I love pasta in my mouth

This is one of my favorite recipes. I think the girls referred to this as 'a party in my mouth.' I was so excited to make and eat it that I didn't take a single picture of the process. I barely managed to grab this one before my kids ate it. ALL.

I found this a long time ago while browsing one of my favorite blogs, Kevin and Amanda.

Brilliant.

Anyway, this recipe is SO SO GOOD. I have been making it for several years, and 

it is one of the few recipes that I have never changed. 

For lots of beautiful pictures of the process of this meal, go here: http://www.kevinandamanda.com/recipes/dinner/grilled-chicken-pasta-in-a-tomato-cream-sauce.html

Grilled Chicken Pasta in a Tomato Cream Sauce

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Montreal Steak seasoning
1/2 pound penne pasta
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup chicken broth
1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 to 1 tsp salt & pepper (to taste)
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
6-8 fresh basil leaves, chiffonaded

Rinse chicken breasts in cold water. Layer between sheets of wax paper and pound to even thickness. Season both sides with Montreal Steak seasoning. Preheat grill for medium high heat, lightly oil grate, and grill chicken breasts on medium high heat for 6-8 mins each side. OR heat 2 tbsp butter & 2 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once the butter and olive oil is nice and hot, add chicken breasts and cook 5 mins each side. Set chicken aside to cool. In a large pot, boil water with 1 tbsp salt. Add 1/2 lb penne pasta noodles and boil according to package directions. Heat 2 tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons olive oil in the skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until garlic is tender, but do not let the garlic turn brown (about 3-5 mins). Add the chicken broth to the pan and allow to reduce by half. Meanwhile, slice chicken. Once the broth has reduced, stir in tomato sauce. Add the heavy cream and stir well to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Turn heat to low. Chop the parsley and basil, add to sauce and mix well. Drain pasta and add to sauce. Stir well to coat. Serve pasta on plates, top with sliced chicken.

Enjoy!

SCONES!!!

Sorry for not posting...we had a horrible 2 weeks without a computer in which I felt as if I were living in the dark ages.** Shiver.** May I never experience that again.

I chose something quick to upate this poor, sad blog with. I will put more thought into something later today...somethihng original. But for now, enjoy this. The original

recipe comes from my friend from here (again). I love these a lot. I know you will too.

for scones:

2 c flour

1/4 c sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 c unsalted butter , cold and cut into pieces

1/2 c dried cherries

zest of 2 lemons

2/3 c buttermilk

glaze for scones:

juice of 1 and a half lemons

1 cup of powdered sugar

If you do this right, you should come up with 12 scones.

Mix dry ingredients in food processor. Add diced butter and pulse until butter is the size of peas. Add lemon zest and cherries and pulse 2 or 3 more times. Add buttermilk all at once and process until dough comes together.

**I use a buttermilk powder instead of buttermilk. If you have that, use 2 1/2 tablespoons of powder and then 2/3 cup of water. Add the powder with the dry ingredients and then add the water instead of the milk.**

Pat dough on a floured surface into a circle that is about 7-10 inches around and about 1 1/2 inches thick. Cut the circle in half and then cut into triangles. Don't use a shape cutter. It's okay for scones to have that random look.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool and drip the lemon glaze onto the cooled scones. I mix the glaze in a 1 cup liquid measuring cup and then pour it right out from that onto the scone.

These would be yummy for a friend brunch, or as a dessert.

Enjoy!

You can experiment with lots of combinations, which make this recipe super versatile!!

Herb Crust Chicken Pot Pie

A wonderful neighbor of mine from our Idaho days knocked on our door one day asking me for a baking dish. A few hours later, she brought it back with a cooked homemade chicken pot pie in it. My life was changed. The following recipe is a variation I have come up with, but I must give credit to a friend for giving me the idea to start with. She has a GREAT cooking blog, Nan's Recipe Spot that is worth checking out.

HOMEMADE CHICKEN POT PIE
2 cups carrots (cut up small)

3 cups potatoes (cut up small)
2 cup peas
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup wheat** flour
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 cups chicken broth
2/3 cup milk
2 1/2 cups cut-up cooked chicken or turkey
pie Crust ( to follow)

Cook carrots and potatoes and drain, and then set aside.


