weekly cookbook project: blueberry muffins

Surprisingly, I've never baked a blueberry muffin in my whole life. Not sure why, since it's probably the most common muffin out there.  I'm thinking it's the high price of blueberries, or maybe always opting to make something with chocolate. That changed this week, though, when I made my first blueberry muffin ever.

I dipped into my King Arthur Flour cookbook again and made their Classic Blueberry Muffin recipe. (I tried to find it online so I could post it, but couldn't.) They have an all-purpose basic muffin recipe that calls for sour cream and a classic recipe that doesn't. Since I didn't have sour cream--no surprise there--I went with the classic recipe.

It was really very easy. Just a matter of rinsing the blueberries and then mashing some of them, then mixing all the ingredients together. These are made like a cake batter, where you cream the butter and sugar first, then add eggs, then alternate flour and milk. I topped each with a little table sugar. The other option was cinnamon sugar, but I didn't feel like making it. I opted for cupcake liners for the pan so I wouldn't have as much cleanup. I was thwarted, though, by all the runny blueberry juice. Oh well. I tried. Actually, the mess isn't that bad--I'm just being lazy. I'm thinking next time I'll spray the whole pan with Bake Easy spray and then put the cupcake liners in. Double protection.

I have to say, it was insanely hard to not grab a hot muffin right from the pan. They were quite delicate because they were so hot and I didn't want to damage them, so I put them on the cooling rack without grabbing even a crumb. I was strong--I made it a whole five minutes before I gave in and grabbed one, which I promptly slathered in butter. They were absolutely delicious and so soft! And they were jam-packed with blueberries.

The sugar content in these was about 16g of sugar according to the recipe. I don't know if that's supposed to include the optional sugar topping, but I thinking not. One whole muffin was a bit much in the sugar department, as I felt a bit queasy for about 20 minutes afterwards (fellow WLS post-ops know what I mean...) But oh man, it was SO worth it! I took another one later on; however, I cut it in half and took about a 10 minute break in between halves. That helped me to not feel queasy.

Just a note:  I realize that I can alter recipes to include more protein, less sugar and carbs, etc., and as a gastric bypass post-op I probably should.  But I'm not super creative when it comes to that. (Kudos to those that are--there are some great websites out there!) I also don't like buying a bunch of alternative ingredients that I may use only once.  Plus, I want to feel that I'm like everyone else. That I can eat regular foods, just in smaller portions. I don't want to alter something that's going to trick my mind into thinking I can eat double because it has half the sugar. Kind of like those 100 calories snacks. They make you feel like you're being virtuous because they're only 100 calories, but then you eat two portions because, really, is one usually enough? Not for me.  

weekly cookbook project: oatmeal raisin muffins

I'd said at the beginning of the year that I was going to commit to making one recipe per week from one of my cookbooks; I have a bunch of them and I never really use them.  I was going fine up until my tummy tuck surgery at the end of February. I knew there would be a few weeks where I was out of commission, but I didn't think it would take me almost three months to get back into the swing of things. To be fair, my incision opened up a bit and was quite sensitive for many weeks, my dad died, and then I was sick for over two weeks. So, here I am. It's almost the end of May and I haven't cooked much at all in the last few months.

I was aiming for a recipe for which I had all the ingredients, or nearly all of them. And I wanted a recipe that would make use of a few ingredients that I've had on hand for awhile and just haven't used. In this case it was rolled oats and raisins. I flipped through my King Arthur Flour's Baker's Companion book and found a recipe for oatmeal muffins--raisins optional. It looked really easy and the only thing I needed to buy was buttermilk. And I HATE buying buttermilk. It always seems way overpriced and the carton is way bigger than what I need and will use. But I went for it anyway. Luckily I found a quart container for $1.69, which was a bargain compared to some others I've seen. And if I had to dump the rest, I wouldn't feel like I'd wasted a bunch of money. Worse comes to worse, I can make banana cupcakes or buttermilk pancakes and freeze them.

