'ta-da!'

My 'You can't believe it's Spinach' Smoothie:

1 cup of almond milk

1 1/2 cups fresh baby spinach

splash of no sugar added Cranberry Juice

1 banana

1 cup of ice

Blend about 30 seconds in my vitamix. Pour into a green cup (totally optional). Insert 2 straws. Yum.

So you don't like spinach?

Try this:

Spinach Rigatoni

I make this a lot...so you know it's easy.

16 oz Rigatoni or penne pasta

1/2 pound or more of fresh baby spinach

8 oz block of cream cheese

1 (14.5 oz) can of petite diced tomatoes (Italian style)

2 (14.5 oz) cans of petite diced tomatoes (regular)

1/2 -1 cup of shredded Italian cheeses ( I use a 5 -blended Kraft variety)

Bring water in dutch oven to boil for pasta... Add fresh spinach last few minutes of cooking. Drain in colander.

Return to dutch oven, add cream cheese and stir until melted in hot pasta. Add cans of tomatoes. Heat thru. Salt to taste. Sprinkle grated cheese on top.

You can also put it in a casserole dish and bake for about 20 minutes, but I am usually in too big of a hurry. It is very filling, great w/ or w/o salad, and crusty french bread.

To Die For Blueberry Muffins

I found this recipe on Allrecipes.com. It's a great site for quick recipes. I'll just type in some ingredients I have on hand and usually this site will provide simple, quick ideas. I especially love reading the reviews before I try it out.

I had some family last weekend...one of them was a hungry, young man that likes to eat breakfast, so I whipped these up before they headed out...then I took the leftovers on a girl's trip to San Antonio's Hill Country Hyatt, (more about that later! ) I did add a few blackberries to the blueberries. YUM. This is a keeper.

1 1/2 cups flour

3/4 cup of sugar

1/2 t. salt

2 t. baking powder

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 egg

1/3 cup milk

1 cup of blueberries

crumb topping

2 T. soft butter

1/4 t. cinnamon

2/3 c. brown sugar

1/4 cup flour

Use fork to mix the topping ingredients together

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease muffin tins.

Combine flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. Place 1/3 cup oil into measuring cup. Add egg, then enough milk to make 1 cup. Blend this in to dry ingredients. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin tins and sprinkle topping lightly on top. (You may have extra topping leftover). Bake 20-25 minutes.

Baking with Annie/Banana Nut Bread

How to make banana nut bread and have fun, too!

1. Get one cute little girl, named Annie, preferably. Have her mash the 'b'nananas. (2 or 3 ripe ones)

Then, in another bowl, have her stir the softened 8 oz. block of cream cheese and 1 and 1/2 sticks of butter.

She will probably get the 'hiccups' ..."like my baby Meg" and have to stop stirring for a minute and let you have a turn. Stir in 3 cups of sugar, then add 2 eggs and stir some more.

Add 2 cups of flour, 1/2 teaspoon each of baking soda, baking powder and salt, and stir a lot more. You get to help some more, since you are the lucky one. :)

Now get that bowl of mashed bananas, add 1 cup of pecans and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla...Stir.

Add this to your flour mixture, stir it all together and bake in 2 greased and floured loaf pans.

Sometimes you have to be creative if you are missing a loaf pan.

Send all your 'helpers' home for a nap.

Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Cool a bit before 'someone' digs in. Yum. Don't forget to take some over to Annie later...after you take a nap.

Walnut Rosemary Bread

I have made this recipe about 5 times since I received my November 2009 Cooking Light Magazine. It is fool proof bread! I have tried many times to make bread and finally had given up until the editor of this magazine convinced me to try one more time. I LOVE it. I am sad to say I did not take pix this weekend when I made it. So, so, sorry. We were just in a hurry to eat it. I did substitute whole wheat flour for the all purpose flour and it still turned out great w/ a soft, airy texture. Have a light hand when you knead your dough. I have rosemary in my garden and always walnuts in my pantry, but I'm sure you can substitute for different flavors. I may try cranberries instead of rosemary next time. Allow about 2 1/2 -3 hours from start to finish...But it is worth it. :)

2 cups warm 1 % low-fat milk (100 to 110 degrees)
1/4 cup warm water (100 to 110 degrees) USE a candy thermometer if you aren't sure!
3 T. sugar
2 T. melted butter
2 teaspoons salt
2 packages dry yeast (4 1/2 teaspoons)
24.2 oz all purpose flour, divided (about 5 1/2 cups)
1 cup chopped walnuts
3 T. chopped rosemary
1 large egg, lightly beaten
cooking spray
1 T. yellow cornmeal
1 T. 1% low fat milk
1 large egg, lightly beaten

1. Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add yeast, stirring with a whisk; let stand 5 minutes.
Add 9 oz flour (about 2 cups) to yeast mixture, stirring with the whisk. Cover and let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, 15 minutes.
2. Add walnuts, rosemary, and 1 egg, and 11 oz. flour (about 2 1/2 cups), stirring with a whisk. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes, adding enough remaining flour, 1/4 cup at a time to prevent dough from sticking to hands.
3. Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top. Cover and let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, 1 hour or until doubled in size. (Lightly press 2 fingers into dough. If indention remains, dough has risen enough.)
4. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
5. Punch dough down.; turn out onto lightly floured surface. Divide dough in half, shaping each portion into a round. Place loaves on a baking sheet dusted with cornmeal (dust it well, this will keep it from sticking). Cover and let rise 30 minutes or until doubled in size.
6. Combine 1 T. milk and 1 egg, stirring with a whisk; brush over loaves. Make 3 diagonal cuts, 1/4 inch deep, across the top of each loaf, using a sharp knife.
7. Place loaves in oven; reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees, and bake 40 minutes or until bottom of each loaf sounds hollow when tapped. Let stand 20 minutes before slicing. Yield: 2 loaves, 12 servings per loaf.

Corn Chowder

OK, so I've been cooking off and on now (William may say more off, than on) for almost 30 years. 30 years!!! I wasn't crazy about cooking to start with, but I really have found it hard to get motivated the last few years. So, in an effort to hopefully get a little more creative and more consistent I've determined to fix 4 different dishes each week. I've been doing pretty well the last 2 weeks, so I'm ready to blog and share some of my success stories. First of all my 2 recent 'sources' have been The Essential Vegetarian Cookbook and Meals Made Easy by Real Simple magazine. Really pretty pix in each book that make my mouth water. Now, I'm only going to share recipes that I feel were really yummy and I'd make again even for Book Club. (Watch out, girls!)
My first one is simply Corn Chowder. It was great. I will not make it again until September or October since I feel like it's a great fall soup. What I really loved was the cumin seasoning...so here goes:

Corn Chowder (serves 8, prep time 15 min., total cooking time 30 minutes)
3 oz butter
2 large onions, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 t. cumin seeds
4 cups vegetable stock
2 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 cup canned cream style corn
2 cups fresh corn kernels (I used frozen)
3 T. chopped parsley (Not too crazy about the parsley)
1 cup grated Cheddar cheese
salt and freshly ground pepper
3 T. cream (optional, I omitted)
2 T. chopped fresh chives for garnish

1. Heat butter in heavy based pan. Add the onions, cook over medium high heat for 5 minutes until golden. Add garlic and cumin seeds, cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add veggie stock, bring to boil. Add potatoes and reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, 10 minutes.
2. Add creamed corn, corn kernels and parsley. Bring to boil, reduce heat, simmer for 10 minutes. Stir through the cheese, salt and pepper to taste, and cream. Heat gently until cheese melts. Serve immediately, sprinkled with chopped chives.