Cherry Walnut Bars

My mother-in-law is the Queen of Christmas Treats.  She has a whole arsenal of delicious Christmas recipes, and you better believe her four boys make sure she makes every single one every single year.  Since we are very sadly not going to see her this holiday season I'm trying to give Bryan a teeny tiny taste of what he's used to.

One day I made a dozen batches of chocolate chip cookies- a dozen batches of a dozen each.  Some were for a funeral and some for a baby shower, but our family ate an embarrassing number of the leftovers.  Next I made gingerbread cookies at Jilly's request.  We made and delivered these to many of our friends.  We had Santa's Cookies- a tasty recipe for oatmeal chocolate chip M&M cookies that my friend gave me.  And on Saturday morning I made gingerbread waffles.

But of all the Christmas delights, Cherry Walnut Bars are my very very favorite.  I had never tasted these until I married into the Martinez family but I immediately fell in love.  One year all my dirty, rotten in-laws (kidding!) ate all the cherry walnut bars before we got there and it just about ruined my Christmas.  I've since forgiven and let them know I will fight to the death for my annual cherry walnut bar (or bars... or the whole pan)  This year I made cherry walnut bars for the first time and they weren't quite up to The Queen's standard, but still delicious.

2 1/4 cups sifted flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup softened butter

2 eggs

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 (12 oz) jar maraschino cherries

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1 tbl softened butter

1 cup powdered sugar

1/2 cup flaked coconut

Mix flour, sugar, and butter til crumbly.  Press into a 13x9 pan.  Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or til crust is lightly browned (it took me a bit longer than 20 minutes.)  Blend eggs, sugar, salt, baking powder, and vanilla.  Drain and chop the cherries, reserving the liquid.  Stir chopped cherries and walnuts into the mixture and place on top of baked crust.  Return to oven and bake for 25 minutes.  Remove from oven and cool.  For the frosting: combine 1 tbl softened butter and 1 cup powdered sugar with enough cherry liquid to spread.  Frost, then sprinkle with coconut.  Wait til icing is firm to cut into bars (confession: I couldn't wait so they were pretty gooey but still delicious.)

quinaritos

We've been on a quinoa kick lately.  It started out when Bryan was trying to avoid gluten before his marathon, then perpetuated when we realized this was an alternative to Jilly's rice addiction.  There are so many good recipes on pinterest, and this is one of our favorites we've found.  It's originally posted here, but I modified it just a bit and couldn't resist calling them "Quinaritos."  They are tasty, meatless but filling, and make excellent leftovers.  

Cilantro Lime Quinoa
2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons lime juice
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
1/4 teaspoon sugar
salt and pepper, to taste

I cook quinoa in my rice cooker because it cooks perfectly every time.  Just throw the broth and quinoa in and in 20ish minutes it's ready.  But, you can also cook it on the stove- boil the broth then add the quinoa, turn the heat down, and let it simmer.  The quinoa is done when it is light and fluffy and all water is evaporated (about 15-20 minutes.)   Pour cooked quinoa in a bowl and fluff with a fork.  Add garlic, lime, cilantro, sugar, and salt and pepper.  I made the quinoa during the girls' nap time and then put it in the fridge for a few hours til dinner.

Quinaritos
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small yellow onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup diced bell pepper (I did a mix of red and yellow)
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can corn, rinsed and drained
1 tsp chili powder
3/4 tsp cumin
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
juice of 1 lime
salt and pepper, to taste
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (I didn't measure, but probably used a lot more than this)
10 tortillas (we love the kind that you cook yourself)

1. In large skillet heat oil over medium-high heat.  Add onion and cook til tender, about 5 minutes.  Add garlic and cook for 2 more minutes.  Stir in peppers, beans, corn, chili powder, cumin, and cilantro.  Cook for 5 minutes.  Add lime juice and season with salt and pepper.

2.  In a strip down the center of each tortilla layer quinoa, shredded cheese, and bean/corn mixture.  Be sure to leave a 1/2 inch border on the edges.  Roll tortillas into burritos by folding the ends then rolling them up.

3.  Turn your griddle on medium-high heat and spread the burritos seam-side down.  Cook a few minutes til crispy then flip and cook the other side til crispy.

