Lisaopolis.comA Nurse's Journey to a Healthy and Balanced Life

Today I made my one of my ultimate favorite varieties of muffin: Peanut Butter and Banana Muffins. This is one of my favorite recipes because it combines three of my favorite ingredients: banana, chocolate, and peanut butter, into a lovely muffin. The original recipe comes from Company’s Coming: Mostly Muffins, by Jean Pare (Page 21). Here is the recipe (with my modifications).

 Peanut Butter and Banana Muffins

1 cup all purpose white flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/3 cup Lightly packed brown sugar

1 tbsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

1 large egg

3 medium ripe-overripe bananas (pealed)

2/3 cup peanut butter (I used smooth)

2/3 cup skim milk

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp Olive oil

½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the flours, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Add the chocolate chips and stir well. Add all the remaining ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Add the blender mixture to the bowl and stir until completely combined. Spoon batter into prep reared muffin tins. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until lightly golden, and a toothpick comes out clean. Enjoy.

Here is a recipe I tried from fellow blogger friend Fahriye. The cookies turned out yummy. Crunchy, yet soft, and not too sweet. The recipes makes about 40 cookies. Enjoy.

I did modify the recipe slightly. I searched all over the small city where I live and was unable to find rose water. Instead I made a very concentrated rose hip tea and used about ¼-½ cup of this instead of the 2 tbsp rose water.

I also used 4 tbsp raisins instead of two, and 4 tbsp hazelnuts (flaked) instead of two.

I used strawberry and raspberry yogurt because we didn’t have any plain yogurt.

Finally I added baking powder 3 tsp, because we don’t have self rising flour (only all purpose).

Here is Fahriye’s Blog. http://www.fahriyeskitchen.blogspot.com/

Hazelnut Cookies

1 cup natural yogurt

1 cup sugar

2 eggs ( keep one yolk for the top of the cookies )

Half a cup vegetable oil

2 tbsp chopped hazelnuts

2 tbsp raisins

2 tsp cinnamon

2tbsp rose water

4 cups self raising flour

First mix the sugar and oil well together, add the beaten eggs. Mix well. Add the hazelnuts, raisins, cinnamon to the flour and mix with all the ingredients into a smooth dough with the rose water. Shape into rounds, brush it with egg yolk and decorate with whole hazelnuts. Cook in pre-heated oven on 175C for 10-15 minutes. Serve warm.

Tonight I’m working another night shift. Since I am working nights, I got my usual craving/desire to bake some muffins. I found a recipe in: Company’s Coming Mostly Muffins by Jean Pare, that looked interesting. It is a carrot muffin recipe (on page 43). However the original recipe has no spices, or flavorings in it other then vanilla. Consequently, I changed things up a bit. This is what I came up with. Enjoy.

Carrot Cream Muffins

4 oz cream cheese

¼ cup sour cream

4 tsp granulated sugar

¼ cup finely chopped walnuts

1 ¾ cup all purpose flour

½ cup whole wheat flour

½ cup lightly packed/loose brown sugar

2 tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp nutmeg

2 large eggs

2-3 carrots pealed and cut into small pieces

Sour milk (1 cup skim milk mixed with 1 tsp white vinegar)

3-4 tbsp orange juice

3 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp vanilla extract.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine first 4 ingredients in a small bowl. Mix well.

In a large bowl combine the: flours, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Mix well.

In a blender, add the brown sugar, vanilla, sour milk, carrot, orange juice, olive oil and eggs. Blend until smooth.

Add the blender mixture into the dry mixture and stir well.

Spoon into muffin tins.

Add the cream cheese mixture on top (make a well first so that it bakes into the top of the muffin)

Bake until a tooth pick comes out clean when pricked (about 30 minutes).

Enjoy.

Last night I worked a night shift. It seems quite often when I work nights I always feel like baking in the evening before work. So that is what I did last evening. I made some muffins. The original recipe is in Company’s Coming Mostly Muffins by Jean Pare (page 15). However my recipe bears little resemblance.

Chocolate Chip Blueberry Muffins

Makes 12 Large medium sized muffins

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 ½ cups all purpose white flour

½ cup granulated sugar

1 tbsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

2 eggs

¼ cup margarine melted

1 ½ cups skim milk

About 1 cup frozen or fresh blueberries

½ semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees C.

