Apricot Almond Muffins

What you need:

• 2 cups flour - I used white whole wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 1/4 teaspoon orange zest (optional but oh so tasty)
• 1/4 cup sliced almonds, 2 Tablespoons reserved
• 1/4 cup dried apricots, diced
• 1 teaspoon almond extract, or vanilla extract

What you do:

Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and zest. In a separate bowl, combine milk, eggs, butter and almond extract. Pour wet into dry and mix just until combined. Stir in apricots and almonds (still reserving the 2 Tablespoons). Spoon into greased or lined muffin tin until 3/4 full. Sprinkle tops with remaining almonds. Bake at 375 for about 15 to 17 minutes. Makes 12 muffins.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Muffins

What you need:

• 2 cups flour - I used KA White Whole Wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 3/4 cup peanut butter - I used reduced fat
• 3/4 cup milk - I would up this to a full cup to make the batter a bit thinner as it was too thick
• 2 tablespoons oil - I used olive oil, you could use vegetable oil or even melted butter
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup jam - I used homemade low sugar blackberry jam

What you do:

Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. With a fork, mix in the peanut butter until mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. In a separate bowl, combine milk, oil, eggs and vanilla. Pour into dry and mix just until combined. In a greased muffin pan (line with muffin papers) spoon batter into bottom about 1/3 full. Top each with 1 rounded teaspoon of jam or jelly. Spoon more batter on top until 3/4 full. Bake in a 375 degree oven for about 15 minutes. Makes 12 muffins.

Beef Stew

What you need:

• 1 pound stew meat, cut into bite sized pieces
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 can beef broth
• 1 packet dry Lipton Beefy Onion Soup mix
• 3 cups water
• 1 can diced tomatoes, drained
• 2 carrots, sliced
• 3 red potatoes, peeled and diced into bite sized pieces
• 1 onion, chopped in large pieces
• 1 can beef gravy
• 1 Tablespoon cornstarch

What you do:

Brown meat in olive oil over medium-high heat. Pour in broth and mix in Lipton soup mix. Add water and tomatoes. Bring to a boil, cover and turn down to medium-low heat to simmer for about 45 minutes to an hour. Add in carrots, continue to simmer for another 15 minutes. Add in potatoes and onion and simmer an additional 30 minutes. Take off heat and pour in gravy. Mix together cornstarch and 1 Tablespoon of broth from stew in a small bowl and then pour back into stew to help thicken. Serve with buttered sourdough bread.

Cheese Ravioli

What you need:

• Egg Pasta Dough
• 4 ounces ricotta cheese
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• 2 Tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 Teaspoons dried parsley flakes (or fresh is even better)
• a pinch of nutmeg
• dash of salt and pepper

What you do:

Mix together ricotta, egg, Parmesan, parsley, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Roll out 1/4 of the pasta dough (at a time) as thin as possible. Using a 3 inch biscuit cutter, make rounds in the dough and spoon 1 to 2 teaspoons of cheese mixture into the middle. Dipping fingertips into a small bowl of water, wet the edges of the round and then fold and seal together. Using the end of a fork, press the edges together to ensure the seal. Carefully lay the pasta onto a cookie cooling rack (that's what I used - but a pasta rack made for flat pastas would work too) and place in fridge while doing the rest of the ravioli. Let ravioli dry for an hour in the fridge.

When boiling your ravioli, I suggest not letting the water get to a full boil and only simmer the pasta. The rapid boil can break apart the seal of the ravioli. Simmer for about 5 minutes, the pasta will float towards the end. (I did our pasta in 2 batches to keep the water from dropping temperature too much.)

Egg Pasta Dough

What you need:

• 3 eggs, room temperature
• 1/2 cup + 1 Tablespoon warm water
• 1 Tablespoon oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup semolina flour (I didn't have any so I used all-purpose here)
• 2 cups all-purpose flour

What you do:

Dump ingredients in above order into bread machine and run on dough cycle.* When finished wrap in cling wrap and let set for 30 minutes.

Roll by hand on a lightly floured surface or in a pasta roller to desired thickness - 1/8 inch works well for fettuccine or lasagna sheets. Let fresh pasta dry for at least an hour before boiling. Length of boiling depends on pasta thickness and size but generally fresh pasta will float once it is done cooking.

*When doing egg pasta dough by hand: mound flour up on a clean surface and create a crater in the top. Put 4 (FOUR) eggs into the crater and work together with a fork. (There are great tutorials online). Omit the water and oil as it is not necessary when you're doing it by hand. Be sure to work in the salt for flavor though. Once the dough forms a ball, knead until smooth and then wrap in cling wrap and let set for 30 minutes. Follow the rest of the above directions.

30 minute stir-fry

What you need:

• 2 chicken breasts, diced and seasoned with garlic salt and lemon pepper
• 1/2 red bell pepper, sliced
• 1/2 sweet onion, sliced
• 2 cups fresh spinach leaves
• 1 cup snow pea pods, cut in half
• 2 stalks celery, sliced
• 1/2 cup matchstick carrots
• 4 oz thin spaghetti, cooked and drained - I coat mine with a teaspoon of sesame oil, olive oil would work too.
• 2/3 cup stir fry sauce - I use House of Tsang's Classic Stir Fry Sauce

What you do:

Cook chicken in 1 Tablespoon of olive oil. Toss vegetables into deep pan and stir until spinach is cooked and onions are tender. Toss in noodles and stir fry sauce and combine until heated throughout.