A couple of recipes

Sorry for not posting as much as I wish I could. I wanted to put up a few recipes that my husband and I have been making a lot lately and really enjoy.

The first is for homemade, whole wheat English muffins. These are really good to have on hand for an easy breakfast or for quick sandwiches.

English Muffins

·       1 package dry active yeast

·       1 cup warm water (105 to 120°F)

·       1 cup milk

·       1/4 cup butter

·       2 tablespoons sugar

·       1 teaspoon salt

·       6 cups flour, 3 cups whole wheat flour and 3 cups bread flour mixed well, divided

·       1/2 cup white corn meal

Dissolve yeast in warm water in large bowl. Heat milk and butter in small saucepan until butter melts. Add sugar and salt to milk mixture.

Stir yeast mixture, milk mixture and 3 cups flour together until smooth. Add enough remaining flour to make a stiff dough.

Turn onto lightly floured surface; knead 2 minutes. Spray a large bowl with no-stick cooking spray. Place dough in bowl, turning to coat surface. Cover with damp cloth or plastic wrap; let rise in warm place until double in size, about 1 hour.

Heat oven to 350ºF. Cover rolling surface with corn meal. Punch down dough; divide in half. Roll each half out to 1/2-inch thickness on prepared surface. Cut into 3-inch rounds; place on baking sheets about 1 inch apart.

Bake 6 minutes on each side, or until browned. Cool on wire racks. Serve split and toasted.

This next recipe is for Cinnamon Roll Scones. They are so good. They might not be really healthy, but they are much better than an over-iced cinnamon roll from a store. You can also make them healthier by using half whole wheat flour and half unbleached all-purpose.

Cinnamon Bun Scones

·       2/3 cup light brown sugar

·       1 stick (4 ounces) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch dice, plus 2 tablespoons softened

·       1 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon

·       3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

·       1/3 cup granulated sugar

·       1 tablespoon baking powder

·       1/2 teaspoon salt

·       1 cup heavy cream

·       1 large egg

·       1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 425°. Line a large, heavy baking sheet with parchment paper. In a food processor, pulse the brown sugar with the 2 tablespoons of softened butter and 1 teaspoon of the cinnamon until soft crumbs form. Transfer the mixture to a bowl.

In the processor, combine the 3 cups of flour with the granulated sugar, baking powder, salt and the remaining ¼-teaspoon of cinnamon and pulse to blend. Add the diced butter and pulse until the mixture resembles small peas. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and make a well in the center.

Add the cream, egg and vanilla to the well and stir to combine. Using a wooden spoon, gradually stir in the flour mixture until a firm dough forms. Crumble the brown sugar mixture over the dough and knead it into the dough, leaving some streaks.

Lightly dust a work surface with flour. Turn the dough out onto it and knead 3 times. Pat or roll the dough into an 8-inch round, about 1 inch thick. Cut into 8 wedges, then transfer the scones to the baking sheet and refrigerate for 10 minutes. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until browned. Let cool slightly on the sheet, then transfer to a wire rack.

Fruits and Vegetables

It is very important to eat plenty of fruits and vegetables when you are eating healthy. Vegetables are the most efficient way to take in energy since they get their energy directly from the sun. I love all vegetables (except beets and okra...) but they can be really expensive. I usually only buy bananas, one fruit that is on sale, onions, potatoes, carrots, celery, green onions, kale, sprouts, parsley and cilantro fresh. I buy all other fruits in cans. This can seem "wrong" because so many canned fruits are processed in a ton of sugar. Since this is true, you just need to make sure you buy canned fruit that is in 100% juice or labeled as having no sugar added. If you do happen to have fruit that is packaged in syrup, rinse the fruit really well before serving. This will help to wash off a lot of the extra sugar. For vegetables, I buy frozen. Frozen vegetables are very inexpensive, especially if you buy the store brand instead of a national brand. They are also frozen without any additives at peak freshness so they are as healthy as fresh. I always have a bag of green peppers, peas, corn and green beans in my freezer. I also like to have a bag of frozen stir fry vegetables to be able to make a fast dinner. The stir fry vegetables mixes are really great deals. For less than $2, you can get a large volume of vegetables for less than the cost of one individual item in the mix. I also use canned tomatoes when I do not have a stock of homemade in my freezer (yes, my husband and I process and freeze or can our own tomato sauce and diced tomatoes). With these (or any other canned vegetables you buy) make sure you get something that is labeled as no salt added. If you are not able to find no salt added vegetables, again wash them thoroughly before eating.

A lot of people I know do not like vegetables. If you are one of these people, it is important to "hide" vegetables in your food. I always have carrots, celery, onions, and (frozen) green peppers on hand. I include these (and others) in almost every meal I make. If we are having spaghetti, I make the sauce from scratch with onions, peppers, carrots and celery diced and browned with the meat. If we are having tacos, I include onions, pepper, carrots and corn. These vegetables add very little "bad" flavor but add a lot of nutritional value to your meal.