Picking Up Good Habits

Don't you just love it when your kids picks up one of your good habits for a change? I do. As you might have figured out from my previous posts that I have been trying to make my diet, which I thought was already pretty healthy, even healthier. We've been experimenting in the kitchen with new recipe ideas and even trying a few new vegetables. It's been great and lucky me I've even lost a little bit of weight. What I wasn't trying to do is convince Quirky that she needed to do this to, so I was a little surprised the other day when I noticed her making herself an early lunch. She had pulled out my giant tub of spinach, which made me stop to see where this was going. She ended up making what she called a Turkey, Spinach, and Cheese Tortilla Pizza. Now Quirky will eat spinach, if I put it on her plate, but normally voluntarily. I was a little surprised and proud. She really is a great kid.

Mixing it up...

In the kitchen, that is. I know the other day when I posted about the "coffee" cake for one, I had also mentioned that we made one for Quirky. Not sure what to call this one...a little bit chocolate cake or Chocolate Syrup Mug Cake. I don't know, but either way Quirky enjoyed it and we had fun in the kitchen. This is what we did.

Quirky's Chocolate Syrup Mug Cake

3 tbs. Self-rising flour

1 tsp. vanilla flavoring

1 tbs. Sugar

1/4 tsp of oil

Squirt of chocolate milk syrup

Milk

Makes for a short post but, really all you need to do is mix all the ingredients together and microwave for one minute. Next drizzle with chocolate syrup. Finally hand to kid and try not to get your hand bit as she devours it. I think she liked it.

Coffee Cake for One

After dinner Quirky and I had a taste for something sweet, so we decided to whip together two quick microwave cakes. Once we got in the kitchen, Quirky and I realized that we wanted two different things, and well that led two completely different little cakes. For myself, we decided to make a "coffee" cake. This little cake turned out delicious and was just what I needed to satisfy both my sweet tooth and my coffee cravings. Here is what we did:

Pineapple Oatmeal Muffins with Almond Glaze

Recently Quirky and I were experimenting in the kitchen with our basic oatmeal muffin recipe, and came up with this sweet creation that is reminiscent of pineapple upside down cake, just with less sugar and heart healthy oatmeal. They made for a delicious breakfast served with hot coffee for me and milk for Quirky. This is what we did:

Egg Muffins

Egg Muffin Ingredients

While Quirky slept the morning away, I spent a relaxing morning in the kitchen, making breakfast for Quirky and myself for the whole week. I love cooking with Quirky, but sometimes it's just peaceful to be in the kitchen by myself. In the silence I contemplated what to make, and considered making mini blueberry pancakes to freeze, but ultimately decided on egg muffins. This is something I've been making for Quirky since she has been a toddler, the only difference being then they were mini muffins with only cheese but now I can make them a little more hearty. I love making them because anything goes, your ingredients can be just about what ever you want or what you have on hand. This is what I did.

Refrigerator Pickles

Refrigerator Pickles

A colleague of Dork was nice enough to share the abundance of his summer garden, so today I find myself with a handful of cucumbers. Dork likes to eat plain cucumbers, but I find them a little bland for my taste, and well, Quirky won't touch them at all. That being said, there is just no way Dork will eat all of these cucumbers before they go bad. So instead of letting all these beautiful cucumbers go to waste I decided to make a quick batch of refrigerator pickles. That way both Dork and I can enjoy them. They are super simple to make. Here is what I did.

Blueberry Orange Mug Cake

I think I just might be obssessed with these little cakes.  They are so quick and easy to make, and it's fun to experiment with different flavor and ingredient combinations.  This time I was inspired by my morning smoothie, an oatmeal, blueberry and orange juice combination. It was delicious, which got me to thinking of how the flavor combination might work in one of these quick cakes.

Quick Delicious Corn on the Cob

Sometimes the simplest way is the best. Take this recipe for instance, if you can even truly call it a recipe. To me it just simple, delicious, and something I've been doing for years. In all the years that I have made corn this way I have just never let Quirky help. Why I don't know, maybe because it was simple that I did it without even thinking about. Oh well...whatever the reason for not doing it in the past, today was a perfect day for us try this recipe together.