We dipped them in Greek Yogurt mixed with taco seasoning, but I'm sure this Creamy Avocado Yogurt Dip would be delicious (we didn't have an avocado.)

five

1- With it being the first week of October I felt that sloppy joes were in order.  I made this recipe and Bryan, the self-proclaimed sloppy joe hater, and Jilly, the picky toddler, scarfed them down.  Chalk one up for Rachel (and Mel.)

2- Mattie got her first little cut this week (we let her hold a straw and she used it to scrape her nose.)  Good thing she has a big sister around to hook her up with a Dora bandaid.  (Someone gave us these pajamas when Jilly was little and she wore them many times.  When I put them on Mattie I realized for the first time that they are definitely "boy pajamas"- nothing gets past me.) 

3- Pigtail braids made an appearance this week and it was love at first sight. (These pictures are at the zoo with Jilly's bestie Kylie)

 

4- Yesterday I heard Mattie on the monitor waking up from the world's shortest nap.  She was making happy noises so I just let her be until Jilly asked if she could go check on her.  Then I heard in the monitor, "YAY!!!  Baby Mattie is awake!  Hooray!"  For the next few minutes I heard Jilly talking and being silly while Mattie laughed so hard.  Sisters are the best best best.

5- This is one of my favorite weekends of the year; we get to stay at home and watch excellent messages from our church leaders.  If you'd like to learn more about what I believe, tune in!

 

Labor Day Weekend: the full recap

Saturday-
Bryan took Jilly in the stroller while he ran and I . . .  can't remember what I did (probably along the lines of clean or read or work on some project.)  We tried to watch the BYU game but it was delayed and delayed again.  Jilly and I also ran to Target because almost everything in the Dollar Spot was 50% off and the only thing better than $1 is $.50

In the afternoon we left for Oakland to go to an A's baseball game with Bryan's parents, Chad & Kylie, and Jeff.  Jilly had been talking about the baseball game and fireworks all morning, she was so excited.  We had a great time- munching on snacks, witnessing an almost-fight, cheering, and watching crazy Jilly dance around.

After the game they let us go down on the field to watch the fireworks show.  It was awesome- the fireworks were so close and so loud.

 

Sunday-
Bryan was gone most of the morning at church meetings, and the girls and I got ready (in matching dresses no less.)  We skyped with my family then went to church.  Jilly had a cold and I didn't think her drippy nose would be very welcome in nursery.  After Sacrament Meeting, Bryan said "do you want to break the news to her or should I?"  She had a complete meltdown with lots of tears and lots of wails "I want to go to nuuursery."  It was fun.  To appease our sad girl and to see Chad and Kylie one last time we headed to Oakley.  We had a delicious dinner and enjoyed a relaxing afternoon.

Monday-
I kind of woke up at 6:30 when Bryan left for his run but didn't fully wake up til Jilly got up at almost 8:00 (miracle!)  Getting to sleep in plus waking up to a surprise thunderstorm put me in a great mood.  I decided to make Janssen's perfect pancakes.  And the good mood ended there.  Jilly decided that holding the measuring spoon over the bowl while I pour the liquid ingredients was no longer an acceptable way to help.  She had to pour the ingredients all by herself and you can imagine how successful that was.  Then Mattie got fussy so I cleaned up Jilly's mess and started cooking pancakes one handed.  I gave Jilly a pancake then got distracted when my phone rang (Bryan hurt his knee and wanted me to pick him up.)  When I turned around Jilly had created this masterpiece:

And in the few seconds it took me to put Mattie in her car seat Jilly was splashing in that pool of syrup. So I put Sticky Hands and her baby sister in the car and we picked up Bryan then finished eating the pancakes (they were delicious.)

