Cranberry Sourdough Waffles

Have you sometimes wondered what to do with that left-over Cranberry Sauce beyond smearing it on the very important turkey sandwich on white bread, with mayonnaise and potato chips, (which is is a must, in my opinion), but what about after that? Well let me tell you; crispy sourdough waffles, smothered in Cranberry Orange Sauce are the answer. We unanimously "mmmed", "oohed" and "ahhed" over this combination. The tangy cranberry pairs so well with the "Sour" in the Sourdough Waffles, that it seems just flat to eat the waffles without the sauce... and now that the Cranberry Orange Sauce is all gone, but the waffles still remain in the freezer, I am considering making another batch of the sauce, so that the waffles don't seem flat... haha. But all that to say, "you're really gonna like these, so you gotta give this a try".


This sourdough waffle recipe is a recipe that my daughters have often made during their visits here. The recipe is an adaptation from All-Recipe's "Sam's Sourdough Waffles" Recipe, and it is delicious. The waffles are crisp outside, fluffy inside, with a wonderful flavor, and are perfect eaten fresh, or frozen and re-toasted. We have a whole batch in the freezer right now, and have been enjoying them all week... with the Cranberry Orange Sauce, of course.

 

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Einkorn, Spelt, or Organic All-Purpose Flour
• 1 1/2 cups Water
• 1 cup Sour Dough Starter
• 1/2 cup Cooking Oil (my favorite is Avocado Oil)
• 2 Eggs
• 2 Tablespoons Coconut Sugar or Organic Non GMO Cane Sugar
• 2 teaspoons Himalayan Salt
• 1 Tablespoon water
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1 cup Cranberry Orange Sauce
• 1/2 cup Pure Maple Syrup
• 2 Tablespoons Water
• Organic Powdered Sugar for dusting
• Oranges or Mandarins for Garnish

Its best to start this the night before you want to make waffles.

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, 1 1/2 cups water, and sourdough starter. Mix well. Cover loosely with plastic wrap or paper towel and let sit in a warm place 4 -12 hours.
2. Once the batter has been sitting 4 -12 hours, and is bubbly, add oil, eggs, sugar, and salt; mix well to combine. 
3. Whisk 1 tablespoon water and baking soda together in a small bowl until dissolved. Fold into the batter with a rubber spatula.  
4. Preheat the waffle Iron.
5. Spoon in batter into the waffle iron, and cook until waffles are crispy.
6. While the Waffles are cooking, place 1 cup Cranberry Orange Sauce into a sauce pan, and add 1/2 cup Pure Maple Syrup, and 2 tablespoons of water.
7. Heat until warm and well combined.
8. Spoon hot over hot, buttered waffles
9. Dust with powdered sugar
10. Enjoy!

They are so yummy, even for dinner, with sausage and eggs.

Muffin Tin Mania: 20 Unique Muffin Ideas

"Muffin Tin, how do I love thee, let me count the ways.  You have faithfully cooked up delicious little cakes and breads since the day of your invention, and we have discovered that you are the perfect pan to make delightful, little portable, handheld meals, snacks and desserts already portioned out in just the right size.  Children and adults  love the foods that pop out of those little cups of yours; food that is perfect for  parties, picnics, or lunch boxes; breakfasts, lunch or dinner; to stay or to go; beautiful or rustic; wholesome or comforting, glitzy or humble, your creations are perfect for any occasion. You are adorable".

One of the most viewed posts on this blog,  is Spaghetti Pie Meal in a Muffin as pictured in the header. It isn't the post I would have thought to have had so much traffic. It has been featured in several websites such as Chowhound,  Luvo, Huffington Post and The Whoot, all of which have contributed to its popularity; but I think the main reason that it has done so well, is that Muffin Tin ideas are flourishing and I can understand why, they are irresistible. I find myself often thinking of meals that I can make for the muffin tin.

Soooo …..I decided to share some of my favorite muffin tin ideas that I have saved on my Muffin and Cupcake Pinterest board; they are from a variety of websites, including this one. So get out those  muffin tins, and put them to use with some of these recipes, and change up the menu plan with a little bit of fun.

