Recipe Experiment-Coconut Muffin

Today I am trying my hand at a new recipe from Smittenkitchen.com .   I made a few adjustments like using coconut abstract, coconut sugar instead of white sugar and I switched the flour amounts.  I used 3/4 cups whole wheat flour and 1/2 cup white flour.  I also subbed greek yogurt for coconut milk.  I just bought it and just opened it yesterday.  So I'm trying to use that up.
Here are a few pictures of the process.  The first is a pic of the ingredients and the second is a pic of the completed batter before being baked.

The original developer got 10 muffins.  Other folks on her blog got 12.  I got 9 and that was a stretch after taking batter from other cups to make an additional one.  They are baking now and smell super good.  I'll post again when they are done and consumed...lol
And...they are done!  I'm glad I didn't squeeze out a 10th one.  I like some body to my muffins.  Not sure if you can make out the 2nd pic, but lots of people ask about texture and I wanted to give a close up.  I just tried them and because of the coconut oil and the coconut itself you don't need any spread on it.  It does not have a overpowering flavor at all.  The crumb is light and fluffy.  I'm curious of how it will taste with the coconut flour.  I think adding walnuts would've added another layer of awesomeness.





Edit-
So I went to sparkpeople.com and entered the actual ingredients I used to make the muffins because I was curious of the calorie count.  I'm glad to see that it was in line with the carb count of a traditional meal for me.  Of course the fat is a bit high and I will strive to take that into account with the rest of my food today.  It's interesting to see that the sugars are super low per serving.   Pic below of calorie count per muffin:

Recipe Experiement-Packaged Sausage Lentil Soup

In another post I wrote about making Rachel Ray's Sausage, Kale and Lentil Soup.  I found this soup ingredient package at Whole Foods so I thought I would try it.  It contains the lentils, spice packet and you add the meat of choice. 

At the butcher I bought a pound of loose turkey sausage and a pound of ground turkey burger meat.  I mixed them together and left it in the fridge.  When you do this the unseasoned meat takes on the flavors of the sausage eliminating the need to season the ground turkey.  I cooked the meat, drained it and emptied the pan.  I then cooked a diced large onion and added the meat back into the pan.  I opened a can of tomatoes (smaller than what package called for), a 28oz carton of chicken broth and a smaller container of more flavorful broth.  Like Rachel Ray's recipe I plan to put chopped Kale when the soup is done to give a nutritional boost.

This recipe took all of less than twenty minutes from putting the raw meat in the pan to the simmer that's concurring now.  This recipe boasts 8-10 servings and some will go in the freezer for quick meals.  Cooking for more than one meal is key when embarking on a health/fitness regimen because spending a lot of time in the kitchen will be frustrating for people new to the kitchen.

Now, if the end product is as good as my Rachel Ray recipe I will be a happy girl!

Recipe Experiment-Rachel Ray Sausage, Kale n Lentil Soup

I want to get more veggies in my diet as well as incorporate beans somehow.  I came across a recipe by Rachel Ray on the foodnetwork called Sausage, Kale and Lentil Soup.  The serving size she posted is that this soup serves 4.  Umm....that's a big fat NO!  I did add more meat to increase the protein count, but other than that this pot is huge.  The pic on the right is a top shot of the pot which is half full of soup goodness.  The pic on the left is the amount I ate.




 It was a little time consuming because of cooking the meat in batches.  The recipe used turkey sausage to which I added ground turkey.  There's a bit of veggie chopping-onion, celery, carrot, potato and kale.  The good part is this is a one pot meal.  You could add a salad, but I probably won't because its very filling because of the sweet potato and fiber rich lentils.  I'm going to put a few servings in the freezer, pack up some for the week and give the rest away.

Recipe Experiment-Cloud Pancake

CLOUD PANCAKE
This is a post from my old blog and is very worth posting.

I found this recipe on pinterest.  It's called Cloud Pancake.  It required whipping egg whites and basic ingredients.  I missed the part of cooking it on the stovetop for a few minutes.  I don't see why that's necessary though because the pan has already been heated in the oven.  Soooo....it never deflated which is a good thing and this thing is HUGE!!  Huge works for this foodie.  I love volume and could never look at a tablespoon of anything and be satisfied.  I used 1/2 tablespoon of coconut oil instead of a whole tablespoon of butter that the recipe called for.  I also used half whole wheat flour and half white flour for the 1/4 cup of flour.  I also used coconut milk instead of cow's milk.  If you've been following my blog you know that I picked up several containers of strawberries and 3 half gallons of coconut milk so of course I had to use some in this recipe.

Pic of finished product below...

 
Off to eat!
REVIEW---OH MY GOODNESS!!  That was so very yummy!  Now I'm sad I messed around with the pancake failure from yesterday.  I could have had this one instead.  I used a non-stick tfal omelet pan coated with 1/2 tbs coconut oil.  I moved the coconut oil around up to the sides of the pan before putting the batter in.  I topped the pancake with strawberries and blueberries and put it into the oven.  The result was a browned bottom with a fluffy body to the pancake.  I topped with a measured 1 tbs of agave maple syrup.  This is definitely a keeper.  Sadly because of the whipping of the egg whites this will probably be a day off or weekend meal.