So, this recipe was super simple. You just put the rolled oats and buttermilk in a container to soak overnight and then the next day you dump in all the other ingredients, stir, fill the muffin pan and bake for 18-20 minutes.  The recipe stated a yield of "12 generous-sized muffins." That tells me nothing. My muffin pans are all standard size, but they certainly didn't look like they would yield a "generous-sized muffin," So, I checked the back of the book, which has a "Tools" chapter. It mentioned the depth of the wells in the muffin pan and according to what it said, the recipe would be too much for my pans. No big deal--I simply got 17 smaller muffins instead of 12 bigger ones. And, actually, that worked out better for me. The smaller size meant I could eat a whole muffin without making me feel stuffed or overloading me with sugar.

I like these muffins. The texture is a little on the chewier side, which I actually like. I can taste the buttermilk and the raisins are very plump, although they pretty much settled at the bottom for the most part.  My only complaint is that I couldn't detect the pieces of oatmeal. I tasted it, but the oats themselves disappeared. If I make these again, I plan to soak the oatmeal for a shorter period of time. Maybe I'll put them in to soak in the morning and then cook them in the early afternoon.

The nutritional content is as follows based on the number of muffins I got out of it (17):  112 calories, 13g sugar, 4g fat, 19g carbs, and 2g protein. Bigger muffins would have been about 160 calories. Obviously these will be tough to eat for someone who can't have a lot of sugar, but they fall right in the sweet spot (no pun intended!) for me. No, I shouldn't be eating them, but this is how I live post-WLS life--in moderation and including treats now and then.

another attempt at baking powder biscuits

My last attempt at making baking powder biscuits didn't go so well, mainly because I hadn't checked the expiration date of the baking powder; apparently, you need to do that. The biscuits came out very flat. They tasted like they're were supposed it, but they definitely didn't look like a proper biscuit.

I tried again this week, using fresh baking powder. While they rose higher, they were tough. I think I over mixed or over kneaded the dough. They tasted OK, though. The toughness didn't matter in this case, because I also made sausage gravy, which was poured over them to make biscuits and gravy.

I'll have to try again, maybe this weekend. Hopefully the third time is the charm.



weekly cookbook project: grilled asparagus with southwest spice mix

I decided to buy some asparagus this week. Since I've been back to eating the way I should, I've been wanting more fruits and vegetables. I actually made a special trip to a local store that I don't usually shop at just so I could look at the produce section. I came home with asparagus, Fuji apples, potatoes, and...something else I can't remember now.

Since I hadn't yet made a recipe from one of my cookbooks this week, I decided I would make it simple and find one for asparagus. Hmm, not so simple. Most of the recipes were in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking cookbook, and they all required performing the steps for blanching the asparagus first. So basically that meant making two recipes just to get a finished product. My last resort was Martha Stewart's Cooking School cookbook. (Even though I don't care for her and hate how all her home goods tend to take over the whole store, this is a really useful book and is well-written.) Lo and behold, I found an easy one there:  grilled asparagus with southwest spice mix.  All I had to do was wash the asparagus and snap the woody ends off, throw together the spices (salt, cumin, ground coriander, chili powder, and paprika), toss the asparagus with the spice mix and a bit of olive oil, and grill the spears. It was so easy and tasted great. Just a little kick of spice, but nothing overwhelming. I find I like to grab a few spears from the fridge and eat them as a snack.

weekly cookbook project: baking powder biscuits

So, apparently this is what you get when you don't check the expiration date on the baking powder:  very flat biscuits.

Today is my 21st wedding anniversary and I wanted something quick and easy to make, and something I've never made before, so I decided to make biscuits from my Betty Crocker Best of Baking cookbook. I had all the ingredients and I'd fulfill my goal of cooking one recipe per week from my cookbook collection. The plan was to use these to make a nice anniversary breakfast for Bob and I. Maybe some scrambled eggs over biscuits with sausage and gravy.

I started making them and had all the ingredients in the bowl before I decided to check the date on the baking powder. When I did, I realized that can had been in the cabinet for...awhile. Now, baking powder doesn't really go bad, but it loses it's power to make baked goods rise. As you can see from the photo, it definitely lost it.

