MB Muffin

I said this was an MB McMuffin, but was quickly informed that this was not in fact an egg mcmuffin but rather a sausage, egg and cheese on a muffin.

"If you ordered an egg mcmuffin, this is not what you would get" was the exact response.

Riiiight. I was pretty proud of my breakfast chef. He didn't want to write his post though. I had to, since I was the one that purchsed the egg "how did we ever live without this" ring. Yeah, we have problems.

English muffin, egg, cheese, sausage. Combine.

Mediterranean Tilapia

Tilapia, the blank canvas of fish. I like it, because you can do whatever you want to it and it holds up pretty nicely. This one is very heart-healthy, lots of "good" fats in the form of olive oil and just plain old olives. I do have to say though, I have no good suggestions on pitting olives. Just poke away until the pit comes out.

INGREDIENTS
3 tablespoons sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, drained and chopped
1 tablespoon capers, drained
2 tilapia fillets
1 tablespoon oil from the jar of sun-dried tomatoes
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). In a small bowl, stir together the sun-dried tomatoes, olives and capers. Set aside.
Place the tilapia fillets side by side in a baking dish. Drizzle with oil and lemon juice.
Bake for 10 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until the fish flakes with a fork. Check after 10 minutes, so as not to overcook, or the fish may be dry. When fish is done, top with the tomato mixture, and serve.

Creamy Dill Salmon

Cream Cheese. Fish. Mmmmmm.
It was quite the feast- the sauce was very creamy and stood up nicely to the salmon. I would probably add a little bit of jalepeno/garlic/onion (whatever was in the drawer) to give it a little bit more umph. Definitely a make again.

1 Tbsp. oil
4 salmon fillets (1 lb.)
1/2 cup fat free milk
1/2 cup (1/2 of 8-oz. tub) PHILADELPHIA Light Cream Cheese Spread
1/2 cup chopped cucumbers
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh dill

1 Tbsp. lemon juice

HEAT oil in large skillet on medium-high heat. Add salmon; cook 5 min. on each side or until salmon flakes easily with fork. Remove from skillet; cover to keep warm.
ADD milk and cream cheese spread to skillet; cook and stir until cream cheese spread is melted and mixture is well blended. Stir in cucumbers and dill.
RETURN salmon to skillet. Cook 2 min. or until heated through. Serve salmon topped with the cream cheese sauce.

Chicken Adobo

I was so excited when I was making this marinade; it smells out of this world. I let it marinade for about two hours, and cooked it in the same dish. It was quite a hit, but we made margaritas along with it, so that might have had something to do with it. I cooked it for about 15-20 minutes on 350; pretty usual cooking time/temp.

Marinade:
3 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1 shallot, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley leaves
3 tablespoons fresh sour orange or lime juice
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Plenty of salt and freshly ground pepper
2 large whole boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1 1/2 pounds), split in half (4 halves), washed, and blotted dry

Black Bottom Cupcakes

MB got PROMOTED!! These are the awesome cupcakes I made!! That we didn't taste!! Because my coworkers are mooches!!!

Enjoy:

INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup white sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup water
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

CREAM CHEESE CENTER
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 egg
1/3 cup white sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line two 12 cup muffin pans with paper liners. Sift together the flour, baking soda, cocoa powder and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together 1 cup sugar, oil and water until blended. Stir in the vinegar and vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture until incorporated. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, beat together the cream cheese, egg, 1/3 cup sugar and salt. Stir in the chocolate chips.
Fill muffin cups 1/3 full with chocolate batter, then top with a heaping tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture. Bake cupcakes in preheated oven for 35 minutes, or until done.

Blueberry Streusal Muffins

I have two favorite kitchen items: my stand mixer and my calphalan one ginormous sauceuse (large, deep pan thingy). Purr.
I like to send MB with breakfast a few times a week, and the super yummy cupcake like muffins from fresh direct were becoming prohibitively expensive. So I searched for blueberry muffins I could make on my own, and found this receipe:

1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 cups blueberries
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter, chilled

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with paper muffin liners.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in the eggs one at a time, beating well with each addition, then stir in the vanilla. In a separate bowl, stir together 2 cups flour, baking powder, and salt.
Stir the flour mixture into egg mixture alternately with milk. Fold in blueberries. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups. In a small bowl, mix together 2 tablespoons flour, brown sugar and cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle topping over unbaked muffins.
Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean

I package them in little two muffin baggies, and freeze them because I made about 18 of them. They last a few weeks and he really seemed to enjoy them (and the one I snuck was pretty good too!).






(They're extra brown on the top because of the brown sugar topping)

Chicken Parm

I am scared to cook without receipes. I want to be one of those people that can look in the fridge and say "Hmmm, let's throw these three unrelated but awesome ingredients into a great dish." Chicken parm, however, is cooking for dummies. I had an egg that was almost ready to get tossed, breadcrumbs leftover from the meatballs, sauce and cheese. So, I dumped the chicken in the egg, coated it in breadcrumsb, cooked it in a pan, then finished it off in the oven topped with sauce and mozzarella. This, like the meatballs, was an MB dinner, as I just got in from a run and was feeling like some chicken on a salad was the best course to take. MB, however, loves cheese, sauce and breadcrumbs.