Chipotle Black Bean Hummus

Summer, unfortunately for us, is one of Dork's busiest times. However, one of the benefits to his job is that Quirky and I can stop by and visit with him and the people he works with just about anytime. This is a good thing because a few days of long hours and barely seeing each, I start to go stir crazy. The little things that Quirky does begin to aggravate, the everyday sounds around the house begin to annoy. I admit it...I need Dork. The other day was one of those days. I needed to see his face just as much as needed to hear his voice. So Quirky and I decided to make Dork and the people he works with a treat for them to snack on. We decided on homemade bread and a Chipotle Black Bean Hummus. The bread was made from my basic go to recipe that I have made for years, but the hummus was something that we made up as we went along. If the way Dork and the guys gobbled it up is any indication then I think it might have been pretty good. Here is what we did:

Single Serving Peanut Butter Banana Bread

This little bread was moist and delicious, and it was made in the microwave. Yep...I told you I would be revisiting the whole mug cake in the microwave concept. For some reason today,  that I'm beyond comprehending, my fever addled brain kept telling my stomach that it wanted banana bread. Since I am battling the dreaded summer cold, and quite frankly don't feel like standing up long enough to make "real" banana bread, I decided to revisit the mug cake concept. So with a handful of ingredients and less than five minutes I managed to calm the craving. This is what I did:

Peanut Butter Mug Cake with Chocolate Frosting

We are not a family who has dessert after every meal, but sometimes, you are left wanting and the only way to fill the void is with something sweet. You know what I mean...another helping of broccoli or potatoes is just not going to do it. Another slice of roast beef is just going to make you mad. If you were kid you might pout and throw a fit because you wanted it so bad. Tonight was one of those nights for me. I wanted something sweet with minimal effort; I wanted something sweet fast. Having seen pictures of mug cakes all over Pinterest and the internet I knew the basics so I felt that was the best way to go to satisfy my craving.

I decided to combine two of my favorite things, peanut butter and chocolate, to make one that I hoped would turn out delicious. I was not disappointed. They turned out moist and a cross somewhere between cake and cookie. After spreading them chocolate frosting that I forgot I had, and sprinkling them with chopped nuts they were nothing short of delicious. ( Turns out I had store bought icing in the pantry, lucky I forgot or I would have probably ate it straight from the tub like some deranged chocoholic. ) I was even nice enough to make one for both Quirky and Dork. From the silence around the table and the scrape of spoons in the bowl I would say they liked them too. 

My sweet tooth is soothed and the best part is it took less than five minutes to make. I will definitely be trying some more of these. Mind is going crazy with ideas...maybe a coconut cake or a red velvet cake. Oh the possibilities are endless. Here is what I did:

Peanut Butter Mug Cake

1/4 cup Self Rising Flour

2 Tbs Sugar

1 Tbs Peanut Butter

1 Tbs melted butter

In a small mug or ramekin, mix all ingredients until completely blended. Be sure to scrape the bottom well to get all of the flour. Place in microwave and cook on high for 1-2 minutes or until done. Be sure not to over fill your mug or ramekin, the cake will rise. Let cool and then ice with chocolate icing if you have it, or sprinkle with chocolate chips, drizzle with chocolate syrup, or devour straight from the microwave as is. Either way it's going to be delicious.

Chocolate Peanut Buttery Fudgy Deliciousness

Yummy! Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

As you might have guessed from some of my previous posts that Dork was recently out of town and Quirky and I went crazy cooking. It occupied our time and our minds and helped us to forget just how much we missed our Dork. Of course we had to make him something special for when he got back. So we decided that we would make him cookies, double chocolatey extra yummy cookies. We really...I mean really like...no love chocolate around here. So we started out pulling out all the ingredients to make the recipe for double chocolate cookies that I had when I realized that I was missing a good portion of the ingredients. I had less than half the butter I needed, only a third of the cocoa powder, on and one the list went. Yikes!...it's time to replenish the baking supplies. We could have given up...

Vanilla Chai Muffins

Vanilla Chai Muffins

Quirky and I love to experiment in the kitchen. Often we take a general idea of what we want and then run with it. Imaginations are not just for stories and art, we use them in the kitchen too.

