Skinny Chocolate Oatmeal Muffins

As I sit here writing this, I'm snarfing down a couple of muffins (with a tall glass of milk, of course.) and I've got Kenny Loggins cranked. Life is good!!

But anyway, that was not the point of posting tonight. I wanted to share a (super yummy!) recipe for Skinny Chocolate Oatmeal Muffins. These are actually healthy chocolate muffins! Er. Ah, I mean about as healthy as chocolate muffins can be. I made a double batch and got around 50 muffins. Not that there's that many left on our kitchen table by now…
The following recipe is only for a single batch, so triple away if you want!

You'll need:

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup honey

1 lg. egg

3/4 cup natural (unsweetened) applesauce

3/4 cup sour-cream

1/2 cup all-purpose flour (or you can use 1 cup of regular flour and forget the whole wheat if you don't have any)

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 t. salt

1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 t. baking soda
1 t. baking powder

1 cup old fashioned oats

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Start by greasing some cupcake pans. Don't use liners! These muffins will stick to them badly.

Then in a large (almost huge) bowl, mix the honey and sugar.

Add the egg and mix some more...

Then add the applesauce and sour cream. Even if you mix really good, there'll still be some little white lumps. Don't worry about 'em!

Then stir in the flour.

Add your cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

Gently fold in the oats and chocolate chips. 

Fill greased muffin tins 3/4 full and bake at 425* for 5 minutes. Then drop the temperature down to 375* and bake for another 12 minutes.

Pull 'em out and use the toothpick method to see if they're done. Push a toothpick into the center of the muffin...

Pull it out and if it's clean they're done!

Cool for a few minutes and then enjoy with some milk and 80's rock music!

Ashleigh

Copy, Paste, and Print for the recipe below.

Skinny Chocolate Oatmeal Muffins

(prairiegalcookin.blogspot.com)

You'll need:

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup honey

1 lg. egg

3/4 cup natural (unsweetened) applesauce

3/4 cup sour-cream

1/2 cup all-purpose flour (or you can use 1 cup of regular flour and forget the whole wheat if you don't have any)

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 t. salt

1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 t. baking soda
1 t. baking powder

1 cup old fashioned oats

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 425* and grease a couple of muffin tins with nonstick spray.
In a very large bowl, combine the honey and sugar. After mixing well, add the egg. Mix that as well and then add the sour cream and applesauce. Don't worry if there are a few lumps!
Mix in the flour(s). Then add the cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
Once mixed, fold in the oats and chocolate chips.
Fill the muffin tins 3/4 full and bake at 425* for 5 minutes. Then drop the temperature down to 375* for 12 minutes.
Pull out, cool and enjoy!



For The Love Of Mason Jars

My latest obsession is Mason jars. Actually, any kind of canning jars, be them Mason, Ball, etc. There are so many different ways to repurpose them. You can use them to decorate, organize, and beautify.

Here's a few of my favorite ways to use them:

You can use them for lighting...

Herb planters...

 Smelly candles (I know you guys just love 'em!)

 Mini terrariums…

 Succulent planters…

 Home decor (love the white plates and blue jars!)

 Cookie mixes (great gifts!)

 Kitchen Canisters…

Or little greenhouses to help start your baby plants.

Now this one isn't really using any jars. But I figured it could fit in this post anyway! I think this one is my favorite of them all…

Ashleigh

Spicy Noodle N Beef Casserole

This yummy recipe was originally from Cathy M (Thank You!) I've doctored it a little more and here's how it ended up! It used to be twice this size, but we found that it was a bit too much for our crew! (If you want to, you can easily double it.)

You'll need:

1/2 cup onion, chopped finely

1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce

1 can Rotel Original

1/2 cup milk

1/2 can mushroom soup

1/2 cup Velveeta cheese

1 (8 ounce) bag of wide egg noodles

Set your water to boil and get the noodles going. Then start by adding the chopped onion and ground beef to a skillet. Brown the meat…

Once browned, add the tomato sauce. Simmer for about 2 - 3 minutes.

Then add the Rotel. Inhale deeply!

In a separate saucepan, mix the cheese, soup, and milk. Whisk these together and heat.

Now that your meat mixture is done.

And the noodles.

Stir together in a small casserole dish and then pour over it the cheese mixture. Bake at 375* for about 30 minutes.

Pull out and serve alongside a nice pile of corn!

Enjoy,

Ashleigh

(Copy, Paste, and Print for this recipe below.)

