Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake Muffins

Those raspberry cheesecake suckers hooked me! Cream cheese in muffin batter is a MUST TRY for everyone!! These guys were very similar but I changed up the flavours a little. I also remembered baking soda so they weren't as stubby as the first round of raspberry ones.

To be honest, I'm not even a huge fan of lemon or blueberry but I think that is changing because these were out-of-this-world good!!!

INGREDIENTS

5 oz low fat cream cheese, softened
3 tablespoon butter, softened
3 tablespoon unsweetened applesauce
1 ½ cups sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large egg whites
1 large egg
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup white whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup low-fat buttermilk (keep reading for a substitute)
4 tablespopon fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons lemon zest
2 cups blueberries

NOTE - My heart always sinks when I find a recipe that calls for buttermilk. Since it is only available in a larger container (and I don't bake THAT often) it means it always goes to waste. A quick and easy substitute is one cup of milk (whatever you have on hand) and one tablespoon of vinegar. Combine the two and let it sit for at least 5 minutes while the milk "sours", then use whatever you need from that for your recipe.

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Line 24 muffin cups with cupcake liners.

2. In a large bowl, combine the cream cheese, butter and applesauce and beat with an electric mixer until blended. Add sugar and beat until combined. Add vanilla, eggs and egg whites and beat until blended.

3. In a separate bowl, combine the flour (lightly spoon into measuring cups and then level with a knife), baking soda, baking powder and salt and stir together. In the bowl containing the wet ingredients, use the mixer on a low speed while pouring in the flour mixture until thoroughly combined. Add the lemon juice, zest and buttermilk and beat until blended. Add the blueberries and fold in gently.

4. Spoon the batter evenly into the liners. Bake for 25 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Here's a rather unflattering shot of the inside of one of these bad boys...look at all that blueberry goodness!!!

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION

Serving Size - 1 muffin
WW Points - 3
Calories - 137
Carbs - 23g
Fat - 4g
Protein - 3g
Fibre - 1g

Ham & Egg Cups

Who doesn’t love an edible bowl? These guys come together really quickly, can be adapted to a large crowd, or enjoyed at a breakfast party of one. Plus they are really filling.

Mom came home with “breakfast ham” the other day and after realizing that all that meant was ham sliced into strips to somewhat resemble bacon it seemed less exciting. Although, lets be honest, it wasn’t THAT exciting to begin with.

Anyway, I decided to make it more appealing by crisping it up in the oven and then baking some eggs and cheese in it. Very yummy and probably could even be made ahead of time and then re-heated…although fresh out of the oven was pretty damn good!!
INGREDIENTS (can be adapted to your own desired quantities)

Ham (breakfast ham, deli sliced ham…its all good)
Cheddar Cheese, grated
Eggs
Green Onions, chopped

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray muffin tin with oil.

Line muffin cups with ham (its ok for them to hang over or stick out) and place in the oven while it is preheating.

Once oven is hot, place a small amount of cheese in bottom of each ham cup, crack an egg into each cup and season with salt and pepper. Bake until desired doneness. I baked for about 15 minutes but we prefer our eggs hard.

Remove from oven, sprinkle with remaining cheese (if there is any) and green onions.

 

NUTRIONAL INFO

WW – 3 per cup

Calories - 128

Carbs – 1g

Fat – 7g

Fibre – 0g

Protein – 14g



(Lightened Up) Raspberry Cheesecake Muffins

First off, don't let the name fool you. These guys are WW friendly (I actually am eating them for breakfasts all week) but I had to give them such a decadent name because they taste like they should be a gourmet dessert!

INGREDIENTS

5 oz 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened
3 tbsp butter, softened
3 tbsp unsweetened applesauce
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 large egg whites
1 large egg
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup white whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 cup raspberries (fresh or frozen)

NOTE: I couldn't find the baking soda when I was making these so I omitted it, but it really is necessary for a less dense/more airy texture (as you can see from the stubby muffin in the pic below). Clearly not necessary for taste though, since these were still out of this world!!