Heat butter in a large pot over medium heat until melted. Saute onion in the butter until it is slightly brown {NOT BURNT!}

and then add flour, salt, and pepper. It is SO important to saute the onion first, so that you don't have slimy onions in your pie. Cook the mixture, stirring constantly until mixture is combined. It will be clumpy. Remove from heat. Stir in broth and milk. Whisk together until its a gravy-like consistency. Be patient with this part-it can take a few minutes to turn the chunks and liquid into a gravy! KEEP WHISKING! Once the grave state has been achieved, Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir for 1 minute. Stir in chicken and vegetables.
Make Crust!

Chicken Pot Pie Crust

2 1/2 cups wheat** flour
1/4 cup shortening
1/2 cup butter
1 TBS white vinegar
1 tsp salt
1 lg egg, at room temperature***
1/4 cup cold water
2 tsp dry Rosemary
2 tsp dry Thyme

Heat oven to 400.

I throw all the dry ingredients, including the herbs, into my food processor and then pulse a few times. Then I add the egg and vinegar. Add the butter and shortening and pulse until the mixture is crumb-y. Add the cold water and pulse until the mixture pulls together. Pour out onto a floured surface (I love using my cutting board for this.) and knead until it all comes together. Form into a flat dish.

Place inside a ziploc bag and keep in the fridge for an hour, to harden a little. When it's time, roll 2/3 of pastry to fit into an ungreased pan. Pour chicken mixture into pastry lined pan. Roll remaining pastry to fit top of filling. Turn edges over and cut slits in top. Use leftovers to cut shapes and place on the top of the pie, if you like that kind of thing.

I did with this one, and the kids kept fighting over the apple pieces when it was cooked....
Bake about 35 minutes or until golden brown, and you can see the gravy bubbling up!




**You can either use white flour, or a mixture of white and wheat flours. I grind my own wheat, and do it on the finest so that I have a light wheat flour that doesn't feel heavy or dense like most wheat flours do when not combined with white flour.
***If you forget to think ahead of time and pull your egg out early enough to be at room temp by the time you need to use it, set egg in a bowl and pour warm water over it. Let this set for 5 minutes, and then you have a speedy room temperature egg!

cookbook GIVEAWAY!

I have a friend who has a blog with her sister, (yum) and she is doing a giveaway! Go here to sign up!

Homemade Coconut Granola

I love The Barefoot Contessa. I love to read her cookbooks, and I love to cook her recipes and then eat the food.
I own one of her cookbooks, and in it is a recipe for Homemade Granola Bars.
I made them. And my kids hated them sooo bad, that I swore I would never make them again.
Well, sometime between then and tonight, I tried it again, and instead of using the mix as a bar, I crumbled it up and used it as granola! SO SO SO SO GOOD! I use it plain as a cereal, or I use it atop greek yogurt-which I love. I changed a few things here and there, so the recipe below is simply an adaptation of Ina Garten's original recipe, which you can find here.

2 1/2 cups oatmeal-I love it when I have old fashioned oatmeal around to use for this, but I usually don't, since we use quick oats all the time. Either works, however.
1 cup loosely packed coconut
1 cup sliced almonds
1 1/2 teaspoons coconut extract
3/4 toasted wheat germ {It comes toasted from most stores}
3 TBS unsalted butter
2/3 cup honey
1/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp kosher salt {table salt will work}
1/2 cup chopped dried apricots
1/2 cup dried cranberries

You can also add in dates, raisins, etc. according to your tastes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter an 8 by 12-inch baking dish and line it with parchment paper.

Toss the oatmeal, coconut, and almonds together on a sheet pan and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned. DO NOT LET THIS BURN! It tastes horrible burnt. I don't know personally. Of course not. I just...bet it does....

Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl and stir in the wheat germ.

Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees F.

Place the butter, honey, brown sugar, vanilla, coconut extract, and salt in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook and stir for a minute, then pour over the toasted oatmeal mixture. Add the dates, apricots, and cranberries and stir well.

