Carrot Pineapple Raisin Bran Muffins with Cream Cheese Frosting

My son's preschool held their Easter party this week and each family contributed a little something to the "Easter Buffet".  Originally I wrote down that I would bring "something sweet" with good intentions to make some fun Easter treat, but time got away from me (we re-did our oldest son's room this past weekend...and our house is still a mess!) so I opted to go for something a bit healthier but still with a little sweet.  I decided on an old favourite of ours, and one that is always popular with the kids, Carrot Pineapple Raisin Bran Muffins with Cream Cheese Icing.  Hey...it's Easter, we needed a little bit of carrot!  And it turned out that one of his classmates (and teacher) were both celebrating their birthdays this week, so a cake was brought to the Easter party - I'm glad I changed my "something sweet" choice...imagine all those 4 and 5 year olds after a tonne of sweet?!

And, since it is Easter I did feel the need to dress the muffins just a little.  Off to the Dollar Store and I found the cutest little chicks that were the perfect size for mini-muffins.  Here is the recipe, slightly adapted from Company's Coming - Muffins & More:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup natural bran
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 eggs
1/2 cup oil
1 cup grated carrot
1 cup crushed pineapple and juice
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup walnuts (I didn't add the walnuts this time as my son's classroom is a nut-free zone)

Preheat oven to 400F.

Combine flour, brown sugar, bran, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a large bowl.  Stir together well, and make a well in the centre.

In a separate bowl, beat eggs until frothy.  Add in oil, carrots, pineapple, juice, raisins and walnuts.  Add to dry ingredients, into the well.  Mix, but only to moisten.  The batter will be lumpy.  Fill lined or greased muffin cups 3/4 full.

Bake for 20-25 minutes (regular sized muffins) or 10-11 minutes (mini muffins).  Cool on wire rack.  Frost if desired.

Make 12-14 large or 24-30 mini muffins.

Cream Cheese Frosting (from Company's Coming - Desserts)

4 oz cream cheese
1/4 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups icing sugar

In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, butter and vanilla.  Beat well.  Gradually add sugar, beating until fluffy.  Spread over muffins.

VERDICT:
These are delicious muffins.  Nice and moist, and a nice blend of "stuff" inside.  Not overwhelming with too much carrot, pineapple ot raisins.  And the cream cheese icing, which is optional but a nice a way to dress them up a bit, is always so so so good!  My son and I enjoyed cleaning off the spatula and mixing bowl when we were done icing the muffins    :-)

Mini Pizza Party

Hello to my friends from Okanagan4Kids!  I hope you enjoyed the article on Greening Up Your Grocery Shopping!

Now, on to the PIZZA PARTY!

Recently my oldest son hosted his first sleepover!  His cousin came over last weekend for 24 hours of playing, running, eating and sleeping.  It was a huge success, the boys both had so much fun and our son was pretty exhausted by Sunday evening!

I wanted their Saturday night/sleepover dinner to be a fun time, after all, this was my son's first hosting gig and I wanted it to be extra special.  So I figured, "Hey, what kid doesn't like pizza?"  (Actually I must admit, my brother and I both didn't like pizza when we were kids, but we soon wised up!)  Anyways, I decided that we were going to have a "MAKE YOUR OWN MINI PIZZA NIGHT" for supper, and it was a huge hit!  Here is what we did:

Ingredients:

Bakestone Brothers Multigrain Thin Bun (found at Costco)
Pizza Sauce (in the squeeze bottle = more fun!)
Olives
Red pepper
Green Pepper
Yellow Pepper
Orange Pepper
Onion
Fresh Pineapple
Mushrooms
Fresh Tomatoes
Deli Meats (pack from Costco - Hot Capicolli, Pepper Salami and Hot Salami)

Mozzarella Cheese

Process:

Heat oven to 350F.

Split a thin bun to make two pizza "crusts".  Squeeze on some pizza sauce, spread with a spoon.  Add your toppings, as many as you'd like.  Top with cheese.  Place mini pizzas onto a large cookie sheet and bake in the oven for approximately 7 minutes, or until the cheese has melted.

