Apple Oatmeal Muffins, A Whole Grain Muffin #MuffinMonday

Chunks of apples mixed with buttermilk-soaked oats in a whole wheat muffin, topped with streusel for a sweet and wholesome treat.

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I realized that my muffin recipes, over on the drop down sidebar, are lacking in basic apple muffins. I've got sugar-less Apple Cider Muffins. I've got savory Cheddar Apple Multigrain Muffins. I've got 'throw everything in there' Cranberry Apple Pecan Tangerine Mini Muffins. I didn't have a basic apple muffin recipe. Until today. For my inaugural recipe with the #MuffinMonday crew [thanks for having me] I thought I'd remedy the deficiency.

This muffin has a streusel topping which is fancier than my typical 'feed the kids muffins for breakfast or a snack' muffin although I did keep the sugar inside at my usual amount. I made them for a morning coffee that I ended up missing because my visiting folks arrived at the same time. I did manage to snag a picture before I dropped them off, in true food blogger fashion. I even had enough batter to bake some regular-sized muffins to greet my folks.

NOTE:  The base of these muffins is my standard Soaked Oatmeal Muffin base. You can start these an hour before baking by combining oats and buttermilk in a bowl on the counter, or you could plan ahead [boy I wish I were the plan ahead type] and fill a bunch of wide mouth pint canning jars with a cup of oats and a cup of buttermilk. Screw on a plastic storage cap [Amazon affiliate link] and store in your fridge for up to a week for soaked oat muffins in a jiffy. (Shown are not wide mouth pint jars, they were all full of salsa.)

I used a blend of apples in these muffins--Gala and one other from the farmer's market that wasn't labelled--and I recommend any eating apple (i.e., not a cooking apple) for these. Chop them into small pieces, but do leave the peels on--they provide a pretty color.

As I was serving unknown guests at the morning coffee, I left out nuts. I think some chopped pecans would be an excellent addition to the streusel topping if nuts are not an issue.

For more recipes using up the seasonal abundance that is my fridge and spilling over onto the kitchen counter during apple season, please see my Apple Recipes Collection. This is part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient, a resource for folks eating seasonally like we do. I've got a fruit board on Pinterest for ideas from around the web. Want to know how to use this blog? Click here.

BBQ Pork and Potato Pizza

Got leftover pulled pork? Grab a potato, some cheese and some more BBQ sauce for this yummy pizza. Making something fresh out of leftovers for Friday Night Pizza Night.

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Sometimes I am in a light mood and make lighter food. I say 'light' not in the commonly accepted 'lower in fat and/or calories' way, more in terms of how I feel when I eat the food. My newly updated post of my vegetarian White Spinach Pizza (better than CPK copycat) would be an example. Other times I want to burrow in and enjoy heartier fare. This pizza is decidedly heartier fare.

Ever have leftovers of pulled pork? We sure do--making a slow cooker full of Kalua Pig means there's pig all over the menu for a while. I took my friend Holly's suggestion to add some BBQ sauce to leftover Kalua Pig and created this pizza. It's a simple-yet-flavorful way to change up a Friday Night Pizza Night (link to my Pinterest board of the same name).

I'd say this is a Cook Once Eat Twice meal, but in fact you are cooking that pig, cooking that potato, and then cooking that pizza. So it's not really twice. However, making pizza at home is such a simple groove to get into that the concept of leftovers remade into a pizza is an easy-to-happen thing.

For more recipes using potatoes, because some of us ordered 25 pounds of red and 25 pounds of white from our farm share, in addition to the weekly bunches of potatoes, sweet potatoes, and turnips coming in and are therefore stuffing potatoes into the family for breakfast, lunch, and dinner . . . lost the train of thought here . . . please see my Potato Recipes Collection, part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient. This is a resource for folks like me eating from the farm share, the farmer's market, and seasonal abundance. Want to know how to use this blog? Click here.

Easy Butternut Squash & Burrata Pasta, a 5 Ingredient Farm Share Meal

Cubes of butternut squash, Italian sausage crumbles, hot pasta and creamy burrata cheese. An easy, simple, and satisfying Fall supper using 5 main ingredients (plus oil, water, salt and pepper).