The rest of the day was less eventful.  Bryan took Jilly to the movies for the first time (they saw Monsters University) while Mattie and I took a nap and then I worked on a little Christmas project that I'm quite excited about.  Then we all hung out in the afternoon and Bryan grilled us a delicious feast for dinner.  All in all, it was a fantastic weekend.

summer salads

Despite the fact that most people have already started school, we are still in full summer mode.  And so is the weather here so we're keeping on with easy easy summer meals.  Last year I posted three summer recipes I loved.  And now I have three more for you-

Southwestern Pasta Salad with Creamy Avocado Dressing

My mom made this while we were at the beach and I ate it for dinner and lunch the next day.  Then I convinced her to make it again the next week.  She added chicken to make it more of a meal and it is delicious.  Recipe and picture here

Avocado Basil Pasta Salad

Someone brought this to us after we had Mattie.  I've made it a few times since- easy and tasty.  Recipe here

Mexican Tomato and Corn Salad

My cousin-in-law made this salad last year while we were in Utah and I immediately fell in love with it so I asked her to send me the recipe.  It is so so so so good.  Recipe and picture here.

cinco de mayo

We take Cinco de Mayo very seriously at our house.  In the words of my dear husband, "Cinco de Mayo is like Christmas for my mouth."  Lucky for me, May 5th fell on a Sunday this year so Bryan was home to do most of the cooking.  He made pork chili verde which was so, so, so delicious.  I'd post a recipe, but he kind of created his own compilation of a few different recipes he found online.  We had it over this rice, which was an excellent suggestion from my cousin-in-law.  I usually make this rice, but have recently decided I'm over cilantro so this new recipe is a perfect replacement.  I also made Mexican sweet corn cake for the first time, and we will definitely be having it again soon.  Even Jilly, who can be picky, scarfed down this meal.  Muy delicioso!

more crockpot-ing

We've been trying some more crockpot recipes and found some really great ones.

Honey Sesame Chicken- This was so, so yummy.  Bryan doesn't like green onions and we forgot to put on sesame seeds, but it made no difference.  The chicken was super moist and had great flavor.

Lemon Chicken- It's been a few weeks since we made this and I don't remember it very well except that I thought it was good.  Overall review- clearly not very memorable, but we did enjoy it that night.

Crockpot Chicken Fajitas- So delicious and easy.  We only used 1 1/2 peppers and that was plenty for us.  We put the chicken in tortillas with tomatoes, cheese, sour cream and tapatio (for Bryan, not me.)  These were some of the best fajitas I've ever had- juicy and delicious.  

crockpot recipes

This year our church starts at 1pm and ends at 4pm.  Besides completely ruining Jillian's nap, this time also kills dinner prep because by the time we get home at 4:30 we want dinner immediately.  And thus the crockpot has become my best friend.  (side note: I'm a little bit of a fast-talker and the first time I said "crockpot" Bryan thought I said "crack pot" and so now Bryan will often ask what I'm cooking in my crack pot.)

Thanks to pinterest, there is an abundance of crockpot recipes to be found.  The trick is to find the good ones.  Here is what we have tried in the past few weeks:

Crockpot Enchilada Soup- We loved this soup.  I will say, however, that it made a lot and we got tired of the leftovers before being able to finish them all.  So next time I would either halve it, or invite someone over to eat with us.

Crockpot Cheese Tortellini- The description on Pinterest says it's "THE BEST crockpot meal I've tried yet."  I'm not quite ready to call it the very best, but it was amazing.  And, the leftovers tasted even better to me than it did on the first day.  I only used 1/2 pound of sausage and saved the other 1/2 for pizza night on Friday.

Creamy Country Chicken with Vegetables- This was only so-so.  Granted, I accidentally only bought one package of the gravy mix instead of two, so we were lacking in flavor.  And, it may have been user error and not recipe error since our biggest complaint was super mushy vegetables and dry chicken.  But, I don't think we'll be trying it again anytime soon.

EASY crockpot chicken and stuffing- This was very basic and good.  Some of the stuffing burned so I would probably add more than just 1/4 cup water next time.  

We've also had Creamy Crockpot Chicken, a recipe given to us by our good friend Suzie when we got married.  We have had this easy, yummy recipe many, many, many times in the past 5.5 years.

4 chicken breasts

8 oz cream cheese

1 packet of Good Seasons Italian dressing (powder)

2 cans cream of chicken soup

garlic to taste

egg noodles

Put everything but the egg noodles into the crock pot and let simmer for 4 hours.  Serve over cooked egg noodles.

What crockpot gems have you found?

Pumpkin Recipe #5

There is no picture for this recipe because frankly it doesn't look very pretty.  I love dump cake because it is equally delicious as it is easy.  All you do is layer your favorite pie filling on the bottom, sprinkle a dry yellow cake mix all over the top, then cover with some melted butter and bake.  Easy peasy.  Cherry dump cake is my favorite and pumpkin is now a close second.

