Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

I have been on the search for a really good lemon poppy seed muffin recipe. I finally found one! I have made these muffins countless times now and they turn out great each time! I found the original recipe on Epicurious and have made it a few different ways. I am typing out here how they turn out for me.

You can also do a powdered sugar glaze on these...I usually don't when I make them for breakfast but it does make them really yummy.

I also need to put a plug in for True Lemon. This stuff is great. I use it a lot when I cook and I don't have to have real lemons or lemon juice on hand. It gives you the directions on the bottle of how much you need to substitute for lemon juice, lemon zest, etc. Chad's sister Tiffani turned me onto it and I love it. Check out their website...there is also True Orange and True Lime. Great for baking! They offer free samples and usually free shipping with a $10 order. Anyway.....here is the recipe.

2 c. white flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 c. buttermilk (1 c. milk & 1 Tbl. vinegar mixed and let sit for 5 min makes your own buttermilk)
2 Tbl. lemon juice (or 1 tsp. True Lemon)
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. (1 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature
1 Tbl. packed finely grated lemon peel (or 1/2 tsp. True Lemon)
2 large eggs
1/8 c. poppy seeds

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Spray three mini muffin pans or line with paper liners. Whisk flour, baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt, and baking soda in medium bowl. Whisk buttermilk and lemon juice in small bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat sugar, butter, and lemon peel in large bowl to blend. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition until mixture is light and fluffy, occasionally scraping down sides of bowl. Beat in dry ingredients in 3 additions alternately with buttermilk mixture in 2 additions. Mix just until blended. Mix in poppy seeds. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups by generous tablespoonfuls. 

Bake muffins until tester inserted into center comes out clean, 20 to 22 minutes. Cool in pans 5 minutes. Remove muffins from pans and cool on rack.

This recipe makes 16 regular sized muffins for me. The original recipe says 36 mini muffins, but I came out with more mini muffins too.

**You can also substitute 1 c. plain yogurt for the buttermilk. I have done that and they turned out super moist and yummy! I almost prefer it that way.

Chicken Ranch Pizza

Every other Friday is pizza night at our house. This last week I made this recipe for Chicken Ranch Pizza. I added bacon to it like it says in the notes at the bottom. It was very good! I also used her recipe for pizza crust, which was good. The only change I would make is not use all the dough for the pizza crust. On my pizza stone, that amount of crust was a little much for me. It was a little too "deep dish." If you have a larger stone or pizza pan then it will spread out more.

1 recipe for pizza crust
2-3 chicken breasts
1/2-3/4 cup Ranch dressing
2 cups mozzarella cheese
1 1/2 cups chopped Roma tomatoes
1/4-1/3 cup green onions
1-2 cups cheddar cheese

Cook and shred chicken. Divide crust in half and roll crust out on greased cookie sheets that have been sprinkled with cornmeal. Poke holes all over the crust with a fork. Bake at 425 for 7 minutes. Spread dressing over crust. Sprinkle mozzarella, then tomato, green onions, and chicken. Top with cheddar cheese. Bake 15 more minutes or till crust is lightly browned and cheese is melted.

Notes:
-You can also make this as one large pizza and fill a 15″x10″ pan. Increase the baking time to 20-25 minutes.
-Roma tomatoes work best because they are more meaty and have less juice. If you want to use regular tomatoes, they will work if you follow these steps: Cut the tomato in half. Hold it over the sink in the palm of your hand and squeeze to remove most of the juice and seeds. Then proceed to dice the tomato. If you don’t do this, the juice from the tomatoes will make the pizza soggy. Not so good.
-If you really love garlic, you can add an extra minced garlic clove to the dressing.
-This is also fabulous with cooked bacon crumbled on top of the chicken.

Cowgirl Cookies

I made these cowgirl cookies twice before Valentines Day. The second time I doubled the recipe. VERY good cookies! Bakerella also shows you how to make them into a super cute jar gift too. Check out her post all about it.

1 1/3 cup all purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup & leveled
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup cooking oats
3/4 cup m&ms
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup white sugar
1/3 – 1/2 cup chopped pecans
Stir all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.

Add
1 slightly beaten egg
1/2 cup butter (melted slightly in the microwave)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Use the back of a large spoon to work it all together. You may even need to use your hands to get everything incorporated. Then roll the cookie dough into 1 1/2 inch balls, place on a parchment covered baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes in a preheated 350 degree oven. I got about 26-28 cookies out of these.

BBQ Chicken Salad

We had this for dinner tonight. It was a nice change from regular taco salad. I even made the crispy tortilla strips...so easy and really yummy!  They really added to the salad. This recipe is a keeper for us. I am typing the way I made it here as I did change some things, but for the original recipe go to  The Sister's Cafe.


1 can Costco chunk chicken, drained and rinsed
3/4 c. bbq sauce
1 head lettuce, chopped (can use any type of lettuce)

1 can corn, drained and rinsed

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 bunch green onions, chopped

1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped

Roma tomatoes, diced..however much you want

guacomole

shredded cheese, Mexican blend or cheddar

crispy tortilla strips (see recipe below)

Stir shredded chicken in with the BBQ sauce until well coated. Of course you can use less or more sauce, it's up to you!  Toss together the lettuce, cilantro, corn, beans, and chopped veggies. Top with shredded chicken, cheese and crispy tortilla strips. Drizzle ranch or cilantro lime dressing over salad and enjoy!

