Dad's Chocolate Chip Muffins

A staple breakfast food in Big Steve's kitchen. Amazing with a bowl of cereal for a sweet ending to breakfast (sweet tooth runs in the family). Great with hot tea after dinner too. Every visit home involves this tasty treat.  Thanks Pa!


Ingredients: 1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup regular flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs beaten
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:
Combine dry ingredients. Add in eggs, oil and milk and mix all together only until everything is wetted out. Stir in chips. Fill greased muffin cups ~2/3 full. Bake 350F for 10-12 minutes and then ~2 minutes at 375-400F to just get them to brown up on the top. You'll have to play around with your times depending upon the oven.

Homemade Orange Rhubarb Pop-tarts

All this week I've been craving pop-tarts like a 9 year old jazzed up on pixie sticks. Here's a yummy alternative to the store bought pop-tarts (plus an opportunity to try some unconventional flavors). Recipe from The Arugula Files.


The tart is just a simple pie crust recipe:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
• 1 cup (2 sticks or 8 ounces) unsalted butter, very-cold, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 6 to 8 Tbsp ice water

1 Combine flour, salt, and sugar; mix. Add butter and cut with two butter knives until

mixture resembles coarse meal, with pea size pieces of butter. Add ice water 1 Tbsp at a time, stir until mixture just begins to clump together. If you pinch some of the crumbly dough and it holds together, it's ready. If the dough doesn't hold together, add a little more water.

2 Place dough in a mound on a clean surface. Gently shape into 2 discs. Knead the dough just enough to form the discs, do not over-knead. You should be able to see little bits of butter in the dough. These small chunks of butter are what will allow the resulting crust to be flaky. Sprinkle a little flour around the discs. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour, and up to 2 days.

3 Remove one crust disk from the refrigerator. Let sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes in order to soften just enough to make rolling out a bit easier. Roll out with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface; about 1/8 of an inch thick. As you roll out the dough, check if the dough is sticking to the surface below. 

4 Using a large knife cut dough into little rectangles, roughly 5 X 8 inches. 

Filling:

• large bundle rhubarb, chopped into 1 inch pieces

• juice of one orange; zest of half an orange 
• 1 tablespoon whole coriander seeds
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup sugar 
• 2/3 cup water
• A few tablespoons turbinado sugar (for sprinkling on top)
• 1 egg for egg wash (whisk the egg)

1 In a large sauce pan add the ingredients, bring to a boil, and then reduce the heat to low.  Cook until the mixture reduces and resembles jam filling. 

2 Add a spoonful of filling onto your pockets. Brush edges with egg wash. Close pocket and seal with a fork. 

3 Brush pop-tarts with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar

4 Bake at 400 F for 15-20 minutes

Icing:

1 egg white

1 cup confectioner sugar

1 TBSP freshly squeezed orange juice

1 tsp orange zest

Whisk together; drizzle on tarts; enjoy!

The Oatmeal Diaries, part I

Oatmeal is one of the most comforting, delicious, healthy and versatile meals you can make. I eat it for breakfast almost every morning, and those mornings I don't I usually end up regretting it. A hearty breakfast of oatmeal leaves your tummy satisfied all morning, the body warm, and taste buds tickled. Here is one morning's variation and my morning thoughts:

1/2 c Old fashion oats

1/2 c water

1 c milk

1 banana, sliced

combine all in a small saucepan, cook on high for ~5 minutes, or until all liquid has been absorbed and the banana slices are mushy. 

Granola topper:

2 c Old fashion oats

~1/2 c maple syrup

~1/4 c olive oil

1 TBS cinnamon

a little dash of clove if you like

1/2 c walnuts, or any other nuts you have

1/4 c coconut shavings 

combine all ingredients except fruit on a foil lined baking sheet. bake at 300 degrees F for about 10 minutes, stirring often. left cool. add fruit. top on oatmeal, yogurt, eat by the handful...

It's winter break so I can finally relax without worrying about deadlines, exams, readings, and all the other stresses of college life--or so I thought. I've found the time I usually spend being anxious about school work has been replaced by the the anxieties of job searching. Now I have 100% more time to focus on resume tweaking and job applications, which I think is almost worst than school stresses. This is the rest of my life we're talking about now, not just a class on my transcript.

I am on the cusp of closing the college chapter of life and beginning the adulthood chapter. Being in the state of transition is never easy; it's difficult to identify your title, your purpose, and your direction. Am I a student, a job seeker, or a poor unemployed soul? Should I focus my energy on my last semester of courses, the task of finding a decent job, enjoying the friendships that will soon be abridged after graduation, or enjoying my undergraduate family life? Should I continue school, find a job, stay local, or move somewhere I've always wanted to live? So many questions to ask and few places to find answers. Advice may be in abundance but no one knows exactly what the right thing for you to do is, other than yourself.

I got my favorite yogi tea bag quote this morning: "Don't let yourself down, anyone else down, or participate in a letdown". The first thing is to not left yourself down--if you are happy with yourself and the direction your life is going, all the other things will fall into place. I don't know what the future has in store for me but I know I have control over what will happen. I will always be able to push the breaks, or gas, or change directions whenever I need to. My friends and family will be there as the road to lead me along the journey. It snowed last night. I think I'll take my time going into work this morning. Have another cup of coffee, catch up on some reading....

Banana Avocado Smoothie

Avocados--quite possibly the greatest fruit to ever exist on the planet. I bought a bundle about a week ago and they have just now become perfectly ripe. They've been tormenting me all week, sitting in a bowl on the kitchen table so beautiful and tempting, but not quite ripe enough to enjoy. Well the glorious day of perfect ripeness finally came today. Their creamy smooth texture makes them phenomenal in smoothies. 

1 frozen banana

1 small ripe avocado

1/2 cup (ish) whole milk

3 ice cubes

Granola

 

Granola (Jamie Oliver)

• 2  cups  quick-cooking oatmeal (not instant)
• 1  heaped cup mixed nuts
• 1/4  cup  mixed seeds (sunflower, poppy, pumpkin, sesame)
• 3/4  cup  unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1  teaspoon  ground cinnamon
• 5  tablespoons  maple syrup
• About 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 1/2  cups  dried fruit

Preheat oven to 350°. Put oatmeal, mixed nuts, mixed seeds, coconut, and cinnamon on a baking sheet. Stir well; smooth out. Drizzle with maple syrup and olive oil; stir. Bake 25-30 minutes. Every 5 minutes or so take out and stir, then smooth down with a wooden spoon and put back in oven. When granola is golden, remove from oven, mix in dried fruit (roughly chop any large pieces); let cool. Serve with milk or yogurt. You can keep leftover granola in an airtight container about 2 weeks, but it's so delicious we'll be surprised if it lasts that long!