Blueberry Bran Muffins

I have a kid who loves bran muffin.  Weird?  Perhaps, but I am not going to judge his food choices, particularly when they lean towards healthy. 

At some point in time, I had picked up a box of All Bran in an effort to eat healthier.  When I decided that chomping on a bowl of sticks in the morning really wasn't all that satisfying, I searched the web looking for recipes to use up the rest of the box.

I found this recipe over on allrecipes.com. and modified it slightly.  The little guy loves blueberries, so I swapped out the originally called for raisins with blueberries, either fresh or frozen.  I added a teaspoon of cinnamon to the batter, and at times have subbed in either pumpkin pie or apple pie spice.  Instead of 12 muffins, I make 9, filling the cups up to the brim.  Everyone knows muffin tops are the best part of the muffin!

Blueberry Bran Muffins

1 1/2 cups All-Bran® Cereal
1 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 whole egg
2/3 cup brown sugar
1  teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup flour
1 cup blueberries

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease muffin cups or line with paper muffin liners.

Mix together wheat bran and buttermilk; let stand for 10 minutes.

Beat together oil, egg, sugar and vanilla and add to buttermilk/bran mixture. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Stir flour mixture into buttermilk mixture, until just blended. Fold in blueberries and spoon batter into prepared muffin tins.

Bake for 20 - 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Taco Casserole

There are times when a recipe looks good on paper (or on the screen) but turns out to be a huge disappointment (disaster, failure, mistake, fiasco ... which ever you prefer).  Sometimes unfortunately, one who goes on a new recipe spree may end up with 2 or even 3 of these mishaps in a row.  You know your family is about to rebel when they look like this at the supper table:

So when we have had one too many dinner failures I turn to a surefire hit - Taco Casserole.  It has all the elements of a taco dinner in a casserole dish.

Sometime I get fancy schmancy and mix up my own taco seasoning and make homemade refried beans.  Other nights, like last night, opening cans and packages is the way to go.  I originally spied this recipe in an old Taste of Home magazine and then found it again on food.com.  I have found that you need to use thicker salsa (and I drain it) or else the dish can get watery.  We initially tried the method of placing the chips on the bottom of the casserole dish only to find that we didn't much care for the soggy chips reheated.  The kids like to use tortilla chips to scoop it up.

 

Taco Casserole

Taste of Home magazine

 

1 pound ground beef
1 package taco seasoning
1 (15 ounce) can refried beans
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cups salsa
2 green onions, chopped
1 small can sliced black olives
1 tomato, chopped
Tortilla chips or corn chips

Preheat oven to 375.  Spray a square casserole dish with cooking spray.

 

Brown ground beef and drain. Add taco seasoning and cook according to package directions, adding proper amount of water (I use the juice from the salsa I drained).

Warm the refried beans on stove until hot, pull off the heat and add 1 cup cheese and the drained salsa salsa. Stir until combined.  Spread beans in a square casserole dish
 

Sprinkle the beef over the beans.  Top with the remaining cheese, green onions and black olives. Bake about 15 minutes, until the cheese is sufficiently melted and the casserole starts to bubble.  Add the tomatoes on the top and let sit for 5 minutes to set.

Weighing in at 43 pounds and some change ...

What do you get when you mix trouble ...

with an everyday object, such as this?

You get a 3 hour visit to the ER and a picture that looks something like this:

**Not his actual x-ray

Have to say it is a different kind of souvenir to have from a vacation. I should see if his doctor will give me a copy of his actual image so I can stick it in his scrapbook (OK, dresser drawer where I have all his mementos I am planning on putting in a scrapbook one day).

Why he did this, I have no idea.  We were in the car, David and Madeleine went back into the hotel room to get her sunglasses.  Trouble was in his car seat and I was in the driver's seat, keying in our destination in the GPS.  Madeleine gets back in the car:

M:  Hey, where did my penny go?
C: (giggles)
M: Give it back to me
C: I can't
M: Mommy, he won't give it back!
C: I can't give it back, it's in my BELLY

Sure enough, it is!

Butterfly Conservatory

One of our stops in Niagara was the Butterfly Conservatory.  Considering I have one who hates all bugs (and has been know to let out an ear piercing shriek when one is spotted) I thought this was a pretty adventurous undertaking.  There are supposed to be over 45 different types of butterflies flying around, but I swear I kept seeing the same 8 all so.  They were quite beautiful though.