This muffin came about one afternoon because of how much Quirky loves hot chai tea, well that and we had nothing...well nothing that Quirky really wanted left to eat for breakfast the next day. (We were both tired of cold cereal!) So Quirky and I decided that we would make a quick batch of muffins. It didn't take long and they turned out delicious. Here is what we did:

Shepherds Pie...a Quick Meal for Quirky and Me

What do you do when you are planning on having baked potatoes topped with veggies, but you're just a wee bit scatter brained from have spent numerous hours solo with your Quirky autistic kid and unfortunately forgot to buy the potatoes. ( Which was one of the main reasons we had gone to the store that day, yet I still came home without them...sigh.) Going out to eat was not an option...I was not leaving the house again. So after rummaging through our cabinets and contemplating whether it was bad parenting to feed your kid cereal for dinner, it finally clicked with me that we had instant mashed potatoes...Hello. So I decided to go all topsy turvy and instead of having veggies on a baked potato, we instead made Shepard's Pie. It was quick, easy, and delicious. Here is what we did.

Valentine's Day is only one day...

Normally Dork and I don't make a really big deal out of Valentine's Day. We figure there are 365 days for us to show each other how much we care, and countless ways. From the little things that he does without fail,

If You Like Piña Coladas

Tropical Oatmeal Muffins

And getting caught in the rain. If you're not into yoga and you have half a brain...I think that's how the song goes. Although in my mind I have made up several versions...and getting caught by the train...if you're not into togas...and you have a toy train...AAAHH! There are other versions, each just as weird and wrong as the next. Why am I stuck on this song? Well it all started with piña colada mix...

and oatmeal...and bananas. You see it all started a few weeks ago when my mother in law gave me a huge bottle of pina colada mix. After receiving a gift like this most people are like....PARTY TIME! Not me...I'm thinking cake...or maybe cookies...or muffins. So I set it aside, waiting for inspiration to hit. Well it did, in the form of this blog...www.theoatmealartist.com...via Pinterest. I think she likes oatmeal...it's hard to tell. I was inspired and this is what I came up with...

Tropical Oatmeal Muffins

2 cups of Quick Oats

2 large bananas well mashed

2 tsp of baking powder

1 cup of piña colada mix

Mix all ingredients well and divide evenly into lightly greased muffin pan.  Bake at 350° for about 20 minutes. Delicious. Quirky loves them. I love them. Dork well...not so much. But you might... So if you like piña coladas...and have Yoda on the brain. I think I might need help...

Easy Stuffed Tacos...stuffed Mexican Pizzas...Well...

you can call them whatever you like. I call them time well spent in the kitchen with Quirky. Time chatting...giggling...and making something delicious. Time spent together. If we get dinner in the process, well that's even better. 

Peanut butter and chocolate no bake oatmeal bars...

Quirky and I have been baking again...well ok not really baking. We have been making some melt in your mouth oatmeal bars. They are a chocolatey and peanut buttery heaven and they take me back to my childhood and coming home to the smell of my Mom's chocolate oatmeal cookies.  I think these might be just as good... Don't tell mom.

These were fun to make with Quirky because they are quick and easy.Technically you could even use the microwave to boil the milk mixture...making the recipe really kid friendly. I've also decided that this recipe is healthy....it's full of oatmeal...and chocolate...and sugar...and butter. Ok...never mind they are still delicious!

Making Apple Apple Pies...

Ok...I apparently forgot to hit post back when I wrote this.  Well anyway here it is now. 

Quirky and I love the taste of apple pie. In fact saying the word in my head makes my mouth water. We love them so much that most trips to Mc Donald's end with an apple pie. To be honest though at $1.15 for two small pies they are really not that cheap...especially when you consider how cheap, easy, and fun they are to make on your own. So that's what we did...and we'll sorry McDonald's...you may not be getting our apple pie business anymore. Hope it doesn't bring down the business :) So how did we make our Apple Apple Pie?

Pinterest lunch...

Quirky and I have found our new favorite quick and easy lunch. I have Pinterest to thank...well sort of.

You see I've been making crust less mini quiches for years for our lunch. They are quick to put together and once in the oven takes no effort on my part...in other words the perfect lunch when you have to be both teacher and chef. Then, Pinterest came along with all of its beautiful pictures and ideas and well...there it was. Almost like the quiche I've made a hundred times for Quirky but some genius decided to use sliced ham for a crust. I'm not a fan of ham and neither is Quirky so we used thinly sliced turkey instead. She prefers hers with just cheese but I sprinkled mine with cayenne pepper and then a spoonful of salsa once they were out of the oven. So really it was just the mini quiche again but with a meat crust...heart healthy? Probably not. Delicious...definitely. 

Really no recipe is necessary...but if you are really really one of those people who has to have directions then go check out ohsnapletseat.com, she has done a beautiful job of explaining it.