Spicy Noodle N Beef Casserole
(prairiegalcookin.blogspot.com)

You'll need:

1/2 cup onion, chopped finely

1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce

1 can Rotel Original

1/2 cup milk

1/2 can mushroom soup

1/2 cup Velveeta cheese

1 (8 ounce) bag of wide egg noodles

Preheat the oven to 375*.

Start cooking the noodles. Dump the onion and beef into a skillet.

Brown the beef and then add the tomato sauce. Simmer 2 - 3 minutes and then add the Rotel.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, whisk and heat together the milk, soup, and cheese.

Once the beef mixture is heated, the noodles are done, and the soup mixture is heated through, mix together in a casserole dish.

Cook for 30 minutes and serve with corn and salad!

Homemade Croutons

I've tried making croutons before and they never turned out quite right. They were always oily and soft. Thankfully, after some trial and error, I've figured it out! One of the most important factors is the oven. Before when I made them, I would just brown them in a non-stick skillet with LOTS of butter. Turns out (much to my surprise!) there is such a thing as too much butter! What you need for these babies is "dry heat". I better just show you what I mean...

You'll need (for a small batch like mine):

3 slices of bread (I used Oatnut)

2 T butter

1 lg. garlic clove, minced

Freshly cracked black pepper



Preheat your oven to 350*.

Then get started with your bread and a bread knife.

Cut it in strips (about 1 inch apart).

And then again across the other way.

Toss the chunks in a large cast iron skillet.

(Yes, it does have to be cast iron.. Trust me, they'll be worth the seasoning and such later.)

Shut off the oven and stick the skillet in it for about 10 minutes. This will dry the bread out and make it easier to brown.

Pull them out, add the butter, and then turn on a medium - low flame .

Mince the garlic.

Toss that garlic in and then crack some pepper.

Keep stirring these! By now, the butter is probably gone, so they will burn fairly easy.

This is what I call "dry heat", there's no liquid or grease. Just heat and the bread.

Once they get to the color and crispness you want them, stick them back in the oven (it'll feel cooler now, but the heat from the cast iron skillet will warm it back up some.) and leave them sit for about 5 - 7 minutes. This finishes the drying out process, without browning/burning them any more.

Pull out and enjoy alongside a leafy salad!

Ashleigh

Copy, Paste, and Print for the recipe below.

Homemade Croutons 

(prairiegalcookin.blogspot.com)

You'll need (for a small batch like mine):

3 slices of bread (I used Oatnut)

2 T butter

1 lg. garlic clove, minced

Freshly cracked black pepper

Preheat the oven to 350* and then shut it off.

Chop your bread into chunks and then place them in a cast iron skillet and then in the oven for 10 minutes.

Pull it out and add the butter, garlic, and pepper. Stir constantly over medium flame. Keep stirring until it reaches the color and crispness you want and then place the skillet back in the oven for about 5 minutes.

Pull out and enjoy with a nice salad!



Rainbow Lake

Sunday afternoon, a couple friends and I went to look at an abandoned rock quarry, nicknamed "Rainbow Lake". It was interesting how many different little caves or nooks n crannies there were! It is said that the limestone the Marion County Courthouse is made out of came from this quarry.

Ashleigh



Celebrating 6 Months and 100 Posts!

  

     Six months and 99 posts ago, I started this blog with the very first post about salsa. Since then it's become a catch-all for recipes, crafts, pictures, and stories. It's gathered close to 6000 viewers and several followers. What can I say? It's my baby!
     We've had a few spells were I would post nothing for almost a week and then days where I post 4-5 times a day. (Those were wild!)
     When I started this blog I had doubts it would last more than a couple weeks at the most. But now I'm hoping it'll last for a very long time!
     Now, I could tell you about some of the things that have happened to this place in the last six months. Or I can tell you about what I'm hoping will happen in the next six months. I think I'll go with the later.
     Lots of people love to post about the current things that are happening around the world, on their blog. I, on the other hand, prefer to tell you about the things that are happening around my area and such.
    And I love trying out new recipes and sharing the results with you guys! (Some not too good, others not so bad!) And I've heard from several people off Yahoo! Answers that have tried some of them and really appreciated them!
     And the pictures... Well, I just take way too many. And it seems that out of every 100 there's always at least 10 that are pretty good. So I think I'll continue sharing those too...
     The latest additions to the blog include the Gardening, Photography, and Cheat Sheets & Printables tabs. These are gradually filling with some helpful resources you might use.

     So I think for the next six months, things will probably stay the same as they are now. I'll add some tabs or topics once in a while, share some fantastic new dishes, a couple funny stories, some interesting pictures, a few crafts, and just any other random thing I feel like posting!

Thanks for sticking with me this long!

Ashleigh

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