New to me recipe and Molly

Earlier this past week I had to go to the garage to get the oil changed in the car.  There is a coffee shop nearby that has the best raspberry yogurt muffins ever.  So I called in to get one to eat while waiting for my car.  They didn't have any, so I decided to have one of their low fat apple oatmeal muffins and it was really good.

I had three Gala apples that had seen better days so decided to make some apple oatmeal muffins with them using this recipe:

Apple Oatmeal Muffins

Ingredients:

2 eggs



3/4 cup milk


1/2 cup vegetable oil


1 cup all-purpose flour


1 cup uncooked quick-cooking oat


1/3 cup sugar


1 tablespoon baking powder


1 teaspoon salt


1 teaspoon ground nutmeg


1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon


2 tart cooking apples, cored,peeled,and chopped


Directions:



1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.


2. Grease a 12 cup muffin tin.


3. In a mixing bowl, lightly beat eggs; add milk and oil, stirring until just blended.


4. Stir in flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon, mixing until only just moistened (do not overmix).


5. Gently fold in the apples.


6. Spoon batter into the muffin tin, dividing evenly among the cups.


7. Bake in a preheated oven for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.


8. Cool in pan 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to finish cooling.


9. Serve warm or cool; store unused portions in an airtight container.




I will say they are better warm than cold.  To make them low fat you could substitute the oil for apple sauce?  Not bad though and makes a nice change.

Molly; not sure what is going on with her.  We finally got her pills down her, but not with a cheese slice but in between bread.  She did eat her food, she just seems out of sorts with herself, so need to keep an eye on her.  Normally when I give her, her pills in a cheese slice in a morning, she wolfs it down, but she was having none of it on Sunday.  Even dd couldn't get her to eat it?

Sometimes you don't know what is right on your doorstep......

Just discovered we have an organic farm up the road from us called Mansfield Heritage Farm  It sells organic fruit and veggies and participates in our local Farmers Market on a Friday.  I have yet to go to the Farmer's Market as I keep on forgetting about it.........

Also on thing that sort of puts me off is the price of things.  How can I justify paying $5 for a dozen eggs when I can get them for $2.29 in the grocery store?  Are you willing to pay more for organic food?

Dh will be on vacation next month, so between the jobs we want to get done we want to have a few away days from the house.  I need to search out things to do in our area as I am quite sure there is plenty to do.  I am sure there will be a trip up to Collingwood as we enjoy that area.  Then of course there are The Hills of Headwaters, which is in the area we live in.  I see by their site there is a lot going on.  Of course a day out to St. Jacobs in a great way to spend a day, especially if its on the market day. Yep, I think we will have plenty to do locally while dh is on vacation.

Finally for Sunday.........Molly isn't 100% again, she would take her cheese slice this morning......so will have to keep an eye on her.......

Making your own wine and a new to me recipe.

SORRY THIS SHOULD HAVE POSTED AT 1AM, I DIDN'T REALIZE IT HADN'T BEEN PUBLISHED.......

I got dh a gift certificate to make a batch of wine for Father's Day.  It was finally ready to bottle on Friday night.  He made a Chardonnay. 

First we had to sterilize the bottles. 

Then we had to fill the bottles and then put the cork in it. 

 Put the cap thingy on and then label them.

Sorry about the the quality of the photos.  We also started a batch of Shiraz that will be ready for bottling by the end of September.  We bottled 29 bottles and a half bottle.

I tried a new to me recipe on Friday morning.

Tea Biscuits:

2 cups all purpose/plain flour
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
4 Tbsp sugar
1 cup milk
1 cup sour cream
2 Tbsp shortening or butter

Mix together dry ingredients.  Blend in shortening, I rubbed it in with my fingers.  Add milk and sour cream, creme fraiche will also do.  Blend well.  Drop spoonfuls onto cookie sheet.  Bake @ 450oF for 12 to 15 minutes.

Must say they were good.  However they hardly rose so not sure what happened.  They are so moist and tasted great with butter and raspberry jam.

Signs of Fall........