There's rice on this plate. Yes, rice with a pasta dish. It was my daughter's desire to have pasta with a side of rice for her lunch, and ever since we did child-led weaning I've supported her food choices.

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I have been sitting impatiently on this recipe until I could declare "Happy Fall, Ya'll" and stay true to my seasonal eating roots. No matter that winter squash is long-storing, and that I used the last of the butternuts from the 2014 Strategic Winter Squash Reserve in April and May of this year. [Yes, one of the ways I feed my family from the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share 12 months out of the year when we get farm fresh produce 5 months out of the year is the SWSR.]

Sometimes we add freshly grated Parm on top.

It is so good. It is so easy. It is so not vegetarian. [Please see my Easy Artichoke Arugula Pesto and Burrata Pasta for a similar but vegetarian option.] Carnivores--grab 5 items from your favorite local purveyors: a pound of pasta, a pound of Italian sausage (sweet, hot, your choice), an onion, a butternut squash, and a tub of burrata cheese.

Ripping up burrata cheese and adding to the tossed pasta.

The fancy cheese counter of my local Kroger sells burrata for $10 a tub. I am sure it is worth it. However, I am a cheap so and so. That means every time I make a milk run to Kroger I'll cruise for magical markdown stickers in the fancy cheese area. Five dollars a tub is well worth the splurge to me.

I would also like to comment that, while I am highlighting the paucity of ingredients, good food usually takes time and longer ingredient lists. You are worth putting some effort into your food. Anyone else you feed is worth putting some effort into the food. Don't shortchange yourself by seeking out meals based solely on a tiny number of ingredients. You're missing out on flavor over convenience.

Instead of sharing ten photos of the exact same plate of food taken during the exact same photo shoot, I'm sharing a variety of photos because I kept on making this dish and for some reason my spouse happened to be taking pictures. I think we had company at least one of those times. It is so yummy, so cheesy, and such a nice balance of sweet creamy roasted squash with savory sausage all wrapped up with gooey cheese.

This version used leftover grilled vegetables reheated on top of the sausage. Note the saved pasta water.

This pasta is also simple to make. Grill or roast a butternut squash (heck, I've used leftover grilled zucchini in this as well). Alanna's directions on how to efficiently turn a butternut squash into cubes can be found here. You can even cook the vegetables a day ahead while cooking another meal. They'll keep in the fridge, then simply toss the cooled cooked veggies onto the cooked sausage to warm up while you're working on the pasta. Combine everything in a big bowl, crack open a burrata on top, and toss it all together.

This pasta reheats well for a midday lunch, if you're lucky enough to come home for lunch.

For other recipes using butternut squash, please see my Buttercup/Butternut Squash Recipe Collection. This is part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient, a resource for folks who eat from the farm share and farmer's market. I've got more squash recipes and plenty more pasta recipes on my Pinterest boards. Want to know How to Use this Blog? Click here.

Roasted Potatoes with Squash, Peppers and Kielbasa

Roasted potatoes, peppers, yellow squash and zucchini with kielbasa. Fresh ingredients simply seasoned for a simple dinner when you don't have a plan in mind.

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You walk in the door after a busy day with no clear plan for dinner in mind.

The dogs rush to greet you, and you give everyone some love. [Did you know that dogs get a Happy Hormone rush when they are petted? Their greetings are just a way to get their fix, not some sort of altruistic 'let me lower your blood pressure' reason.]

Hit the kitchen, crank on the oven, and start washing some potatoes. No matter what else will be for dinner, you've got a giant pile of potatoes from the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share so you may as well start with them.

Survey the fridge. Notice that the yellow squash, zucchini and peppers did not get the memo that Fall is nearly here and it's time to make room for the acorn and butternut squashes. Find a package of kielbasa and a bottle of beer and realize that dinner will come together just fine.

Open the bottle, have a healthy sip, grab a knife, and get busy.

