The Most Amazing Chocolate Chip Bran Muffins

The following is a single recipe for them. I ALWAYS double it though. I've tripled it before but it was so much batter. I had a hard time mixing it.

PREHEAT OVEN to 350

 I've tried generic bran cereals and Fiber One and they just aren't as good in this recipe.

2 cups Kellogg's All Bran ORIGINAL. (NOT Flakes)
1 cup Kellogg's Bran Buds
1 cup boiling water
Mix boiling water with both cereals. Let soak for 5 minutes or so.

Mean while, mix the following ingredients together in a mixing bowl:
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup oil
2 cups buttermilk

Add the soaked cereals to the mixing bowl and mix well.
Add chocolate chips to batter. I've never measured. Jed likes his with more chocolate than me. I like it when each muffin has 3 or 4 chips.

Spray your muffin pans with Pam (or whatever non stick spray you use) and fill the cups about 2/3 full.
Bake for 20 minutes.

Here is my HUGE secret to making them taste the best:
When they come right out of the oven and are cooled, I don't really love them. They aren't nearly as moist.

Here is what I've found. When they are still a little warm place the in Ziplock bags. (make sure they are freezer bags). Give them an hour or more in the baggie. The warmth softens the outer part of the muffins.
Also these freeze AMAZINGLY well. When we are finished with one baggie, I pull out another and leave on the counter. You can also warm them in the microwave at 50%.
ENJOY

Crepes Filling

FILLING:

1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 8 oz. container Cool Whip
2 packages of Sugar Free White Chocolate

The powder at the bottom of my Thrive Freeze Dried Strawberries can. It give it a slight strawberry taste and a pretty light pink color

A couple dashes of Vanilla extract and Almond extract

A couple tablespoons of powdered sugar to help with the tartness from the strawberries

3 c. milk
Rehydrated  Thrive Strawberries and sprinkled it lightly with powdered sugar

Cream cream cheese and strawberry powder until smooth. Mix pudding as directed using 3 cups milk. Mix together cream cheese, pudding, and the extracts. Fold in Cool Whip.

CYT: Overnight Oatmeal

3 cups water
1 1/3 cups steel-cut oats, preferably McCann's
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons dried fruit or 1/4 cup fresh berries
1/4 cup skim milk
2 tablespoons light brown sugar or pure maple syrup

Combine the water and oats in a medium saucepan, cover, and leave out overnight

In the morning, add salt and bring to a boil. Partially cover and cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until oatmeal is creamy but still chewy. Add dried or fresh fruit and milk for the last minute of cooking. Stir in brown sugar or maple syrup and serve.

serves 6

Per Serving: 151 calories, 2 grams total fat, 91 mg sodium, 6 g sugars

From the Cook Yourself Thin Faster Cookbook by Lauren Deen

CYT: Breakfast Burrito

 Have not made these yet. If you do, PLEASE comment and tell me what you think! 
 
4 (8 in) flour tortillas
2 large eggs
6 large egg whites
1/2 (4.25 oz) can chopped green chiles
1 scallion, chopped
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
   freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon unsalted butter
3 oz turkey or chicken breakfast sausage links, chopped or patties crumbled
1/2 cup shredded low-fat Monterey Jack, Cheddar, or mixed "Mexican" cheeses
2 tablespoons jarred salsa, plus more for garnish if desired
   Hot sauce


Preheat oven to 350 F. Spread tortillas over a baking sheet and set aside

In a bowl, combine eggs, egg whites, green chiles, scallion, cilantro, and a pinch of black pepper. Whisk with a fork

Heat the butter in a medium nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the sausage and cook, stirring, until cooked, 2 to 3 minutes. Turn the heat to med-low. Put tortillas in the oven to warm. Add egg mixture to the pan and cook, stirring often, until the eggs are set in curds, 1 1/2- 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Add cheese and stir.