{It is now important for you to realize that the wet mix is soooo good, that you should leave a few spoonfuls in the bowl so you can just eat that...}

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Wet your fingers and lightly press the mixture evenly into the pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until light golden brown. When it comes out, let sit for a few minutes. Then break up the mixture with a spatula or wooden spoon, and cool until hard. Store in a lidded container and keep in the fridge.

Super Yummy Chocolate Breakfast Shake

I love to drink my breakfast. I came up with this delicious shake after trying different variations over time, and I have it many times a week.


What you need:
Carnation Instant Breakfast drink Mix, the No sugar added kind. CHOCOLATE*
1 small banana (frozen is way better-makes the shake more icy and cold)
1/2 cup oatmeal-I use the quick cook kind
7 ice cubes
1 cup Almond Milk**

Combine milk, oatmeal, drink mix, and banana in blender, and pulse until the oatmeal and banana have been cut up small. A banana chunk surprise in the middle of this shake will ruin it for you and make you gag quicker than anything. So make sure it is smooth. Then add your ice cubes. Pulse on your quick pulse for a few times, then turn to highest speed and blend until it has cut up your ice. The tip to this is to make sure you still have icy-ness in it, so it doesn't turn into a watery shake. When it has the consistency you want, pour it in a tall glass and drink that baby up!


*I love when they came out with this kind, because it cut the calories down by 80!
**You can use your choice of milk, but I recently discovered that I LOVE the taste of Almond Milk, and it has 20 less calories than fat free milk!
If you make it this way, you have yourself a breakfast at 330 Calories. When I am NOT training for a half marathon, these calories for a breakfast are a little bit more indulgent than I like. But if you are getting yourself a good workout in that day, than this is a good start to your day.

Ain't cho mama's spaghetti...

I have an amazing friend who shares many recipes with me. I love having her around for so many reasons-especially to talk about food with her. She shared this one with me.

I.love.this.recipe.

But I also love to often spend a good 2 hours on meal prep ...so this is right up my alley. I hope it's up yours too, because you won't regret trying it...

This meal has several parts to it. I recommend reading the recipe first so you get an idea what this baby is all about.

{Picture also borrowed from How to be a Domestic Goddess}

Spaghetti and Meatballs

from Katherine Fields {How to be a Domestic Goddess}

Sauce

• 2 28-ounce cans whole peeled tomatoes in juice, drained, juice reserved, tomatoes finely chopped
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 2 medium onions, peeled, halved through root end
• 1/2 teaspoon (or more) salt
• fresh herbs (rosemary, basil, oregano), optional
  

Meatballs

• 1 cup fresh breadcrumbs made from crustless French or country-style bread
• 1/3 cup whole milk
• 8 ounces ground beef (15% fat)
• 8 ounces ground pork
• 1 cup finely ground (not grated) Parmesan cheese-from the hard triangle wedges in the deli section of store
• 1/3 cup finely chopped Italian parsley
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 large eggs
• 2 large garlic cloves, pressed
• 1 pound spaghetti
• Freshly grated Parmesan cheese (for serving)

Preparation

Sauce

**Combine tomatoes with juice, butter, onions, and salt in large wide pot. Bring to simmer over medium heat. Reduce heat; simmer uncovered 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Discard onions. Using an immersion blender, or by placing the sauce in a blender, break up any large pieces of tomato (texture should be even but not completely smooth). Season sauce with more salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add fresh herbs if desired. Remove from heat. (You can let yours simmer until you are ready to eat, especially since you cook the meatballs in the sauce.)

Meatballs

**Combine breadcrumbs and milk in small bowl; stir until breadcrumbs are evenly moistened. Let stand 10 minutes.

**Place beef and pork in large bowl and break up into small chunks. Add 1 cup ground Parmesan, parsley, salt, and pepper.

**Whisk eggs to blend in small bowl; whisk in garlic. Add to meat mixture.

**Using hands, squeeze milk from breadcrumbs, reserving milk. Add breadcrumbs to meat mixture. Using hands, quickly and gently mix meat mixture just until all ingredients are evenly combined (do not overmix). Chill mixture at least 15 minutes and up to 1 hour.

