Lovin’ Mornings

I can’t even remember what I wrote in my last post … That’s a bad thing, I know. But I’ve got more updates on what I’ve been doing and baking lately!

 

One thing I have learned is that non-expired yeast is ALWAYS better than expire yeast even if the expire yeast has just been expire for 2 weeks. Ick. Not only was this bread made out of expire yeast,  but I didn’t have enough flour so there went my idea for a simple white bread. To come out with 4 cups of flour, I used 2 cups of unbleached flour and 2 cups of oat bran flour. While reading the BreadMan instructions, I noticed that it said oat bran was used to “enhance the texture of the bread” and it made no mention of it being the main source of flour. But oh well, I was craving bread and since I was too lazy to buy any proper ingredients and hand-knead the dough, all the mixed-matched ingredients went into the BreadMan’s bucket and the BreadMan did the rest of the work.

I don’t think that I hated the bread. It did have an awkward sour-ish taste – was it the yeast or oat bran? But the end result was edible and when toasted with butter was delicious. But let’s just say that I’m glad to have store-bought artisan bread again. :)

So today I went back to St. Anne’s to help out – okay, now I remember what I wrote about last time ^^ – and anyway, after I chopped the carrots, peeled the potatoes, diced the apples, and sprinkled lemon juice over the apples, I was able to make Mexican Wedding Cookies! I’ve never made these before so I don’t know if they turned out the way that they were supposed to, but I’m kind of proud of them! Check ‘em out:

What do you think? Did they turn out well for a first-timer’s Mexican Cookies?

Anyway, I just love the weekends. It’s always great to relax and do whatever I like during the mornings. Have I mentioned that I really really enjoy mornings?

Morning Endeavors: Fat-Free Blueberry Muffins & Breakfast Burritos

Fat-Free Blueberry Muffins

from Krusteaz’s Mix

I love blueberry muffins. I’ve fallen in love with a Buttermilk Blueberry Muffin recipe from Joy of Baking. The muffins puff up and have almost a crunchy texture with a rustic look. Beautiful and wonderful taste. These aren’t like the giant ones from the store though; I have yet to find a recipe like that. If there are any suggestions, I’m totally up to the challenge. But anyway…

Making blueberry muffins has a been a kind of hassle for me because I usually buy the frozen blueberries because the raw ones are just always expensive and because I feel guilty eating them when it calls for lots of sugar or butter. But then, I found something the other day while at my local grocery store…

Krusteaz’s Fat-Free Blueberry Muffins with just 130 calories per muffin. ($3.5 per box; makes 11 muffins)

I was skeptical, but desperate for blueberry muffins. I grabbed the mix from the shelf and proceeded to buy it before I convinced myself otherwise.

I prepared the mix that very day and out came my beautiful blueberry muffins. :)

This is what the packaged blueberries looked like. I’ll agree that it didn’t look like much when I first saw it, but I just continued on determined to make blueberry muffins.

The muffins reached over the top of the paper liners, but not enough to call them “super top” muffins.

The inside was moist, soft, and delectable almost cake-like but a bit denser. The blueberries turned out perfectly fine, not too many streaks of blue when I folded them in. The overall result was that I’d make these again and again because it was so soft with the right amount of sweetness that I still can’t believe that these are fat free. Not as good as the buttermilk blueberry muffins I’m accustomed to making, but good enough to sustain me while I can eat guilt free. :)
—4.75/5

Healthy Breakfast Burritos
made w/ Mission Carb Balance Burritos

I couldn’t help myself; I was just on a roll while at the grocery store that day when I bought the blueberry mix. I happened upon Mission Carb Balance Whole Wheat Burritos (package of 8).

Nutrition Info Here.

I love whole grains and have given up eating refined grains except for the occasional buttermilk pancakes and english muffin. As for my pastas and toast at home, it’s all whole wheat so naturally I was tickled when I saw these. Burritos are perfect for summer when you start grilling because it’s so easy to just toss things in, roll it up, and then chow down.

These turned out perfect for my morning endeavor making breakfast. They were flat and thick, not fluffy or puffy like some of the other burritos I’ve come across.

Here’s some pictures of my healthy endeavor!

Turkey-n-Egg Burrito

Filling Ingredients:
- 2 slices Hillshire Farms Deli Sliced Honey Roasted Turkey
- 1/4 cup mixed greens
- 1 egg, scrambled w/ a handful of chopped chives and pepper and salt to taste
- 1/4 cup mix of sauteed and fresh, sliced white button mushroom
- 1/3 cup Thai fried rice from the Pagan Restaurant; any (fried) rice will do
*because of the Thai fried rice, I didn’t add any salsa, but I suggest that you do to give your burrito a good kick

Spam-n-Egg Burrito

Filling Ingredients:
- 2 eggs, scrambled w/ a handful of chives and pepper and salt to taste
- 1/4 cup sauteed white button mushrooms
- 3 slices of Hormel’s white turkey spam
- 1/3 cup Thai fried rice

Enjoy a healthier, lighter breakfast!

P.S. If you have a sweet tooth early in the morning, try making the ‘Lighter’ Pound Cake Loaf in my previous post. :)

My Evening Endeavor: Cinnamon Muffins

I just had the urge to make some cinnamon muffins after reading Baking Bite’s post.

I made a batch tonight and it turned out absolutely scrumptious. The muffins came out moist and soft, but not too much spongy like a cake. This was a great muffin. Breakfast tomorrow will be heaven. :)

Breakfast Cinnamon Muffins

Makes 11 muffins.
(Don’t divide it into 12 unless you’re adding 1/2-1 cup fruit/nuts/chips to batter)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 400F. Line 11 muffin cups with paper liners. Fill the 12th cup halfway with water to prevent burning.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and 1 tsp cinnamon.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup white sugar and 1/2 cup of brown sugar and the egg until smooth. Beat in vegetable oil and vanilla. Working in 2 or 3 additions, alternate adding the flour and the buttermilk to the sugar mixture, stiring until just combined.
   In a small bowl, stir together remaining brown sugar and cinnamon.
   Fill each muffin cup about 1/2 full. Sprinkle with a scant 1/2 tsp of the brown sugar mixture into each cup. Evenly divide remaining batter on top and sprinkle with remaining sugar mixture.
4. Bake at 400F for 15-18 minutes, until a tester comes out clean.
5. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before eating. :)