Blueberry Muffins

It’s time for The Crazy Cooking Challenge again hosted by Tina from Mom’s Crazy Cooking. This is my third month and has been my favorite. We love blueberry muffins so there was much excitement in the house when I mentioned I was making a batch.

When I read what the food was for April I knew right away what recipe I would be making. I’ve had these Blueberry Nutmeg Muffins from Good and Cheap Eats bookmarked for awhile. True to form I changed a couple of things around and was beyond impressed with the results. I do believe these are the best muffins I have ever eaten. Moist with a hint of lemon and dotted with blueberry deliciousness.

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup white whole wheat flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 heaping cup of frozen blueberries

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour or line with paper liners 18-24 muffin cups.

In a large bowl mix together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar and lemon zest. In another bowl, beat the eggs and add the buttermilk and oil. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until moistened but slightly lumpy. Gently fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups two-thirds to three-quarters full. Bake 25-35 minutes or until tester comes out clean.

adapted from Good and Cheap Eats

Previous Crazy Cooking Challenge posts:

March 2012 Challenge: Spaghetti and Meat Sauce

October 2011 Challenge: Chocolate Chip Cookies

To check out all of this month’s participants just click below.

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Spaghetti and Meat Sauce

I had mentioned in the February freezer cooking post that I had made some tweaks to turn my favorite red sauce into a meat sauce. Here is the end result of that experiment- a slow cooked, super flavorful sauce with bits of Italian sausage. This recipe makes a ton of sauce for a very reasonable price and freezes well.

Spaghetti and Meat Sauce

Ingredients:

For the sauce:

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 –2 pounds of Italian sausage links of your preference. Hot, sweet, turkey or chicken it doesn’t matter; just use what you like.
• 2 onions, chopped
• #10 can of crushed tomatoes (the brand I use is 102 ounces)
• 1-2 cups of water
• 1 tablespoon Kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley
• 2 tablespoons dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

For pasta:

• 1 pound dried spaghetti for every 6-8 people
• Meatballs for serving if desired

Directions:

For the sauce:

In a skillet over medium heat sauté onions in olive oil until softened. Place in the bottom of a 6 quart slow cooker.  Top onions with Italian sausage. Pour crushed tomatoes over sausage and onions. Add salt, garlic powder, basil, parsley, and crushed red pepper. Gently stir in enough of the water to reach desired consistency. Cover and cook on low 8-10 hours. Season to taste.

Remove sausage links from sauce and let cool. Cool the sauce in a shatter proof bowl in an ice bath. Slice the sausage into bite sized pieces and use a food processor or blender to break into smaller pieces if desired. Mix sausage with the sauce and freeze in 2-3 cup portions.

For the pasta:

Cook the spaghetti according to package directions. Mix with 3-4 cups of the prepared sauce and serve.

Notes:

Thaw sauce in refrigerator overnight or until completely thawed. Heat in sauce pan until bubbling.

Adapted from  Easy Crockpot Red Sauce at Life as MOM

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