VERDICT:
As my nephew would say, they were "deeelicious" and both boys gave the pizzas "thumbs up".  My husband and I both really enjoyed them too.  So easy to put together, lots of fresh vegetables, even a little fruit!  Lots of fun colour, and the best thing, the kids had FUN!

The mini pizzas were so popular that my boys asked that we have them for dinner the next night.  So we did.  I happened to have a mango on the counter which we added to our list of toppings, and both my husband and my son loved that addition!

If you would like to read my April article over at Okanagan4Kids, please click here! It's full of tips about greening up your grocery shopping!

Would love for you to "like" me on Facebook and vote for my blog at the voiceBoks

"Top 10 Foodie Blog 2012" contest by clicking this link and voting for Addicted to Recipes (just two little clicks for you, easy breezy, and will really help me out!) THANKS so much!

Scrumptious Sunday #5 - Link Party!

Wow, it's hard to believe that this is my 5th link party already!  Time flies when your having fun!

I so enjoyed reading all 85 submissions to last week's party!  Yes...I read them all...I have to, I'm addicted!  Thanks for fueling my addiction!  My family thanks you too with all the great meals I have been inspired to prepare.

Scrumptious Sunday Link Party #5 is NOW OPEN...link up your favourite recipe(s) from the last week here!



Would love for you to "Like" me on Facebook and would you, pretty please

VOTE FOR MY BLOG at the voiceBoks

"Top 10 Foodie Blog 2012" contest by clicking this link and voting for Addicted to Recipes (just two little clicks for you, easy breezy, and will really help me out!) THANKS so much!

Scrumptious Sunday #4 - Features!

What an incredible party it was last week!  Thanks so much to everyone who came and shared recipes.  I really enjoyed reading each and every submission.  Everyone it so talented!  An amazing 85 entries last week!  WOW!

It was SO HARD to choose just three submissions to feature...I know I've said that before, but it is true!  And I couldn't choose just three this time, so I picked four features for the week.  Congratulations to everyone on your fantastic posts....if you are one of my features, please grab my "I Was Featured" button and post it on your site, please and thanks!

<a href="http://iamaddictedtorecipes.blogspot.com"><img src="http://i1079.photobucket.com/albums/w519/AddictedtoRecipes/addictedbutton.jpg" width="200" height="177" border="0" alt="I was featured, I was Featured by Addicted to Recipes"></a>

Here are my four features from Scrumptious Sunday Link Party #4:

#13 - Strawberry Shortcake Appetizer from Lady Behind the Curtain

#48 - Spaghetti Squash Carbonara from The Travelling Spoon

# 56 - Royal Icing Recipe, Step-by-Step from Lizy B

#74 - Skinny Mashed Cauliflower from Serena Bakes Simply from Scratch

Scrumptious Sunday #5 Link Party opens late tonight - be sure to link up your favourite recipes from the last week!

If you have a moment, I would LOVE for you to support my blog by voting for it at the voiceBoks "Top 10 Foodie Blogs of 2012" awards - simply click this link and vote for ADDICTED TO RECIPES.  Just takes 2 little clicks...thanks so much!  Voting ends on April 13 (which happens to be my son's birthday!).

Caramelized Brussel Sprouts

Don't turn up your nose! Give this post a chance...yes, it is about brussel sprouts, and I don't know why they are so disliked :-)  A few weeks back at Scrumptious Sunday #2, The Traveling Spoon posted her recipe for Caramelized Brussel Sprouts.  The recipe caught my eye and I featured it that week.  Well I am here to tell you, I made the recipe and tried a few of her suggestions, and well, you'll have to read on for the verdict :-)

Here is the recipe that I used, based on The Traveling Spoon's eye-catching recipe:

3 slices bacon
1 tablespoon olive oil
12 brussel sprouts, washed and cut
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3 tablespoons brown sugar

Cook bacon in frying pan, set aside to cool. Drain off excess grease from frying pan (don't worry about scraping clean, I figure a little extra bacon flavour is good!)

Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the pan, warm, and add minced garlic.  Saute for 1-2 minutes.  Add in the brussel sprouts and salt.  Saute for a few minutes until starting to heat through, then add the brown sugar.  Continue to cook and the brown sugar will melt away.  Crumble the bacon and add to the pan.  Serve immediately.