*to make crispy tortilla strips simply slice about 10 corn tortillas in narrow strips and place on cookie sheet. Spray with vegetable oil cooking spray and sprinkle generously with salt. Place under the broiler and let bake until crispy and brown around the edges.

Eggs Benedict Breakfast Casserole

This recipe is AMAZING. We had it for breakfast this morning at our young women leadership training overnighter. Holy cow. I want more just thinking about it. You make it the night before then pop in the oven the next morning. Another leader made it and I wish I took a photo. It was beautiful as well as delicious! She used the small diced ham instead of large Canadian bacon slices. I prefer that myself. You could serve this with or without the sauce. But the sauce is also incredible. This is a new favorite!

Recipe originally found HERE.

6 English Muffins
10 -12 ounces Canadian bacon (2 packages, or use diced ham) 
8 large eggs
2 cups milk  
1 teaspoon onion powder  
cooking spray  
1/2 teaspoon paprika
easy hollandaise sauce

Directions:

Prep Time: 20 mins
Total Time: 1 1/2 hrs

1. Cut muffins into 1/2-inch cubes. Set aside. Cut Canadian bacon into 1/2-inch squares. Set aside. Whisk the eggs well in a 2-quart bowl. Whisk in milk and onion powder.
2. Spray a 9-by-13-inch glass or ceramic baking dish with cooking oil spray. Scatter half the Canadian bacon evenly in bottom of dish. Scatter muffin cubes on top of Canadian bacon. Top with the remaining Canadian bacon, scattering it evenly over the bread. Pour egg mixture over the casserole. Cover the dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight, or at least 8 hours, to let bread absorb egg mixture.
3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Remove casserole from refrigerator and uncover it. Lightly sprinkle the paprika evenly over the top. Cover the casserole with foil and bake for 40 minutes. Remove dish from the oven, remove foil, return dish to the oven and continue to bake, uncovered, until the eggs are set and the bacon on top begins to crisp, about 20 minutes more. Remove the casserole from oven and let it stand 5 minutes before serving.
4. While casserole bakes, make Easy Hollandaise Sauce. To serve, cut casserole into squares and place them on plates. Spoon about 2 tablespoons (or to taste) warm Hollandaise Sauce over each serving just before serving.
5. Makes 10 servings.
6. NOTE: Time does not reflect refrigeration time of at least 8 hours, nor standing time of 5 minutes.

Power Enchiladas

These enchiladas were amazingly good! I loved them. I knew my kids would be wary with all the green so I halved the recipe. I also used white tortillas to appeal to them. They didn't care for it, but I think these are my new favorite enchilada recipe! Chad even liked them a lot and he doesn't care for zucchini. We rated this recipe 4 out of 5 stars.

Recipe from The Sisters Cafe. 
 

HEALTH ALERT: THESE ENCHILADAS ARE PRETTY DANG GOOD FOR YOU.

With all the irresistible Christmas sweets headed your way, I thought I might throw at least one healthy dish your way. My sis, Melis, got this recipe years ago from a personal trainer/friend. This isn't your typical enchilada dish. It's PACKED with nutrients and I think it still tastes wonderful! In fact, I'm sure you could sneak in a lot more veggies than the recipe even calls for and no one would know the difference. The original recipe called for red enchilada sauce. I make it with green enchilada sauce since I prefer it, and I love it!

Power Enchiladas

Submitted by Amy ~ The Sisters Cafe

Printable Recipe here

4 oz. fat free chicken broth

1 T. canola oil

1 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper

1 cup grated zucchini

2 cups boneless, skinless chicken breast, cooked and shredded

2 T. chopped cilantro

1 1/2 or a little more:) cups grated low fat, part-skim mozzarella cheese

1 (4 oz) can diced green chilies (or use fresh)

4 cloves garlic

1 (19 oz) can green enchilada sauce

8-10 whole wheat tortillas

Sliced black olives (3-5 per enchilada)

Light or fat free sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare all ingredients for assembly. In a large frying pan, bring chicken broth and canola oil to just boiling. Add onion and green pepper to broth and saute until onions are tender. Add grated zucchini and saute until just cooked. Drain off liquid and remove pan from heat. Add cooked chicken to vegetable mixture and stir. Add cilantro, 1 1/4 cups of grated cheese (reserving 1/4 cup for later), green chilies, and garlic. Stir to combine.

Layer 1/2 cup enchilada sauce into the bottom of a 9 x 13 dish sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Fill tortillas with meat and vegetable mixture. Spoon about 1 T. enchilada sauce over meat mixture. Roll tortillas up and turn enchilada seam down. Ladle remaining sauce over enchiladas, making sure tortillas are completely covered in sauce (so they don't dry out). Cover with tin foil and bake 12-15 minutes. Remove foil and sprinkle enchiladas with remaining 1/4 cup (or a little more:) grated cheese. Bake 10 minutes more until cheese is melted. Then turn on broiler and place enchiladas nearer the top of oven. Let it broil until cheese is slightly brown and crispy. Garnish with olives and sour cream.