Apple Muffins

As I was sitting on the couch this evening watching Ghost Adventures, I was thinking of my blog and how I really wanted it to be a baking blog and I had this urge to just bake something.  In my mind I was going through the options I had to bake "The bananas aren't ripe enough for bread...I don't have a full bag of chocolate chips, damn my chocolate cravings!" I remembered then that I bought a bag of apples at the grocery store and decided to use those for something. Apples are the best during fall, crisp and juicy, and I love to bake with them. I found the original apple muffin recipe from The-Girl-Who-Ate-Everything.  As I speak (a.k.a write this) the house is starting to smell like apple-brown sugar-cinnamon goodness.

EDIT:  I brought some muffins to a couple of my co-workers and they both LOVED them.  One asked for the recipe, and the other said she doesn't even like apples that much but thought the muffins were amazing.

Ingredients you'll need:
2 cups granulated sugar2 eggs
1 cup oil (I used about 1 1/4 cup oil...I'll tell you why further down)
1/2 tbsp vanilla extract (the original recipe called for 1 tbsp but I thought that seemed like a bit much)
3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
3 cups of diced apples, peeled and cored (I used 5 small apples and it was just a little over 3 cups)
brown sugar for topping, optional

1. Peel, core, and chop the apples.  This is the most tedious part of this whole process, in my opinion.

2. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and line muffin pans with cupcake liners

3. Combine sugar, eggs, 1 cup oil, and vanilla in a bowl.

4. Add flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon to wet ingredients and stir until  just combined. The batter is supposed to be really thick and DO NOT OVER-STIR! I REPEAT, DO NOT OVER-STIR! I think I over-stirred using my mixer and totally effed something up.  The "batter" was so dry it was more like wet sand (you could have totally made batter castles with it) than batter.  I added more oil, about 1/4 cup more and a little bit of water until the "batter" became more like thick batter. Crisis averted though!

5. Add apples to batter and stir to combine.

Love those apple chunks! 

6. Fill cupcake liners about 3/4 full and sprinkle with brown sugar, if desired. After baking, the brown sugar gives a nice crunch to the muffins.

7. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Considering I messed up the batter I think the muffins turned out pretty darn good! I had to tell myself to keep in mind these are apple muffins, not apple-cinnamon muffins.  I would have preferred more of a cinnamon taste myself so if  I make these again I will definitely be adding more cinnamon. Until next time, Fire Away!

Before the muffins went in the oven

after the muffins came out of the oven

Chili

One of my favorite things about Fall and Winter is the yummy, warm comfort food. I love the colder weather (summer is my least favorite season) and chili is definitely a staple in our winter diet and it's a delicious combatant to the cold Minnesota winters. Now that the air is getting a bit nippy I knew I had to make chili and soon! The only problem is that I put beans in my chili which, according to the great Dr. Sheldon Cooper, makes it not chili.  But it's delicious, whatever it is. :)

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef (or ground turkey)
1 - 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes (I go with the petite diced but regular is fine)
1 - 8 oz can tomato sauce
1 - 15.5 oz can kidney beans, drained (light or dark, depending on your preference. I use dark)

Now this is where I'm going to pause and let you know that these ingredients can be tweaked to your own taste, but this is how I usually make the recipe.

4-5 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
8-10 shakes of Cholula original hot sauce
5-6 shakes red pepper flakes
1/2 of a large onion, chopped
1 1/2 - 2 tsp minced garlic

Off-topic tangent: Every single time I write "tsp" I think of Sleeping Beauty when the fairies making Aurora's birthday cake and Fauna says, "Now, yeast, one tsp. Tsp?"
Merryweather: " one teaspoon"
Fauna: "one teaspoon, of course!"

Now back to the recipe.

Brown the ground beef, drain, and set aside.

In a large saucepan (or large 5 qt deep saute pan) combine the canned ingredients (tomatoes, tomato sauce, and drained kidney beans) and stir. Make sure the pan you're using is large enough to stir all of the ingredients together without making a huge mess!  Add the chopped onion and stir again.

Add all of the seasonings and stir well to combine all the ingredients. I usually taste-test after adding all the ingredients to see what's missing.  Add the ground beef and stir well.

