No Sugar Baked Oatmeal Breakfast Cups

Makes 24 - You can make these ahead of time and freeze them or keep them in the fridge for a few days and warm up a few each morning for breakfast. I usually halve the recipe.

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups applesauce, unsweetened

1/2 cup honey

5 cups, Old Fashioned rolled oats

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

3 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 3/4 cups milk

Optional mixins

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix eggs, vanilla, applesauce, honey.
3. Add in oats, cinnamon, baking powder, salt and mix well.
4. Pour in milk and combine.
5. Pour mixture evenly into greased or lined muffin tin cups
6. Add mix ins.
7. Bake 30 minutes until a toothpick in center comes out clean.

Mixins I have tried: Banana - I didn't love the banana. Chocolate chips - good but don't go overboard because it makes it too sweet. Apple and walnuts - my favorite.

Roasted Butternut Squash Pasta with Pumpkin Sauce

Makes 6–8 main-dish servings or 10–12 side dish servings

1 butternut squash, peeled and diced into 1⁄2-inch pieces (about 3 cups, see tip)

1 medium yellow onion, diced into 1⁄2-inch pieces (about 11⁄2 cups)

4 tablespoons chopped fresh sage leaves

1 1⁄2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary leaves

3⁄4 teaspoon salt

1⁄4 teaspoon black pepper

3 tablespoons olive oil

8 strips bacon

1 pound shell pasta

Pumpkin Sauce

1 cup low-fat milk

3⁄4 cup chicken broth

2 ounces (1⁄4 cup) cream cheese

2 tablespoons flour

3⁄4 teaspoon salt

1 cup canned pumpkin puree

1⁄2 cup Parmesan cheese, additional for topping, if desired

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line 2 large rimmed baking sheets with foil. Place squash, onion, sage, rosemary, salt, and pepper on one of the sheets. Drizzle with oil and toss gently with your hands until everything is well coated. Spread into a single layer.

2. Lay bacon in a single layer on another baking sheet. Place both baking sheets in oven and cook 15–20 minutes or until bacon is crisp. Remove bacon pan from oven and use tongs to lay bacon strips on paper towels to drain. Crumble when cool enough to handle. Continue cooking squash an additional 13–15 minutes until it is soft and tender. (It only took about 20 min. to cook the squash when I did it.)

3. While the bacon and squash are in the oven, bring a large stockpot of water to boil and cook shell pasta according to package directions.

4. For the sauce: Combine milk, broth, cream cheese, flour, salt, and pumpkin puree in a blender and process until smooth. Pour mixture into a medium-sized saucepan and bring to a simmer. Simmer 4–5 minutes, until thickened. Add Parmesan cheese, stir until melted, cover saucepan, and remove from heat.

5. Drain pasta and return to stockpot. Add sauce, squash mixture, and crumbled bacon and toss to combine. Serve immediately or transfer to a casserole dish, top with additional Parmesan cheese, and bake 15–20 minutes.

From LDSLiving Magazine 

Chicken Tikka Masala

Serves 4-6
This could easily become a vegitarian dish by substiuting the chicken for something like peas, garbonzo beans and coliflower.
Ingredients:

For the chicken marinade:

• 2 lbs chicken - cubed
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
• ½ cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt

For the masala sauce:

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup finely diced onion
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 2 teaspoons garam masala
• 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup heavy cream
• ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Directions:

