Grainy Butternut Muffins

When cooking a butternut squash, one needs to plan for leftovers or two separate meals as finding a small butternut squash is impossible. With close to two cups of roasted butternut squash sitting in a bowl and knowing leftovers were not going to happen, a quick dish was needed to use remaining squash. With honey in the entree and honey in the side dish, why not use honey in the dessert? Healthy Butternut Squash Muffins to the rescue. Quick, easy, and all ingredients are pantry staples.

Modifications Made:

Recipes was halved, pumpkin pie seasoning for chia, soy for almond milk, honey for maple syrup, and vegetable oil for coconut.

Scaled for Likability: Good
Well to the teen table counterpart and myself these were good. We each ate one straight from the oven as soon as they were physically not going to burn our mouth (the teens favorite), then one later when still warm with butter spread over each half, and then a third at room temperature (my favorite version). Every time with the same result, great in flavor, bad in texture. Batter left a grainy texture in the mouth like eating raw oatmeal.

Next time these are made, the oatmeal will be divided into four portions. Portions one, two, and three were pulsed to flour and portions four will be left whole. In this batch, portions one and two were pulsed to flour consistency, portion three coarse ground (like instant oatmeal, and the fourth was left whole. To alleviate the grainy texture from the oatmeal, the batter will allowed to rest for ten minutes. Additionally, cranberries and finely chopped walnuts will be a great add in for some much needed crunch.

One tip, let them "over" cook as the toothpick can be deceiving and soggy insides were not yummy.

Better Than Campbell's Old Fashion Vegetable Soup

Went to the store with the hopes of gathering fresh produce for soup. With more than 45 people in line for two packages of any meat product and the produce section containing only avocado, orange, and most randomly, strawberries, I settled upon canned soup. Well not canned soup since that section was still void of food, too. Instead soup made from canned goods as the canned vegetable section had been mostly restocked. Soups like this 15 Minute Vegetable Soup are ideal in dire food situations such as current times. Modifications Made: Plain petite diced tomatoes omitted, frozen carrots instead of canned, green beans and corn undrained, peas omitted (gross, nasty little pods), one cup celery, three cups diced potatoes, one can tomato sauce, two beef and two pollo de tomate bouillon cubes, six cups water. Once onions were softened, carrots/celery/potatoes/juice of green beans and corn, sauce, bouillon cubes, water were added and allowed to simmer until carrots almost tender. Green be

Sour Cream & Chive Scalloped Potatoes

Can't believe the Month of the Potato is over. There are so many more potato recipes saved. Guess I will have to work them into another month. Last week's scalloped potatoes were one of the best new recipes during the month of potatoes. With today being the last day in the Month of Potatoes, I decided to go out with a bang by cooking another batch of scalloped potatoes but this time sour cream and chive. The Best Scalloped Potatoes , or so they said. Modifications Made: Recipe was reduced by half. Mayo was omitted and one entire package of chives were chopped and added to sauce before pouring onto layers. Scaled for Likability: Good Betty Crocker Sour Cream and Chive Box Scalloped Potatoes were the standard for this recipe. These were a family favorite for years but have long since been discounted. Bummer. Trying to replicate this seemed easy enough. Alas, it was not. These had a nice texture but were too oily from the cheese and did not contain enough onion, garlic,

Papas a La Mexicana (Ranchera)

It is a crying shame that there are six hens and not a egg in sight. What am I supposed to do with homemade ranchero sauce? Thankfully with a few quick searches of the internet a recipe from my hometown newspaper was discovered: Papas Ranchera . Not once in the thirty years I lived in my hometown did I ever eat at a local food joint serving papas rancheras. No time like the present to remedy this cultural dish. Because this recipe is hidden behind a paywall (grrr...) I have included it here for you: Servings: 4-6 Ingredients: 1 pound potatoes, diced 1/4 cup vegetable oil 1/2 large onion 1 1/2 medium tomatoes 3 jalapenos 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup juice from canned tomatoes Instructions: Fry potatoes in vegetable oil until lightly browned (about 4-6 minutes). Saute onions, tomatoes, jalapenos until soft. Add garlic powder and salt. Add tomato juice until vegetables are covered (may need to add water). Bring to a boil and then add potatoes. Cover and reduc

Eating Waffles

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