Morning GLORIOUS Muffins!

Modified from Can You Stay for Dinner's Morning Glory Muffin recipe, these are amazing, sweet, healthy and were a blast to make!

Ingredients:
2¼ cups all-purpose flour (I used whole wheat flour)
2/3 cup sugar
1½ teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (generously used this, I love cinnamon!)
¾ teaspoon salt
½ cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 (8-ounce) can crushed pineapple (including juices)- I skipped this and used a cup of cinnamon applesauce instead.
1½ cups shredded carrots (2-3 medium)- I didn't use quite this much, but will happily add more next time.
½ cup raisins
½ cup sweetened shredded coconut
½ cup walnuts

AND...
about 5 sliced strawberries
1 diced nectarine
about 3 diced dried apricots
a few dried cranberries
...and I think that's it. But there might be more.

To Do:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper cups. (I made mini-muffins, and it made about 3 dozen).
In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
In a separate bowl, beat together oil, eggs, and pineapple (including pineapple can juices/applesauce). Stir egg mixture into the flour mixture, just until combined.
Stir in the carrot, raisins, coconut, and walnuts (and other ingredients). Scoop batter into prepared muffin cups.
Bake in preheated oven for about 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean. (About 15 minutes for minis)
makes 12 (or 36)

Review: I could eat these all day long, and on the first day I made them, I honestly had 6 (like having 2 regular-sized muffins, and with the chunks of fruit and bits of walnut, I didn't feel guilty about it at all). I have since limited myself to 1-2 per day, so that they'll last longer, but I am (and everyone else who has tried one is) loving them! When they run out, I'll be making a batch of banana chocolate chip muffins using the same recipe. The only issue was that the paper's a little tough to remove, any ideas for making this easier? Cooking spray inside the muffin papers? In any case, these are winners in my book and I was SO excited to share them that I came back and posted lots of new recipes, of course saving the best for last :) Yum, yum, yum!

Long Time, No Share- Sorry!

I have been baking/cooking in Florida, but I haven't been blogging about it and for that I must apologize. It's no excuse, but my beloved digital camera crashed a few months ago and while I've tried a few things to see if I can fix it (to no avail), it seems that I'll have to get a new one. I have snapped a few shots with my 3G iPhone (no flash, no zoom, not really a great picture-taker, but still something), and luckily, the sites that have inspired my recipes have some great pics you can check out. So let's catch up on some recent favorites. First, let me say that I'm LOVING reading 2 healthy blogs- one is Peanut Butter Fingers and the other is Can You Stay For Dinner? . Both Julie & Andie are fabulous writers and positive sources of motivation/inspiration for my 2012 healthy lifestyle. Since I'm following these blogs, I found out that Fitness.com has their Fitterati Blogger Awards voting going on now, and you can go find the best blogs for healthy eating, exercise, and more here. Awesome :) I've also been using Pinterest to keep track of recipes I find that I want to make, as well as those that I've made (I'll be updating/moving some of these around after I write this post). Enjoy, and please don't hesitate to send a text or give a call if I go this long without posting again and tell me to get my hiney in gear. Thanks in advance :)

First up...Spinach Mini Muffins (inspired by my sister Rachael, who found the recipe at Eatingwell.com)

These should take about 40 minutes total (prep and baking)
Ingredients:
12 ounces fresh spinach, (I labored over fresh spinach for way too long, and while they turned out delicious, I think next time I'll definitely use frozen spinach- and hopefully my Quick Chef or an alternate food processor)
1/2 cup part-skim ricotta cheese, or low-fat cottage cheese (I used ricotta)
1/2 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese, plus more for garnish
2 large eggs, beaten
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper (skipped)

Prep:
Preheat oven to 400°F.
Pulse spinach in three batches in a food processor until finely chopped (or, if you want to spend a really long time on it, roll up spinach leaves together and chop, chop, chop until you have about 10 cups!). Transfer to a large bowl. Add ricotta (or cottage cheese), Parmesan, eggs, garlic, salt and pepper; stir to combine.
Coat 8 cups of the muffin pan with cooking spray. Divide the spinach mixture among the 8 cups. I used mini muffin tins and this recipe made a LOT (like, enough to refrigerate and freeze to enjoy the following week).
Bake the spinach cakes until set, about 20 minutes (about 15 for minis). Let stand in the pan for 5 minutes. Loosen the edges with a knife and turn out onto a clean cutting board or large plate. Serve warm, sprinkled with more Parmesan, if desired.