For other recipes using potatoes, please see my Potato Recipes Collection. For other recipes using summer squash, please see my Summer Squash Recipes Collection. These are part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient, a resource for folks like me eating from the farm share, the farmer's market, and bountiful gardens. For other ways to make the most of the farm share, please see my How to Make The Most of the Farm Share board on Pinterest. Want to know How to Use This Blog?

Slow-roasted Tomato Pizza with Late Summer Vegetables

This pizza is a vegetarian's mid Late Summer Dream. Squash, peppers, olives and slow-roasted tomatoes covered with cheese.

My strawberry patch is growing summer squash/zucchini volunteers, not strawberries. I didn't really expect strawberries to grow at the end of summer, but squash? Eh, I'll run with it. 

It may seem like I am on a roll with pizzas. No pun needed there--if you saw my photo collages in my Pizza Primer post you'd know I don't use a rolling pin to make pizza. No need [the fingers hovered over k-n-e-a-d . . .] as I just use my hands to push/pull the dough into the shape it wants to be.

Perhaps that's what comes with having teenagers? I know that I can still help guide them a bit, but ultimately they are in charge of their final shape, not me.

I continue to help guide my readers in ways to use and put up seasonal produce. This week our Community Supported Agriculture farm share farmers canned 100 pounds of tomatoes outside over a fire. That's 37 quarts, people, and a mere one time energy outlay in return for a year of shelf stability. Canning tomatoes is awesome.

You know another excellent way to put up tomatoes? Slow-roasting them. With cooler evenings, this time of year is more tolerable in the kitchen than the height of summer. Alanna's tutorial on slow-roasting tomatoes is my guide. I'm here with suggestions on how to use that bounty, and since it's a Friday that means pizza.

For other ideas on how to use and put up tomatoes, please see my Tomatoes board on Pinterest and my Red/Yellow Tomato Recipe Collection, part of my Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient, a resource for folks like me eating from the farm share, farmer's market, or garden abundance and rogue volunteer squash in the strawberry patch. For more pizza recipes I've got the Visual Pizza Recipe Index and the Friday Night Pizza Night Pinterest board. Wanna know how to use this blog? Click here.

How to Make Dill Butter When You've Got a Lot of Herbs

Got a lot of dill? Quickly turn it into an herbed butter. Use this butter on potatoes, fish, or bread. It's a fast way to add a little something local & homemade to your holiday table.

Time for another Practical Support for Local Eating lesson. This one is about herbs. When we get herbs in our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share it's not usually a sprig here and there. Instead it is a significant amount.

Sometimes I view the abundance of herbs as an opportunity to use them all in Pot Luck Tabbouleh. Sometimes this will coincide with another vegetable and create an opportunity to put something up [a bunch of cucumbers and dill means I'll throw a few jars of quick refrigerator kosher dills into the back of the fridge to cure]. Sometimes a large quantity of basil from the farm share coupled with my own large quantity from the garden means I can Process a Pile of Pesto. Most of the time, however, the herbs are on their own.

Making herb butter when you've got a lot of fresh herbs is one way to make the most of the farm share. This freezes nicely and makes a special addition to a holiday meal. Too early for Thanksgiving talk? Canadian Thanksgiving is only a few weeks away and I've got a beautiful bunch of dill from my farm share so I think it's quite timely.

Before I get to the recipe, though, I asked a few food bloggers for additional ideas on how they deal with a large amount of herbs. Brandy of Farmer's Wife Rambles shares how she dehydrates parsley. Tara of Noshing With The Nolands turns her basil abundance into Basil Ice Cubes. Sheri Silver freezes her herbs in oil--with a clever tip for telling them all apart in the tray. Meghan of Clean Eats Fast Feets shares how she deals with her chives (and shares a recipe for Blue Cheese & Chive Drop Biscuits). Janelle of Barn2Door dries thyme, oregano for cooking, mint & blackberry/raspberry leaves/fennel seed for tea, and freezes finely chopped chives. She even has a Pinterest board of herb-y ideas.

Left to right photos from Brandy, Tara, Sheri and Meghan. Thanks!

Cream Cheese Toffee Dip for Fruit (My Apple Dip)

A fruit dip made from cream cheese, yogurt, brown sugar and the crunch of milk chocolate toffee bits. This is great for parties or special afternoon snacks and appeals to all ages.

