Blueberry Muffins with Cinnamon Streusel & Blog Appreciation

Apr 1, 2012 by

One night late last week, I stayed up late to make muffins for my husband and his co-workers. They are doing an internal course in order to advance within the organization. Let me tell you. The work load is what I consider “University INTENSIFIED”. It’s a lot of work and pressure, especially for those who have families and responsibilities. Time management and balance is key. I thought it would be a nice gesture to send something home-made and not some sugar spiked junk from the coffee shop. They need nourishment as well as encouragement over the next few months and beyond. I figured blueberry muffins were portable and universally enjoyed.

I made these muffins for the first time over a year ago and my husband really liked it – we all did. I actually misplaced the recipe that I had found online. Do you know how many Blueberry Muffin recipes are online???? Luckily I found it (phew) and got to baking around 1am.

Yes, 1 AM.

I wanted to have the muffins as fresh as possible since this Diva doesn’t do early very well. Everyone enjoyed the muffins and my husband totally appreciated me making them for the guys. I’m sure he must have been very happy to wake up to that wonderful aroma of muffins at five o’clock in the morning. Thank you dear husband, for leaving a few muffins behind for the family to enjoy 🙂

 

Blueberry Muffins with Cinnamon Streusel

 

 

5.0 from 3 reviews
Blueberry Muffins with Cinnamon Streusel
 
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Blueberry Muffins - everyone will enjoy them!
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Serves: 20
Ingredients
  • 2 Cups Blueberries (thawed if frozen)
  • 2 Tsp Unbleached All Purpose Flour
  • 2 Cups Unbleached All Purpose Flour
  • 2 Tsp Baking Powder
  • ½ Tsp Salt
  • ½ Cup Sugar
  • ½ Cup Vegetable Oil
  • ½ Cup Milk
  • 3 Eggs
  • Streusel:
  • 1 Tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
  • 2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
  • 1 Tbsp Terbinado Brown Sugar (optional)
  • 2 Tbsp Coconut Oil
  • 2 Tbsp Unbleached All Purpose Flour
  • ½ Tsp Cinnamon
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350F
  2. In a small bowl, add Blueberries and 2 Tsp flour. Toss well and set aside
  3. For streusel: in a small bowl, add sugars, flour and cinnamon. Add coconut oil and combine with a fork. Set aside
  4. In a medium bowl, sift together 2 Cups flour, baking powder and salt
  5. In a large bowl, add sugar, oil, eggs, milk and vanilla. Mix well to combine
  6. Add dry ingredients to the wet and mix until just combined. Gently fold in blueberries
  7. Fill muffin cups about ⅔-3/4 full
  8. Take about a teaspoon of streusel and sprinkle on top of the batter in each filled muffin cup
  9. Bake for 30-40 minutes
Notes
Be sure not to skip the first step. Tossing your blueberries in flour will prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the batter. I used Terbinado sugar to give the streusel a nice crunch. It is optional and was not in the original recipe

This recipe is slightly adapted from a recipe found at The Family Kitchen on Babble

 

I prefer Blueberries cooked rather than fresh. Or in a smoothie. However I end up having them, I always enjoy it!

 

Blueberries

 

 

Blueberry Muffin with Cinnamon Streusel

 

 

 

Pretty Blueberry Muffins

 

I know, we don’t eat muffins with a fork. Well, I kinda do…sometimes.. 🙂

 

Muffin, unwrapped

 

Take a Big Blueberry BITE!

 

Bursting with Blueberries

 

Hey, speaking of appreciation… I’ve had some really awesome food bloggers give me some wonderful awards! I’m so humbled and thankful that my online foodie friends thought of me to give me these awards. So very humbled. I love what I do here at The Lovely Pantry and as I continue to grow, it’s really encouraging to know that there are people out there who understand what it takes to do this. We blog for many reasons including the love of food, the art of cooking, the love of sharing, the love of community and my personal favourite – photography. It feels great knowing that there are people cheering you on! I’m going to share the love in my next post.

 

Have a wonderful Sunday!