Cover the pan and simmer for at least an hour.  I find the longer it simmers, the better it tastes.  Stir occasionally, maybe every 20 minutes or so. I taste-test while it simmers as well because I find the flavors meld together while it simmers and the spicy ingredients (hot sauce and pepper flakes) get spicier.

After it simmers for however long, dig in!

I always serve our chili with cornbread and it's SO good. Until next time, Fire Away!

Caprese Pasta

I. love. pasta. I will eat almost any kind of pasta and as much as I love  sauce, I do also try to find pasta recipes that don't require sauce (to save calories, really) and I found a recipe for One-Pot Caprese Pasta.  Anything caprese is usually a win in my book and fresh basil is amazingggg! Just ask Nala...she tried to eat the basil plant.

Ingredients you'll need:
2 1/4 cup water
1.5 tbsp olive oil
8 oz bow-tie pasta
1/2 of a clamshell of grape tomatoes, sliced
3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup fresh basil (about 8-10 leaves, depending on their size)
1.5 tsp minced garlic
Handful of baby spinach (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste

First, add all the ingredients into one pot (water, olive oil, pasta, tomatoes, basil, garlic, salt and pepper, spinach if you want) except for the mozzarella cheese. I added a handful of baby spinach for some extra nutrition but the original recipe I found doesn't call for it and it's not necessary. I only used about 1/4 cup of spinach but I think I'll use more next time.

Cook over high heat until boiling. The garlic and the  basil made the house smell absolutely heavenly. Reduce heat to a simmer and stir occasionally while cooking for another 11-12 minutes, or until the pasta is cooked and water is reduced.

Remove from heat and let stand for a couple minutes.  Stir in mozzarella cheese until thoroughly combined. Feel free to garnish with some extra basil and a little extra cheese. Serve (and eat!) immediately.

I didn't want to stop eating this dish, it was THAT good. I'm bringing the leftovers to work tomorrow for lunch. Until next time, Fire Away!

Sloppy Joes

Growing up, I kind of got tired of having the same meals over and over again.  Then I went to college and craved things like real homemade mashed potatoes, tacos, and my mom's sloppy joes. For my birthday one year I actually requested that we have sloppy joes because I missed homemade cooking. Andy used to eat Manwich sloppy joes (I despise Manwich) and I had to beg him to let me cook sloppy joes without Manwich and after I did, he's never wanted Manwich again.  I am going to preface this by saying this is not a healthy recipe...for me, it's comfort food that I craved when I couldn't be home, and for my picky boyfriend it's a meal he'll actually eat over and over again (because it's not healthy), and sometimes even requests it. We have sloppy joes about once a month and it's so simple. My mom actually found this recipe in the Star Tribune back in the 80's. It's a recipe that has stood the test of time and I've had other sloppy joes and they don't taste as good as these, in my opinion.

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef (we use 85/15 but obviously any kind will work)

1/2 cup chopped onion (optional if you don't like onion...we usually add more than 1/2 cup!)

1 cup ketchup

1 tsp yellow mustard

1 beef bouillon cube (or 1 tsp beef bouillon granules)

2 tsp sugar

1/4 cup water

1. Brown hamburger with onions in a fry pan and drain the fat. 

2. Add the ketchup, mustard, bouillon cube, sugar and water to the beef.  Stir well so all the beef is covered by the sauce. 

3. Let simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until bouillon cube is dissolved and sauce has thickened. 

4. TA-DA! All done. I usually top my sloppy joes with pickles or banana peppers. Enjoy! 

I don't need to put this recipe in the fire-proof box because it's in my mind.  Until next-time, Fire away! 

I'm baaaaaack!

Goodness gracious, has it really been almost 2 YEARS since I last posted?  that makes me a little sad, but it's been a busy two years.  Andy and I moved into a house, I got a promotion at work last Fall which has been keeping me incredibly busy, I had 2 nieces and one nephew born last year, and to top off all the excuses, I kind of forgot about the blog for a while. But, here I am again.  I'm trying to cook more so we eat out less, and I finally have my KitchenAid mixer! I got it for my birthday last December and the color is espresso, which is perfect for our coffee-themed kitchen.

Long story short, I'm really hoping I can keep up with my blog again.  It's nice to have a hobby. :) And I get to share all the delicious recipes I've found, tried, failed at, ya know.