Apples have been appearing at my local farmer's market. I buy a handful, take them home, slice them up and we eat them. [The rest of the household would eat the core and everything, but someone around here needs to have standards.] Local apples** are bred for flavor, not ability to look pretty for 6 months, so it seems kinda silly to share a dip recipe to eat with such tasty apples as a Buckeye Gala. This is not gilding a lily, though--my Caramel Apple Toffee Parfait with Cream Cheese Ice Cream? Total lily-gilding, that one. This is just a simple dip to have on hand if you want to dress up a fruit snack or have something special to go alongside a healthy snack at an event.

You gotta have a couple of good dips in your repertoire. Dips that you can make practically with your eyes closed using common pantry and refrigerator staples. Dips that fit a variety of occasions and please folks of all ages.

This is one of those dips. [My Spiced Cottage Cheese Potato Chip Dip is another.] When I searched my sent emails folder to confirm the recipe I realized I've been emailing folks this recipe for more than 10 years. It evolved out of an amaretto fruit dip I'd had at the same church basement wedding reception where I learned the pineapple juice hack for keeping apples from turning brown. I don't usually have amaretto on hand, so when I tried a Cool Whip-based fruit dip using Heath bar bits I knew that would go great instead of amaretto.

Note: I don't usually recommend brands of food on this blog, I'm more into the local produce, but I do make exceptions. This dip tastes best with Heath bar bits, the milk chocolate-covered toffee bits. The bag has an orange banner--like this Amazon affiliate link shows [but don't buy it from Amazon--sheesh you can find it for ⅓ the price in a grocery store]. Each time I move, as I am settling into our new neighborhood, I check the chocolate chip aisle of the local grocery stores. Most will carry only the plain Bits o' Brickle variety with a blue banner as shown in this outrageously expensive Amazon affiliate link but keep looking until you source the milk chocolate variety then buy a couple of bags for the pantry stash. They are good in cookies, too, like my Toffee Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies.

For other recipes using apples, please see my Apple Recipes Collection, part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient, a resource for folks like me eating from the farm share, the farmer's market, and generous neighbors with apple trees. I've got more appetizers on my Awesome Veggie Apps and Snacks board on Pinterest, and more fruit from around the web on my Fruit board. Want to know how to use this blog? Click here.

Apple, Gouda and Pecan Pizza

Chunks of apples, bits of pecans, and loads of melty Gouda cheese in this savory vegetarian pizza.

When you make pizzas nearly every weekend, and you like to keep things lively on the pizza stone [don't think too deeply on that one] inspiration comes at you from every direction. This pizza was inspired by a photo of a grilled cheese sandwich on this post. Apparently that's enough for me to go off in a pizza direction.

A vegetarian, savory, pizza with fruit direction.

When I shared my Fresh Pineapple and Shaved Ham with Mascarpone Pizza recently, a friend said her spouse didn't do fruit on pizza. What?  Fruit on pizza rocks!  I'm not talking sweet fruit dessert pizzas. In the multitude of pizzas in my Visual Pizza Recipe Index by Ingredient I do not have any dessert pizzas. I'll eat them, don't get me wrong, I just haven't made any. I'm just not that into it. In my world, fruit on a pizza is not a dessert thing. It's a Savory Pizzas with Fruit thing.

So I'm bringing you yet another savory pizza with fruit. Yet another pizza with apples on it, this one inspired by that grilled cheese sandwich photo and the fact that I had a Costco-sized hunk of gouda cheese in the fridge.

I get cheese obsessions, probably a good thing when I've got a Costco-sized hunk of whatever flavor obsession du jour fromage. Having an ample amount of cheese makes for interesting recipes. I've used gouda in Roasted Sweet Potato and Turkey Sausage Breakfast Casserole and Three Cheese Fast-baked Cauliflower so far. Stay tuned for more, like this vegetarian savory pizza which is lovely for Fall.