~Lyn

 

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Turkey and Potato Skillet

Mar 28, 2012 by

I’ve wanted to do a one-pot dish for some time now. I was tired of using ground turkey the same way all the time. Needless to say, it gets a little boring for everyone. Something new was definitely needed! Balance is always my goal, so there’s a good ratio of protein, starch and greens… and some sweet corn too, to brighten it up a bit. I love that the ingredients are what we know and love and that the recipe can be tweaked as needed. A versatile recipe is a good recipe. I also wanted a sweet sauce in the mix, to give a constant flavour throughout the entire dish, but not overpowering it. I’ve made this dish twice and I’m happy enough with the result to share with you here. It’s funny – when I’m freestyle cooking, I really need to write down what I do. The second time I made this I was hoping I got it right so that it would turn out just as good as it did the first time!

 

Turkey, White Potato, Sweet Potato, Sweet Peas

 

 

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Turkey and Potato Skillet

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 lb Lean Ground Turkey
  • 1 Onion, finely diced
  • 2 Cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
  • 1 Tbsp Oregano
  • 2 Tsp Dried Thyme
  • Salt & Pepper
  • 1/2 Cup Organic Ketchup (Or regular Ketchup is fine)
  • 3 Tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 Tbsp White Vinegar
  • 1/4 Cup Chicken Broth
  • 1 Large sweet Potato, cut into 1-inch cubes
  • 1 Large While Potato, cut into 1-inch cubes
  • 1 Cup Sweet Peas, thawed from frozen (or canned if you like)
  • 1/2 Cup Sweet Corn, thawed from frozen (or canned if you like)

Instructions

  1. In a hot skillet, add olive oil
  2. Add Onion, sauté until softened
  3. Add garlic, stir until softened
  4. Add Ground Turkey and use a spoon to break into small chunks
  5. Sprinkle salt, pepper, Thyme and Oregano. Stir to incorporate
  6. Brown the turkey for about 8 minutes on a medium-high heat
  7. In a small bowl or measuring cup, add ketchup, sugar, vinegar and broth
  8. Mix with a spoon until a smooth consistency is achieved
  9. Pour over the turkey, stirring to combine
  10. Add cubed potatoes, stir and cover over medium-low heat for about 15 minutes or until the potatoes are fully cooked
  11. Add the corn and peas and cover for another 5 minutes
  12. Stir to combine
https://lovelypantry.com/2012/03/turkey-and-potato-skillet/

5.0 from 1 reviews
 
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Aside from the subtle sweetness of this dish, the colours are so appealing to me. I think I’m addicted to green. There HAS to be something green in my plate. I love sweet potatoes. White potato – not so much, but each has its special place in my diet. I was happy to join the two for this Turkey and Potato Skillet dish.

 

Turkey and Potatoes in skillet

 

 

Turkey and Potato Skillet

 

 

This was so easy to make and filled with colourful goodness. Perfect for a mid-week dinner!

 

Happy Wednesday!

~Lyn

 

 

 

 

 

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Sweet & Sour Muffin Meatballs

Mar 12, 2012 by

I love when I find a good recipe. Better yet, I love when I find a good recipe that I can improve on 🙂 A while back, I wanted to make meatballs but not just regular plain meatballs – nothing boring. I came across Sweet & Sour Muffin Meat Loaves from myrecipes.com so I decided to try. The first time I made it, I wasn’t sure of the texture and it certainly did not have the colour I was hoping for. I tried again, taking notes on the changes I made and I never looked back. Instead of calling them meat loaves, I’ll say that these are awesome baked meatballs, full of flavour and a nice rich colour.

I wanted to serve it with mashed potatoes and steamed carrots but.. since the meatballs were super spectacular, I’d have to jazz up the company! This was such a great meal! It was different and comforting.