1. Marinate the chicken: Mix together cumin, coriander, cayenne, and salt. Cut chicken into bite sized pieces and place in ziplock or bowl. Mix in spices and refrigerate so that spice mixture is absorbed into the chicken for 1 hour. Whisk the garlic, ginger and yogurt in a bowl, cover, and refrigerate until ready to cook.
2. Make the masala sauce: Heat butter in a large, tall-rimmed Dutch oven set over medium heat. Add onion and saute for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add garlic, ginger, cumin, coriander, and garam masala. Stir and allow the mixture to cook, stirring constantly, for 3 minutes. Add crushed tomatoes, sugar, and salt; bring to boil. Turn heat down to low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in cream and return to simmer. (I will also throw in the remaining 2 oz. of yogurt leftfrom the merinade.)Take the Dutch oven off of the burner, cover to keep warm, and set aside while you make the chicken.
3. Start you rice. I like to use Jasmine rice and use about 2 1/2 cups uncooked.
4. Make the chicken: Preheat your broiler. Place your top oven rack about 10 inches from the heating coils. Line a baking sheet with foil, grease well with canola oil. Mix chicken into yogurt mixture, leaving a thick layer of yogurt clinging to it, and lay the chicken onto the sheet. Broil chicken until it is lightly charred in spots, about 15 minutes, flipping halfway.
5. Remove the chicken from the oven and let it sit on the baking sheet for five minutes to cool slightly and retain its juices. Stir into warm sauce. Stir in cilantro and serve.

Raspberry Bread Pudding Recipe

1 1/2 loaves aged or day old, white bread (a heavy type of bread, usually 1 lb. loaves

works best.)

1 qt. heavy cream

3 C. sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

5 C. raspberries, fresh or frozen

1 C. sugar

1/2 C. apple juice

In a large bowl mix the cream, sugar, egg and vanilla.

Cut bread into 1 1/2 inch cubes and add to cream mixture,

coating the bread well. Let stand 30 minutes, stirring every

5 minutes to allow cream to absorb.

Mix the raspberries, sugar and apple juice, stirring

until sugar is dissolved.

Layer a 9x13 inch baking pan 3/4 full with the bread mix

and pour fruit filling over the bread mix, spreading evenly.

Top with the remaining bread. Bake 40 minutes at 375.

Serve warm topped with vanilla iceream, whipped cream or eat just plain.

(If you want it to cut into nice squares you can chill

it and then cut it into squares, then microwave it

for 20-25 seconds per piece.)

Cheesy Quinoa Bites

Quinoa Plants in Peru.

Since you are already buying a bag of Quinoa to make Lisa's BBQ Quinoa salad (I plan on trying it this week), here is another Quinoa recipe you can try. I thought they were pretty good dipped in ranch dressing. I also added some cheddar cheese since the Parm was not quite cheesy enough for me.

Cheesy Quinoa BitesMakes ~28 bites

• 2 cups cooked quinoa
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup shredded carrot
• 2 stalks green onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 Tbs all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp seasoning salt
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix together quinoa, carrot, egg, green onion, garlic, cilantro, cheese, flour, salt and pepper.
3. Distribute mixture into a greased mini muffin tin, filling each cup to the top (1 heaping Tbs each).
4. Bake for 15-20 minutes.

Recipe found here: http://www.soveryblessed.com/2012/01/cheesy-quinoa-bites.html

Crockpot Refried Beans

1/2 onion peeled and halved
 1 lbs of dry pinto beans (no need to rinse or sort or soak)
1/2 jalapeno (remove the seeds for more heat.)
 1 TBSP pressed garlic
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 TBSP chili powder
  4.5 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1.5 cups water

Directions:
Basically, dump everything into a crockpot and cook on high for about 6-8 hours.  Pour half of the beans and all of the onion chunks into a blender and puree.  Pour the puree back into the crockpot and stir. You can add more water if needed.

Tofu Marinade for Grilling

This is a delicious marinade for grilling tofu.  Seriously.  I very rarely enjoy tofu, but this is a clear exception.

• 5 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 5 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• Red pepper flakes to taste
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pressed fresh garlic
• 1 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 pound extra-firm tofu

1. Gently squeeze the water out of the tofu block.
2.  Slice the tofu into quarter inch slices.
3.  Place tofu slices in a ziplock bag
4. Mix all remaining ingredients together.
5. Pour marinade into ziplock bag.
6. Squeeze air out of bag and seal.
7. Let tofu marinade in the refrigerator for at least four hours.  I prefer to leave it over night.
8.  Spray cooking spray on grill.
9. Remove tofu from marinade and grill like you would a hamburger on 3/4 heat.
10.  Tofu is very forgiving and will not burn easily.  Flip when browned.

Enjoy!