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350. Line 24 muffin cups with cupcake liners.

In a large bowl, combine the cream cheese, butter and applesauce and beat with a mixer until blended. Add sugar and beat until combined. Add vanilla, eggs and egg whites and beat until blended.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour (lightly spoon into measuring cups and then level with a knife), baking soda, baking powder and salt and stir together. In the bowl containing the wet ingredients, use the mixer on a low speed while pouring in the flour mixture and the buttermilk. Beat until blended. Add raspberries and fold in gently.

Spoon the batter evenly into the liners. Bake for 25 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION

Serving Size - 1 Muffin
WW Points - 3

Light and Crispy Granola

Another recipe to make my weekday mornings easier (and tastier!). This granola was incredibly easy to throw together and is the perfect addition to some yogurt. It has a very satisfying crunch without using all the oil most granola recipes call for.


Even as I’m writing this my mouth is starting to water a bit because its sitting on my desk ready to be eaten as this morning’s breakfast.

INGREDIENTS
3 cup(s) uncooked quick oats
2 oz ready-to-eat crisp rice cereal, about 2 cups
6 Tbsp honey
1 tsp canola oil
1/4 cup(s) apple juice
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup(s) slivered almonds
1/4 cup(s) dried cranberries
1/4 cup(s) raisins

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Mix uncooked oats and puffed rice cereal and spread on a non-stick baking sheet with sides. Bake for 10 minutes, stirring once.

Meanwhile, mix honey, oil, apple juice, spices and vanilla. When oats and puffed rice are done, remove from oven and mix with almonds. Pour spice mixture over cereal and mix thoroughly to distribute and coat completely.

Return to pan and bake for 15 to 20 minutes more, stirring every few minutes. Be careful that granola doesn`t burn, especially cereal along sides of pan.

Stir in raisins and cranberries and let cool. Store in an airtight container. Makes 12 half-cup servings or 24 quarter-cup servings (which is all that will fit in my yogurt containers)

I might also add some chia seeds to the mix to increase the fibre and protein content a little but that’s totally optional.
NUTRITIONAL INFO
Serving Size: 1/2 cup
Points: 4
Calories: 182
Fat: 3g
Carbohydrates: 36g
Sodium 36g
Protein: 56

Overnight Apple Cinnamon Oats

If you are like me you need speedy and portable options for weekday breakfasts. I am not the type that gets up hours prior to work so that I can have a nice leisurely morning of reading the paper, making breakfast, picking out your outfit, grooming, etc etc. People who start their days like this are crazy people and I don't get it. YOU COULD BE SLEEPING DURING ALL THAT TIME!!!

I am more the type to set everything up the night before, set my alarm for 20 minutes prior to my departure time and then enjoy that extra glorious hour of sleep. However, keeping with all the arguments about how important breakfast is, I do find myself very limited with this type of schedule. For the last two months I've been eating the same thing for breakfast every weekday morning. 

A cup of yogurt with some chia seeds mixed in and a banana. Its a great option but I am growing tired of it and it was time to start looking for other options. 

Well, I found one!! Steel Cut Oats. These are not new by any means, just new to me. They sort of look like chopped up rice in size/shape and they need significantly more cooking (and digesting) time than the usual rolled oats that we all know so well. 

You can prepare them on these stove. They take about 30 minutes to simmer, but I much preferred throwing everything into my slow cooker and letting it do all the work. 

Baked Apples and Cinnamon has got to be one of my top favourite combinations and flavours so that was the inspiration for this version of overnight oats. I have a few other combinations I am planning to try next. The texture of these oats is similar to a rice pudding and the oats themselves have this very interesting nutty flavour. Once prepared feel free to top with more sugar, nuts, maple syrup, fruit...the possibilities are endless. 

INGREDIENTS

2 baking apples (I used Fuji because they are sweet)
1 1/2 cups milk 
1 1/2 cups water
1 cup steel cut oats
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon chia seeds
1/4 teaspoon salt


DIRECTIONS
Spray slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray (this may sound unnecessary but these bad boys will make a mess of your slow cooker if they stick!). Combine all the ingredients. Cover and cook on low for 7 hours. Serves 5-7.


