some recent baking i have done

I've been doing some baking recently, and shockingly it has all been well received by the family!  This is something that I have been complaining about for years, that the family (kids) would rather have store bought baking than mine.  But I'm on a small roll right now.  Victory is mine.

The first and biggest win was some lemon bars I made that went so quickly I didn't even get a photo.  And now I can't find the recipe either.  But!  Everyone loved them.

I made these pineapple muffins because we'd opened a can of crushed pineapple for homemade pizza night  and I needed to use up the rest of the can.  These were quite light in flavor but nice and moist.

 These cheese muffins were also a pretty big hit.  I added some garlic powder to them and MMMMM!

 

banana muffins

 things have been very boring and very plain around here foodwise for a while now.  we are busy, tired, stressed, and i can think of other things to put my small amount of energy into other than cooking.  but i'm trying to break out of that rut and get back to putting more effort into food.

i made these muffins at the request of The Mister so we could get rid of some of the frozen bananas in the freezer.  i was going to add some chocolate chips, but he requested them without, to the dismay of the children.

 recipe - quick and easy banana muffins

bran muffins for one

 i have a friend who complains that whenever she bakes anything for her family, it's gone usually the next day; sometimes the very same day.  i seem to have the opposite problem.  i bake and no one in my family cares.  i made these raisin bran muffins based on this recipe, and ended up having to freeze them because i was the only one eating them, and how many can i eat in a day.  

Blueberry Apple Bran Muffins

 

 

 

1 cup bran

1 cup milk

2 TB maple syrup 

1/3 cup oil

1 egg

 1/3 cup brown sugar

1 apple grated, unpeeled

1 cup flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen 

 

Preheat oven to 375.  Add bran, milk and maple syrup to a mixing bowl, stir and let sit 10 minutes.  Mix the oil, egg, brown sugar and apple  into the bran until combined.  Stir in the flour, baking power, soda and salt and mix.  Gently stir in the blueberries.

Divide between 12 muffin cups and bake 15-18 minutes. 

blueberry muffins and blueberry crisp

 

 blueberry muffins

what i've made recently

 

 

Fideo, and Sazon.  We liked this very much.  I also saw a recipe that used a few fresh roma tomatos pureed instead of the tomato sauce.  I would like to try that version as well.

This blueberry crumble was freaking amazing.  AMAZING.

Ooooh, The Mister bought some little fresh cheese pizzas for the kids, and one day I stole one and took it to work and put slices of tomatos and everything bagel seasoning on it.

Blueberry breakfast cake.  A close second to the crumble.

Savory cheese muffins.  These ones had whole wheat flour and smoked cheddar.

First we made the Potato Cheddar Chive Bakes, and then we made spinach, red pepper and feta bakes.

Chocolate Chip Cookies from One Part Plant.

We made a batch of instant pot egg bites with ham and cheese, and a batch with spinach and peppers.

Our chocolate muffin saga continues with Fluffy Chocolate Muffins

lots of stuff

 I swore this year would be different for me and the rhubarb plant.  I wouldn't just let it sit there and get all old and fibrous and unusable.  I would use it, all growing season!

I cut maybe 3 or 4 bunches and then was like my god, who can use up all this bloody rhubarb???  Why can't my teeney blueberry bushes that have each produced 2 berries be as hardy as this rhubarb?

I made Rhubarb shrub, which is rhubarb picked in sugar and vinegar,  Once it's had its pickling time, the liquid is the shrub, to add to cocktails or mocktails, and the pickled rhubarb can be eaten.

It smelled very vinegary, but also sort of delicious when it was done.  But no one would try it but me, and I did not enjoy either the shrub or the pickled rhubarb.

rhubarb and star anise shrub 

Below is an AMAZING rhubarb and apple crisp, that was so good, but I can't find the recipe.

I also made a whole bunch of rhubarb butter.Recipe here.

These were delicious roasted carrots with parmesan.  Maybe from tick tok?

Also from tick tok - my kids were dying to try the smores cookies where you put a graham cracker on the baking sheet, a marshmallow on top,  and then cover with cookie dough and bake.  I think 2 things went wrong for us - the kids eagerness to help meant none of the marshmallows were fully covered by the dough, which I think was important, and also I think you need A LOT of dough, and I only bought one tube, because I'm cheap.  And, they tasted gross anyway.

Yes, I am an old lady,  These applesauce prune muffins were SO DAMN GOOD.

We always seem to have bags of frozen ham in the freezer.  This ham tetrazzini was delicious.

I am truly upset that I can't find this recipe.  These were pork tacos with pickled onions and they were some of the best tacos I've ever had. 

Also, a recipe without a photo - we bought some peaches and I decided to roast the ones that were still around after a week.  I used this recipe and man, they were so freaking good.  I'd planned to take a photo of the leftovers, but my dad scooped them all up and took them home. 

And lastly, these chocolate and peanut butter cookie bars were chefs kiss.