 

Sweet & Sour Muffin Meatballs, Carrots & Baked Potatoes

 

Sweet & Sour Muffin Meatballs
 
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Baked meatballs with a sweet and sour sauce
Author:
Recipe type: Dinner
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 1½ lbs Ground Turkey
  • 1 Cup Ketchup, divided into 2½ cup portions
  • ¼ Cup brown sugar
  • 1 Tbsp White Vinegar
  • 1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
  • 2 Tbsp Low Sodium Soy Sauce
  • 1 Egg
  • 1 Onion, finely chopped
  • ½ Cup Breadcrumbs
  • 1 Tbsp Oregano
  • 2 Tsp All Purpose Seasoning
  • Salt & Pepper
  • 4 Large Carrots, cleaned and chopped into ½ inch pieces
  • 2 Tbsp Butter
  • 2 Tbsp Maple Syrup
  • 2 White Potatoes (or any kind you like suitable for baking)
  • Olive Oil for the potatoes
Instructions
  1. Preheat your oven to 450F
  2. In a saucepan, set carrots to boil about 20 minutes until soft. Drain and then mash with butter and maple syrup. Set aside.
  3. In an oven proof pan, grease the potatoes with olive oil, then sprinkle with salt and pepper.
  4. Pierce the potatoes with a sharp knife. Cook for 1 hr, until the skin is crispy and a knife goes through the skin with no resistance
  5. Grease a 12 Cup Muffin Pan
  6. In a 1 Cup measuring cup, mix ½ cup ketchup, brown sugar and vinegar
  7. In a medium bowl, combine ground turkey, egg, onion, breadcrumbs, soy sauce and remaining ketchup
  8. Add salt and pepper, combine well with a fork or better yet, your hands
  9. Add about a tablespoon of ketchup mixture to each muffin cup, reserving about half of the liquid
  10. Form the meat into 12 meatballs, as equal in size as possible
  11. Place in each muffin cup, pressing down to flatten the top slightly
  12. Bake for 30 minutes
  13. After 20 minutes, brush each muffin with the remaining ketchup mixture and continue baking until cooked through
  14. Remove from oven and allow to rest before carefully removing the meatballs.
  15. When the potato is cool to the touch, slice and serve
Notes
The muffins can be baked alongside the potatoes once the potatoes are half-cooked. I used tongs to remove the meatballs from the muffin pan Portions can be 2 meatballs per person, with meatballs left over for lunch the following day

 

And here’s the fun part!

Add ketchup mixture into each muffin cup

 

 

Add each meatball on top of the ketchup mixture

 

After about 20 minutes, the meatballs will look something like this

 

Partially cooked meatballs

 

Brush the meatballs with the remaining sweet and sour mixture

 

Meatballs brushed with sauce

 

Pop them back in the oven for about 10 minutes or so. Your kitchen will smell marvellous. Don’t let your meatballs burn! Watch them carefully. Cover with foil if needed.

 

Sweet and Sour Meatballs - cooked!

 

I especially love the dark, caramelized sweetness of the meatballs and the sweet and sour sauce. I found that it paired well with the carrots and potato. Each component complimented each other quite nicely.

 

Dinner is served!

 

Take a bite!

 

Meatballs, Carrots and Baked Potato - Stacked

 

Seriously. I’m hungry.

 

Happy Monday, friends! ~ Lyn

 

 

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Buttermilk Quick Bread

Mar 7, 2012 by

I’m quite fond of quick breads. I love how easy they are to make and the wide variety and variations of each recipe that I come across. I have yet to make a quick bread that I did not like. Granted, I scrutinize the ingredients very carefully before I decide to make it. Please allow me to formally introduce you to Buttermilk Quick Bread. A very simple bread that I have been making on the weekends if I have any buttermilk in the fridge. I found this recipe on one of my daily sources of inspiration: The Kitchn, and knew as soon as I saw it, that I was going to make it. I’ve made it 4 times already – twice plain, once with raisins and this past weekend, with blueberries. Versatile little quick bread, isn’t it? The original post, has a few other variations that look interesting to try too – like Pesto Loaf. (Are you imagining a green quick bread?)

I love that this plain bread is like a canvas. You can tweak it to your liking and chances are, it will turn out great.

Buttermilk Quick Bread. Profile.

 

5.0 from 3 reviews
 
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The consistency of the batter is quite thick, so you have to gently spread into the corners with a spatula.