In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Mix well. Add blueberries and chocolate ship and mix well. Combine the egg, milk, and margarine in a smaller bowl. Mix well. Add liquid mixture to dry mixture. Mix until a muffin batter forms. Place in prepared muffin tins. Bake until muffins are slightly golden on top and a tooth pick comes out clean. Enjoy.

The other day I was in a grocery store in the baking looking to buy some nuts. I found the hazel nuts and decided to get some. However after checking the expiry date I noticed that all the packages on the shelf were just slightly past their best before date. I decided to get three bags. I asked at customer service if since they were expired nuts I could get some kind of discount on them. The customer service lady made a phone call, and then said yes, 50% off all the expired ones. This delighted me. It was a little risky because I know nuts can go rancid. However once home, it was discovered that they were still good.

Since we have so many hazel nuts in the house, I decided to make some muffins with them. Here is the recipe I came up with. Enjoy.

Banana Chocolate Chip Hazelnut (Filbert) Muffins

Makes 12 very large (medium muffins)

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup all purpose (white four)

½ tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

½ cup skim milk

2 tsp white vinegar

¼ cup olive oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp rum (or rum extract)

1 cup lightly packed-loose brown sugar

2 large eggs

½ cup flaked/finely chopped hazelnuts (filberts)

½-¾ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

About 1.5 cups of frozen or fresh banana pieces

Preheat oven to 350 degrees C. Prepare muffin tins. In a large bowl combine flours, baking powder, and baking soda. Mix well. Add the hazelnuts and chocolate chips and mix well. Set aside. In a blender add the banana, egg, milk, vinegar, oil, vanilla extract, and rum. Blend until smooth. Add the liquid mixture to the dry mixture, and mix until completely combined. Spoon batter into muffin tins. Bake for about until slightly golden on top and a toothpick comes out clean. (About 20-35 minutes).

Tonight I was in the mood for trying to cook something new. I decided to make chili. I am normally not a fan of beans in any way shape or form. However in this chili they were divine. I served the chili with store bought garlic bread on the side. If it is too spicy try adding extra sour cream to your bowl. Also drinking a glass of milk on the side will help with the heat.

Zesty Turkey Chili

Takes about 1 hour 20 minutes to make (max)

Oil

Medium sized package of extra lean ground turkey

1 tbsp taco seasoning

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp dried oregano flakes

1 tsp dried parsley flakes

1 tsp chipotle pepper

1 tsp salt plus a few extra shakes

½ tsp ground black pepper

1 tsp garlic powder

2 packages of vegetable bouillon prepared according to package

1 medium white onion

2 tbsp fresh minced chives

1 red pepper

1 carrot

2 garlic cloves minced

1 fresh tomato

½ zucchini

1 cup frozen corn

398 ml brown beans

156 ml tomato paste

A few peas

About ¼ cup medium salsa

1 (7 oz can chopped green Chile peppers)

water (add if it is too thick once everything else except sour cream is in pot)

1 cup light sour cream

Large bowl grated cheddar cheese

Multi grain tortilla chips

Heat the oil in large pot on medium heat. Place the ground turkey in the pot and cook until brown. Add all the spices and herbs, onion and chives, and cook for a few minutes. While this is cooking prepare all the vegetables including chili peppers. Set aside. Prepare the 2 packages of vegetable bouillon according to package. Add to pot. Now add all the vegetables. Stir occasionally. Now add the tomato paste (with a little extra water), salsa, and beans. Boil for 5-10 minutes (the longer the better). Then add the sour cream and simmer for min 15 minutes. Serve with broken up multi grain tortilla chips, and cheddar cheese.

Enjoy

Yesterday I was in the mood for pasta, so I decided to make a lasagna. I served it with green salad and garlic bread. Here is the recipe.