The biscuits were very easy and quick; however, they took longer than the recommended 10-12 minutes to brown; it was more like 15 minutes. They tasted great, just like biscuits should, and were crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside, but they were really flat.

I had visions of sausage, egg and cheese biscuit sandwiches, as well as the biscuits and sausage gravy, but it wasn't meant to be. I ended up serving them along side a chili cheese omelet and sausage for Bob. I had one while I was making my breakfast--one fried whole egg.one egg white, and one turkey sausage link. The biscuit clocked in at 63 calories and was very filling. Add the butter and it was about 110 calories. That's a lot when you're eating only 1,200 calories. So, I plan to try very hard to not touch them.

Lesson learned:  check the expiration date on your baking ingredients--it matters!

weekly cookbook project: apple maple oatmeal; pot roast

I've kept up with my goal to make recipe per week from my cookbooks; however, I forgot to take pictures of two recipes I made recently.

Last week I made apple maple oatmeal from my Great Big Pressure Cooker Book. It was simply steel-cut oats, water, maple syrup, cinnamon and dried apples. Maple syrup took care of the sweetness, so no sugar was added. Dried apples were necessary, rather than fresh, so they stand up to being pressure cooked. It was good, but if I make it again I'd either add less water or more oatmeal; it was too soupy for us.

A couple weeks ago I made a pot roast from the same book (can you tell I like my Instant Pot??). It was a beef roast, beef stock, rosemary, bay leaf, onions, potatoes and carrots. All I had to do after pressure cooking was thicken the gravy and it was ready. I really liked this pot roast. In fact, I may not use my old standby recipe anymore:  pot roast in the slow cooker made with Lipton Onion Soup mix. What was nice about using the pressure cooking function vs. slow cooking was that the meat stayed intact. In the slow cooker it totally falls apart and becomes more like a beef stew. Pressure cooking makes the meat very tender, but it basically stays in one piece so you can slice it. It's good either way.  It depends on what your preference is.

I haven't decided what I'll make this week yet. Although, our anniversary is at the end of the week so maybe I'll find a special recipe for our anniversary dinner.

weekly cookbook project: balsamic and orange-glazed chicken thighs

In keeping with my goal to cook one recipe per week from my cookbook collection, today I made balsamic and orange-glazed chicken thighs from The Great Big Pressure Cooker Book.  I've been loving this book. The recipes, for the most part, are pretty easy and it gives me a chance to use my Instant Pot.

This was really easy. All I had to do was brown the boneless skinless chicken thighs, which I did right in the Instant Pot, whisk the balsamic and marmalade together and throw it in the pot with a rosemary sprig (cut fresh from my rosemary plant).  The only thing I needed to buy to make this recipe was the orange marmalade. I've never tried orange marmalade and since I've had weight loss surgery, I tend to stay away from jams and jellies--way too much sugar in them.

I was worried the finished dish it would be really orange-y tasting, or have a strong vinegar taste, but it was fine. It didn't have a vinegar taste, just a hint of it, really. And the orange wasn't overpowering at all. The vinegar, marmalade and rosemary all worked well together. I served it with my seasoned brown rice, which was fresh out of the Instant Pot, too. We poured the balsamic-orange mixture over the rice and it was delicious.

weekly cookbook project: chicken and pasta with a spicy peanut sauce

I posted recently that my goal this year is to cook at least one recipe per week from my collection of cookbooks.  I have 20 of them and pretty much never use them other than to look through them from time to time.

This week I made my first cookbook recipe for my New Year's weekly cookbook project:  chicken and pasta with a spicy peanut sauce.  It's from The Great Big Pressure Cooker Book. I really like this book.  It has a big variety of recipes; it gives notes with each recipe as to how to change things up, how to serve it, etc.; the introduction talks about what to do and not to do with a pressure cooker and why; and it's written with the Instant Pot/electric pressure cooker in mind.