There are signs of Fall appearing all over the garden, plus on Thursday there was actually no humidity and dh said it was down to 11oC when he went to work at 4:30am.  I love the cooler temps makes it so much easier to sleep.

I have been cutting the grass over the past couple of days and here are some photos from around the acreage:

The grapes are nearly ready, so fingers crossed I get them before the birdies and my four legged friend, who made an appearance on Thursday afternoon.

The apple trees are are full of fruit:

nice and ripe ready for picking:

The mountain ash tree has lots of berries on it:

Not sure what sort of bush this is but the berries look really lovely:

Fulling Mill Cottage and recipes...........

is a house forgotten in time and is such an interesting story.  Fulling Mill Cottage lies in the picturesque village of Fittleworth, three miles West of Pulborough, in West Sussex. The cottage, along with it's cats, was bequeathed to Cat Welfare Sussex by it's last owner, Fred Saigeman upon his death in 2010. Fred had been a staunch supporter of our charity for many, many years. It was his greatest wish that we could restore his family home, and after careful thought the trustees have decided to restore Fulling Mill Cottage to her former Glory.


Here is what it looked like many years ago:

To read more about it and see photos of it, please click on this link

On the weekend I purchased 3lbs of ground/minced beef as it was on sale.  On Monday I made some meals with it all.  Which included shepherd's pie, a lasagna and the cowboy casserole that I mentioned yesterday:

The Cowboy Casserole is a keeper, but of course I changed the recipe slightly:

1 tbsp (15 mL) vegetable oil  (Did not use as I browned meat, onions and garlic together)



1 onion, chopped


2 cloves garlic, minced


1 lb (500 g) Extra Lean or Lean Ground Beef Sirloin*


1- 2 tbsp (15- 30 mL) chili powder  (I omitted this)


1 can (28 oz/796 mL) no-salt added diced tomatoes


1 cup (250 mL) sodium-reduced chicken broth


1 can (14 oz/398 mL) HEINZ® Deep-Browned® Beans in Tomato Sauce (I used original)


2 cups (500 mL) frozen mixed vegetables


2 cups (500 mL) dried wagon wheel or penne pasta  (I used whole wheat rigatoni)

2 tbsp of tomato paste/puree


Heat oil over medium-high heat in large heavy saucepan or Dutch oven; add onions and garlic, and cook until aromatic, about 1 minute.

Add beef, breaking up with wooden spoon, until browned, about 5 minutes. Drain, if desired.

Stir in chili powder, tomatoes, broth, canned beans and frozen veggies; bring to boil.

Stir in pasta; reduce heat, cover and simmer until pasta is tender, about 15 minutes.

Makes 8 servings.

* Other options: Lean/ Extra Lean Ground Round,


Lean Ground Chuck, Extra Lean/ Lean Ground Round or


Lean/ Extra Lean Ground Beef

I think it would also be good with ground chicken/turkey

This feeds 4 comfortably, possibly stretching to 6.

The lasagna recipe is super simple:

Easy Lasagna:

1lb lean ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 can of your favourite pasta sauce
1 500g container cottage cheese
1 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese
9 lasanga sheets/noodles, cooked according to package directions
1/4 cup Parmesan grated cheese

Preheat oven to 350 oF.  Grease a 13 x 9 inch glass baking dish.

In a large non stick frying pan, cook beef and onion over medium high heat for 10 minutes, stirring to break up meat, or until browned.  Drain fat from pan.  Stir in pasta sauce and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to simmer and cook for 5 minutes.

In a bowl, stir together cottage and cheddar cheeses,

Spread 1/2 cup meat sauce over bottom of prepared baking dish.  Top with 3 noodles, then 1/2 of cheese mixture and 1/3 of meat sauce.  Repeat noodle, cheese, sauce layers.  Top with last 3 noodles and remaining meat sauce and Parmesan cheese.  Cover pan with foil.

Bake in centre of oven for 30 minutes.  Remove foil.  Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until cheese is browned and lasagna is heated through.  Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Makes 8 servings.

