Chicken and Feta Pizza with Pesto
Homemade pizza is a tasty and easy week night family meal. You can use leftovers to make your own creations or recreate some of your favorites from a restaurant. My personal favorite is a flavor combination that I copied from a local pizza restaurant that went out of business several years ago. I was sad to see them go but after a little bit of experimenting I was able to recreate my favorite at home using a pesto base topped with chicken, pine nuts, and feta cheese.
Orange Date Muffins – aka The Best Breakfast Muffins Ever
I have a confession. I have been gorging myself on delicious treats. You will, however, be shocked to hear that it isn’t chocolate – I know my 6 year old was. Since we moved to Southern California and joined a CSA (which I’d highly recommend to anyone who has one available to them) my family has been trying all kinds of new fruits and vegetables. I’ve discovered that I absolutely love fresh dates. Dried dates are delicious as well (and are very tasty in my blueberry date salad) but fresh dates are something divine. If you don’t think you like dates, try them fresh. We’ve been using fresh dates to make these delicious orange date muffins for a healthy and insanely satisfying (and kid-friendly) breakfast.
Depression Era Bread
Lately, I have really enjoyed making bread. Making your own bread is a great way to save money. In fact, I made a goal this year to make all my sandwich bread from scratch, and learn how to make other breads as well. As I was researching breads online, I stumbled upon this recipe for something called Depression Era Bread.
Make Your Own Homemade Bread
As a young child I remember my grandmother making homemade bread. Her specialty was yeast rolls. I remember thinking the process was so fascinating and exciting. It was not until I was a mom though that I learned to really make homemade bread. As a busy mom, I decided to buy a bread maker and, while I loved how it cooked and did all the work, I really did not like how it looked when it came out of the machine. So I mostly just used it to make the dough for me. For my anniversary this year, my husband bought me a Kitchen Aid Mixer. I have wanted one of these ever since I watched my grandmother using hers. The first thing I wanted to make with it was the dough I use to make homemade bread. I thought it would be so hard and time consuming, but it was really quite easy and took less time than I thought. Of course you can always break down and knead the dough the old fashioned way if you do not have a bread maker or stand mixer with a dough hook. I also love the look on my kids’ faces when I make them homemade bread; they think it’s a dessert or something. I also think bread making is a great way to save money.
Garlic Bread
This is simply the best garlic bread I’ve ever made. It’s a little involved, but those that love garlic, butter and crusty bread will swoon over it. Dusted with cheese and golden with garlicky goodness, it’s definitely one for the arsenal and can help make even a dinner of spaghetti and sauce straight from a jar a truly memorable experience.
Lemon Berry Muffins
I made these muffins on Easter morning for a treat, though they really weren’t much work at all. The can be mixed with whatever berry type fruit you have floating around in your kitchen or in your freezer. The lemony body of the muffin is the perfect foil to the jammy pockets of fruit that result from the berries cooking in the oven–you don’t even need to butter these to enjoy them. As breakfast pastries go, these are lower in fat than most using just two eggs or tofu and no butter or oil so enjoy without guilt.
Blueberry Muffins
Whenever my early morning hunger strikes, it can always be cured with a blueberry muffin. Truthfully, all I need is one blueberry muffin, any time of day, and I am ready to go. I found this recipe in the 1996 November/December issue of Cooking Light magazine, which someone tossed into the recycling bin where I use to live. Little did I know I would find in this issue several delicious recipes that have become staples in our home. The other funny thing is that the original recipe for these muffins, which I modified, was part of a paid advertisement for Chevrolet. They were promoting the cars and threw in the recipes to satisfy the cooking readers. All I have to say is “good job!” Whenever my early morning hunger strikes, it can always be cured with a blueberry muffin. Truthfully, all I need is one blueberry muffin, any time of day, and I am ready to go. I found this recipe in the 1996 November/December issue of Cooking Light magazine, which someone tossed into the recycling bin where I use to live. Little did I know I would find in this issue several delicious recipes that have become staples in our home. The other funny thing is that the original recipe for these muffins, which I modified, was part of a paid advertisement for Chevrolet. They were promoting the cars and threw in the recipes to satisfy the cooking readers. All I have to say is “good job!”
Blender Pancakes
This is a great way to get more whole grains into your diet and it is so easy to make. My kids love it and I know that I’m feeding them a healthy breakfast.
Festive Holiday Cranberry Muffins with Rich Butter Sauce
These cranberry muffins are a favorite at my house during the holidays. They are really simple to make and are absolutely delicious, especially eaten hot with the rich butter sauce poured over the top. These muffins are by no means low fat but they are so tasty and they make a great holiday gift for friends and neighbors. You can make a lower fat version by using whole wheat flour and serving them without the butter sauce. My kids love the healthy version for a fast breakfast during the Christmas season.
Cornbread
This is a great cornbread recipe that can be used for any meal. It is on the sweeter side and can be served with honey, or also eaten plain.