VERDICT:
We are already brussel sprouts fans in our house.  But let's just say...this recipe is awesome!  There was NOTHING leftover.  Nada. Zilch. Empty serving dish!  My husband had THREE helpings, he liked the sprouts that much!  It was a WINNER!  We will be making this again...try this dish and you will become a fan of brussel sprouts!

Would love for you to "like" me on Facebook and would you, pretty please

VOTE FOR MY BLOG at the voiceBoks

"Top 10 Foodie Blog 2012" contest by clicking this link and voting for Addicted to Recipes (just two little clicks for you, easy breezy, and will really help me out!) THANKS so much!

Featured!

What a pleasant surprise to visit a fellow foodie's blog and see the Blueberry Buttermilk Breakfast Cake featured!  It continues to be a hit in blogland! 

Have you given the recipe a try yet?  We had it again last weekend, but with blackberries this time...and again, it was YUM!

This week it has been featured by Miz Helen's Country Cottage at her Full Plate Thursday!  Thanks Miz Helen!
           

Have you joined me on Facebook yet?  Would love for you to do so!

Chicken Vegetable Soup with Homemade Noodles

When I made or meal plan for this week I decided I wanted to try to make another soup from scratch.  Since my Hearty Ham & Split Pea Soup went over so well, I figured, let's try round 2 with a new one!  I've been wanting chicken noodle soup, so I thought about what I would put into it, researched how to make my own noodles, and here is what I came up with.  The egg noodle recipe I found at allrecipes.com, the rest of it, I made up as I went along.  Here is the recipe:

Chicken Vegetable Soup

Oil

2 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and cut into small pieces
3 slices of bacon, cooked crispy and crumbled
1/2 onion, sliced
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
1 stalk of celery, sliced
1/2 cup cauliflower, cut into small florettes
1/2 cup broccoli, cut into small florettes
1/2 cup green beans, cut in half (ends cut off)
4 cups chicken broth
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon parsley
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
Fresh homemade egg noodles (recipe follows)

In a frying pan, coat with a small amount of oil.  Heat, and cook chicken until cooked through.  Remove chicken from frying pan and set aside.  Add bacon to the pan and cook until crispy.  Remove from pan and set on paper towel to remove excess grease.

While the chicken is cooking, in a large pot, coat witha small amount of oil, heat over medium, and add onions, carrots, celery.  Cook until they start to soften.  Add in cauliflower, broccoli and beans.  Continue to cook, around 5 minutes.  Add in chicken broth, chicken, garlic, parsley and pepper.  Simmer at medium-low for 10 minutes.  Add bacon and continue to simmer for 5 minutes.  Add fresh pasta and simmer until pasta is cooked to your liking (approximately 5 minutes).  Serve, and enjoy!

Homemade Egg Noodles

2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup milk
1 tablespoon butter

In a large bowl, stir together flour and salt.  Add the eggs, milk and butter.  Knead together until a smooth dough is formed, about 5 minutes.  Sit in bowl, covered with a tea towel, for 10 minutes.

After the dough has rested, roll it out to your desired thickness.  Cut into lengths (or shapes).

Leave the noodles to air dry after you've cut them.

*Notes 
- I made my egg noodles around 10 am and left them to sit on the counter until I started making the soup at 12:30 pm.
- I found that this recipe made enough for 3 batches of noodles, so I have packaged up the other 2 batches and will freeze them until the next time I make soup.

VERDICT:
Of course the baby decided he was hungry just as I was about to serve the soup.  So I dished up bowls for my husband and our oldest, and they ate while I fed the baby.  My husband's first reaction was "This is SO good".  He ate his bowl of soup really quickly and went back for more.  Our oldest wasn't in the taste-testing mood, he was tired after a busy day yesterday (swimming lessons, birthday party, babysitters so that Mom & Dad could go out for a grown-up only dinner) - so he didn't actually try the soup, he went for a nap instead.  Finally, I got to try the soup, and it was declicious.  I really enjoyed it.  The variety of vegetables, the fresh noodles, oh my.  It was yummy!  This is a keeper in our books!  To top it off, we have two nice sized servings leftover, already packaged for lunch tomorrow...can't wait!

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