at home with ann

I know, more muffins.  I should probably write a muffin only blog.  But, don't you like muffins? Our Christmas festivities are going to involve a lot of traveling and celebrations, and likely end with overtired kids, one of whom has lived on sugar and present-induced adrenaline for days.  If I feed him something remotely healthy for breakfast, I can overlook the candy cane chasers. Carrot Apple Muffins Modified from Minimalist Baker Ingredients: 1.5 flax eggs (1 1/2 tablespoons flax seed in 5 1/2 tablespoons water) 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted 1/3 cup mashed banana (one small banana) 1/4 cup maple syrup or honey 1 apple, grated 1/4 cup brown sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/2 cup milk or milk alternative 1 heaping cup grated carrot 2/3 cup oats 1/2 cup almond meal 1 cup + 2 Tablespoons flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon cinnamon Directions: Preheat oven to 375 degrees and prepare muffin tin. In a small bowl, co...

I came down with a cold.  This cold has done a number on my voice, which is seriously impeding my "If You're Happy and You Know It" singing abilities, but not decreasing the requests.  The only plus has been that the middle of the night coughing fits are the closest thing I've gotten to an ab workout in quite some time.  In any case, this is why I made soup when it's 85 degrees outside. Roasted Carrot and Parsnip Soup Makes ~4 cups 3 medium parsnips, peeled and cut into chunks 4-5 medium carrots, peeled and cut into chunks 1 small onion, cut into chunks 1 clove garlic, chopped 6-8 sprigs fresh thyme olive oil 2-3 cups chicken or vegetable broth Salt and Pepper Preheat oven to 375 degrees. On a baking sheet, arrange parsnips, carrots and onion in a single layer.  Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 20 minutes. Stir, and add garlic and thyme sprigs.  Roast 10 more minutes. Remove the thyme leaves from the stem...

Perhaps you are ready for a little post-Christmas detox.  If you are like me, you ate about 200 cookies in the past 2 days.  This soup is low in fat and high in vitamins and fiber.  Just the thing to help you recover.   We had three pumpkins for Fall decorations this year, one for each of us.  Two sugar pumpkins and one mini gourd for our mini guy.  In years past, our pumpkins mysteriously ended up with bite marks in them from the various animals we have prowling around at night out here in the country.  I was pleasantly surprised that this year they made it through the season unscathed, and when December rolled around, I declared it time to bring in the pumpkins and roast them up. Since my lunches are usually spent inhaling my food while trying to keep up with my little - eating/hurling hummus around the room - machine, I like to keep it simple.  A big pot of soup I can eat all week is perfect. I made a roasted butternut soup with apples and ...

You know how when you order take-out Chinese food and you get way more fortune cookies than the number of people in your party?  The highly sophisticated formula for food per person used by takeout Chinese restaurants is a mystery to me.  Since we always order enough for leftovers, it's ok  to get four cookies for two people.  A few weekends ago we ordered from a new-to-us place that turned out to have extremely generous portions.  Our order of two appetizers and three entrees (we like variety) came with seven fortune cookies.  Seven.  We ate the food for three meals, Jon even had some for extra breakfast and we still ended up throwing some away, along with five of those fortune cookies.  The shame of ordering nearly enough food for a football team prompted me to make a little healthy salad for us to detox on Monday. Wheat Berry Salad 1/2 cup dried wheat berries, steamed - I soak mine overnight, and then simmer in fresh water for about an hour...

It's that time of year when we have more tomatoes, corn and zucchini than we know what to do with.  We got 8 ears of corn and several pounds of tomatoes in our CSA pickup last week, so our meals have been all about corn, tomatoes, corn and tomatoes.  On Saturday we made homemade pizza (using this dough ) and topped it with fresh tomato sauce, mozzarella, corn and basil.  I really liked the addition of the corn on pizza, but I would recommend leaving the basil off until after baking because ours got kind of toasted. We were at the beach, so we used cookie trays instead of the pizza stone for baking, and we could totally tell the difference in crust crispiness.  Pizza stones are well worth the investment.  Also, taking crappy pictures with the flash in bad lighting doesn't do it any favors, but I wanted to give you an idea of what it looked like. Sunday night we had burgers, topped with tomatoes, and grilled corn on the cob.  I asked Jon to grill all t...