**Moisten hands with some of reserved milk from breadcrumbs, then roll meat mixture between palms into golf-ball-size balls, occasionally moistening hands with milk as needed and arranging meatballs in single layer in sauce in pot. Bring to simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until meatballs are cooked through, 20-30 minutes.
These can be made 2 days ahead. Cool slightly. Chill uncovered until cold, then cover and keep chilled. Rewarm before continuing.

**Cook spaghetti in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Drain.

**Using slotted spoon, transfer meatballs to platter. I like to serve the noodles, meatballs, and sauce in separate dishes, because I hate when the sauce is absorbed into the noodles upon serving it together. But you do what you want. Place noodles on plate, top with sauce, then meatballs, then more freshly ground Parmesan! Eat slowly, with small bites...the flavor is so amazing you don't want to risk missing it by eating it too fast...mmm. Not that you could miss it.
Notes-
If you want herbs in the sauce, and don't have fresh, you can use the dried varieties. This is a fun meal to serve in the summer when my garden is loaded with fresh herbs. I miss the fresh herb months...
If you don't have fresh breadcrumbs that the meatball recipe calls for, leave some homemade bread out a few nights before, then put it in a food processor or blender on the day of your meal prep-this recipe would not be the same without the coarse-ness of the fresh breadcrumbs. And these meatballs are out of this world!

Stacked Burlap Flower {on a pillow}

I have been in the process of redoing my bedroom. Again. This is a slow process, since I always have 12.5 million other things to do, but I have finally started on the accent pillows. The great unveiling will be the multi-media appliqued accent blanket that goes along with that, but I have been working on that for many many moons, and it isn't done yet...

so pillows it is.
I was looking at some ideas online, and came across this one on classyclutter.blogspot.com. I loved it, but since our supply of felt is NOTHING in this small, small town oh so far far far far from crafting civilization, I knew I would have to find something else. My go-to for most anything these days anyway is burlap, which I am fully enjoying a love affair with, to be honest. You can find it all over in my house, which I will show you soon enough.
Then I had one of those genius moments, and a few hours later, I had this finished:







Close-ups, to see the texture.






I love the texture it adds to my bed, and the shabby look of it, with the burlap threads coming lose here and there. Don't let your sweet kiddies get their little grubbies ahold of this...this pillow is for aesthetic purposes only-NOT PILLOW FIGHTS!

the triple threat, {plus one}

This recipe can be used for many things...4 in particular that I am going to share with you-hence "the triple threat, {plus one}."
1)Many months ago, before my 6 month old was born, I hosted a super fun, super delish, dinner party with some great friends. I made spaghetti and meatballs, an amazing recipe given to me by an amazing cook that I will share later {the recipe, not the friend}, bread-sticks, and a really yummy dipping oil to go with the bread-sticks. Originally, I was going to buy ciabatta bread and do something from one of my favorite cooks, Ina Garten. But I realized too late I had forgotten to get ciabatta bread!!!!!! I didn't want to run to the store with the kids at this point in my dinner prep, so I started some bread-sticks. It was a last minute decision to whip up the sauce and use it as a dipping oil. I was nervous.
All in vain I tell you.
It was a total hit, and my fav part of what I made.

However, the recipe made a lot of delicious garlicky, herby, dipping oil, and you don't go throwin' this good stuff away.
2) So my husband, who is constantly surprising me, used the leftovers to spread around the crust of our homemade pizza that following Friday. DELISH, I tell you. Just fantastic. It was the first thing that hit your tongue as you put the pizza in your mouth, and it was like warning the mouth that a party was on its way! I applauded him until he blushed. Rare with him, blushing.

3) We STILL had leftovers from this first batch, and also noodles from the spaghetti party, so we combined noodles, and the lovely garlicky, herby, oil sauce and....fireworks. So good. I was so happy to find something so multi-tasking!

{my lunch today-the oils and noodles together, plus a little spinach, wilted with the heat in the microwave. yum.}

Last one.
4) We had the sauce with breadsticks again, not too long ago, and the sauce mixed with my peas, and....need I say it...AMAZING!

SIGH.....

So, now that you have 4 great stories about some mysterious oil/garlic/herb mixture/sauce....
I give you the recipe:

(Adapted from a recipe from Ina Garten, although I did add a few things. You can find the original here.)