Pumpkin dump cake is a little more complicated since it requires a few more ingredients added to the can of pumpkin.  But, still, it's definitely one of the easiest and most delicious desserts around.

Pumpkin Dump Cake
To a 15 oz can of pumpkin add:
1 cup milk
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Spread this mixture on the bottom of a 9x13 pan, cover with a dry yellow cake mix, and pour 1 1/2 sticks of melted butter on top.  Cook at 350 for about 45 minutes (til the top is a little bit brown.)  Must be eaten warm and with some vanilla ice cream.  

Grandma's Chocolate Pie

For Thanksgiving this year one of my responsibilities was chocolate pie.  I was pretty excited about this because my grandma's chocolate pie is amazing, but also nervous because it was my first time ever making it on my own.   They weren't quite as good as my grandma's or my mom's, but no one in Bryan's family knew the difference so they worked quite nicely.

1 8 oz cream cheese
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 beaten egg yolks, and 2 whites
1 6 oz package chocolate chips, melted (I added a handful more because I like them chocolatey)
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup cup chopped nuts (my grandma always makes one with nuts and one without, but since I was in charge this time we just had two pies without nuts)
graham cracker crust

Mix cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla until well blended.  Stir in egg yolks.  Add melted chocolate chips.  Beat 2 egg whites until soft peaks form.  Gradually beat in sugar.  Fold into chocolate mixture. Beat 1 cup heavy cream.  Fold into mixture. Add chopped nuts.  Will freeze nicely (I made them on Monday and stuck them in the freezer til Thanksgiving dinner.)

Pumpkin Recipe #4

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

This recipe is from Our Best Bites- go here to see excellent pictures of the baking process instead of pictures of my little sicky loving on a piece of bread.

2 cups all purpose flour (spooned into measuring cup and leveled)

1 cup whole wheat flour (I just did 3 cups of all purpose)

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 cup white sugar

6 ounce container vanilla yogurt

3 eggs, slightly beaten

15 oz can pumpkin puree

1/2 cup canola oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup chocolate chips (plus a few extra for the top of loaves)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray 2 9x5 loaf pans with nonstick spray and set aside.  Combine flours, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.  Whisk gently to combine and set aside.

In a separate mixing bowl combine brown sugar and white sugar and whisk to combine, breaking up any clumps of brown sugar.  Add yogurt, eggs, pumpkin, oil, and vanilla extract and whisk until smooth.

Slowly add dry ingredients to wet and mix together, being careful to not over mix.  When combined, gently stir in chocolate chips.   Divide batter between loaf pans and sprinkle a few extra chocolate chips on top.  Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a skewer comes out with a few crumbs attached.  All ovens are different, I would set your timer for about 45 minutes and keep an eye on it after that.  Don’t overbake!

Let cool for 10 minutes and then run a sharp knife around edge of pan and remove loaves from pan.

Baby Soup

No, this is not a soup made of babies, but that would be delicious too, wouldn't it? (Kidding, promise.) When Jilly was born my mom made a double batch of this soup and left it in our freezer. We had it many, many times over the next month and never got sick of it. Every time I eat this soup I think of my sweet tiny baby and how amazing my mom was/is. Now it is my go-to meal when taking dinner to a family with a new baby. To me, this soup is comfort food at its very best.

Midwestern Chowder

4 chicken breasts - boil in water - then cut up
2 cups of the water the chicken cooked in                               
2 cups diced potatoes
1/2 cup sliced carrots
1/2 cup chopped celery (confession- I never add celery)
1/4 cup chopped onions
1/4 cup margarine                                                                         
1/4 cup flour                                                                             
2 cups milk                                                                                    
10 oz mild cheddar cheese, grated                                  
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp pepper2 cups creamed corn                                                                    

Combine potatoes, carrots, celery, onions, salt, pepper and water.  Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.  Do not drain.  Make a cream sauce with margarine, milk and flour.  Add cheese and stir until melted.  Combine sauce and vegetables.  Stir in chicken and creamed corn.  Heat through, but do not boil.