Note: Baby spinach is immature or young spinach—it's harvested earlier than large-leaved mature spinach. We like the sturdy texture of mature spinach in cooked dishes and serve tender, mild-flavored baby spinach raw or lightly wilted. Baby and mature spinach can be used interchangeably in these recipes (yields may vary slightly); be sure to remove the tough stems from mature spinach before using.

10 ounces trimmed mature spinach=about 10 cups raw
10 ounces baby spinach=about 8 cups raw

Nutrition (love that Eatingwell.com has this info, be sure to cut it into 1/2 or even 1/3? for minis)
Per serving: 141 calories; 8 g fat ( 4 g sat , 3 g mono ); 123 mg cholesterol; 6 g

Nutrition Bonus: Vitamin A (170% daily value), Folate (46% dv), Vitamin C (40% dv), Calcium (30% dv), Potassium (16% dv).

Review: I thought these were delicious and very mini-quiche-like and the recipe made so many! They'd be awesome in a little crust, but were great the way that they were. The only thing I'd change is that I used Pam in the tin and did not use papers and the bottom of the muffins tasted a little Pam-my. I'd probably do something different next time to avoid that. These were nice as a snack or a side dish and I'll definitely make them again.

Irish Potatoes- a St. Patty's Day treat :)

MMM mmm good. Here's the recipe:


- 1/4 cup butter, softened
- 4 oz. regular cream cheese (not lowfat or whipped)
- 7 oz. shredded coconut/coconut flakes
- 1 lb. powdered sugar, plus extra for coating hands
- 2 tbsp. ground cinnamon (I used a little bit more)

Preparation:
With mixer, cream together cream cheese and butter in a medium bowl. Mix in sugar and vanilla, being careful to add sugar slowly to avoid creating a large sugar cloud. Stir in coconut flakes. Put cinnamon into small bowl.

Coat dry hands with a little powdered sugar and using your hands take small pieces of mixture (about 2 teaspoons apiece) and form into potato shape. Drop potatoes into cinnamon and roll to coat. Place on baking sheet. When all the potatoes have been formed and dipped in cinnamon, refrigerate for several hours until firm.

These were so creamy and yummy. As you roll and coat these with cinnamon, you'll notice they get a little too creamy and tough to work with. When this happens, put the mixture in the refrigerator for a few minutes, then try again. You'll want to keep the potatoes at room temp or cooler once they're made so they don't get too sticky, but this was a great recipe.

Source: http://entertaining.about.com/od/stpatricksday/r/irishpotatcandy.htm

Crescent Roll Pizza- a favorite for all ages!

I'll post pictures the next time we make these (made them this weekend, but they were eaten too fast to get a good snapshot)! I've been making crescent roll pizza with kids while babysitting since high school and have recently decided to share it's awesomeness (and easy-ness) with family, friends, and all of you. Here's what you'll need:

1 jar tomato sauce
2-4 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese
1 or 2 tubes of Pillsbury Crescent Rolls (each will make 8 rolls, people tend to eat between 2-4)
Optional: toppings- pepperoni, sausage, pineapple, pepper, anchovies, extra cheese, etc.

Roll out crescent roll triangles. Put on sauce, cheese, and toppings. Roll up. Follow baking instructions (usually 11-13 minutes in oven) and enjoy!

A fun idea: get lots of different toppings and have a crescent roll pizza party! Each person can create their own pizza rolls and enjoy in just a few minutes.