This is a nice twist on traditional hummus, and you know I usually can't get enough of the chickpeas.  Replacing the chickpeas with edamame and the traditional olive oil with sesame oil gives this an Asian flavor that pairs especially nicely with rice crackers.  I recommend the wasabi flavor if you like the spice.  The only part of this that I didn't like was peeling the skins off the edamame.  I know it gives the hummus a creamier texture, but it took a good 20 minutes during which time I was singing Disney tunes loudly to Colin in an attempt to keep him entertained and not chewing on the baseboards.  Next time I might just live dangerously and see what happens if I leave them on. Edamame Hummus recipe from Daily Garnish  Ingredients: 1 16 oz. bag frozen edamame 2 garlic scapes, roughly chopped (or one clove of garlic) 1/4 cup water (adjust as necessary) 3 Tablespoons lemon juice 2 Tablespoons tahini 2 Tablespoons sesame oil Salt Directions:...

Here's another "recipe" with one ingredient. Freeze banana chunks.  If you have a weird compulsion to buy all the bananas in the "reduced produce" section because they cost something about 5 cents each, you might have some on hand.  Oh, that's just me.  Let's move on.  Place frozen banana chunks in the food processor and let it whirl.  Stop and scrape down the sides every so often.  It will go through a weird banana pellet stage.  Don't be deterred.  Keep scraping it down and pushing the banana into the blade.  It will eventually become the consistency of soft serve ice cream. Eat as is, or add in cocoa powder, peanut butter, strawberries or whatever you like.  This makes the perfect sweet treat afternoon snack. I shared mine with my sidekick, which is why we used this elegant spoon. He loved it, and kind of dominated the spoon. In fact, this was the expression he made every time I deigned to take a bite. I probably...

As far as I'm concerned, you can never have too much quinoa.  At the market the other day I was trying to decide between buying barbecue ribs for dinner or a giant bag of quinoa.  While I like ribs, I knew I'd get much more mileage (and nutrition!) out of the quinoa, so I did the virtuous thing.  This hasn't stopped me from dropping not-so-subtle hints to Jon about the barbecue stand I want to try, however.  I'll wear him down eventually.  Add anything you want to quinoa, stir in some sort of sauce or dressing, and you have a meal.  Perfect for summer.  This is a combination of fresh summer vegetables topped with the amazingly delicious Lemon Tahini Dressing from Oh She Glows .  We had this on it's own as a light entree one night, and the leftovers as a side dish for burgers.  And, you know me, I topped mine with goat cheese, but that's entirely optional.  Summer Quinoa 1 cup dried quinoa, rinsed 1 3/4 cup vegetable broth 1 larg...

I am certainly no raw foodist, but I am willing to give just about anything a try. My sister brought this veggie pate to a party a few months ago, and I loved it.  A combination of nuts, vegetables and healthy fats in the form of olive oil and tahini, with a little sweetness from raisins to balance it all out.  This is incredibly filling, and a great raw, vegan option.  So often we are feeding people with special dietary requirements, it's good to have a few options in your repertoire.  I made half the recipe, partly because I didn't need several cups, and partly because I was sneaking cashews out of the fridge for a few weeks before making this.  I feel like I have only recently discovered how amazingly delicious cashews are.  Too bad they are also amazingly expensive to be chowed down by the handful.  Raw Veggie Pate slightly modified from Ani Phyo Makes 4 cups Ingredients: 1 cup almonds 2 cups cashews 1 Tablespoon grated ginger (you might...

This is a delicious dressing that is chock full of avocado, herbs, lemon juice and a topped off with a little olive oil.  All those healthy fats, your skin will glow!  I originally made it to go on chef salads, but also used it to top black bean burgers, and as a vegetable dip.  It's very versatile.  I also licked the spatula as I was transferring it out of the food processor, but that's not an official serving suggestion. Avocado Herb Dressing 1 large avocado 1/2 lemon, juiced 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar Handful each of basil and parsley (about 1/2 cup each) Kosher salt Black pepper Water, as needed In a food processor, combine avocaod, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar and herbs. Blend well until smooth. With the motor running, slowly add water until desired consistency. (More for a pourable dressing, less for a scoopable dip.  I did something in the middle, about 2 Tablespoons.) Season with salt and pepper to taste. This keeps in the frid...

