Superhero Muffins

These come from Suzan Stegemoeller. If you make 10 muffins, each has 358 calories (if I'm using chocolate chips).

Ingredients

 2 cups flour (recipe calls for almond meal; I used half wheat, half white)
1 cup old-fashioned oats
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup raisins, chopped dates, or chocolate chips
3 eggs
1 cup grated zucchini
1 cup grated carrots
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350. Line muffin cups or spray them with cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, oats, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, salt and walnuts/raisins/chocolate chips.
3. In a separate bowl, mix together the eggs, zucchini, carrots, butter, maple syrup and vanilla. Add to the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined. The batter will be thick.
4. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups, filling each to the brim. Bake until the muffins are nicely browned on top, 25-35 minutes.

Beef Burrito

Ingredients

Burrito Seasoning:

1 tsp each onion powder , dried oregano, salt
2 tsp each dried cumin powder , paprika
1/4 tsp black pepper
¼ tsp cayenne pepper , or to taste (optional)

Beef:

1/2 tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves
½ onion , finely chopped
500g / 1 lb beef mince (ground beef), I use lean
2 tbsp tomato paste
3 tbsp water

Burritos:

6 - 8 large soft flour tortillas or round wraps (~25cm/10”+) (Note 1)
3 cups cooked rice , warm not piping hot (I use white long grain)
3 cups iceberg lettuce or cabbage , finely sliced (use cabbage if freezing)
1 cup corn kernels (I use canned, drained)
1 cup black beans (I use canned, drained)
3 tomatoes, deseeded and diced
1/2 red onion , finely chopped
Finely chopped coriander / cilantro (optional)
1 1/2 cups / 150g shredded cheese of choice (melting kind)

Directions

1. Heat oil in a skillet over high heat. Add garlic and onion, cook for 2 minutes until onion is lightly browned. Add beef and cook, breaking it up as you go, until it turns from red to brown.
2. Add Taco Seasoning (or use 1 packet store bought) and cook for 1 minute. Then add tomato paste and water, cook for 3 minutes until the water is mostly evaporated but the beef is still juicy, not dried out. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes – piping hot filling will steam the burrito, making the tortilla soggy.
3. Optional: If not warming rolled burrito, warm the tortillas before rolling (per packet directions).
4. Place a burrito on a work surface. Place 1/4 - 1/3 cup of rice just below the centre. Top with 1/4 - 1/3 cup beef, then some lettuce, corn, black beans, tomato,  a sprinkle of red onion, coriander and cheese.
5. Fold up the bottom to cover the filling then fold the edges in (video helpful to see how to do this). Roll up tightly, then wrap in foil. Serve as is or heat per below.
6. HEATING: To warm through, pan fry (dry pan) in the foil over medium high heat for a few minutes on each side to slightly crisp and warm the outside. Or for 10+ minutes on a medium low heat if you want to melt the cheese. Or they can be baked at 180C/350F for 20 minutes in the foil – this will warm them all the way through and crisp up the tortilla slightly. If they are straight from the fridge, they will take around 30 minutes to warm through.
7. Burritos are best served with something to dollop/dip - sour cream (or yoghurt) and some sort of chilli sauce are my usual because it's easy. When I'm making more of an effort, I use  Restaurant Style Salsa or Guacamole.

Recipe Notes

1.  I like to use Mission large soft wraps (see photo in post) because they are slightly larger than burrito wraps sold in the Mexican section of Woolies/Coles etc plus they are slightly softer so less prone to breaking AND they are slightly cheaper. Win, win, win! (PS Recipe author is in Australia 🙂)
2. STORAGE/REHEATING: Burritos freeze / reheat brilliantly as long as you avoid watery vegetables. The combination of ingredients I use (don't use lettuce, use green cabbage) is ideal for freezing. Typically, tomatoes aren't great for freezing but because it's the only "watery" vegetable and not much is used, it works great. To reheat, thaw for 24 hours in the fridge or overnight on counter (as log as it's not super hot where you are) then:

- OVEN: reheat in oven at 180C/350F in foil for 30 - 4o min (place on tray in case there is leakage) until outside is slightly crisp;

- MICROWAVE/STOVE: unwrap then microwave for 2 minutes then crisp in dry pan over medium heat;

- STOVE: Leave in foil and turn over medium heat in dry pan for 10+ minutes until crisp all over (takes a while to warm all the way through).

