Blueberry Bran Muffins

These turned out quite nice, although they do seem to stick a lot to the paper. I'd probably make them directly into the non-stick pans next time. I also ended up making them smaller than I had planned (getting 25 instead of the 18 I had planned). I'll give the per muffin calories (and full) at the end so you can adjust to how many you make. They ended up 29% protein, 28% fat, 34% carbs (leaving 9% fiber).

1 cup 2% cottage cheese
1 cup nonfat milk (made mine from powder)
1-1/2 cups red bran (75 grams)

Blend the cottage cheese and milk in blender until smooth. Stir into bowl with red bran and let sit for 30 mins.

2 eggs
1/2 Tb oil
2 Tb applesauce, unsweetened
1 tsp grated orange peel

Mix above ingredients into the bran. Then combine the following dry ingredients:

7/8 cup whole wheat flour (100 g)
75g soy flour
50g wheat gluten
50g brown sugar splenda
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1-1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

Combine wet and dry ingredients, mixing lightly (do not smooth out batter). When combined mix in:

1-1/2 cup blueberries (frozen used)
3/4 cup sunflower seeds

Put into muffin tins and bake at 350F until tops spring back lightly when touched, or tester comes out clean. This took approximately 25 mins for the size I made.

Note: If you make larger muffins I might even turn the heat up slightly. I looked at a couple of other muffin recipes as the one I adapted this from said 350F for 15 mins. They weren't even close to ready and needed another 10 mins at 350F convection. Other recipes I have use 400F as the baking temp, however, with removing the fat you may not want to cook them that hot.

Calories each (25 made): 99 (7g protein, 3g fat, 11g carbs, 3g fiber)

Calories total: 2472 (180g protein, 80g fat, 265g carbs, 68g fiber)

Curry Sauce (with tomato)

I looked back at the original recipe (called Captain's Curry) and it's based on curries made in the American south (Charleston is mentioned). I only mention that because it doesn't have cumin in it, something I tend to associate with curries. The original recipe had 1 cup of coconut milk added in at the end. It's something I wouldn't add, and I see it's quite high in calories as well, but thought I'd mention it. I really just added the tomatoes and changed a bit of the spicing. Oh, and it was a crockpot recipe as well.

1 Tb oil
2 onions, finely chopped (8oz used)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tb curry powder (I use a med heat one we have) adding a touch of hot when reheating
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
1 cinnamon stick piece (3" long)
1 bay leaf
20oz chicken stock
28oz can diced tomatoes
2 apples, peeled and diced (10oz granny smith used)

Heat oil in nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add onions and cook, stirring until softened and lightly browned. Add spices and continue to cook for 1 minute. Sprinkle with flour and cook, stirring for 1 min. Add chicken stock, tomatoes, bring to a boil and cook, stirring until consistency desired. Discard cinnamon stick and bay leaf. Stir in apples, remove from heat.

Okay - lots of notes.

Unless you cook it a long time over a slow heat you'll get tomato chunks in the sauce. If I'm short of time I've used an immersion blender and smoothed it out a bit, but not completely smooth. I cooked it on a high heat, adding water when it got dry, and cooked it a bit more so I still had a slightly chunky sauce. (This last time I made it I doubled it and cooked it slowly so I didn't need to do this.)

I use granny smith apples since I was going to freeze it (they don't disappear like other apples, yet are tart, which I like). If serving it fresh you might be better off with something that breaks down a little, and you might need to cook it for a minute or two. (I forgot the damn apples but the sauce turned out quite nicely without them. I will likely chop up and add half an apple if I remember when I make it.)

When I'm making the dish I put chicken thighs into a dish, drop the sauce on top and bake it in the oven until ready. Then I'll pour the whole thing over the vegetable of the day (ie. whatever is handy). (Picture above was made that way.)

The original recipe called for the 1 cup coconut milk, no tomatoes, celery (not sure why I didn't use it, likely didn't have it). Serving suggestions were toasted sliced almonds, white rice, and mango chutney.

It makes enough for 6 x double servings. It might not go 12 single servings, not sure. The calories for the entire sauce is: 718 cals, 21g fat, 131g carbs, 25g fiber, 17g protein (so it adds ~60 cals to whatever amount of chicken you use).

The tomatoes I use are 159 of that total. The other ingredients are generic enough that it shouldn't matter.

Fruit & Nut Bars

I adapted this from a recipe on 3FC. These are almost too sweet for my tastes. I was concerned about baking with soy flour and ground flax seed, so I thought I should sweeten it a bit. However, with the tart dried cherries it was a nice balance. I think the next time I make it I would double the cherries and drop the apricots. Oh, and I used Dulce de Leche (sweet caramel milk) that we've had in the fridge since we came home from Argentina many years ago. You could substitute honey, sugar, etc. - or try it without if you're using sweeter dried fruit. The 42g I used was 131cals (7% protein, 16% fat, 77% carbs). It did add a nice caramel undertone that went well with the apple and cinnamon though.