For many years I thought I didn't like corn off the cob.  I'm not sure why, but I suspect it had something to do with canned corn at some point.  Last summer during the great CSA corn influx, when we were given 8 ears every two weeks for over a month, I gave it a try just to escape from under the sheer weight of corn piling up.  It's good!  And you don't need to follow it up with floss. Corn and Black Bean Salad is nothing new, in fact I've made a version of it before .  The variation this time was to grill the corn, though.  We had a grilled pork tenderloin this past weekend, and whenever Jon gets the grill fired up, I always have him toss on some sort of vegetable as well.   I love grilled vegetables, but I am scared of the grill because I think it's going to blow up in my face, and it seems silly to get the charcoal going just for a couple ears of corn.  All about the multi-tasking.  And not having things blow up in my face. To gr...

I love Cooking Light.  Out of all the food and cooking magazines I've subscribed to over the years (there have been a lot), it's my favorite.  Every month I bookmark at least half of the recipes.  Aside from offering healthy meals, as the name suggests, their recipes have a lot of variety, use ingredients that I have on hand or are easily obtained, and have simple, straightforward directions.  I made these on a hot night, and they were a nice, light meal.  My brother-in-law Matt, my newest full-time taste tester, declared them to be innovative and fun.  You can't ask for much more than that.  Asian Lettuce Wraps with Hoisin Peanut Sauce based on recipe from Cooking Light Serves 4 Ingredients: Sauce: 1 teaspoon canola oil 2 garlic cloves, minced 1/3 cup water 2 Tablespoons creamy almond butter (or peanut or sunflower, any nut butter will do) 4 teaspoons hoisin sauce 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper juice from 1 lime (about 1 Tablespoon) ...

Sometimes you need dinner to be simple, healthy, and able to be prepared hours before you eat.  This fit the bill on all counts.  My new love affair with mushrooms continues.  Leftovers are excellent, even eaten standing in front of the fridge holding a fork.  Balsamic Roasted Eggplant and Mushrooms with Quinoa based on Eat Live Run Ingredients: 2 medium eggplants (or one large) 16 ounces mushrooms, sliced (I used crimini) kosher salt 1 cup dry quinoa 1 3/4 cup vegetable broth 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar 2 tsp dijon mustard 1/3 cup warm water 1 clove garlic, grated 2 Tablespoons olive oil 4 green onions, chopped Directions:  Using a vegetable peeler, peel long strips on the eggplant so that it looks striped. Chop eggplant into 1/2 inch cubes and put in a colander in the sink. Sprinkle liberally with kosher salt and let sit for an hour.  This draws out some of the liquid and also takes the bitterness out of the eggplant. Preheat oven to ...

This is one of those meals you make when you don't feel like cooking.  Easy, healthy, and made up of all pantry/freezer items.  You might even have everything on hand. The potatoes give this a creamy texture, without any cream.  Leaving half the broccoli and cauliflower as florets gives you something to chew on so it's not just a puree soup.  Add the bacon for a little extra smokiness and baconess.  Leave it out and you've got a vegan soup.  Broccoli, Cauliflower and Potato Soup Ingredients: Olive oil 1 medium onion, chopped 1 stalk celery, chopped 3 garlic cloves, chopped 1 large carrot, chopped 4 Yukon gold potatoes, or about a pound and a half of any potatoes, chopped 1 lb. frozen broccoli florets 1 lb. frozen cauliflower florets 1 teaspoon dried thyme 4-6 cups vegetable broth Hot sauce Salt and Pepper Crumbled bacon, for topping In a large soup pot, heat olive oil over medium. Add in onion, celery and carrot and cook for a few minutes...

This is the same mushroom millet bowl that I made last month, but I bet a few of you passed it over because the picture was less than awesome.  It's hard to photograph mushrooms and kale at night.  I'm here to tell you to give it a try, though, because we had it again yesterday, and it is delicious!  Also, thanks to the sun staying up later and a slightly earlier dinnertime for me yesterday, I have a better picture now.  I changed the cooking process a tiny bit, so I'll just reshare the recipe with my new notes.  To mix it up even more, try adding diced chicken to the mix.  Mushroom Millet Bowl with Kale original recipe from Oh She Glows 1/2 cup uncooked millet extra virgin olive oil 2 cups chopped sweet onion 3 garlic cloves, minced 16 oz. sliced baby portabella mushrooms 1 tsp minced dried rosemary 2 tbsp nutritional yeast 1.5 tbsp tamari or soy sauce 1/2 tbsp cornstarch 1 1/4 cup vegetable broth 1 bunch fresh chopped kale, stems removed ...

