Orange Ricotta Chocolate Chip Muffins

These muffins are SO good. I had some ricotta cheese to use up somehow and I ran across this recipe. We are hooked! I love using fresh squeezed orange juice...give it so much flavor. This is now a regular muffin at our house. We love muffins and trying new muffin recipes.

Original recipe found here

 

 

Orange Ricotta Chocolate Chip Muffins

Yield: 12 muffins
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 18-20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
Zest of 1 orange
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 large egg
1 tablespoon fresh orange juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips
For the glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon orange zest
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In a small bowl, add the sugar and orange zest. Rub the orange zest and sugar together with your fingers.
3. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar and orange zest mixture together until light and fluffy, about two minutes. Add the ricotta cheese and beat until smooth. Beat in the egg, orange juice, and vanilla extract.
4. Add the dry ingredients and mix until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips. Using an ice cream scoop or large spoon, divide the batter evenly between the 12 muffin cups.
5. Bake muffins for about 18-20 minutes, or until the tops are slightly golden brown. Let muffins cool completely.
6. While the muffins are cooking, make the glaze. In a medium bowl, whisk together powdered sugar, orange zest, and orange juice. Drizzle glaze over muffins. Let the muffins sit until glaze hardens.
Note-we've made these muffins with low-fat and full fat ricotta cheese. Both work nicely so take your pick:)

Rainbow Jello

I cut this recipe out of the Idaho Statesman around 9 years ago and have been making it ever since. It's a great recipe for a potluck, birthday or St. Patrick's Day. This was way before Pinterest and even blogging, and finding things like this were like gold to me! I know now you can find a ton of variations of Rainbow Jello online, but this is my first and favorite. This recipe takes time but worth it.

Rainbow Jello

6 small boxes of Jello: purple (grape), blue (blue raspberry), green (lime), yellow (lemon), orange (orange),  red (cherry)
2 cups vanilla yogurt

Starting with the purple or red jello, add 1 cup boiling water to the packet of Jello.  Mix until dissolved. Divide liquid Jello in half.  Add 1/3 c. vanilla yogurt to one of the bowls of Jello.  Mix until smooth.  Ad 2 Tbl cold water to the other bowl of Jello and mix well.

Pour the yogurt mixture into a clear, large glass bowl or 9x13 clear glass pan.  Place in fridge. Let that layer sit 45 minutes. Add second layer (mixture with no yogurt added) on the top.  Put back in the fridge for 45 minutes.

Repeat with remaining 5 layers.  You can split up the time consumption by doing 3 layers one day and 3 layers the next.  Let the complete dish sit overnight, serve cold. Colors should go in this order from the bottom: purple, blue, green, yellow, orange, red.

Spinach, Bean, & Avocado Salad

I found this recipe on Pinterst and I eat it alot...it is so yummy! Lots of times I don't have cilantro on hand so I will use green onions and it is just as good!

No measuring involved...I just put in as much as I feel like!

spinach
black beans (rinsed well)
cucumber
tomato
avocado
lime juice
pepper
cilantro or green onions
dash of olive oil.

Roasted Parmesean Green Beans

I found this recipe on Pinterest. This is a delicious way to eat fresh green beans!  Make sure you eat them fresh out of the oven for best results.

Roasted Parmesan Green Beans

• 12 oz green beans, trimmed (make sure they are dry)
• 2 tsp olive oil
• kosher salt + fresh cracked pepper to taste
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1 1/2 tbsp shredded Parmesan

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum for easy clean-up.

Lay green beans out on the baking sheet and drizzle oil over them. Season with salt, pepper and garlic powder and toss to evenly coat.

Spread them out on the sheet so that they all lay flat and place on the lower third section of your oven.
 Bake 10 minutes, shake the pan to turn; bake 5 additional minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with grated cheese.

Servings: 4 • Serving Size: 1 cup • Old Points: 1 pts • Points+: 2 pts
Calories: 62.4 • Fat: 2.9 g • Carbs: 8.0 • Fiber: 3.8 • Protein: 2.7 g • Sugar: 0
Sodium: 38.4 mg (without salt)

Rainbow Cake

I made this cake last year for my 8 year old's birthday. He loved it, and it was really easy to make. This is where I found the recipe and instructions.

Basically, all you do is mix together 2 white cake mixes according to the package directions. Divide up the batter evenly into 6 bowls. Use gel food coloring to color each bowl a color of the rainbow. Use tin foil 8 inch cake pans and put the batter into each pan. Then bake for about 8-9 minutes. You can bake 3 at a time. Then stake and frost when cooled!

Peanut Butter Fudge Brownie Trifle

I made this for dessert on Valentines Day. It was delicious!

Peanut Butter Fudge Brownie Trifle--original recipe source

1 batch of your favorite brownies, boxed or from scratch, cooled and cut into cubes
1 large box (5-ounce) of instant chocolate pudding, prepared and chilled
1 bag of peanut butter cups, chopped
2 cups heavy cream
3-4 tablespoons granulated sugar, depending on your desired level of sweetness
1 cup of creamy peanut butter
1 cup of powdered sugar
2 tablespoons milk
8 ounces of whipped cream cheese, at room temperature

In the bowl of an electric mixer (or using a hand mixer), beat heavy cream and sugar on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form. Transfer the whipped cream to an separate bowl and stick in the fridge until ready to use. I did not even clean the bowl of my electric mixer and just began mixing the peanut butter mixture.

Add the peanut butter and cream cheese to the bowl and beat at medium speed, scraping down the sides a few times until mixture is creamy. Add in powdered sugar and mix until combined, then mix in 2 tablespoons of milk. Remove the whipped cream from the fridge and add 1 cup of it to the peanut butter, folding it in until the mixture turns lighter in color and is mostly combined.

Grab your trifle dish and begin to layer your ingredients however you’d like. I did a layer of brownies, then peanut butter, then a handful of chopped peanut butter cups, chocolate pudding, whipped cream, and so on. I repeated it until I got to the top, then piped the remaining whipped cream on top and sprinkled the candy on. You really can’t go wrong with layering – just use a long spoon to serve!

Tropical Smoothie

We just got our Bountiful Basket for the week and we made a delicious smoothie! It reminded us of our trip to Cancun. I used the leftover pineapple juice from the tidbit cans that I had frozen. All the fruit was fresh, but I'm sure frozen could be substituted for them, too.

1 banana
2 small mangos
1 orange (ours was a pink cara cara orange)
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1 cup frozen pineapple juice
1/4 container frozen OJ concentrate
1 cup milk (more or less for consistency)
sugar in desired (we used 1 tsp)

Load ingrdients in the your blender placing frozen items at the top. Blend well, taste test to see if and sugar is needed. Enjoy!

*makes about 5-6 cups