1 cup rolled oats (112g)
1/2 cup dried, non-fat milk (46g)
1/2 cup soy flour, stirred (56g)
1 oz ground flax seed (28g)
2 tsp baking powder (14g) <--- the tsp was heaping, the g weight is accurate
1 tsp cinnamon (5g) <--- same
1 oz dried cherries (28g)
1 oz dried apricots, chopped (28g)
1 oz chopped pecans (28g)
1 oz raw sunflower seeds (28g)

1 cup unsweetened applesauce (250g)
1-1/2 oz dulce de leche, warmed slightly (42g)

Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl. Combine dulce de leche and applesauce and mix in well. Spread into parchment paper lined 8x8 inch pan. Bake in preheated 350F oven for 25 mins until browned on edges and well set. (I think it could have gone a few more minutes, but I have a cold 350F oven.)

Remove from pan and cut into pieces. Store in fridge or freezer. I cut this into 8 pieces (2" x 4") which seems a decent size serving.

Calories per serving: 203 (10g protein, 7g fat, 27g carbs, 5g fiber)

Oat Scones

How I got roped into the idea, but it seems we're looking for filling breakfast items in the baked goods area. Since I'll be in school in the fall it's probably not a bad idea, so this is my first attempt. It's a recipe my mother makes with white flour and lots of butter. I know it seems silly to take out the fat and then put a slice of cheese on it... but, you know I was likely going to eat something with it anyway. For various reasons, most of the measurements are by weight. I really can't convert them (but everyone should have a good kitchen scale, right).

3 oz quick cooking rolled oats
3 oz whole wheat flour
1 oz vital wheat gluten
1/4 oz sugar
7 grams baking powder
dash of salt (less than 1 gram)

8 grams butter, salted
1/4 cup applesauce, unsweetened
1/6 cup skim milk (made mine from powder)
16 grams egg whites

Mix together the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Melt butter in a dish or cup and mix in the rest of the wet ingredients. Pour wet ingredients into dry and mix until just blended. Do not over mix.

Place mix on counter or board and roll/press into a 6x9" square. This sounds easier than you would think. Cut into 3"x3" pieces and then cut each square in half diagonally. This will give you 12 pieces.

Bake on ungreased cookie sheet or parchment paper in preheated 410F (convection) or 425F for 12 to 14 minutes. Remove and cool on rack. When fresh these are slightly chewy. They'll keep for a couple of days fresh, but freeze well. My mother reheats them in a toaster oven on low heat while she's making coffee. They are crisper that way. If just left to thaw they will be back to the slightly chewy stage.

Calories (ea): 78 cals (5g protein, 1g fat, 12g carbs, 2g fiber)

Serving suggestions: jam (my mother), thin slice of cheese (myself)

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Oh my goodness, this turned out so well. This originally was meant to be a 9x13 cake, but I cut the recipe in half, lightened it up and made it in an 8x8 glass dish. So this piece pictured is 1/16 of the recipe. Oh, did I mention that it's only 106 calories and tastes fabulous? That's down from 181 calories that the original would have been. I will take a couple of pieces to a few of the neighbours and see if it's just me though. :)

1/2 Tbsp butter, melted
1/2 Tbsp oil
1/2 cup (less 1 Tb) unsweetened applesauce
1 egg
1/4 cup sour milk (or milk with 1/2 Tb vinegar)
1/2 tsp vanilla
5/8 cup sugar
1 cup grated zucchini with peel

Melt butter and mix with oil to make 1Tb. Put into measuring cup and make up difference with unsweetened applesauce (to 1/2 cup). Mix with rest of above ingredients in bowl.

1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Sift dry ingredients together and stir into wet ingredients. Do not over mix. Spread into greased (non-stick spray) 8x8 or 9x9 pan and bake in preheated 350F oven for 30 - 35 mins until inserted wooden pick comes out clean. Turn oven off.

Sprinkle 1/4 cup chocolate chips over the cake and return to the oven for about one minute. Spread the melted chips over the surface.

Notes: The 1/4 cup of chocolate chips is a very thin layer. You could probably double that (which would be in line with the original recipe).

Calories (entire cake): 1653 (32g protein, 40g fat, 313g carbs, 14g fiber)

so... 1/12 - 141 cals
1/16 - 106 cals

Oh, and report #1 came back as very good, so it's not just me. I suspect you could cut the sugar back to 1/2 cup but that's only going to cut about 6 cals out of a 1/16th serving. I suspect I won't play with it anymore.