Refrigerator Bran Muffins (yummy, quick & healthy)

Yes, another breakfast solution here. I absolutely love this one! Why?

Just like the Oatmeal Pancake Mix, I make it once and it lasts forever (okay, maybe a month, but sometimes that feels like forever :).

It's totally healthy... talking whole wheat and wheat bran here! Plus, they are delicious and kid friendly... promise!

Literally, one batch of this mix stays in a big airtight container in the fridge. On the mornings you feel like fresh muffins, just pop these babies in muffin tins and stick them in the oven. Within minutes, a filling, healthy, and yummy, warm breakfast is ready.

Ingredients:
4 cups Wheat Bran Flakes (found with the cereal)
2 cups bran buds or 'All Bran' (also found with cereal usually)
2 cups boiling water
1 quart buttermilk (4 cups)
1/ 2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup applesauce (no sugar added)
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
5 cups whole wheat flour
4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

Directions:
In a large bowl (with a tight fitting lid), add the bran flakes and bran buds. Pour boiling water over bran and mix well. Stir every few minutes while mixture is coming to room temperature. Mixture will become thick and sticky.

After mixture cools, add buttermilk, melted butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Mix well.
Add flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix well.

If the batter is covered well, it can be kept refrigerated for one month.

To bake muffins:
preheat oven to 375
Line or grease muffin tins

Fill muffins 3/4 full. Bake regular sized muffins 14-16 minutes. Small muffins 10 minutes, and tiny muffins 7-8 minutes. Or until toothpick comes out clean, or with a few crumbs.

Recipe Source: Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Enjoy! 
Nancy

French Peasant Bread... so easy and yummy!!

One day I  found a loaf of bread wrapped in cellophane and tied with a bow by my front door. I opened it up, and mmmm the smell was amazing. I cut and tasted a piece of this bread, and oh my heavens, it was delicious. My husband found me, and he joined in.  The two of us consumed the entire loaf by ourselves!!! In one sitting. It was THAT good.

I found a little note from my friend Suzie, and texted her immediately demanding the recipe. She said, "oh it's SOOO easy." (Um, everyone says that. I didn't believe her.) But then I found out it really, it is so easy. No special equipment or ingredients needed.

 Here, my friends, is a recipe that could change your life....

Ingredients:
2 1/4 teaspoons or 1 pkg dry yeast
2 cups warm water
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups flour
canola oil
corn meal
melted butter

Warm up a bowl in the microwave or under hot water (and then dry).

Add yeast, water, sugar, and salt to the warm bowl and stir until dissolved.

Add flour and stir until blended. DO NOT KNEAD!

Cover and let rise one hour or until doubled in size.

Oil a cookie sheet and sprinkle with corn meal.

Flour hands, remove dough from bowl. Divide dough into 2 rounds and place on cookie sheet.

Let rise one more hour.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees while bread is rising.

Brush the top with melted butter and bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes.

Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees and cook an additional 15 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately brush again with butter.

It is especially delicious when served warm, right out of the oven!!!!
(Adapted from the cookbook Favorites)

This would be a great addition to one of these delicious soups:

Bench Stew

Corn Chowder 

Chicken Noodle Soup

Butternut Squash Soup

Pork Apple Cider Soup

Also, it would taste extra divine with this Raspberry Butter !

Enjoy!!
~Nancy 

P.S. A few tips when making bread:
-Make sure the kitchen is warm
-put the bowl the dough is rising in on top of a dishcloth for extra warmth  

Zucchini Bread

Perfectly Moist Zucchini Bread

Rise and shout the zucchinis are out! So what in heavens name are we supposed to do with not only the zucchinis that we have grown in our very own gardens but also the ones dumped on our porches from our close friends, close enemies and neighbors? Don't worry we've got zucchini bread to the rescue. Now I have been on the search for a great zucchini bread recipe for some time now. The one in my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook is good but a little dry for my taste. The one I found with sour cream on allrecipes.com was all right but a little over zealous on the sour cream and a little bland on the flavor and tasted like a German Pancake inside. So I did a little testing here and there and here's what I came up with! Give it a try!

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a big bowl stir together 3 C. flour, 1 t. baking soda, 1/2 t. baking powder, 1 t. salt, 1 t. cinnamon and 1/4 t. nutmeg.

3. In another medium bowl combine 1 1/2 C. sugar with 3/4 c. oil. This makes it not as overwhelmingly sugary and oily as your typical Walmart bakery bread.

4. When your sugar and oil are well blended, drop in two eggs stirring well after each egg. Add 2 C. zucchini and 1/2 c. sour cream. Make sure not to drain your zucchini as this gives it the extra "moistness"! Combine this mixture with your flour mixture and stir until just combined. Over stirring gives you a dense bread that even your dogs won't eat.

5. Grease your two 9x5 bread pans. Now if you have problems like I do with baked goods sticking to your pans try this handy trick taught to me by a guy on youtube. By combining equal parts oil, shortening and flour you create this fantastical anti-sticking super substance that makes the stickiest substance quiver in fear. After whisking these ingredients get a pastry brush and lavishly paint the insides of your pans. Make sure to well coat the corners because that's where it gets the stickiest. When you're done it should look like this:

 Pour your batter evenly between your pans and pop it in the oven for 60 mins or until your toothpick pulls out clean. Enjoy your delicious bread before your husband and kids get home! ~Maren

Perfectly Moist Zucchini Bread
3 C. flour
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. baking powder
1 t. salt
1 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. nutmeg
1 1/2  C. sugar
3/4 C. oil
2 eggs
1/2 C. sour cream
2 C. shredded zucchini

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease two 9x5 baking pans
2. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg in a large bowl. In a medium bowl stir sugar and oil until well blended. Add 2 eggs stirring after each one. Add sour cream and zucchini and mix well. Add sugar mixture to flour mixture and stir until just combined. Pour evenly into two greased baking pans and bake for 60 mins or until toothpick comes out clean.