Pumpkin Recipe #3

Last week we were Boo'd so it was our turn to spread the fun and secretly take treats to someone else.  I made cookies and copies of the note and we waited til dark then headed out on our secret mission.  When we got to the house Bryan informed me that I was going to be the runner.  I tried to protest- I had already done my part by making the cookies, he was a faster runner, etc.  But he was adamant.  And, scared as I was, it was kind of exciting to ring and dash back to my getaway car.

These are the cookies I made to deliver to our friends.  While these are Bryan's favorite pumpkin cookie, I need a little chocolate in mine.  I've had these many times before, but didn't have a recipe on hand so I had to take a chance and look one up.  Success- they were delicious.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
recipe found here

1 cup canned pumpkin
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp milk
1 tbl vanilla
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1. Combine pumpkin, sugar, vegetable oil, and egg.

2. In a separate bowl stir together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.

3. Dissolve baking soda with the milk and stir in. (This step didn't make any sense to me, but I still did it. Any ideas why you dissolve the baking soda?)

4. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and mix well.

5.  Add vanilla and chocolate chips.

6. Drop by spoonful on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 for approximately 10 minutes or until lightly brown and firm.

Pumpkin Recipe #2

Bryan's mom made this cake last Sunday when we were visiting and it was so delicious that when we were asked to bring a dessert to a party at church it took all of 1.4 seconds to decide to make it again.  It's a bundt cake, and just like my favorite birthday cake it's utterly moist and irresistible- must be the sour cream.

Pumpkin Marble Cake

1 cup pumpkin
1 tbl cinnamon
1 box yellow cake mix
4 eggs
3/4 cup sour cream
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup water

Preheat oven to 350.  Combine pumpkin and cinnamon in a bowl and set aside.  Mix remaining ingredients until well blended.  Add half of cake mix to pumpkin mix and stir well.  Coat bundt pan well with spray.  Alternately add two batters, swirling a couple times when done to get marble effect.  Bake 30 to 40 minutes.  Let cool completely before flipping over.  Frost with thinned cream cheese frosting, powdered sugar, or leave plain and serve with cool whip.

*Note- I completely failed at the whole "marble" part of the cake.  I think I swirled too much so it all just blended together- still delicious but not as pretty as intended.  We got over it pretty quickly.

Pumpkin Recipe #1

I have high hopes for lots and lots of pumpkin this fall.  Yummm, I feel like I've been waiting for this all year!  Our first recipe was pumpkin cookies with cream cheese frosting.  This is Bryan's mom's recipe and very likely Bryan's favorite cookie of all time.

 Cookies:
1 cup shortening (I didn't have enough this time so I used half shortening and half butter and they turned out just fine)
3 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 cups canned pumpkin
2 tsp vanilla
5 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg

Cream together shortening and sugar.  Beat in eggs, pumpkin, and vanilla.  Mix dry ingredients and add to the mixture, then mix well.  Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet.  Bake at 400 for 10 minutes or until lightly browned.  Frost when cool.

Frosting:
1 package cream cheese (8 oz)
1/2 cup margarine, softened
1 box powdered sugar (I'm not sure how much this is, I just add it until it seems the right consistency)
1 tsp vanilla

Mix until creamy.

This makes a lot of cookies.  I halved the recipe this week and got about 30 cookies.  We gave plates to a few friends and polished off the rest in 3 days.

five on friday

1.  I bought a big bottle of bubbles and bath time is now everyone's very favorite part of the day.  

2.  On Wednesday my friend invited Jilly over to play while I ran a few errands.  It was absolutely heavenly to shop by myself.

3.  Jilly is obsessed with the word "mine" lately (terrible twos are coming on strong.)  This week anytime she found my book (These is My Words, which is so, so fabulous) she'd say "my book my book!" and start flipping through the pages "reading."

4.  It's no secret that I love Chick fil A.  A couple of my friends found a pin that had the recipe for the delicious Chick fil A dipping sauce and they kindly passed it on to me.  This week I made it and it was ah-mazing.  It even made broccoli taste good!

5.  We made a video of Jilly doing her best tricks.  Enjoy!

Football Cookies

Last week our friends invited us over to have dinner and watch the BYU football game.  I said that I would bring dessert, remembering this pin that I never got around to making last year.  When I looked back at the pin it involved a little more work than I was willing to put forth.  So I modified and made my own football cookies.

