Posted onSeptember 5, 2025|Comments Off on Cottage Cheese Banana Bran Muffins
I got the original recipe from the internet but modified it a lot. I used brown Splenda, barley flour, 1/2 of a banana instead of oil, I added a half a banana to give it a little more banana tasted (it’s not strong, I might use 2 large ones next time and add only 3/4 c. milk) and added cinnamon and vanilla. I doubled their baking soda and baking powder, didn’t add salt. They also didn’t have “add-ins” like almonds, raisins, etc. Makes 12 muffins. Without the add-ins, only 2 points!
Ingredients:
1c.quick oats
1/4c. oat bran
1/4c.brown Splenda
1c. barley flour (all purpose can also be used)
1tspbaking soda
2tspbaking powder
3/4 tsp cinnamon (more or less depending on how much you like cinnamon)
1c.milk
2largeeggs
1/2c.cottage cheese
1 tsp vanilla, a little more if you like
1.5 medium bananas
1/2 c. sliced almonds, golden raisins, or other preferred add-ins
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 F
Mix dry ingredients in a bowl, not add-ins
Mix wet ingredients in a separate bowl, not add-ins
Incorporate wet and dry ingredients (hold the add-ins for the next step), mix well but don’t overmix
Once mixed, stir your add-ins to the batter
Spoon into 12 greased muffin wells (using silicone muffin cups in a muffin tin works well)
Bake for 25 min.
Enjoy!
Comments Off on Cottage Cheese Banana Bran Muffins
I’ll first start off saying that I don’t have exact measurements for this. I just threw in what I thought would be good and it was. Keep in mind, these are just estimates. Secondly, my husband is 6’4″ and the zucchini he’s holding in this pic is at least a foot and a half long. This is the main ingredient in the soup I made and I used about 1/6 of it. It was washed well, I left the seeds in and the skin on. Third, soup is a great way to get vegetables in your fridge used up that are nearing expiry. I just started throwing things in… After it was blended, I added a bag of frozen meatballs for a little protein. It was good. Ingredients:
About 1/6th of the zucchini in the picture above (maybe 4 or 5 store-bought zucchinis?
4 medium tomatoes ( I had a mix of beefsteak and cherry tomatoes which was loosely 4 tomatoes combined)
2 medium coarsely chopped kale leaves and stalks (Winterbor so it’s fairly big)
1 large coarsely chopped carrot
1 large coarsely chopped rib of celery
1/2 coarsely choppped green bell pepper
1 red onion (quartered)
4 small garlic cloves
2 tbsp rosemary
1 tbsp fennel seed
2 pinches of ground dill
2 tsp salt
2 tbsp chicken bouillon (undiluted liquid)
2 bay leaves
Preparation:
Add 1 cup of water to the slow cooker
Place all ingredients in the slow cooker ensuring the bay leaves are placed on top for easy removal later on
Set on high for 4 hours and let it cook
When complete, remove the bay leaves
Use an immersion blender to mix everything well to a creamy smooth consistency.
Add a protein or whatever you’d like to it or eat it just like that!
These would be much fluffier had I removed the water from my zucchini and shredded it instead of mulched it to death. As it was though, they still turned out good. I based the recipe below on one I found that didn’t put an egg into it and had higher calorie content etc. I’m glad I put the egg in it. Next time I might put 2 in. Makes 8 pancakes about 4″ in diameter.
Ingredients:
1 c. rolled oats (I’ll try it with barley flakes another time)
1/4 c. milk
1 medium banana
1 large egg
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1 tsp. brown Splenda
1 c. shredded zucchini (fluffier if water is removed)
Cinnamon, raisins, apple, etc are all optional
Preparation:
Heat oil in a skillet
Blend all ingredients except zucchini in a blender until thick and smooth (don’t over blend)
Fold in zucchini
Spoon into heated skillet (about 4″ diameter pancakes)
When bubbles start to form in the top of the pancake and it’s firm enough, gently flip each of them over
When the pancake bounces back when touching it in the center (not with your finger!), remove from heat and eat.
Notes:
These are mildly sweet. You can add maple syrup or cinnamon to them
I ate mine with a dash of nutmeg and several dashes of cinnamon
3 points for the whole recipe, not including the oil in your pan or add-ins like maple syrup, raisins, etc.
