St. Paddy’s Day #2 Flag Muffins

Most people have heard of zucchini bread and carrot cake, but what about spinach muffins?  I found this recipe on a blog and thought it would be a great treat for St. Patricks Day to make green muffins WITHOUT any food coloring.  Unfortunately I did not have a blender with the ability to liquify the spinach, but they tasted amazing.  I was able to weigh my ingredients since bananas vary in size and I adapted the recipe using frozen instead of fresh spinach.  I used almond milk as my milk choice, all whole wheat flour, and reduced the sugar to 1/2 cup as it was already sweet enough for my liking.  I folded in walnut pieces as well for a bit of extra crunch and flavor.  I also liked that I could taste the batter as there were no eggs.

The Naked Closeup

Ingredients

• 2 cups whole-wheat flour (8.5oz)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• 1½ tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ cup canola oil
• ¾ cup milk
• 1 lb bag frozen spinach (6oz squeezed of water)
• ½ cup mashed banana about 2 (7.5oz)
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract

I adapted this recipe from http://thegreenforks.com/popeye-muffins/

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and line two 12-cup muffin pans with paper liners.
2. Whisk together dry ingredients in a large bowl: flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.
3. In a blender, place oil, milk, and spinach. Blend on high for about 30 seconds or until completely puréed. Add banana and vanilla; blend on low just to mix.
4. Pour puréed mixture into dry mixture and fold together with a rubber spatula until completely combined.
5. Fill muffin cups about ⅔ full and bake 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Now I had fun with this photo opp creating a cupcake honoring the Irish flag topping it off with whipped cream and a shaved carrot.  These are DECEPTIVELY good… but I am hoping to make them again using the proper blender for vanity sake.

St. Paddy’s Day #1 Cabbage Duo

I have taken a few weeks off, but no worries I have a lot of fun to come.  Stay tunes tomorrow for a fun St. Paddy’s Day recipe.  It is that time of year again where I see cabbage at the local grocery store and decide to buy one with no plans of what to do with it.  

Ahhhh the small but mighty head of cabbage.  Once cut, it grows into a forrest of greens that is useful for large batches of multiple recipes.  In this case I decided to go with a chicken cabbage soup and a traditional creamy cole slaw.  The cole slaw was actually adapted from the recipe on the back featuring pretty basic ingredients.  I added a kick of Sriracha (about a tbsp) and used half greek yogurt and half mayo in the dressing, both which I highly recommend.

 

Creamy Cole slaw

Cabbage and chicken soup

The “dump” soup was a result of an impulse buy of cabbage in honor of St. Patrick’s Day so I used ingredients I had at home.  First searing carrots and celery in a pot, then adding the a few cloves of garlic.  Then I added a can of crushed tomatoes and chicken stock I made a few weeks prior from the bones of a roast chicken.  At that time I added the cabbage and let simmer about 15 minutes before adding the chicken which I poached in the liquid until cooked through before pulling into smaller pieces.  As I recall the only other addition was salt and pepper.