Morning Glory Muffins...yummy treat with fruits & Veggies!

This is a great muffin recipe that has fruits and vegetables! A great way to start a day or a good snack in the middle of the day. There are many different ways to make this recipe but this is one is the way I love it. Another great way to get your kids to eat fruits and veggies!

Ingredients

1 egg
2 egg whites 
1 ¼ cup cinnamon applesauce **
2 Tbsps vegetable oil 
1 Tbsp vanilla extract 
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 
1/2 cup whole wheat flour 
1 cup white sugar 
1 tsp ground cinnamon 
2 tsp baking powder 
1/2 tsp baking soda 
1/2 tsp salt 
2 cups carrots peeled *
1 apple - peeled, cored 
1 cup dried unsweetened cranberries
2 tablespoons chopped walnuts 


Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly oil 18 muffin cups, or coat with nonstick cooking spray. 
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, egg whites, applesauce, oil and vanilla. 
3. In a large bowl, stir together flours, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt. 
4. Put carrots and apple into food processor for a few pulses (I don’t like chunks but its your preference)
5. Stir applesauce mixture into dry ingredients just until moistened.
6. Add carrots, apples, cranberries and walnuts into batter and mix until evenly distributed.   
7. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling them about 3/4 full. 
8. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the tops are golden and spring back when lightly pressed. 


* If you are feeling very brave you can cut the carrots down to 1 cup and add in 1 cup of zucchini or sweet potato J  

** I have also recently discovered Fruitastics Mixed Berry sauce. Each cup contains 1 fruit and vegetable serving with no added sugar. Tastes like regular flavored applesauce.

Baked Chicken Ziti

Dinner last night was a yummy crock pot whole chicken. Of course even with the 4 of us we always seem to have chicken left over. Just enough to not want to throw it away but never enough to make a full meal out of it! So today I decied to make a Baked Chicken Ziti. Simple easy meal that everyone loves, and a good way to use the leftover chicken. I basically just replaced the ground beef in my normal ziti recipe with the left over shredded chicken. Yummy :)

Ingredients:

1-2 cups of leftover chicken (shredded)
1 jar meatless sauce 
½ cupchicken broth 
1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves 
1 (16 ounce) package ziti pasta, cooked and drained 
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (I use double the amount of cheese)
1 cup grated parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 
2 . Stir together spaghetti sauce, chicken broth, oregano, and chicken pieces. Cook until chicken is hot and tender again. Remove from heat and add in grated parmesan cheese.
3. Stir 1 cup of the sauce into the cooked ziti noodles. 
4. The layer into 13x9x2 in baking dish as directed:  

½ of the ziti noodles 
½ of the mozzarella cheese
½ of the sauce
Remaining ziti mixture
Remaining sauce. 

7. Cover and bake 20 minutes. 
8. Remove and sprinkle with remaining mozzarella. 
9. Return to oven and bake uncovered for 10 minutes or until heated through.

Served with a nice fresh salad and some yummy garlic bread, makes a great meal. Enjoy :)

I'm Back....for good :)

I don't even know where to start! My husband and I just relocated 2 weeks ago to Cary NC from New Jersey. What a busy month it has been. I not only packed an entire house by myself (my husband moved down almost 2 weeks before us) but I also drove the 7hrs with 2 kids and a cat at midnight! But we made it in one piece, Thank the Lord. We lived in a guest suite for a week before our place was ready...a horrible feeling...never able t make yourself at home! Now we are finally in our home and it is coming along. I hate boxes and clutter so of course I've already almost finished unpacking and decorating. My son is on his second week of school and Anjali is still home with me...for now. And as if we didn't have enough on our plate we went and got a puppy! She is a 5 month old black lab mix and really a good dog...unless you my cat... then she is devil! At least she sleeps through the night and is 99% house trained....or I may have lost my mind by now...lol!

North Carolina has been great. Our neighborhood has an indoor and outdoor pool, so my children think that this is heaven. We have stores within walking distance and if you do need to venture out in a car then I swear the number of stores here out number the amount of residents! It has been in the upper 80's since we got here, which was nice because we have been able to go swimming out side everyday after school. But I woke up this morning to a very brisk 60 degrees...it finally felt like September. This is truly my favorite time of year...I love the Fall & Holiday season.

So I'm back into my normal school year routine. Back to my blog....maybe not daily but hopefully a few times a week. Thanks for reading