Pumpkin Muffins

Recipe as found on Cooking Light:
Ingredients
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup canned pumpkin
3/4 cup fat-free sour cream
1/3 cup fat-free milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 large egg white
Cooking spray
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons brown sugar

Makes 18 muffins.

Preparation
Preheat oven to 375°.
Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 5 ingredients (flour through salt) in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk. Make a well in center of mixture.
Combine pumpkin and next 6 ingredients (pumpkin through egg white); add to flour mixture, stirring just until moist. Spoon the batter into 18 muffin cups coated with cooking spray.
Combine 1 tablespoon granulated sugar and brown sugar; sprinkle over muffins.
Bake at 375° for 25 minutes or until muffins spring back when touched lightly in center. Remove muffins from pans immediately; cool on a wire rack.

Nutritional Information
Calories: 164, Fat: 3.5g (sat 0.6g,mono 0.8g,poly 1.9g), Protein: 3.5g, Carbohydrate: 29.7g, Fiber: 1g.

Patti’s Notes: The reviews were good but many comments about them not being spicy enough so I increased spice.
I’m not opposed to using eggs but I didn’t have any and I don’t want to buy any until the produce farm opens again in November where I can get them straight from the chickens. I searched for substitutes and these three sounded the most interesting to me:

½ banana and ¼ teaspoon baking powder
or
2 tablespoons applesauce
or
3 tablespoons mayonnaise

They also said not to sub more than 2 eggs when baking.
I decided not to use mayo because I didn’t want to increase the fat content. I ended up with a combo. I used 2 T unsweetened applesauce for the whole egg and 1/4 banana with 1/8 t baking powder for the egg white. I did it that way because they already had baking powder in the recipe. They came out great!

My substitutions:
Instead of 1 cup sugar I used ½ cup sugar and ½ cup Splenda Granulated;
Increased spice to 1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon and 1 ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice;
Instead of ff sour cream I used Fage 0 Greek Yogurt;
Instead of ff milk I used unsweetened Almond Breeze;
Instead of veggie oil I used canola;
I increased the vanilla to 1 ½ teaspoons;
See above for egg substitutes;
I added about a tablespoon of flax seed (I didn’t measure);
I had to add a splash of almond milk (maybe 2 tablespoons) because the matter seemed a little too firm;
For the topping I used 1 tablespoon each white and brown sugar plus I added about ½ cup chopped pecans to the sugar mix before topping the muffins.

They were perfectly done in the 25 minute suggested time frame.
These came out nice and fluffy, like a cross between a cupcake and a muffin.
Very delicious.

~Source: Cooking Light

I use the foil muffin cups instead of muffin pans.

Above: All dressed up and ready to bake.

Below: fresh out of the oven.

Sweet and Sour Cabbage Soup with Short Ribs

Ingredients:

2 pounds Short Ribs
Sea Salt
Fresh Cracked Pepper
1 Tablespoon Vegetable Oil
½ White Onion, diced
1 can (35 oz) Tomatoes (diced, stewed, whatever you have)
I small head of Cabbage, shredded
1 ½ to 2 quarts of Water
4 oz Unsweetened Applesauce
3 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
¼ Cup Lemon Juice

Instructions:

Sprinkle meat with salt and pepper and place in pot over medium-high heat. Sear until browned on both sides. Remove meat. Add oil and sliced onion to hot pot. Sauté until onions are soft, about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes to onions and stir a few minutes until juices start to boil. Add half of the cabbage. Place meat on top of cabbage. Add remaining cabbage, applesauce, brown sugar, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Add water to the top of the veggies. Bring to boil, reduce to simmer, cover and let cook about 2 to 2 ½ hours. Remove meat with a slotted spoon. It should be falling off the bone. Let the meat cool. Adjust seasoning by adding a little brown sugar or lemon juice depending on if you like it more sweet or more sour. When the meat is cool, remove the bones and pull the meat off of the cartilage (I just roll it between my fingers). Discard cartilage and return the meat to the pot.