Here's a picture of everything ready to go in the slow cooker. I chose to peel the apples because i hate chewing the skin, but it could be left on.

A few tips:

• This can be stored in the fridge for about a week or the freezer for even longer. If freezing than just take it out the night before to let it thaw in the fridge. 

• To reheat add a little more milk or water before microwaving. It will harden quite a bit so it will need the liquid to get its creamy texture back

• Know your slow cooker before attempting this as an overnight project. You want the oats to start to brown along the sides of the slow cooker because it creates these yummy caramelized bits of oats and apples. However, once the brown starts to form they can burn very quickly so you might want to make this during the day where you can keep an eye on it for the first time. 

• I portioned the leftovers (there weren't many once the family had a go of it) into individual Tupperwares and will take one to work and reheat it with a little water there. 

NUTRITIONAL INFO
Serving Size: 3/4 cup
Points: 4
Calories: 149
Fat: 3.6g
Carbohydrates: 27.3g
Fiber: 3.9g
Protein: 4.9g

Crepes

So I realize this is following the pancake blog but unfortunately I haven't had much on the go in the kitchen since last week. Here's some crepes I made last weekend.
I have many fond memories of weekend mornings, watching tv and enjoying crepes that my dad made for me. It was always a crowd pleaser after any sleepover.
Good times!
Another new thing I've discovered is roasted chickpeas. YUM!!!!
-A can of chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
-A small amount of oil
-Some garlic power, salt and pepper and cayenne (or whatever you feel like seasoning with)
-Roast in a 350 degree oven for 30-40 minutes depending on your crispiness preference.
You will not be disappointed!!
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Please ignore all typos, unless they're funny
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Saturday Morning

Had a lovely low-key morning this morning. Made pancakes and Clutterbuck cut up a big watermelon. Yummy.
Now its off to a series of dinners all over the place.

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Please ignore all typos, unless they're funny
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Saturday Morning Biscuits

Fresh out of the oven. The house smells great and I can't wait to dive in.

I even used my food processor, for the first time, to make them and it couldn't have been simpler.

YAY!

Breakfast for Dinner

Clutterbuck was still feeling under the weather and it was a bit of a busy evening last night. I went to the gym, and we did a couple loads of laundry at the Laundromat, plus we're trying to conserve funds.
So it was a fridge surprise night. Dinner became:

• Egg, Onion, Bacon and Cheddar Cheese Omelet
• Hashbrowns
• Salad (Romaine, Red Peppers...its all I had and the plate needed some green)

Again I'd say a success. If for nothing else then the discussion it created. Turns out we both have very strong opinions about how to cook an omelet. Clutterbuck, obviously felt he had the more credible point of view due to his lengthy experience as a cook at the Zellers restaurant (The Skillet), but I feel I'm still qualified to make an argument on this matter (even if I never worked at the Skillet, which I don't necessarily think overqualifies you for a culinary argument like this anyway...just saying).
The first disagreement was what to whip into the eggs. I said milk, he said water...i googled it and the first recipe I found called for water. 1 point Clutterbuck.
The next was whether to mix all the ingredients (except cheese) into the egg mixture before pouring them in the pan, then flip, add the cheese, and plate. He argued that this is how it was done at the Skillet (well exCUSE me!). I argued that this is more like making scrambled eggs with stuff in them. An omelet is supposed to be a base of eggs folded around a filling, and it should be light and fluffy on not overcooked in the middle. My method of choice would be to pour in the egg mixture, let it set up a little, add the ingredients and the cheese, fold over and plate immediately. 1 point Smart
The last discussion was over the spelling of omelet. I still haven't made a decision about this one. Google it. There are responses to every possible spelling. Clutterbuck initially suggested: Omlette - WRONG. I felt myself wanting to type: Omelette - possibility. However, I started blogging about it (spell check), and looked up recipes and its also spelled Omelet....So I'm completely confused, and now have decided to just spell it differently every time I use it until someone can give me a definitive spelling.