I picked this recipe because I had all the ingredients. (Actually, I didn't have the whole wheat ziti or fresh ginger, but I had regular ziti and ground ginger; both of these worked just fine.) Also, I really wanted to use the pressure cooker function on my new Instant Pot.

Here are the ingredients for the recipe:

• ground allspice
• ground cayenne pepper
• chicken breasts
• ground cinnamon
• ginger
• peanut oil
• peanut butter
• chicken broth
• ground cloves
• yellow onions
• whole wheat ziti pasta
• canned diced tomatoes

I couldn't find the whole recipe on the internet and I didn't feel like typing it out, so I just included the ingredients. Basically, you sauté the onions, garlic and ginger in the oil and the add the other ingredients. The Instant Pot is set the pressure cook on high for 8 minutes and then you do the Quick Release to release the pressure. That's it.

We both liked this recipe. It had good peanut taste that wasn't overwhelming and, since I didn't use the full amount of cayenne pepper, it wasn't really spicy. Had I been cooking it for myself only, I would have used the full amount, but Bob doesn't like as much spice as I do. I think this would have been better over rice, though. Ziti in a Thai-inspired dish just seemed odd to me. My only complaint about this dish is how totally blah it looked. It was a big mass of brown. Even the ziti turned brown from the peanut butter.  Otherwise, I'd make this again.

cookbook overload!

I've amassed some cookbooks over the last few years.

Before I moved to the new house, I went through all my cook books and gave away the ones I didn't want anymore or didn't use.  I was left with just a few.  However, me being me, I've built up the collection again.

I'm not sure why I have a fascination with cook books. I think it's because I enjoy the possibilities. I love browsing them in the bookstore, looking at the pictures, and reading the recipes. I then buy it or ask for it as a gift. Once I get it, I then sit down with the book all over again and peruse it. Lots of times I actually read it--I tend to pick up a lot of cooking knowledge this way. I might cook one or two recipes from it...and then it goes on the shelf, never to be picked up or cooked from again.

Some of the books listed below were gifts, some I bought either new or used, and a few I grabbed from the cafeteria at work (someone brought in a huge pile of old cook books a few months ago and I grabbed one).

This is what I have:

1. 365 Pies & Tarts by Better Homes and Gardens
2. Baking and Pastry by the Culinary Institute of America
3. Betty Crocker's Best of Baking
4. Cake Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum 
5. Chocolate by Christine McFadden and Christine France
6. Colette's Cakes by Colette Peters
7. Cooks Illustrated Baking Book
8. Gastronomique by Ida Bailey Allen
9. German Cooking by Mariana Olszewska Heberle
10. How Cooking Works by Sylvia Rosenthal and Fran Shinagel
11. Martha Stewart's Cooking School by Martha Stewart
12. Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle and Simone Beck
13. Russian, German & Polish Food & Cooking by Lesley Chamberlain
14. The 4-Hour Chef by Timothy Ferriss
15. The Art of the Cake by Bruce Healy and Paul Bugat
16. The Big Pressure Cooker Book by Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbough
17. The Fine Art of Italian Cooking by Giuliano Bugialli
18. The New Best Recipe from the Editors of Cooks Illustrated
19. The Science of Good Cooking by Cooks Illustrated
20. Eat Like You Give a Fuck by Thug Kitchen
21. The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion (10 Anniversary Edition) by King Arthur Flour

I'm not sure if this is a huge list, or if it's normal.  I'm hoping it's somewhat normal.

So, my plan for 2017 is to cook at least one recipe from one of my cookbooks every week. (Obviously some of these books are strictly dessert cook books and, since I don't generally eat dessert and neither does Bob, I'm excluding them from the one-a-week requirement. That eliminates 1, 4, 5, 6 and 15.) It will get me cooking more and both of us eating better, hopefully. Plus the books will get some use.  While I'd love to do something ambitious like cooking through Julia Child's cook book, I just don't have that in me; it's expensive and time-consuming. And it's been done.

My plan is to start this week. I'll be sure to post what I make.  Wish me luck!