The three yellow cubes at the top of the pot are frozen lemon cubes. My lemon tree is still in the process of producing lemons so those are frozen lemon cubes I made over the summer by juicing lemons and freezing the juice in ice cube trays. I still have a big ziploc bag of frozen lemon cubes which work great in recipes.

Look how the meat just falls right off the bone.


I think it’s actually better the next day. It also freezes well.

Source: I searched high and low for a recipe and ended up doing my own thing. Some call for beef broth, some add raisins, some use regular sugar for sweetness and vinegar for sour. I wanted to cut the sugar content so I used part unsweetened applesauce and part brown sugar. You can use white sugar but I prefer the maple-y flavor of brown sugar. Personally I like it more sour than sweet. I also prefer it less soupy and more like the consistancy of stew. If you like it soupy you can add more water.

Generic Soup

Michael Symon has a saying on his new show ‘Cook Like an Iron Chef’: “learn a recipe and you can make a great dish, learn a technique and you can make 100”. I kind of feel like this perfectly describes my generic soup. I start with the base of sautéed onions, add garlic, add chicken stock and whatever veggies you want. Add any seasonings that work well with those veggies.

Regular Chunky Soup: Add whatever protein you like (chicken, meatballs, etc.), bring to boil, reduce to simmer about one hour.

Creamed Soup: Skip the protein, bring to boil, reduce to simmer about one hour. Add one can of fat free evaporated milk and blend with an emersion blender.

You could also add rice, pasta, potatoes or beans. If you use potatoes add them when you start the veggies. If you add pasta, cook it first and add it at the end. It has a tendency to soak up a lot of the broth. Rice can either be cooked first (good use of leftovers) or you can add uncooked rice when you start the boil. Same with canned beans. Drain, rinse and add prior to the simmer.

^^ Veggie Soup with Chicken ^^
I started with sautéing a diced onion then added a couple of cloves of chopped garlic. Next went in the chicken broth and one boneless, skinless chicken breast. Once the chicken was cooked I removed it and added chopped celery and carrots. I let the firm veggies cook about 15 minutes and then I added cut up fresh green beans, sliced zucchini and grape tomatoes (cut in half) with plenty of basil and oregano, black pepper and just a smidgeon of salt. Bring to boil, diced the chicken breast and put that back in, reduced to simmer for about 45 minutes. Took half a bunch of kale (you could use spinach but I like kale because it doesn't get a mushy), stripped it from the stalks and added it to the soup to wilt. Simmered an additional 15 minutes.
M-M-Scrumptious.
^^Cream of Broccoli Soup^^

I sautéed onion and garlic, added broccoli, chicken broth, basil, a little sea salt and fresh ground pepper, a few red pepper flakes for some zip. Bring to boil, reduce to simmer for about an hour. Add a can of fat free evaporated milk, hit it with the emersion blender and wah-la. A big pot of deliciousness ready to enjoy.

Health-O-Meter: These are both very low cal. Notice I didn’t start with butter or oil to sauté the onion. I don’t think it’s necessary. The onions will start to sweat which adds a little moisture. Stir them while they are cooking down and they won't ‘fry’.
I can’t do the calorie count because it depends on what you add. Obviously the protein you use will change the nutritional value and so will pasta, rice, potatoes or beans.

I normally don’t post recipes that I haven’t tried but since my bestie Sandi asked about French Onion Soup, I’ve been wanting to try Anne Burrell’s French Onion as seen on the Food Network. It looks easy but takes time. It also has great reviews. Some recommend beef stock instead of chicken or half beef/half chicken. I think I would do the half and half.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/anne-burrell/french-onion-soup-recipe/index.html
This is going to be a little higher in calories due to A) the olive oil; B) the baguette; C) the Gruyere cheese. Still, I don’t think it will be hideously bad. You control the amount of olive oil, the size of the slice of bread and how cheesy you make it. I personally will use very little oil, a thin slice of bread and lots of cheese ;-)