I haven’t tried this yet but plan to this weekend! Our zucchini is huge so this will be a good way to get it used up. I probably won’t put cream in it, but maybe a little 2% milk instead to lighten it.
Ingredients:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
750 g zucchini, thinly sliced (~5 cups)
3 cups vegetable broth
medium potato, peeled & diced
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp dried thyme (or 1 tsp fresh thyme)
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
(Optional) 1/2 cup cream or crème fraîche
Garnish: Parmesan cheese
Preparation:
Heat oil and butter in a large pot over medium heat.
Add onion and sauté 5 minutes until translucent.
Add garlic and cook 1 more minute.
Stir in zucchini and potato. Cook ~8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until zucchini softens.
Pour in vegetable broth. Bring to boil, then reduce heat. Season with salt, pepper, thyme.
Simmer 15–20 minutes until potato is tender.
Blend with immersion blender (or in batches) until smooth.
Optional: Stir in cream for richness. Garnish with Parmesan and serve with crusty bread.
We have a bumper crop of cucumbers this year! This turned out very nicely and may now be one of my summer favorites! All vegetables and dill came from our garden, added bonus!
Ingredients:
2 large cucumbers (sliced thinly)
1 thinly sliced red onion
500 g cottage cheese (yogurt or sour cream would work too)
1/3 c mayonnaise (Hellmann’s is best)
3 tbsp white wine vinegar
2 tsp sugar (I use baking Splenda)
1 tsp ground dill
1/2 tsp salt
some fresh dill for garnish (optional)
onion greens for garnish (optional)
Preparation:
Mix cottage cheese, mayo, white wine vinegar, sugar, ground dill, and salt together
Add cucumbers and red onion, mix well to coat them
Optional – garnish with onion greens and dill
Enjoy!
Note: I will be trying this at some point with a bit of apple, just because I think it’ll be very nice.
Excellent bread, very good as toast! You can still make the bread without the “multigrain” aspect if you don’t have Red River cereal, but then it’s just a whole wheat/white bread (still very good). You can’t buy the cereal in stores anymore, you have to get it from https://arvaflourmills.com/
Ingredients:
1.5 c water
1.5 tsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
1 c. white flour
2 c whole wheat
3 tsp yeast
1/3 c red river cereal (optional)
Preparation:
Add water first and yeast last
Mix dough only in bread maker
Put into loaf pan(s) – makes 2 small or one large
Let rise for about a half hour (proof setting in oven is good, or heat oven just a little and let the loaves sit in there
Posted onSeptember 23, 2022|Comments Off on Cream of Mushroom (Puffball) Soup
After the motherlode find of puffballs, I decided to make some soup out of some of it. My gosh, it’s good. It’s not a heavy mushroom flavour but does make a thick light tasting soup. I don’t like a lot of salt in my soup so for those who do, add more.
Ingredients:
About 3 tbsp. olive oil
6 c. packed mushroom (puffball) in about 3/4″ cubes
2 medium thinly sliced onions (about 2.5″ diameter)
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tbsp. dried oregano (I crush it to release more flavour)
1/2 tsp. ground thyme
1 tbsp. marjoram (optional)
1/4 c. flour
6 c. chicken broth
1 c. 3% milk
Salt to taste (about 3/4 tsp., more if you like salty soup)
Pepper (about 1/2 tsp.)
Preparation:
In a dutch oven, sautée onion and mushroom with the olive oil over medium heat
Once the water has evaporated from them (about 15 minutes), sprinkle flour on the mushroom mix and stir well to coat
Slowly add broth, continuously stirring (the goal is to thicken the mixture)
Add salt and pepper
Once all broth has been added, let simmer for 5 minutes. Some pieces of mushroom can be removed and set aside if you like chunks of mushroom in your soup
Let cool and use an immersion blender to purée the mixture. It will be very thick
Add the milk and turn off the stove. If you find it too thick, you can cut it with water some. Add you mushroom pieces if you had set any aside
Posted onJuly 5, 2022|Comments Off on June’s Oatmeal Cookies
June made these soft oatmeal cookies and they were really good. She adds raisins in hers.
Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar (1 c. baking Splenda)
1 cup packed brown sugar (1/2 c. brown Splenda)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour (1.5 c. whole wheat)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups quick-cooking oats
1 cup raisins (optional)
Preparation:
In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, baking powder and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Stir in oats.
Shape into 1-1/2-in. balls. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 1 minute before removing to wire racks.
