Sugar Free (Not Taste Free) Apple Spice Muffins

Jibs says, "It's pretty hard to wait for these to cook, I want one now."

Having muffins or loaf around really helps in the mornings, Jim loves being able to grab something quick to eat in the car on the way to work if he doesn't have time for a large breakfast. They also travel well as a snack if we have to run out to the store. So it's nice to have a few good, healthy recipes on hand to whip up.

I don't like to give my people sugar first thing in the morning, so I worked on making this recipe tasty but also reasonably healthy and sugar-free. The sweetness comes from apple sauce and honey with some nice bits of fresh apple. These come out moist and full of flavour.

I use all whole wheat flour and I would encourage you to do the same because it adds a really nice texture and taste, but white flour would be fine too. Feel free to add a handful if walnuts or raisins to the batter at the end if you like. My peeps like plain apple spice so that's how I do them.

Apple Spice Muffins

1 C apple sauce

1/2 C honey

1/2 C butter, soft

1 3/4 C whole wheat flour

1 tsp soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp cloves and ginger

1 C apple, chopped

(1/2 C nuts and 1/2 C raisins or craisins, optional)

Preheat oven to 350*.

Cream together butter and honey. Add applesauce and mix well.

Combine all dry ingredients. Add the applesauce mixture to dry.

Blend just until combined. Fold in apple and extras.

Scoop into 12 lined muffin tins or 1 loaf pan.

Bake 25-30mins. (for muffins)

or 40-60mins (for loaf)

What we ate for : Dinner

Jibs says, "These are mighty tasty biscuits, I think I'll eat 2."

Moosewood Herbed Carrot Soup

2lbs Carrot, peeled and chopped

3 small potatoes, peeled and chopped

4 C Chicken or Veg stock

1 Tbsp Olive oil or butter

1 onion, chopped

1 tsp salt

2 cloves garlic minced

2 tsp herb de provence or (1/2tsp thyme, 1/2 tsp margoram or oregano, 1 tsp basil)

1-2 Tbsp lemon juice (I forgot to add this and it was still really good)

Add carrots, potatoes and stock to a large saucepan and bring to a boil, simmer 15-20 mins.

Meanwhile in a frying pan simmer oil, onions, garlic and spices over med-low heat until soft but not brown.

Add onion to carrot mixture and puree either with a submersion blender or pour into an upright blender. Add lemon juice.

Cheddar Paprika Drop Biscuits

(Martha Stewart)

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons sugar

3/4 teaspoon sweet smoked paprika, plus more for dusting

6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, cut into pieces

1 C cheddar, finely grated

1 1/2 cups heavy cream ( I used 1 cup whole milk and 1/2 cup plain yogurt)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar and paprika. Using a pastry blender, or your fingers, cut the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles course meal with a few larger clumps remaining. Stir in the cheese with a fork.

Add the cream (or milk and yogurt); using a rubber spatula, stir until the dough just comes together. The dough will be slightly sticky; don't over mix. Scoop dough onto baking sheet using a 1/4 C measuring cup. Lightly dust with paprika.

Bake until brown, about 15 to 20 minutes. Serve warm. We dipped ours in the soup.

Jibs couldn't wait and ate his before dinner.

Pizza Night

My new pizza night favourite: Whole wheat crust topped with olive oil, 2 garlic gloves minced, oregano (fresh or dried), tomatoes, chopped kale, fresh ground pepper, grated parmesan cheese, minced onion and mozzarella.

Many traditions from both my Robinson and Stowe families have carried over into the way we do things in our own family. Pizza night happens to be one thing that both our families do. Friday night is Stowe pizza night and something we all look forward to. Most pizza dough recipes that I have tried in the past have not worked for me. Either they're too complicated or they don't roll out well or just plain don't taste good. My mum-in-law's pizza dough is my favourite. It is so simple and always perfect. I prefer whole wheat flour for my crust but some of my family members disagree so we usually go white.

*If I am making this for just the four of us, I half the recipe. If it's a Robin-Stowe pizza night I use the whole recipe.

Stowe Pizza Dough

2 1/4C Warm water

2T instant yeast

1T sugar

approx. 6 cups flour (just enough to make a soft dough that doesn't stick to the sides of the bowl)

3T Olive oil

1 1/2t salt

Combine warm water, yeast and sugar in a bowl or stand mixer (fitted with dough hook attachment.) Let stand 5 mins. Add remaining ingredients, mix and knead. (If using a stand mixer let the dough knead about 2 minutes.)
(If you have time, Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover with a tea towel and let rise until you're ready to roll  out your dough.)

Divide dough into sections large enough for your trays, dusting rolling pin with more flour, roll out dough.

Top with sauce, toppings and cheese.