They liked each other today

Not going to even pretend I know what kind this is

Hungry butterflies

Prettiest one there; finally got a picture with open wings

All she wants is to capture a butterfly

All he wants are for the bugs to go away

45 minutes later

Happy face

Niagara Falls Fun

Our summer vacation this year included a hop over the border to Niagara Falls.  Absolutely beautiful, albeit expensive.

View from our room:

Horseshoe Falls

American Falls

American Falls at night

Up close and personal:

American Falls

Horseshoe Falls

We spent 3 days roaming around Canada and on our way out of town stopped at the falls on the American side (after a stop at the Duty Free shop, of course).  There was a noticeable difference in the cleanliness and there was just so much more to do on the Canadian side.

Also, given our situation, the workers on the Canadian side were much more helpful.  We were personally escorted around a lot of sites we choose to go to.  The workers ensured that David had a clear path to travel on and the workers at the hotel made sure we had everything we needed, including the wheelchair accessible room I booked (which, believe it or not is often ignored even when you reserve rooms over the phone).  All in all we had a great time and would like to get back there someday to explore more of the area.

Fourth of July Fun!!!

 

 Fun on the Fourth of July in the wading pool ...

and swinging on the swing (note the bling required) ...

Well maybe it wasn't all fun:

Strawberry Picking

Well, we tried this year. We lasted about 15 minutes before the skies opened up.

With 4 comes wisdom

We were driving home the other day and we passed Christopher's 'old parents' house.

"Mommy, remember when I was 3 and I was a baby and I told you I had old parents?"

"That was 3 weeks ago bud."

"Yeah ... well ... I am 4 now and a big boy.  I wanted to tell you I never had old parents.  I made them up.  I needed to tell you so you didn't think I was crazy."

Ah yes, with age comes wisdom.  Who wants to be labeled as crazy?  Madeleine was about 4 when we learned her imaginary sister Tracy was actually a 50 year old male friend of David's (so not so imaginary).

Truth be told, I'd rather be rid of the irrational fear of bugs (even ants) or the fear of being in a room by himself, than to be rid of the old parents.  At least they provided some entertainment.

Chirp, Chirp, Chirp

Anyone else hear the crickets?  Almost 5 months since a post - never gone that long without a post!  No excuses.

Christopher is still talking about his old parents.  We have discovered, however, that they are not the nice, sweet people we were led to believe they were:

"My old parents got rid of me because they don't like babies."

"My old parents sent me to bed without eating supper - can you believe that?!?"

"My old parents are not as nice as you, Mommy."

"My old parents would never let me eat candy for breakfast!"  (neither will your *new* parents)

Life has been busy but good.  I am a Daisy troop co-leader this year and we are looking forward to being Brownies next year.  I also may have just volunteered to help coach my daughter's soccer team.  I haven't played soccer since I was 15 ... what was I thinking?  Oh yeah, not enough coaches = no teams. Ay yi yi. 

My old parents

I discovered recently that we weren't Christopher's first parents.  It seems like he had another set of parents before us, that apparently had absolutely no rules at all!!  Here are a few things we've learned about Christopher's *old parents* in the last couple of weeks:

"My old parents never make me eat supper before eating Halloween candy."

"My old parents have a big swing set at their house I used to play on."

"My old parents don't let me sit in time out."

"My old parents let me eat cookies for breakfast."

"My old parents let me stay up as late as I want."

They sound like some pretty cool people!

No Turkey for you!

"Mommy?"

"Yes Bud."

"I need you to do something for me."

"OK ..."

"You need to make a chicken leg for Thanksgiving.  We can't eat turkey.  The turkey is my friend.  We don't eat our friends."

The friend in question is a blow up turkey they have in the lobby at daycare; he has to give it a hug every time he walks by.  I explained that we weren't going to have that particular turkey on Thanksgiving, but I'm not sure he is convinced.

Next I'm sure he'll want to boycott mashed potatoes since Mr. Potato head is also a close personal friend.

Happy Halloween!

We had Bob the Builder and a Witch this year.  Bob had an unfortunate encounter with some asphalt at daycare this week, but I just told him it made him look like he was a hard worker.  I am hoping it is gone by the time Christmas pictures get taken!.