Cookies-
1 box of chocolate cake mix (chocolate fudge is my favorite)
2 eggs
1/3 cup oil

Mix all ingredients together.  The dough is pretty sticky so I sprayed my hands with Pam before I shaped the cookies.  Roll the dough into small football-ish shapes.  Cook at 350 for 10 minutes.

They'll look like this when done- not perfect football shapes but good enough for me.

Frosting-
8 oz cream cheese
1 lb powdered sugar
1 tsp milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
8 tbl softened butter

Mix ingredients until creamy.  Assemble cookie sandwiches with frosting in the middle.  Put extra frosting in a baggie and cut the tip off to make the stitches (obviously, mine are very imperfect.)  Cheer on the Cougars!

Three Summer Recipes

I have a love/hate relationship with cooking in the summer.  I love all the fresh fruits and vegetables, but I hate wasting play time in a blazing kitchen.  These are 3 recipes that we love, and that make frequent appearances at our table.

1. Southwestern Chopped Chicken Salad

recipe and picture found here 

One night Bryan came home from work and declared it was the perfect night for a picnic.  I had already made this salad, and it was perfect to throw in a tupperware container and take to the park.  It was one of my favorite nights of the summer.

2. Garlic Chicken Pasta with Spinach

recipe and picture found here

This has been one of my favorite ways to use up our basil.  I am really loving the lemon/basil combo these days.

3. Southwest Pasta Salad

recipe and picture found here 

There are a few wonderful things about this salad.  1. It has lots of vegetables,  2. It makes a lot and stores great in the fridge,  3. It's very filling; I made it for Bryan and his brothers last year before they did the Tough Mudder and they all attributed their success to me (okay, maybe not, but they did say it was the perfect pre-race meal.)

My new friend

Meet my new friend Basil (very original name, I know.)

He just sits out on our grill (so he's protected from little fingers that like dirt and pulling leaves) and basks in the sun.  When I'm in need of something tasty he allows me to take a few of his leaves and then he grows some new ones!

Seriously, I'm loving this little basil plant.  I've made this, and there were no leftovers after the first night, I've made this for us, for some friends, and for a ward activity, and there's sure to be lots of bruschetta in our future.  What basil recipes do you love?

Breakfast

A couple weeks ago I came to the realization that I don't really like cereal.  I've always eaten it because it's easy, but really there are so many better things to have in the morning.  Like muffins.  I decided muffins were the perfect breakfast food because A. they can be made in advance and kept in the fridge/freezer, B. when I need a snack before lunchtime, I can pop another muffin and not feel too guilty, and C. there are so many delicious muffin options.

I've looked around and tried a few recipes, some better than others.  But this recipe has been the greatest success of my muffin trials.  I first found it on pinterest and when I clicked on the link it took me to a blog called "Sugar Free Mom."  I almost ditched the recipe right then because sugar free is obviously not my style.  But they looked completely delicious so I decided to give them a try.  Yum, yum, yum.

Baked Oatmeal Muffins
from Sugar-Free Mom

2 eggs
2 cups applesauce
5 cups oats
1 banana, mashed
2 3/4 cups milk
6 packets of Stevia or 3/4 cup honey (I've always used honey)
1 tbl cinnamon (I add a very heaping tablespoon)
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix eggs, vanilla, applesauce, banana, and stevia/honey in a bowl.
3. Add oats, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, and mix well.
4. Pour in milk and combine.
5. Spread batter (which will be very runny, don't worry) in muffin tin.  (I think it's best to use muffin liners and spray them with cooking spray, these are very sticky.)
6. Bake 30 minutes until a toothpick in the center comes out clean.

Some extra notes:
- The recipe says you can add toppings like raisins, choc chips, and nuts.  We've never done this, but I'm sure it would be delicious.
- We've had these hot and cold, both are delicious
- The recipe says it makes 18 muffins, but I've always gotten 24.  I've also halved it to only make 12.
- The recipe also calls for 1/4 cup flaxseed meal but that is not an ingredient I have on hand so I've never added it and couldn't tell the difference.
- Beware, these are so delicious that Jilly insists on licking the muffin liner which always ends up disintegrating in her mouth which can't be healthy.