For more recipes using apples, please see my Apples & Apple Cider Recipes Collection, part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient, a resource for folks like me eating from the farm share or farmer's market. I've got an assortment of other pizza ideas on my Friday Night Pizza Night! Pinterest board and my Visual Pizza Recipe Index.

How to Make a Roasted Farm Share Dinner

This combination of roasted green beans, corn, tomatoes and bacon is an example of the perfection of September. The nights are cool enough that a hot plate of vegetables is a welcome sight and the produce is still in full swing.

I'm proud to say that I threw the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share on the grill this summer. I had successes (check out the grilling category I added to my drop down recipe index on the right side bar). I had failures [I've fed far too many 'too small' eggplant slices to the Grill Gods with flipping failures] and I somehow drained a brand new tank of propane [I blame the deployment gremlins on that one] but overall the grill became my 'go to' appliance when I thought about how to feed the family from the farm share.

When the weather starts to cool down a wee bit I'm not afraid to turn on my oven. Instead of grilling ALL THE THINGS I start roasting what is abundant in the farm share box and at the farmer's market. I want to keep things easy, though, and clean up is one of those things I like to simplify.

After reading Aimée's Spring breakfast recipe I started trying out a few combinations. It's almost too easy to throw a bunch of vegetables in a pan, add some meat for additional flavoring, and have dinner done.

For other recipes using green beans, please see my Green Bean Recipes Collection. For other recipes using corn, please see my Recipes Using Corn Collection. These are part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient, a resource for folks like me eating from the farm share, the farmer's market, and the garden bounty. 

Swiss Chard Hash

A skillet supper of Swiss chard, potatoes, mushrooms and sausage served with an egg on top.

"There should be a Sausage Monday"

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I fixed this on a Monday night, after getting the idea from a similar 'throw in whatever's handy' supper the week before that turned out surprisingly good. I was going to leave out the sausage and serve the hash with an egg on top. My spouse came in and asked what was for dinner. After I shared my vision he commented "that would be good with sausage". I replied "I was going for a Meatless Monday meal". He said, "there should be a Sausage Monday". So, sausage it is. Feel free to adapt to your Sausage or Meatless Monday needs by doubling the mushrooms in place of the sausage.

For other recipes using Swiss chard, please see my Swiss Chard Recipes Collection. For other recipes using potatoes since I have 25 pounds of them from the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share, please see my Potato Recipes Collection. Same thing for the Mushroom Recipes Collection (not 25 pounds, just check it out), all part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient--a resource for folks like me eating from the farm share. I'm also contributing to The Spiced Life's Mushroom Mangia board on Pinterest, have a Potatoes board on Pinterest, and interesting chard recipes that catch my eye live on my Greens board on Pinterest. Want to know How to Use This Blog? Click here.

Mustard Greens Pesto with Pecans and Asiago

Peppery mustard greens and toasted pecans form the base for this vegetarian sauce which freezes nicely for later enjoyment.

I thought the focus of my blog was how I feed my family from the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share, but my friend Laura astutely corrected me. I focus more on putting up the farm share, especially some weeks more than others it seems lately.

I've been canning and grilling and roasting and freezing like crazy lately. The table full of tomatoes became shelves in the basement full of filled canning jars. [Yet each week I hit the store for more lids, or caps, or jars. I thought they were vanishing into a black hole, but I realized it was just my son's backpack. Yay for back to school.]

Back to blog focus--this recipe is a wonderful example of how to put up greens when you are overwhelmed with a variety of options. I often simply cannot deal with such a variety of greens like we get in the farm share come cool weather, so anything I can put up for later saves my sanity. My inspiration comes from the Kale and Walnut Pesto recipe out of Farmer John's Cookbook: The Real Dirt on Vegetables (Amazon affiliate link). I swapped out the type of greens, the type of nuts, and even the type of cheese but kept the concept. This freezes well and is refreshing tossed with spaghetti sauce as we'll see next month.

Shown is Arugula pesto ready to go in the freezer for this yummy dish.

For other recipes using mustard greens, please see my Mustard Greens Recipe Collection, part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient a resource for folks like me eating from the farm share, the farmer's market, or garden. I've also got a Greens board on Pinterest where I share my finds from the web.