Blueberry muffins

Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients

2/3 cup (135g) sugar

1/2 tsp (3g) salt

2 1/2 cups (300g) all–purpose flour

1 Tbsp (15g) baking powder

1 large egg

1/3 cup (80mL) vegetable oil

1 1/4 cups (300mL) reduced–fat (2%) milk

1 tsp (5mL) vanilla extract

1 cup (150g) fresh or frozen blueberries

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400°F (205°C)

Combine the sugar, salt, flour, and baking powder. In a separate bowl, combine the liquid ingredients. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and add the liquid ingredients and blueberries. Mix with a fork until it forms a loose batter.

Lightly coat a muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray. Spoon the batter into the pan until the cups are 3/4 filled. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown and the centres are firm.

Nutrition Facts
Calories: 227
Protein: 4g
Fat: 7g
Carbohydrates: 37g
Sodium: 193mg
Cholesterol: 19mg
Fibre: 2g

Butter tarts aren't just for Christmas

Rich pastry for 8 to 10 tarts

1 C brown sugar
1 C raisins
1 egg, beaten
butter size of an egg, melted
1 T water
1 t vanilla

1. Beat the egg, add the sugar and beat again; add the water, vanilla, raisins and butter. Drop mixture into tart shells to almost healf-full and bake in a 450 F (225 C) oven for about 15 minutes.

Yum!

I'm diabetic and I wonder how that will affect my cooking?

Last week I found out that I was diabetic. Needless to say, I railed against my fate. I have type 2 which apparently means that though I have enough insulin my body fails to recognize it. How will this affect what we eat.

I actually don't have a lot of sugar in my diet and so I don't think that I will miss it all that much. I won't meet with the dietitian until Tuesday but I have started to look at what I eat and what processed foods are lurking in my cupboards. I really enjoy instant soups when I'm at school. No more! Sugar in a soup! Yuk! I sometimes buy kidney beans already in a sauce. Again, they have sugar in them so I'll be buying beans in water from now on. And that's it. The tomatoes are sugar-free, as is the tuna (of course!). I don't really buy much more in the way of canned and processed food. I like jam on my toast but rarely have it in. I'm much more of a marmite person. Ah well, no sense second guessing. I'll just have to wait and see.

I realize that this doesn't have much to do with 'More for Less' but I'm sure that it will. How about 'more flavour with less sugar'. Perhaps this isn't only going to be about sugar. Perhaps there is more to it.

Weights and Measures - Equivalents

My favourite book for finding out anything about cooking that I'm not sure of is Prue Leith's The Cook's Handbook. I don't think that it's in print at the moment but you can still find copies of it on Amazon. It is advertised as 'the cookbook that makes all you other cookbooks work' and it is to this book that I have gone to give you some equivalent measurements. Many of my recipes come from North America where they use volume rather than weight to measure dry ingredients, such as sugar and flour. It is easy for a European cook to use these recipes as long as they have a liquid measuring jug and remember that a North American cup is 8 oz (and not 10).

1 C = 8 fl. oz
1/4 C = 2 fl. oz
1/3 C = 3 fl. oz
1/2 C = 4 fl. oz
3/4 C = 6 fl. oz

With butter:
4 oz. = 1/2 C
8 oz. = 1 C


I also use abbreviations when I write out my recipes. They are as follows:

t = teaspoon
T = tablespoon
C = cup

Fresh Glazed Strawberry Pie

As mentioned in the previous post, we made strawberry pie for Canada Day. Here is the recipe:

1 baked pastry shell
1 quart (or more) fresh strawberries (4-8oz cups)
3 T(ablespoons) cornstarch (cornflour in UK)
1 c(up) sugar (white)
1 T butter
1/2 c water
1 T lemon juice
whipped cream

1. Arrange the best looking berries in the cooked pie shell.

2. Crush the remaining berries.

3. Combine the cornstarch (cornflour) and sugar. Stir in crushed berries and water.

4. Cook gently till thick and clear.

5. Remove from heat, add butter and lemon juice. Cool.

6. Pour onto pie. Top with whipped cream.

Limit Your Repertoire

"Limit your repertoire. Variety may be the spice of life, but too much will give you indigestion. Most of us have kitchens filled with ingredients (especially spices) that we rarely use. One strategy is to collect about two weeks worth of recipes that meet your criteria for both cost and nutrition. Cycle through them, then begin again. Or designate each day of the week for focusing on a particular type of food: Monday, soup in cold months and salad in warm months; Tuesday, tofu; Wednesday, pasta; Thursday, eggs; Friday, pizza, Saturday, sandwiches; Sunday, beans and rice. Variety and flexibility are built in. Soup might be from a can, from a mix or from scratch depending what is on sale and what is in the cupboard. By beginning with just a couple recipes for each category, the system stays manageable."

Does this sound familiar? It comes from an article written by Meg McGowen which I highlighted in an earlier posting. It makes a lot of sense and when I look at the way I cook, I suppose that is what I do. After years of preparing meals, it is almost second nature. However, I do like to add new recipes now and again to my repertoire and I suppose that once every two weeks you could have a 'new recipe' day. I am going to re-examine the recipes I cook and see if I can't come up with a two week cycle and see how it works. I like the idea that you would have a number of recipes to call on in each category. More to come. However not for a week or so since I am off to Dorset to enjoy country cooking beside the sea! Hopefully I'll come back with more ideas!