Friday, April 30, 2010

Raisin Bran Muffins

As I mentioned in my previous post, I'm getting more confident when it comes to modifying recipes--either to better suit my tastes, cater to what I have on hand, or aim for a healthier but still tasty version. This past week I took a recipe for bran muffins that I found on allrecipes.com and made all kinds of modifications to it out of a desire for a healthier muffin, and to deal with the fact that Jewel was out of regular bran flakes cereal. The result: Raisin Bran Muffins that I didn't have to feel guilty about eating for breakfast every day this week. :) Here's the recipe if you'd like to try them for yourself!

Suz's Raisin Bran Muffins

INGREDIENTS:
1 C all-purpose flour
1 C whole wheat flour
1 T baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
2 1/2 C skim milk
1/2 C molasses
1/2 C honey
1/2 C egg substitute (eq. of 2 eggs)
1/4 C no-sugar added applesauce
4 C raisin bran cereal

DIRECTIONS: 
  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease muffin pans or line with paper baking cups. 
  2. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. 
  3. In a separate large bowl, mix milk, molasses, honey, egg, and applesauce. Mix in the cereal and let sit for 10 minutes to allow cereal to absorb liquid.
  4. Gradually add flour mixture to cereal mixture and stir thoroughly to combine. Batter will be runny, but that's ok.
  5. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full. (Depending on the size of your muffin cups, this recipe will yield between 20-24 muffins.)
  6. Bake 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. 
  7. Remove from pan immediately and allow to cool. (Although I highly recommend eating one while still warm, with a tiny pat of butter. Yum!)

Thursday, April 29, 2010

A Year of Deer, Episode 15: Country-Style Skillet Dinner

And with this post, I'm up to date! Hurrah! I prepared this meal on Tuesday of this week. Monday night found me on the couch, flipping through cookbooks to find a simple recipe in which I could use a pound of ground venison and other ingredients I already had in my pantry. My search ended when I found a recipe for a "Country-Style Skillet Dinner" in the Kitchen Keepsakes cookbook that had been compiled as a fundraiser for FBC Wheaton back in 1994.

As I looked over the recipe, I realized that as written, it would taste okay, but not like much of anything beyond ground meat, pasta, and tomato sauce. And that's when I went to my spice cupboard and grabbed several jars of spices and seasonings. The more time I spend in the kitchen (cooking & baking), the more comfortable I'm getting with deviating from recipes: adding spices, changing quantities, substituting this for that. I am gaining confidence as a cook, becoming more comfortable with the ingredients that pass through my hands on their way to our table, and finding great satisfaction in the process.

A Year of Deer, Episode 14: Venison Tips with Seasoned Rice & Peppers

This is the second meal I've made from the I'm Hooked, I'm Game cookbook. I fussed with the recipe a little, increasing the amount of various spices, but in the end I thought it was still a little too bland for it to rightly have "seasoned" in the recipe title. It was an easy dish to prepare, however, unlike anything we've had with venison so far, and the different colored peppers made for a pretty dish.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

A Year of Deer, Episode 13: Slow Cooker Lasagna (Again)

This turned out so well the first time (see Episode 2) I had to make it again. Take 2 was just as tasty as the first time around, and once again we relished the leftovers. Since posting this recipe on my blog and Facebook, several friends have made it also (though with beef or turkey instead of venison) and all I've heard are good reports of the results. If you have a slow cooker, why haven't you made this yet?! It's so good!

A Year of Deer, Episode 12: Venison Steaks

Hello readers! After an unintended hiatus (from blogging, not from cooking with venison) I am back to bring this blog up to the present. Episode 12 featured venison in its most natural form to date: steaks, grilled with just a bit of seasoning. Travis expertly played the grill master while I prepared mashed potatoes with chives and green beans on the side. It was a simple, healthful, tasty and visually appealing meal.