Cheesy Steak Cups

by Gather For Bread

Pizza Pie Muffins 

From Where Your Treasure Is

Hashbrown Egg Muffins 

By Play Party Pin

Meatball Sandwich Muffins

by Where Your Treasure Is

Pepperoni Pizza Puffs

by Circle of Moms

Mini Corn Dog Muffins

by Iowa Girl Eats

Shepherd's Pie Muffin

From Where Your Treasure Is

Breakfast Oatmeal Cupcakes

From Chocolate Covered Katie

Reuben Sandwich Muffins

From Where Your Treasure Is

Almost No Bake Mini Chocolate Peanut Butter Pies
From Carlsbad Cravings

Impossible Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes

From Cakes Cottage

Meatloaf Cupcakes

from Cincyshopper.com

Eggplant Parmagiana Meal in a Muffin

From Where Your Treasure Is

Baked Potato Cupcakes

From Dairy Makes Sense

Granola Yogurt Cups

From Muffin Mania

Mac n Cheese Muffins

From Fifteen Spatulas

Trim Healthy Mama Compliant

Chocolate Pecan Muffins
from Flowers in His Garden

Eggs in a Potato Nest

from Stranded Foodie

Pancake and Sausage Muffins

from Heavenly Homemakers

Sausage and Cheese Breakfast Muffins
from Where Your Treasure Is

14 Southern Recipes for Pie and a Free e-Cookbook

I have been having a bit of catch up time with Steve here in Colorado, and enjoying every moment of being with him… as well as cooking up a storm for him.  I had felt his deprivation of some lovingly made home cooked meals, over the last few months and have been working away to fill  that gap.  He has finally cried "Mercy", so now I am refocusing from the cooking of comfort foods, to the cooking of some leaner meals…. we don't have the metabolism we once had haha.  I haven't quite gotten my blogging inspiration going, so I have been away from blogland longer than I had intended.  Hope to remedy that soon.

I did have some fun news that arrived in my e-mail today so I thought I would share it with you;  I was asked to be a part of an E- Cookbook recently called 14 Southern Recipes for Pie. I was notified today, that it was completed and published. It is put together by FaveSouthernRecipes.  They have featured two of my recipes on their site in the past, (Texas Sheet Cake  and Strawberry Hand Pies), which I have greatly appreciated, and they have just finished this e-Cookbook on Pies, which has my recipe for those Little Strawberry Pies in it.  If you click the link, and scroll down to the Hand Pie Section, you will see my little pies featured there; It is the first picture on the left.  You can also down load the e-Cookbook, it is free.  If you are a "pie junky"  like I am, I'm sure you will love it.

Have a lovely week end Everyone;

Creamy Cottage Cheese and Coconut Pancakes

I loved the food in Russia when we were there.  I was surprised at how many delicious comforting foods there were to eat,  many of which were new to me.  One of our favorites, was a pancake that our hosts called "cheese cakes" I think in an effort to give them a name we could pronounce.  In Russian they are called "Syrniki".  They are just so good.

Cottage cheese is the main factor that makes these pancakes what they are, and gives them that moist, creamy goodness. These are a lower carb version because my waistline has been telling me I need to get back to some Trim Healthy Mama eating, and yet ….my comfort food cravings go down deep.  Sooooo here is one of my starting places to satisfy both sides of this tug of war.  These are a delicious, low carb, zero grain and down right satisfying pancake, and I can eat them with my sausage and egg because they work as an S meal on the THM plan.  Unlike traditional pancakes which fill me up momentarily, and wear off too quickly, these pancakes satisfy;  this is probably due to the high fiber content, in the coconut flour.

Cooking and baking with coconut flour can be tricky, due to the fact that it absorbs liquids like crazy, and can't be substituted measure for measure for regular flour.  It takes a little working with  and experimenting.  The coconut has so many benefits, that I love incorporating it in a variety of ways when cooking… and I could probably do whole post on the benefits of coconuts from oil to flour… but perhaps another day. Just a final note about coconut flour, if you are counting carbs as you go, remember that the carb count in coconut flour is 2/3 fiber, so the "actual" carb count can be reduced by two thirds.

 1. Place eggs and cottage cheese in blender.

 2.  Blend until thoroughly mixed.

3.  Pour into a medium mixing bowl, add remaining ingredients and mix well together. 

4. Allow to sit for 5 minutes, to allow the coconut flour to absorb the liquids; it will thicken up a little.

 5. Scoop 1/4 cup measures and pour onto a prepared pan.

 6. Cook about 3 minutes on the first side and 2 minutes after you have flipped them.

 6. Serve with berries or sugar free syrup if you are trying to watch those carbs, otherwise, pure Maple Syrup or honey  for our family.

 Creamy Cottage Cheese Coconut Pancakes
 Ingredients:

1 cup cottage cheese

4 eggs

1/2 cup coconut flour ( I use slightly under 1/2 cup, just loosely measured)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla

Coconut oil for flying

Instructions:
A well seasoned or non-stick pan and a low heat setting are important for these pancakes, because they need to cook a little longer than you would normally cook a pancake, and will brown quickly.  Also, the cottage cheese has a sticky factor to it, so having a well seasoned pan is important.  Be sure it is heated fully and coconut oil is well distributed before dropping the batter onto the pan.