Place warm tortillas on plates. Spoon eggs in a line down the center of each tortilla. Add about 1/2 tablespoon salsa. Fold in the top and bottom, then roll sides. Serve immediately with hot sauce and top with more salsa if desired.

serves 4
Per Serving: 320 calories, 14 g total fat, 722 mg sodium, 2 g sugars

From the Cook Yourself Thin Faster book by Lauren Deen

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins

Ok so we made a bunch of zucchini bread and these muffins a few weeks ago. The muffins were by far much better than the zucchini bread recipe from Better Homes and Gardens. I didn't add the walnuts (Jed isn't a fan of nuts in baked items) and instead of the cup of raisins or craisins we added a cup of semi sweet chocolate chips... AMAZING!!!! They turned out so pretty that I even decided to take some pictures... maybe I can get them on here.
Zucchini Muffins

For those of you who prefer to use oil over butter, be my guest (use 1 cup vegetable oil instead of the butter) but I have to tell you, I've made these both ways, and the butter version just tastes better.
Ingredients

* 3 cups grated fresh zucchini
* 2/3 cup melted unsalted butter
* 1 1/3 cup sugar
* 2 eggs, beaten
* 2 teaspoons vanilla
* 2 teaspoons baking soda
* Pinch salt
* 3 cups all-purpose flour
* 2 teaspoons cinnamon
* 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
* 1 cup walnuts (optional)
* 1 cup raisins or dried cranberries (optional)

Method

You don't need a mixer for this recipe.

1 Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). In a large bowl combine the sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Stir in the grated zucchini and then the melted butter. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the zucchini mixture and mix in. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Stir these dry ingredients into the zucchini mixture. Stir in walnuts, raisins or cranberries if using.

2 Coat each muffin cup in your muffin pan with a little butter or vegetable oil spray. Use a spoon to distribute the muffin dough equally among the cups, filling the cups up completely. Bake on the middle rack until muffins are golden brown, and the top of the muffins bounce back when you press on them, about 25 to 30 minutes. Test with a long toothpick or a thin bamboo skewer to make sure the center of the muffins are done. Set on wire rack to cool for 5 minutes. Remove muffins from the tin let cool another 20 minutes.

Note, if you are including walnuts and dried fruit, you will likely have more batter than is needed for 12 muffins. I got about 14 muffins from this batch, and that included filling the muffin cups up as far as they could possibly go (above the surface of the muffin tin).

Simply Recipes http://simplyrecipes.com

Copy Cat BOB EVANS SAUSAGE GRAVY

1 pound bob evans original recipe roll sausage
1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 cups milk
salt and pepper to taste
8 prepared biscuits
Crumble sausage into large skillet. Cook over medium heat until browned,
stirring occasionally. Stir in flour till dissolved. Gradually stir in milk.
Cook until thick and bubbly. Season with salt and pepper. Serve hot over
biscuits. Refrigerate leftovers.
When I made this I found that a cast iron skillet is best, I also used
evaporated milk (carnation) this made the gravy richer, creamier and thicker.

Whole Wheat Berry Flapjacks

Jed and his oldest brother, Jon, fell in love with these pancakes at the Twin Falls Farmer's Market.
It's a great way to use your wheat berries from your long term food storage!

1 cup whole wheat berries
1 cup milk
Blend berries and milk in blender for 3-4 minutes on Hi
Add another 1/2 cup milk and blend an additional 2 minutes.
Add 1 egg and 1/2 cup oil and blend together
Add 2 tablespoons sugar, 1 teaspoon baking powder, and 1/4 teaspoon salt and blend together
Cook on grill and enjoy!

German Monsters

Eat these like pancakes! Yummy with syrup and/or berries on top!

If the mixture (especially the egg) is frothy, the monsters will bubble and climb up the sides while baking!

Ingredients

• 6 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup flour
• Dash of salt
• 1/2 stick of butter
  

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. While preheating, melt butter in 9 x 13 pan.
   
2. Mix eggs in blender until very frothy.
3. Add milk to eggs and blend well.
4. Add flour and salt and blend well.
5. Pour into pan and bake for about 18 minutes or until golden brown.
6. ENJOY!

Recipe by Heidi Butler