Grilled Honey-Glazed Pork Chops

I'm not entirely sure what my deal is lately, but my meal planning has been non-existent.  Food shopping has been hit or miss, and I've found myself quite a few times standing in front of the freezer at 5 PM, wondering what I can pull out and make.  Pizza has been a common meal (that pizza place they built near us has been a blessing and a curse) but when someone says, "Pizza again!" you know you have a problem.

The weather was still fairly decent last week, so I decided I would find a quick recipe for the grill.  These were quick - I made the glaze inside the house while the pork chops cooked on the grill.  Cutting a slit in them will prevent them from curling up as they cook.  I did skip the cayenne as I didn't want them to be too hot for the kids.  Tasty!

Grilled Honey-Glazed Pork Chops

Cook's Country Magazine

4 (10-ounce) bone-in pork rib or center-cut chops, about 1 inch thick, trimmed

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

2 tablespoons cider vinegar

1/2 teaspoon cornstarch

1/4 cup honey

1 1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1/2 teaspoon minced fresh thyme

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Cut 2 slits about 2 inches apart through fat and connective tissue around outside of each chop. Combine sugar, salt, and pepper in bowl. Pat chops dry with paper towels and rub with sugar mixture.

Whisk vinegar and cornstarch in small saucepan until no lumps remain. Stir in honey, mustard, thyme, and cayenne and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until glaze is reduced to 1/4 cup, 5 to 7 minutes.

Turn all burners to high, cover, and heat grill until hot, about 15 minutes. Leave primary burner on high and turn other burner(s) to medium-low.

Clean and oil cooking grate. Place chops on cool part of grill and cook (covered if using gas) until meat registers 140 degrees, 3 to 5 minutes per side. Brush chops with glaze and grill, glazed side down, over hot part of grill until caramelized, about 1 minute. Repeat with second side of chops. Transfer chops to platter, tent loosely with aluminum foil, and rest for 5 to 10 minutes. Brush with remaining glaze. Serve.

My Faithful Canine Companion

We had to put Sophie to sleep a week ago at 11 years old.  She had been battling cancer off and on since she was 3.  Last June it came back and her too hard and it spread too fast.  Rest in peace Sophie.  You were a great dog and so good with the kids! 

Caramel Brownies

We had a very busy weekend last weekend.  Swim lessons, two Girl Scout activities (I was on ice skates for the first time in about 15 years!) and a work picnic.  Lunch was provided at the picnic, we were asked to bring a dessert or an appetizer.  Since I had no way to keep anything hot while we were running around, I opted for dessert.

I've somehow managed to get myself signed-up for so may different email newsletters, it is hard to keep track of them all, let alone remember which ones had recipes I wanted to try.  Luckily Taste of Home sent me a newsletter on Thursday that had these Caramel Brownies in it.  They looked good and they had some good reviews, so I figured they were worth a shot.

They were easy throw together and I enlisted some youngsters help in unwrapping all the caramels.  They do sell caramel bits but they come in an 11 ounce package.  Based on some of the reviews of the recipe, I put about 3/4 of the batter in the pan for the bottom layer.  I did manage to swirl a little too much, as in some places I couldn't tell there was a separate layer of caramel.  I did leave out the walnuts, but would substitute pecans the next time we make them, since I prefer them.

Note that sticking a toothpick in to test doneness really doesn't work all that well, since you'll probably end up sticking it in the caramel.  I tested it at 35 minutes and left it in a little longer; I probably should have just taken them out then.  I think they were slightly overdone but I still did receive compliments on them!

Caramel Brownies
Taste of Home

2 cups sugar

3/4 cup baking cocoa

1 cup canola oil

4 eggs

1/4 cup 2% milk

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup chopped walnuts, divided

1 package (14 ounces) caramels

1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk

 

In a large bowl, beat the sugar, cocoa, oil, eggs and milk. Combine the flour, salt and baking powder; gradually add to egg mixture until well blended. Fold in chocolate chips and 1/2 cup walnuts.

Spoon two-thirds of the batter into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan. Bake at 350° for 12 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, heat the caramels and condensed milk over low heat until caramels are melted. Pour over baked brownie layer. Sprinkle with remaining walnuts.

Drop remaining batter by teaspoonfuls over caramel layer; carefully swirl brownie batter with a knife.  Bake 35-40 minutes longer or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out with moist crumbs (do not overbake). Cool on a wire rack. Yield: 2 dozen.