New Years Day Breakfast

Happy New Years to everyone reading this! Hope you all had a fun evening and are looking forward to the year ahead. Jason took me to The Creperie last night - a first for both of us. They take their gluten free foods very seriously there and I felt pretty relaxed eating there. I had my own bread basket with gluten free bread that they bake in-house! We were even able to share a sweet crepe for dessert.

Now on to this morning... I wanted to start off the New Year with something both healthy and delicious. This is the very first recipe in Quinoa 365:

(This photo was taken by Jason - he's got a new camera and was looking for subjects)

Apple Strudel Breakfast Cereal
1/4 slivered almonds
1cup quinoa
2 1/2cups water
1/2cup diced dried apple slices (You can find these at the Italian Market)
1/4cup raisins
1tsp ground cinnamon
1tsp pure vanilla extract
1tbsp brown sugar
1 cup vanilla yogurt (We used locally made Bles-Wold)

Place the almonds in a medium saucepan over medium high heat. Stir frequently until the almonds are toasted and fragrant - about 3 to 4 minutes. Set the almonds aside in a small bowl.

Combine the quinoa, water, apples, raisins and cinnamon in the same saucepan. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce to a simmer for 17 minutes. Stir in vanilla and brown sugar.

To serve: divide between bowls, top with yogurt and sprinkle with toasted almonds.

MY REVIEW: I used half the amount of water and quinoa listed and it made the perfect amount for the 2 of us. When looking at recipes you have to keep in mind quinoa triples in size when it's cooked.  This was such a great breakfast! Jason requested it again tomorrow so I know it was a hit. It doesn't sit as heavy in your belly as a bacon and egg meal but it left me feeling just as full.

JASON'S REVIEW: It was a delicious way to start my day. Would eat again. A+ ... 5 stars ... 2 thumbs up.

Apple Streusel Muffins

This is my first recipe post since I've been back from Europe! I have been cooking lots but nothing exciting or new. It's so nice to have my kitchen back. Eating out every single day really looses its charm after a while! 

 

I wanted to make some muffins for my grandmas birthday but wanted something a little fancier. I think these fall somewhere in between healthy muffin and cupcake. This recipe did make 12 but as you can see there's only 11 pictured. Jason and I did split one and it was fantastic! He's begging me to make some more. In fact he suggested we have a "muffin spree" tonight. Don't really know what that entails but we have no flour so I guess I'll never know.

Streusel Topping

1/3cup packed brown sugar

2tbsp all purpose flour

1/2tsp cinnamon

2tbsp softened butter (I used margerine)

1/3cup chopped pecans (optional) (I used walnuts)

Muffins

1 1/2cup all purpose flour

1/4cup sugar

2tsp baking powder

1/2tsp cinnamon

1/4tsp salt

1/8tsp nutmeg

1cup shredded peeled apples

1/2cup milk

1/4cup vegetable oil

1 egg, beaten

Preheat oven to 400F. Prepare 12 cup muffin tin (or 12 of your silicone cups) greased.

1. In a bowl, combine topping ingredients until crumbly. Set aside.

2. In another bowl sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg; blend well. Add apples. Make a well in the center.

3. In another bowl combine milk, oil and egg. Add to dry ingredients, stir just until moist.

4. Spoon batter into prepared muffin tin, filling half full. Sprinkle with topping, reserving 3tbsp. Top with remaining batter; sprinkle with remaining topping. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Upside-down Apple Cake

Upside-Down Apple Cake
Cooking Time: 60 minutes or less Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Ingredients
1/3cup (75 mL) butter, divided (i used margerine)
½cup (125 mL) light brown sugar
1tbsp (15 mL) lemon juice
2cups (500 mL) peeled, cored and thinly sliced apples (this was 2 large apples for me)
½cup (125 mL) sugar
1 egg
1tsp (5 mL) vanilla
1cup (250 mL) flour
1½tsp (7 mL) baking powder
½cup (125 mL) milk (i used skim)


Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Grease a 9 in. (23 cm) round cake pan.
2. Measure 2 tbsp (30 mL) of the butter into the cake pan. Place the pan on the stove over low heat just until the butter is melted. Remove from heat. Stir in the brown sugar and lemon juice. Arrange the apple slices on the bottom of the pan in whatever decorative or haphazard manner you wish. This is a good job for a kid who wants to be artistic. But the cake will taste just as good if you simply spread the apples out randomly.
3. In a bowl with an electric mixer, beat together the remaining (approximately 3 tbsp/45 mL) butter and the sugar until well mixed. Add the egg and vanilla, and continue beating until fluffy. In another bowl, stir together the flour and baking powder.
4. Add the flour mixture by large spoonfuls alternately with the milk, beating after each addition. Next, spread the batter over the apples in the pan and place in the oven. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until cake is lightly browned.
5. Remove cake from the oven and let it cool for 5 minutes, then run a knife around the edges of the pan to loosen it. Hold a plate over the pan and, all at once, flip the thing over.
6. The upside-down cake should now be properly upside down, and your apple arrangement should be clearly visible – if somewhat transformed. If any stubborn apple pieces remain clinging to the pan, just scrape them off and rearrange them on the cake.
7. Serve warm or at room temperature with whipped cream, ice cream or vanilla yogurt.

MY REVIEW: I was pumped when I found this on a website that featured recipes for kids. Embarrassing, yes, but they tend to be foolproof and have more creativity involved. This one was no different - I enjoyed arranging those apples and it tasted pretty good too. I only have spring form round pans and although lined with wax paper, it still leaked into my oven. Once it cools down, we are going to steam clean it for the first time. So if you do have an actual round pan, use that! The cake was pretty flat when it came out but I'm not sure if it was supposed to rise anymore than it did.


JASON'S REVIEW: Very good with ice cream and beer.

Valentines Day Cranberry Apple Pastry

This was a combination of the recipe I initially wanted to make, and the recipe that came on the box of the PUFF PASTRY I purchased. Apparently there is a difference between phyllo pastry and puff pastry... that is probably common knowledge but I've never used either! I improvised however and it turned out decent. Here's what I ended up making:

a chunk (half the box?) of frozen puff pastry
3 apples, peeled and chopped into small pieces
3tbsp whole cranberry sauce
cinnamon
nutmeg
1 beaten egg

First, you defrost the hunk of pastry. Not even 2 hours in the fridge and it was easy to roll out.

Mix the remaining ingredients (minus egg) in a bowl.

Roll out the puff pastry, on a lightly floured surface, into a rectangle about 12" long and 8" wide.

Spoon the apple mixture down middle third of the rectangle.

On the left side of the pastry, make a series of diagonal cuts (like the left side of a "V" about an inch apart.) Do the same on the right side (like the right side of a "V"). Starting with the left side, fold the top section over top the filling. Then the first right section, "gluing" the sections in place as you go by brushing the beaten over it. When you're finished this, brush the entire length with the beaten egg to give it a shiny finish. Transfer it onto a baking sheet with parchment paper. This is what mine looked like at this point:


I put it in the oven for 25 minutes at 30. The filling kind of spilled out a bit but this is how it looked when it came out:


It was kind of hard to remove from the wax paper but i cut 2 chunks off, put some cool whip with it and served it hot.

MY REVIEW: It looks way harder than it actually was! Very tasty. Back to healthy cooking though!!

JASON'S REVIEW: It hit the spot.