This is such a basic recipe that you can add your own touch too which includes seasonings.  Also 8 servings is really pushing it.  I would say 4 servings, if that is all you have.  Will stretch to six with a salad and maybe 8 with a salad and say garlic bread.

Now I have put mine in the freezer as we are having it on Sunday lunch.  I have never frozen it before so I will let you know on Monday how it went and what cooking times etc.

I don't have an exact recipe for shepherd's pie.  I brown ground beef and an onion, add beef stock and cook it for a while.  Thicken it with corn starch/flour and Bisto, add Worcestershire Sauce when cooking a seasonings.  Cook for 20 minutes while I am cooking the potatoes.

When cooked add frozen veggies place in a casserole dish and top with mashed potatoes.  At this point when cool you can freeze it, or pop it in a 350 oF oven until cooked through and top of mashed potatoes is crispy.

The two I made, the smaller one I gave to my neighbour as he helps out in winter with the driveway.  The big one went in the freezer for next week when I'll pull it out for supper one night.

It took me a couple of hours to make all that and clean up with a telephone call with dd in between hands.

Book Review and Heinz Baked Beans............

"A Most Unsuitable Match," by Stephanie Grace Whitson

Miss Fannie Rousseau is a young woman of privilege traveling west to uncover the truth behind a family secret.


Mr. Samuel Beck is on a mission to atone for past failures that still haunt him.


Their meeting aboard a steamboat to Montana sparks an unlikely attraction. They are opposites in every way... except in how neither one can stop thinking about the other.


Will the end of the journey bring the end of their relationship, or is it just the beginning?

I have nothing but praise for this book.  I had to read the next page, as I had to know what was going to happen next.  The storyline kept you on your toes.  Fannie was a delightful lead character, though must admit she did a lot of fainting; I am guessing it must have had something to do with the corests she wore!!!

There were a couple of twists and turns in the story which I wasn't expecting.  I personally enjoy stories from this period of time and always learn something new.  This author is being added to my list of authors I must read more of, and when I popped by her website, I discovered she has written a lot of other neat sounding books.

For anyone who is interested, here is a link to Stephanie's website.
 
Stars out of 5: 5 a joy to read and one I would reccomend to you to either purchase or borrow from your local library.

"Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.


Available at your favourite bookseller from Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group".

There are certain things in life that I will not scrimp on by buying cheaper brands and Heinz Baked Beans is one.  I will say we were sort of confused by all the different flavours of Heinz Baked Beans over here.  I prefer the Original one the best.

The site has a number of recipes on it, I like this one for Cowboy Casserole.

When the kids were home, it had to be Heinz Ketchup as well.  Now as we go through very little ketchup I will buy whatever is on sale when I have ran out.  Luckily more often than not Heinz is on sale, as the kids especially dd whines if there is another brand in the fridge.  I found a link with a number of recipes that use ketchup in them.

Do you have a product that you will not substitute a cheaper alternative on regardless?

Blog maintenance and cleaning.........

It's high time I did a bit of blog maintenance.  I need to sort out the side bars, sort out all the blog links at the top.  Just spruce it up a bit.  However I think that is a cold wet Fall days job, and as it is still hot and humid here it may be a few more weeks away yet.

How often do you tinker with your blog?

Also do you do Spring and back end/Fall cleaning around the house?  I don't, which is the complete opposite to the way I was brought up.  I remember us having both Summer and Winter curtains/drapes that had to be changed over, does anyone still do that?  As we don't have drapes on our windows just blinds in the bedrooms as no one can see in the house, there is no need to change anything.

I haven't cleaned the windows in ages as well.  Although a dear friend was saying it is better to have dirty windows as that way the birds don't fly in them.  I'm guessing then that this window is still not dirty enough, as the birds are forever flying into it!!

To the right of the window is an apple tree and my four legged friend was there the other morning eating the apples off it.  Talked to the wildlife control and other than shooting it, which I won't do we just have to play the waiting game and hope it wanders off to pastures new at some point.  Haven't seen it since Friday, so it must have been away on a weekend trip somewhere!!!

Off to work today, have a terrific Tuesday.