• 6 large garlic cloves, chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 3 TBS chopped fresh oregano leaves
• 3 TBS chopped thyme
• 3 TBS chopped rosemary
  
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt {I love kosher salt, and always have a box of it in my kitchen-it's great for the texture in this, so I recommend it, but plain table salt will still get the flavor you are looking for.}
  
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup good olive oil

Place the garlic in the bowl of a food processor and process until minced. Add the parsley, oregano, thyme, and rosemary, salt and pepper and pulse until well mixed.

Heat the olive oil in a medium pan and add the garlic mixture. Stir for a minute, and then remove the pan from the heat.

Serve with SO MANY THINGS!

Store it in the fridge, and microwave for JUST A FEW SECONDS to melt the oil when it's all hard after being refrigerated.

****If you are dying to make this, and you don't want to spend the money for fresh herbs in the winter at the store,{don't blame ya!} buy fresh parsley, which is very cheap at the store, and substitute the fresh herbs for dried herbs. I don't know the amount I use of the dried herbs, since I am one of those ladies that add, taste, and then add more...but I will tell you that dried herbs are more potent than fresh, so start with a smaller amount of the dried herbs, and add if you want more. You want a good herb to oil ration though, so there isn't tons of plain old oil in your sauce.

BEST peanut butter cookies EVER. ever.ever.ever.

A few months back I called my friend Katherine on a Sunday evening, asking her what I should make for dessert that night. (This sounds weird, but Katherine is a fellow foodie-but waaaaaaaay more awesome than me, and we talk about food a lot. I love her.) She told me to make peanut butter cookies with both chocolate and peanut butter chips in them. I was like..."uh yes please." The bad news was I didn't have the chips. So she told me to get over there and get some. So I did! Anyway, I don't know what happened, but I didn't get to make them until the next day...and oh. my. heavens. I am so glad I made the phone call the night before to Katherine about what to make for dessert. These are hands down the BEST COOKIE I HAVE EVER EVER EVER HAD in my life. (And I have eaten my fair share of cookies...) I was completely addicted instantly and could not help myself. The dough was the best dough and I ate myself sick over these cookies, and I didn't mind i t...which was a shame, since I had just given birth to baby number 4 and was battling the bulge...but it was worth it. Don't just take my word for it. In honor of National Peanut butter day, TRY THESE BABIES OUT. And not just today-try them out many, many times.

1 1/4 cups flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup (one stick) unsalted butter, soft
1 cup peanut butter, room temp. (creamy is best)
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
(DO NOT THINK TWICE ABOUT ADDING ALL THE BUTTERS AND SUGARS-DO IT!)
1 Lg egg at room temp
1 Tbs milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup peanut butter chips-I only LOVE these cookies with Reeses Peanut Butter Chips...I tried a different kind this time and didn't LOVE it. It made a huge difference for me.
1/2 cup chocolate chips
If you like to roll or sprinkle your pb cookies in sugar, then you will need an extra amount of sugar for that.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl or mixer, beat the butter and peanut butter together until it is fluffy. Add the sugars and mix until creamy and smooth. Add the egg and then mix well until it gets that yummy looking texture. (I usually can't resist tasting some at this point-this texture really gets me.) Add the milk and vanilla and mix well to combine. I add all the dry ingredients directly into my mixing bowl, rather than having it already measured out in another bowl just to save me from having one more bowl to clean. So add the dry ingredients right into the mixing bowl, or have it already measured out in another bowl. Either way, dry ingredients go in now! After this...stir those chips in and feel your stomach tighten in anticipation of the first spoonful of this delicious dough finding its way into your mouth. Then the second and third spoonfuls as well, if you are like me...



Using a cookie scoop or your bare hands, drop delicious looking blobs of the dough onto ungreased cookie sheets. (If you like the dough rolled in sugar, do that before dropping dough onto the sheet.)

Leave several inches around each cookie for expansion. I don't like to smoosh these cookies down with a fork like traditional pb cookies, because I love these ones without that feature. Do what you like-I recommend not using the fork at least one-the result is a chunky looking cookie, and I love that.
Bake these lovelies for 10-12 minutes. Do not over bake. They may look underdone, but they are not. Cool the cookies for as long as you can bear, then enjoy them. By the handful. If you want. If you can stop at one, I commend and both pity you....
Happy National Peanut Butter Day!