Look! I made a smoothie that isn't green!  It does still have vegetables in it, however, so you can count it as healthy. As I've mentioned before, carrot cake is my favorite cake.  I've taken to buying bags of baby carrots for us to snack on throughout the week, and at one point we had three bags (two opened, how does that happen...) in the fridge.  This was the perfect use for a couple carrots. Carrot Cake Smoothie Based on Oh She Glows 1 banana (frozen works best, but fresh is fine) 1/2-1 cup almond milk (any milk will do) 1 carrot, grated (or 4 baby carrots) A few shakes of Cinnamon Dash of Nutmeg A few drops Vanilla extract 1/4 teaspoon chia seeds 1 Tablespoon flaked coconut Ice cubes Combine all ingredients in a blend and run until smooth. If you have a fancy, high speed blender like the Vitamix, you could put the carrots in in chunks, but for a regular blender I would recommend grating first. At some point I'll to try adding spinach for ext...

There's a problem with the oven.  A problem that means it takes an hour to preheat to a temperature that is no where near the one set, and randomly cools down while it's cooking.  This meant that after "roasting" in a 425 degree oven for nearly 2 hours , the pan came out cool enough to touch and the vegetables were lightly cooked and lukewarm.   Needless to say, Jon's to-do list for this weekend includes fixing the oven or buying a new one.  This meal was inspired by yet another Pinterest find.  This one , to be specific.  I strayed quite a bit from the original recipe, but really it just put the idea into my head to do a roasted vegetable couscous.  Also, the website is British, so it says things like aubergine instead of eggplant, courgettes instead of zucchini, and shallow tin instead of baking sheet.  That's fun.  Roasted Vegetable Couscous 1 medium eggplant, cut into 1/2 inch pieces 2 medium zucchini, cut into 1/2 inch pieces 1 r...

We went to New Hampshire to celebrate my Mom's birthday this past weekend.  The plan was for everyone to help with cleaning up their yard, pruning, weeding, and planting for the summer.  Everyone else worked very hard and I stood around chatting with my sister and held the baby.  I did do some cooking, though.  We had salmon for dinner, and I brought along this Spring Vegetable Quinoa.  I'm not even sure if mushrooms are Spring vegetables.  I have absolutely no idea when mushrooms are in season, but, as you know, I've been on a mushroom kick lately, so in they went. Spring Vegetable Quinoa Ingredients: 2 cups quinoa, rinsed 4 cups vegetable broth (I think you could cut this down to 3 1/2 cups, mine was a little soupier than I wanted.) 3 small shallots, sliced 1 small onion, chopped Olive oil 16 oz. mushrooms, sliced 1 bunch asparagus, sliced into 1-2 inch pieces 1 cup fresh spring peas (or 1 cup frozen peas, thawed) 3 green onions, sli...

We've made a version of these before , but I have to say I like this one better.  Even without the cheese.  I never thought I would say that. The filling is chock full of vegetables and spices, and the chopped avocado on top gives it the perfect creamy finish.  Jon topped his with sour cream, but I didn't miss it.  Some of the dishes I've made in the last few months have left me staring wistfully at Jon's plate saying things like, "How is it with cheese?  Goat cheese is my favorite.  I bet it's good.  Mine is good, but not as good as yours.  I hope you appreciate how good yours is." Sweet Potato and Black Bean Enchiladas - Vegan Inspired by Oh She Glows Ingredients: olive oil 1 medium onion, chopped 1 red bell pepper, chopped 1 jalapeno, chopped 2 cloves garlic, chopped 1 14 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled, chopped and cooked (I roasted mine at 375 for 45 minutes, you can also steam or bake) A...

I've tried to convince you to drink green smoothies before, and I'm not giving up!  They taste bright and refreshing, and on the mornings after a particularly rough night in baby land, they give me energy.  This mix gets it's tropical taste from the combination of banana and coconut oil, as well as the usual suspects of spinach, almond milk, and a handful of ice.  It would also be delicious with the addition of pineapple or mango. Let's go back to the coconut oil, though.  According to Organic Facts.com: The health benefits of coconut oil include hair care, skin care, stress relief, maintaining cholesterol levels, weight loss, increased immunity, proper digestion and metabolism, relief from kidney problems, heart diseases, high blood pressure, diabetes, HIV and cancer, dental care, and bone strength. These benefits of coconut oil can be attributed to the presence of lauric acid, capric acid and caprylic acid, and its properties such as antimicrobial, ...