For this batch I believe I used:

1 mango

2 kiwi

1 apple

2-3 Tbsp. apple jelly

You simply combine them in the mini-chopper/food processor, or you can chop finely/crush the fruit by hand. For a prettier version, I have used strawberries in place of the mango. The apple and apple jelly provide a good foundation to give the salsa some solid matter to hold the whole thing together so you don't end up dipping chips into fruit juice that slides right off. Other than those 2 ingredients, though, the recipe is pretty adaptable. Just use a couple of different kinds of somewhat soft, juicy fruits you think would go well together. For the chips, you simply cut tortillas into strips, spray with Pam, sprinkle with cinnamon/sugar, and bake at 350 until tortilla chips are crisp (usually 10-20 minutes).

Do not use homemade tortillas. They are TOO thick, and if they are cooked until they are crisp, they will be very difficult to chew.

If you do, you may decide they just are not getting crispy after 30 minutes in the oven.

Then you may think it would be a good idea to broil them.

If that happens, you will be startled to see that the sugar has been carmelized and burned after just a couple of minutes.

You will take the pan out of the oven and set it on the table to take a picture of your ruined chips.

For the split second your back is turned, your toddler will reach up to get a chip and burn himself on the pan which has just been in the broiler.

After you get that taken care of, you will spill the chips all over the floor.

While you are cleaning those up, dinner will burn too.

Of course, all of that trauma is just hypothetical...not that I know from experience or anything. :) Here is what I imagine such burned, carmelized chips would look like:

Okay, so it wasn't hypothetical. Suffice it to say, next time we make these chips, I will be getting tortillas from the store. I would rather avoid all of the trauma listed above. And my teeth will thank me, too, as these chips were more like rocks.

Sweet Potato Fries with Ranch BBQ Sauce

I have such fond memories of Guru's because that is where Sam and I went on our second date. He recommended the cilantro-lime quesadilla, and I was highly impressed with him and the food. So when Mom wanted to take me out to lunch one time, I suggested Guru's, and while we were there she made the enlightened decision to order some sweet potato fries. That was the beginning of the end of our days in Provo, sadly, but Mom and I managed to get those fries at least a couple more times.

Although these fries aren't anywhere near as good as the fries at Guru's, they are a good alternative. The dipping sauce tastes somewhat similar to theirs, but once again, theirs is much better. Really, if you haven't gone to this eclectic little cafe, please fix that as soon as possible. :)

1 lb peeled sweet potatoes cut into 1/4" match-sticks (you want one pound after they are peeled and cut with the ends and short pieces discarded, so buy 1 1/4 pounds or so. Fries should be fairly equal in length.)

2 Tbsp. olive oil
 1 t. kosher salt
1/2 t. garlic powder
1 t. basil
1/2 t. oregano
additional seasonings as desired

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Drizzle olive oil over the top of potatoes and toss to coat. Sprinkle seasonings on potatoes and toss again. Spread in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes and carefully flip with a spatula. Bake for another 15-20 minutes or until browning on the ends. Enjoy!

For the sauce I just combine equal parts honey bbq sauce and sour cream mixed with this seasoning (1 small carton to 1 Tbsp. of seasoning).

Even Talmage loves these (probably because they are dipped in sour cream), so they must be good!

Orange Teriyaki Pork with Noodles

This recipe is from my the cooking class I took at BYU. (It provided me with a great recipe arsenal! Such a great class...) The original recipe calls for beef boneless sirloin, but I can never seem to find it, and the similar things I see are really pricey. So I used boneless pork sirloin, which was much cheaper. The beef is more tender, but I like the pork as well.

1 lb (I used more like 3/4 lb and it was plenty) beef (or pork) boneless sirloin, cut across the grain into thin strips like sticks of gum

2 cans (14.5 oz each) beef broth, divided

3 Tbsp. cornstarch

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 clove garlic, minced

1/8 teaspoon powdered ginger

1/4 cup orange marmalade

3 cups snap pea pods (I use frozen since they're much cheaper)

6 oz. uncooked extra thin spaghetti noodles

Spray 12 inch skillet with cooking spray. Cook meat in skillet over medium-high heat 2 to 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until brown. Remove meat from skillet; keep warm. Mix cornstarch with 1/2 cup of beef broth. Set aside to thicken sauce later in recipe. In same skillet as used to cook meat, mix remaining broth, soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, ginger, and marmalade. Heat to boiling. Stir in noodles; reduce heat to medium. Cover and cook about 5 to 10 minutes or until noodles are tender. Stir in snap pea pods, broth/cornstarch mixture, and meat. Cook uncovered 2 to 3 minutes, or until sauce is slightly thickened.

**Note: The peas in this recipe tend to get quite shriveled and unappetizing when reheated. If it's not all going to be eaten in one sitting, I would suggest only adding peas in to the amount you estimate you will consume, and adding in others as needed. You can heat up the peas seperately and then stir them into the amount you estimate you will consume.

Double-Chocolate Nutrient-Rich Oil-Free Bran Muffins

I got this recipe from a ward member while at BYU. She taught a lesson on nutrition and gave out these amazing muffins as well as the recipe. I love them because they taste almost like a cupcake but are packed full of nutrients. They make a lot (24-36, depending on how much you fill the muffin tins), but they freeze well and make an excellent on-the-go (read: college student) breakfast. We never end up freezing them though because the three of us love them so much! The chocolate chips stay melty and gooey even after the muffins are cooled!

3 c. wheat bran (I usually use Bob's Red Mill)

1 c. boiling water

2 c. buttermilk

2 eggs

1 1/2 c. sugar

1 c. canned pumpkin

2 1/2 c. flour

1/2 c. cocoa

2 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 c. chocolate chips

Let 1 c. bran+1 c. boiling water stand for 5 minutes. Add buttermilk, eggs, sugar, and pumpkin. Combine flour, remaining bran, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Add pumpkin mixture and chocolate chips. Spoon into muffin tins and bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes. They don't rise very much, so you can fill the muffin tins pretty much to the top.