Flatbread Accoutrement II: (Re)Fried Beans

While looking for a good refried black bean recipe, I stumbled across this one by Gwyneth Paltrow. Very good as an addition to a taco or flat bread with cheese, I think I might even throw some on a nacho plate.

Gwyneth's Refried Beans

1 can black beans

4 cilantro stems

1 clove garlic crushed

pinch or 2 of salt

Combine all ingredients in a frying pan and simmer until all the bean liquid is gone, about 15-20mins. Remove stems and garlic clove. Serve.

Make Loaf, Not War

This is a fantastic loaf. We have made and eaten a lot of this lately. Jim usually grabs a few slices on his way out the door in the early morning. Eat it for dessert or with afternoon tea, it's everything one could hope for in a loaf, thus the name Everything Loaf. Another Joy the Baker gem, it is slightly sweet, and very moist. The combination of pecans, walnuts, pumpkin, spices, apple and cranberries is wonderful and wintery.

I love that this recipe makes two loaves so I can have one out for eating and one in the freezer. You could easily omit the nuts, if anyone is allergic to them or swap out dried for fresh cranberries.

Vegan Pumpkin Cranberry Apple Pecan Bread

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

2 cups light brown sugar, packed

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon allspice

1/2 teaspoon cloves

1 15-ounce can pumpkin puree, (2 Cups)

1 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup maple syrup or honey

1/3 cup buttermilk

1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts plus 8 pecan halves for the top

1 heaping cup fresh or 1/2 C dried cranberries

1 medium Granny Smith apple, peeled and cored and cut into small pieces

Preheat oven to 350, grease 2 loaf pans.

In a large bowl mix together dry ingredients. In a 8 cup measuring cup (or med bowl) mix pumpkin, oil, maple and water.

Add wet to dry and told together with a rubber spatula.

Fold in nuts, cranberries and apple.

Divide between the 2 pans and line the top with pecan slices. (Sprinkle a little sugar and cinnamon on the top now if you want.)

Cook for 1- 1 1 /4 hours, until tester comes out clean.

Flat Bread's Accoutrements

Jim bought me Alton Brown's recently released cookbook, Good Eats: The Early Years. Good friends of ours, Ken and Dave Williams got me completely hooked on Alton Brown and his show Good Eats. After watching an episode, along with learning an amazing recipe, you have the science and understanding of the food or technique to make you a better cook. Alton's goal for the show was to be a combination of Julia Child, Monty Python and Mr. Wizard. If you have never watched an episode, watch an episode.

Alton's Guacumole

3 Avocados, chopped

1 lime juiced

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp cayenne

1/2 med onion, minced

2 roma tomatoes, seeded and diced

1 Tbsp chopped cilantro

1 garlic clove, minced

Stir together avocado and lime juice, reserve juice. Drain extra lime juice and mash in salt, cumin and cayenne with a potato masher. Fold in onion, tomatoes, cilantro and garlic. Add 1 Tbsp lime juice back to the guac. Let stand at room temp covered with saran wrap. Serve atop flatbread, or dip chips into it.

That Bread's Flat Bread

A warm, black speckled, sweet smelling tortilla is something special. Jim lived in Texas for a while and so he knows a good tortilla when he sees and tastes one. I ran out of our regular PC tortillas that were suppose to host Alton Brown's Guacamole and some of Gwyneth's refried beans. (Recipes for theses two are coming soon.) Instead of calling Jimmy to stop and pick some up on his way home from band practice, I tried something new. I've talked about The River Cottage Cafe cookbooks here before. This is their easy recipe for flat bread.

Easy Flat Bread

1 2/3 C All Purpose Flour (plus extra for dusting counter top)

1 tsp salt

1Tbsp Olive oil

2/3 C warm water

Mix together flour and salt in a large bowl. Pour oil into a measuring cup with the warm water.

Pour the water/oil mixture over the flour mixture slowly, stirring with your finger tips. Bring flour and water together to a sticky dough.

On a lightly floured surface work the dough into a ball and kneed for 5 minutes. (or have your eager assistant knead for 5 minutes) Stretching the dough, folding over and quarter turning as you go.

Cover the dough with the mixing bowl upturned on top of it. Let dough rest 15 minutes. In the mean time, prepare fillings for your bread.

Remove dough from under the bowl, roll it into a sausage shape and cut into 8 equal parts.

Flour counter top and rolling pin and roll out your dough pieces until they are the size of a salad plate (about 6-8 inches across).

Place a dry frying pan over high heat and get it really hot. Decrease heat to medium low and add your first flat disc. Flip when the bread starts to puff up and get speckley brown on the one side.

Have a clean tea towel ready to wrap warm bread in as you go.

Top cooked bread as soon as you can. They are so good warm!

Jim loves his bread straight out of the pan with a healthy smear of butter.