 

Quick Bread Batter

 

Ah! Perfection!

 

Buttermilk Quick Bread – Out of the oven

 

It’s best to use a serrated knife to cut this bread since it is a bit delicate.

 

Buttermilk Quick Bread – sliced

 

 

Buttermilk Bread

 

 

Buttermilk Quick Bread with Raisins

 

I like that because the batter was so thick, the raisins didn’t have the chance to sink to the bottom of the pan 🙂 For some recipes with a batter of thinner consistency, like the Ginger Carrot Bread, you have to toss the raisins (or small fruit like blueberries) in flour before folding them into the batter. So nice that I was able to skip that step.

 

Buttermilk Quick Bread With Raisins – sliced

 

Finally, with Blueberries. I wanted to cut the loaf to take a quick photograph however, I was entertaining so I did not want to cut it before we were ready to eat it. Everyone loved it!

 

Buttermilk Quick Bread with Blueberries

 

Happy Wednesday! I hope the week has been off to an awesome start! I’ll be back soon.

Cheers for now.

Lyn

 

 

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Chicken, Linguine and Crimini

Mar 2, 2012 by

I’m getting to like this business of freestyle cooking (cooking without a recipe). It adds a little mystery to meals. It’s kinda cute when my husband asks “whats cooking?” and I say “Oh, you’ll see *bats eyelashes*” when what I really mean to say is “Honey, I have no idea!”. I’ve always been pleasantly surprised at how great the meals turn out. I LOVE it. One of my recent freestyle meals was Smoked Paprika Chipotle Chicken with Spirali Pasta and Kale Pesto. I had ingredients that I wanted to use and I ran with it.

My ingredient for today’s post is Crimini Mushrooms. I can’t say that I’m a big fan, however I wanted to be adventurous and incorporate it into a meal. It’s a great thing to challenge yourself. I knew I wanted pasta, and I knew I wanted it creamy. I just wanted a quick way of doing it, while utilizing items in my Pantry. So anyway, the idea was born on a recent trip to the grocery store. Crimini Mushrooms were on sale so I grabbed a pack and here is what I came up with.

 

Chicken, Linguine, Crimini

 

I will say, that when I am preparing a freestyle meal, I get really focused and sometimes I don’t get to take photographs of the process. So I only have the finished result today. It tasted great and I got my little man to eat it! He only questioned the mushrooms half way through, but he ate everything in his plate. You should have seen him slurping the pasta. The things that bring mothers joy. *insert big smile here*

 

5.0 from 1 reviews
Chicken, Linguine and Crimini
 
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A quick family meal using Crimini Mushrooms
Author:
Recipe type: Main
Serves: 3
Ingredients
  • Linguine Pasta
  • Grapeseed Oil to cook the chicken
  • 3 Chicken Breasts (Skinless, Boneless)
  • 2 Tsp All Purpose Seasoning
  • 1 Cup Sliced Crimini mushrooms
  • 1 Can Low Fat Cream of Chicken Soup (284 ml)
  • 1 Onion, chopped
  • 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
  • Salt & Pepper
  • ½ Cup Low Sodium Chicken Broth (or whatever you need)
Instructions
  1. Season chicken breasts with salt, pepper, all-purpose seasoning
  2. In a hot skillet, add grapeseed oil and cook chicken 6-8 mins on both sides over medium high heat until cooked through and juices run clear. Set aside
  3. Set pasta to boil, following the directions on the package (I used half a pack)
  4. In a warm skillet, add olive oil. Add onions and saute until translucent
  5. Add crimini, and saute until soft, about 5-7 minutes
  6. Season with salt and pepper
  7. Add can of cream of chicken soup
  8. Stir to incorporate
  9. If you find it too thick, add broth until you have reached your desired consistency
  10. When pasta is cooked, drain and add to the skillet with the mushrooms
  11. Toss to incorporate
  12. Plate immediately and serve with sliced chicken on top

 

Chicken Breast, Linguine Pasta and Crimini Mushrooms

Hows that for dinner in a jiffy?

Have a great weekend!!!

 

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