1. Put cottage cheese and eggs in a blender and blend together until thoroughly mixed.
2. Pour blender ingredients into a bowl and add remaining ingredients.
3. Stir well and allow to sit for 5 minutes.  The batter will thicken while it sits.
4. Put 2 tablespoons or more coconut oil into a frying pan and bring to low heat. 
5. Scoop 1/4 cup of batter and pour onto frying pan.
6. Cook about 3 minutes on 1 side and 2 minutes once flipped.
7. Serve with fresh berries, or a sugar free syrup.

Enjoy!

Creamy Cottage Cheese Coconut Pancakes

For any of you who came to this post earlier and liked it or shared it, I had to repost, due to a link error, so I am redirecting you to this link; sorry about that.  And by the way the Pinterest Problem has also been fixed; they were so prompt to figure out the problem and all is well now pin away.

Peanut Butter Muffins

Peanut butter muffins remind me of when I was in High School.  Whenever we stayed the night at my friend Cindy T's  house, her Mom would cook the most wonderful food for us.  We all loved to stay over there.  I think to this very day, each of us remembers all the things she cooked for us…. just thinking of it now is making me hungry for homemade rolls stuffed with ground beef, cabbage and onion…mmmm that was so good.  I think Mrs. T's cooking and hospitality probably imprinted many things in my life, including a love to cook, and a love to enjoy the comings and goings of my kids. It is a good reminder that hospitality and good cooking served with love, creates a safe haven for young hearts and makes wonderful, cozy memories for our children, perhaps even touching their lives forever. (Thanks Mrs. T. and thanks  for sharing your Mom with us Cindy and Jami).

As you might have guessed, Peanut butter muffins are a memory from those days as well. Mrs. T made them for us. They were delicious, comforting and satisfying.  These are not "those" muffins, because I never got any of her recipes, but they are a wholesome Peanut Butter Muffin made with… yes you guessed it: "Peanut butter" and  whole wheat flour and…. most importantly; love. They are lightly sweet and are delicious especially when served up warm with butter and honey.  They make a wholesome and satisfying after school snack for the kids, and teenagers will gobble them up.

Peanut Butter Muffins

Ingredients:

2 cups Whole Wheat Flour (I use White Wheat, which is a light whole wheat, and creates a nice almost white flour texture).

1 Tablespoon Baking Powder

1 tsp Sea Salt or Himilayan Salt (increase by 1/2 tsp if you are using unsalted peanut butter)

1 cup Coconut Sugar or Sucanat

1 cup Creamy Peanut Butter

1/4 cup butter softened

1 1/2 cup buttermilk

2 eggs

Optional additions: 1 cup chocolate chips, nuts, raisins or banana chunks or shredded coconut.

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 
2. In a medium sized bowl, combine dry ingredients and mix together well.
3. In a separate bowl combine remaining ingredients.
4. Mix well with an electric mixer or by hand with a whisk. 
5. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients, and stir until thoroughly blended.
6. At this point, you can add chocolate chips or any of the additions you may like. 
7. Divide into prepared muffin tins.
8. Bake 15 to 20 minutes.
9. Serve warm with butter and drizzled with honey.
10. Enjoy!

Delicious served hot, with butter and honey!

Enjoy!

Sausage and Cheese Breakfast Muffins

I love cheesy baked goods.  I guess I love cheese in almost anything. These muffins are loaded with cheese, cottage cheese and sausage and are a delicious easy breakfast that can be served hot or cold (however hot is the best). They are wonderful made ahead and stored in the freezer for a quick and delicious protein breakfast; just rewarm and eat.

 Ingredients:

3 Cups Whole Wheat Flour (I use White Wheat, which is my favorite for baking as it is a light soft whole wheat.  You could use sprouted whole wheat flour, pastry flour, rye, barley flour or white flour for these as well)

1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder

4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

6 Tablespoons butter

1 cup cottage cheese

1 1/2 to 2 pounds breakfast sausage,  browned.

2 cups shredded cheddar or asiago Cheese 

2 eggs, well beaten

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a medium sized mixing bowl, mix all dry ingredients together well.
3. Add butter 1 tablespoon at a time, and cut in until well blended.
4. Add cooked sausage, cottage cheese and cheddar cheese and eggs; stir well into flour mixture.
5. Add buttermilk.  
6. Stir until well blended.
7. Put into prepared muffin tins.
8. Top with a little extra cheese.
9. Bake at 375 for 15 -20 minutes.
10. Makes 24 muffins.