Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Low Sugar Whole Wheat and Oatmeal Blueberry Muffins with Lemon


(Makes 9-12 muffins, depending on size of muffin cups or pan used, recipe slightly adapted from Oatmeal Blueberry Muffins at AllRecipes.)

1 1/4 cup rolled oats (regular or extra thick oats, but not instant)
1 cup white whole wheat flour
1 T baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt (I used fine grind sea salt)
1/3 cup Splenda or sugar (use Splenda for the South Beach Diet)
1 1/2 tsp. dried lemon zest or use 1 T fresh lemon zest
1 egg
1 cup milk (I used skim milk)
1/4 cup vegetable oil (I used canola oil)
1 cup fresh blueberries (for frozen blueberries, I would thaw them first)

Preheat oven to 400F. In medium-sized bowl, stir together the rolled oats, white whole wheat flour, baking powder, salt, Splenda or sugar, and dried lemon zest. (If you're using fresh lemon zest, add it with the wet ingredients.)

In a small bowl, beat the egg with a fork, then stir in the milk and vegetable oil. Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients and stir until barely combined, being careful not to over stir. When ingredients are combined, gently fold in blueberries.

Spray muffin pan or silicone muffin cups with nonstick spray if desired. (I sprayed the muffin cups I used.) Divide batter equally among muffin cups, filling about 3/4 full. (If your muffin pan has large cups, this may only make 9 muffins.)

Bake muffins 20-25 minutes, until tops are starting to brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. I baked my muffins 22 minutes in a small toaster oven.

***Note: I used cupcake papers to make these cupcakes and they stuck to the papers...next time I will spray my muffin tin and put the batter right into the tin...no papers!

ZUCCHINI PARMIGIANO


Fresh zucchini from the garden (sliced)
Tomato sauce
Parmesan cheese
Mozzarella cheese
Fresh from the garden basil (chopped)

I layered all of the above ingredients and put it in a 350 degree oven.
When it was bubbling and toasty on top I took it out- let it rest a little bit and served it.
It was delicious!

Artichoke Heart Casserole

I made a wonderful casserole the other day.
I found frozen artichoke hearts at the food store the other day and decided to try and make a casserole with all the fixings that I usually use to stuff my regular full size fresh artichokes.
It came delicious and was so simple.


I used:
2 bags of frozen artichoke hearts (thawed)
garlic (fresh minced)
parsley (fresh)
olive oil
bread crumbs
Parmesan cheese

I mixed everything together and tossed it into a greased (with olive oil) casserole dish.
I covered it and baked it at 350 degrees until it was bubbling.

It was really good- try it!

My Garden Update

It is finally time for a GARDEN UPDATE.
Everything seems to be growing beautifully - we have been harvesting lettuce regularly and I have given away bundles.
We finally started harvesting our Swiss Chard and it is a fantastic crop. This is one crop that I plan to grow every year!
We picked our first zucchini yesterday. They are gorgeous and they taste delicious.




The cucumbers are coming along and we are expecting several days of rain so Im sure Ill be harvesting them very soon.


Overall it is the best garden we have ever had...I sure love square foot gardening!


CUCUMBERS

CUCUMBERS

TOMATOES AND SWEET PEPPERS IN FRONT

MUSK MELON IN THE FRONT
THEN SOME LETTUCE AND CUCUMBERS IN THE BACK

BLACK EYED PEAS IN THE BACK
SWISS CHARD AND LETTUCE
THYME AND SAGE

BASIL LETTUCE AND PARSLEY

ROMANO BEANS IN THE BACK
HOT PEPPERS -FRONT REAR
LETTUCE AND MARIGOLDS UP FRONT


SWISS CHARD

ZUCCHINI-GREEN ON THE LEFT AND YELLOW ON THE RIGHT

The morning glories and doing terrific. This is the first year I actually was able to grow them and Im so excited...now I just need a few blooms!

Hope you enjopy the little trek through our garden...stay tuned for future updates~