Lasagna

1 package ground beef

1 carrot grated

1 medium white onion

Fresh chives

3 stalks celery

Frozen spinach

Water Cress

1 medium sized tomato

1 red pepper

1 package of whole grain lasagna noodles

1 large bowl of grated cheddar cheese

Salt

Pepper

Parsley (dried flakes)

Basil (dried flakes)

Dill (dried flakes)

Crushed red pepper flakes

Ketchup

Your favorite tomato based pasta sauce 700ml

Louisiana hot sauce

Prepare vegetables, chives and watercress (chop to desired size). On medium to high heat in some extra virgin olive oil fry the ground beef. Once it is nicely browned add all the spices and herbs. Stir well for a couple minutes. Now add your prepared vegetables. Cook until nicely tender and brown. Now add the Louisiana hot sauce, ketchup, and pasta sauce. Bring to a boil for a few minutes. While you are doing this get a large pot out and sprinkle olive oil in it. Fill it with cold water, and add a few shakes of salt to it. Bring to a boil and add the lasagna noodles. Cook or about 8 minutes or until soft (caution do not over cook them though, they will also get baked in the oven so they don’t have to be perfectly soft). Once the noodles are cooked, drain and run over cool water (to make them easy to handle). Now grease a baking pan with olive oil. Now layer the bottom with noodles. Then put a layer of meat mixture on top of this. Now add a layer of cheddar. Repeat whole layering procedure once again. When you are done you should have a layer of noodles on top. Sprinkle cheddar on top of this. Bake in your preheated oven at 350 degrees, for 30-45 minutes.

Below are some images of the dinner.

Today in the spirit of trying to improve my health (immune system) I decided to make myself a healthy smoothie. Here is the recipe.

Strawberry Banana Smoothie

One large banana (peeled)

6-10 frozen or fresh strawberries

100 g no fat vanilla yogurt

100 g no fat strawberry yogurt

1 ½- 1 ¾ cup skim milk (or more if needed)

1 teaspoon lime juice

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Serve immediately.

Makes two large sized glasses of smoothie.

Below is an image of the smoothie.

A few nights ago I was in the mood for pasta. I found a recipe in one of my favorite cook books: Reader’s Digest Low-Calorie Cookbook (page 139) Tagliatelle with Green Sauce.

The recipe intrigued me so I gave it a try. This was my first time making this type of pasta, and I must say, I love it! I will be making this recipe again. It was also a big hit with my mom. Enjoy!

Note: I did add a few things to the original recipe. This is the original recipe with my additions.

Tagliatelle with Green Sauce

10 oz baby spinach

3 oz watercress (remove thick stems)

1 cup frozen peas

1 pound fresh tagliatelle

3 tsp corn starch

1 cup no fat sour cream

4 tbsp dry flaked parsley

1 tbsp basil

Salt

Pepper

A few stalks of green onion minced

A small amount of minced chives

¼ cup water

A few shakes of red pepper flakes

A few shakes of garlic powder

Rinse the first two ingredients and place in a pot with only the water that remains on the leaves. Cover and cook on medium heat until the vegetables wilt (3-5 minutes). Add the peas and cook through. Drain the greens and save the liquid for later. Bring a large pot of water to boil and cook the pasta in it according to package directions (about 8 minutes or until desired tenderness is reached). Drain, set aside covered. In the pot where the vegetables had been cooking blend the sour cream and corn starch into a paste. Add the ¼ cup water. Add the basil, parsley, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and red pepper flakes. Stir on medium heat until bubbles start to form. Then add the greens, including the green onion and chives (as well as the spinach watercress mixture). Heat the sauce through. Drizzle all of the sauce over the pasta. Mix well.

I severed this with baked bbq chicken and it was lovely, with garlic bread on the side, and herb dip and vegetables for a few added vitamins.

Below is an image of the dinner (my dad’s plate). J

Yesterday I was in the mood for cooking. One of the things I made was a dip. I wanted to make a new kind of dip, so I made my own. It was very yummy. A little bit zesty and very flavorful! I served it with a collection of favorite vegetables. Enjoy.

Herb Dip

½ cup no fat sour cream

1/3 cup plain no fat yogurt

1 tbsp light mayonnaise

½ cup fresh grated parmesan cheese

Fresh minced chives (about 1-2 tbsp)

1 green onion minced

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp garlic powder

1 tbsp dried parsley flakes

Desired amount of pepper

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Serve immediately or at a later time with your favorite vegetables or breads.

Below is an image of the dip.