Crayon Rolls

These beauties have been around for a while. I thought it was genius, so I started making a bunch of them. I made some for my girls for Christmas, then started selling them on a local swap shop on facebook. I think every child needs one, and I think that every mom needs their kids to have one-clean up is a breeze with a slot for every crayon. Then, when said kid gets bored of the colors they have, they can head over to the mother-lode of crayons and swap em out. Easy.
It doesn't take a long time to make. I used a tutorial found here, but as always, I know that I did alter it to fit my skill and needs.
I don't do well at following tutorials...
I used ribbon to tie the rolls up, and I also ommited the iron-on vinyl-too much for me.
If you have questions, or you want me to make you one, let me know!
Happy rolling!

This one was a custom order made large enough to fit pens and pencils! Loved the idea!

entry way

A while ago I saw this hanging rack on Pinterest.

I am totally in love with antique-y shabby chic, so I loved this idea for my teeny tiny entry way. (I mean reeeeeally tiny entryway.) I didn't have any old barn doors on hand, (danget danget danget!) but I did have some old pieces of fence leftover from fencing in our back yard. They had been left outside for over a year, exposed to the elements. Which was perfect, since after a year outside, my pieces of fence looked almost legit antique...

So after a while of fiddling around with some ideas in my head, I came up with the idea of nailing the "old" piece of fence onto the wall of my entry way. With some muscle (aka my man, Jeremy), we got this thing all rigged up. I originally had wanted the fence piece to go all the way to the ground. But my smarter half (again, aka my man, Jeremy) pointed out that it would be easier to clean the entry way if it was lifted off the ground a bit, to sweep under it. Genius. The other thing I wanted to do was to collect old hooks, in various designs, to nail to the fence piece as coat hooks. But you know what, it works out that we hang the coats OVER the points of the fence. So I have saved my hooks for another day, and another project...

My entry way is so small, I literally cannot stand in front of the fence rack and take a picture of it. Someday I will have a larger one, but for now, I'm in love!

Double chocolaaaaaaate!

Obviously I am still working on the header to this blog. Pay it no mind.
Sunday dinners are usually extra special around here. I love to take the afternoon after church and cook for a few hours. The kids were playing, the baby sleeping, and the sick husband was tucked in bed.
The kitchen was mine.
Dinner was AMAZING. I was totally satisfied after the meal. You know, the satisfaction that comes from not burning a single thing,and from everything turning out better than you thought. I was nervous a little, because they were all new recipes. I took some bites of food, laughed at my kids for going to the bathroom no less than 4 times combined, ate some more, smiled at my sweet baby boy and his yummy face, took lots more bites, frowned at the kids many times (maybe raised my voice a little?) for jumping up and down and acting like monkeys at the table, then finished my plate of food off quickly with a sigh and a bulging belly. I fully plan on posting the entire meal for your enjoyment this week, which I am excited about, because I altered every single recipe I used to make the meal, which makes the meal entirely invented by myself...right? Anyway, welcome to my blog.
Oh, and here was tonight's dessert.(I forgot to take a pic because I was busy horking down my dinner and then this dessert-so I borrowed this picture off the web. Won't happen again.)

I got this original recipe from a dear friend and an old neighbor, Nan. In my effort to be more healthy and fully enjoy the wheat grinder my parents gave us for Christmas, I bring you the healthy (and TOTALLY guilt free) version of the Double Chocolate Muffin.

1 1/3 cup wheat flour
1 1/3 cup white flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup baking cocoa (I may have added a little more than this. I can be so clumsy sometimes...)
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1/2 cup water
3/4 cup milk
1 cup homemade cinnamon applesauce (store bought would work just fine!)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup (or however much you want) semisweet chocolate chips

Method: In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, beat the eggs, applesauce, water, milk, and vanilla. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in chocolate chips. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake at 325° for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks. (or eat right away...) Yield: 16 dense, moist, delicious muffins. There might only be 5 left, but who knows...

Try them and let me know what you think!