1. MORE VEGGIES / Great for Freezing: One way to pack more veggies into this and/or reduce the carbs by leaving out the rice is to add veggies into the beef filling. To do this, increase the Seasoning, tomato and water by 50% (use the scaler by hovering your cursor over Servings) then add 3 cups of diced veggies of choice, like zucchini, carrots, celery, capsicum, corn. Use a large skillet, saute these veggies after the onion, then push to the side and add the beef and proceed with the recipe. 
2. Nutrition per serving assuming 10 burritos.
   

Coconut Lime Curry Chicken

 Recipe from Erin Mendenhall

2 lbs chicken breasts

3 Tbsp oil
zest of one lime
1 tsp ground cumin
1 ½ tsp coriander
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 ½ tsp salt 
2 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp curry powder
½ C coconut milk
pinch of cayenne
1 small fresh, hot chili, minced (optional)
fresh, chopped cilantro
lime wedges

NOTE: I added more coconut milk, a little lime juice, cumin and curry powder to the sauce while boiling so that we'd have more sauce.

Pound chicken breasts out thin.  Mix all remaining ingredients except cilantro and lime wedges.  Add chicken and marinate in the fridge up to 2 hours.  Grill chicken or cook in pan on stove with a little oil on high heat.  Pour marinade into a small saucepan and boil continuously at least 2 min.  Sprinkle w/ cilantro and squeeze lime on top.  Serve over rice with sauce.

Oven Roasted Sausage, Potatoes and Peppers

 Recipe from Amy Bartley

1# (or more) sausage links
4-5 potatoes
1 small jar banana peppers
1-2 bell peppers, sliced
1 lg onion, sliced
3 Tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper

Spray a large baking pan with nonstick spray.  Slice sausages into thin rounds.  Cut potatoes into 1/2” chunks.  Slice onion and pepper into strips.  Place all ingredients on baking sheet and drizzle oil over. Use your hands to toss everything together in the oil, making sure everything feels coated.  Add salt and pepper.  Top with banana peppers.  Bake at 400F 30-35 minutes or until potatoes are done.

Raspberry Chocolate Muffins

The original recipe comes from www.lecremedelacrumb.com, although I've altered it a bit.

Ingredients

2 cups flour (I used half white, half whole wheat)
1 cup white sugar (I used 1/2 cup)
¾ cup semi sweet chocolate chips (I used 1/3 - 1/2 cup)
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1 cup sour cream - OR plain Greek yogurt
½ cup milk 
½ cup vegetable oil (1/3 is probably fine)
¼ cup milk chocolate - OR semi sweet chocolate chips
1 cup fresh raspberries (I used frozen)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line muffin tins with liners OR grease well with cooking spray.
2. Combine flour, sugar, 3/4 cup (or a bit less) chocolate chips, cocoa powder, and baking soda in a large bowl.
3. Whisk egg, yogurt, milk, and vegetable oil in another bowl until smooth.
4. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Add raspberries. Pour into muffin tins. 
5. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes before removing muffins from the tins. Serve immediately OR store in airtight container at up to 4 days at room temperature or 1 week chilled. (I freeze these and thaw them out one at a time.)

NOTE: The recipe calls for putting the raspberries and some chocolate chips on top of the muffins, as follows, although I prefer the raspberries mixed in. Divide raspberries and remaining 1/4 cup chocolate chips among the muffin tins (just sprinkle the chocolate chips on the tops of the batter and gently press the raspberries into the top - I used 2-3 raspberries per muffin)

One Pan Mexican Quinoa

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 jalapeno, minced

1 cup quinoa

1 cup vegetable broth

1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 (14.5 oz) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes

1 cup corn kernels, frozen, canned or roasted

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon cumin

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 avocado, halved, seeded, peeled and diced

Juice of 1 lime

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Directions

1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add garlic and jalapeno, and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 1 minute.
2. Stir in quinoa, vegetable broth, beans, tomatoes, corn, chili powder and cumin; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat and simmer until quinoa is cooked through, about 20 minutes. Stir in avocado, lime juice and cilantro.
3. Serve immediately.

Suzan's Pumpkin Bread

 This comes from my friend/running buddy/hiking partner Suzan. According to her instructions, it is best served with hot, strong black coffee...which I haven't tried yet. But even without the coffee, it's yummy! The taste reminds me of gingersnaps.

Ingredients for 3 Large Loaves

4 cups raw sugar

1/4 to 1/2 cup molasses

1 cup vegetable oil

1 large (29 oz) can pumpkin 

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon salt

4 teaspoons baking soda

splash of vanilla

5 cups flour (half whole wheat, half white)

chopped nuts or chocolate chips (optional)

Directions

Mix all ingredients. Bake in greased loaf tins at 350 for one hour. (May need to adjust baking time, depending on loaf size.) Also makes great muffins, although I think I like the bread better.