Some Recipe Testing, and Saturday Date Night with my Hottie

After a slow start yesterday, I finally got busy in the kitchen. I had some recipes I wanted to re-test for the cookbook. I figured if I baked more than we could eat, I still have lots of co-workers willing to take the extras off my hands.

I started with Apple Crisp Coffe Cake. I won't have to worry about leftovers with this one, this is already half gone...

Then, some Very Berry Muffins. The secret ingrediant in these that makes them taste so good is herbal tea!

Because this is a recipe just too yummy not to share, here is the recipe! If anyone decides to try them out, please let me know how they turned out for you.

Very Berry Muffins

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

1 Herbal tea bag, raspberry flavour
¾ cup water
(Microwave one minute, let cool.)

Cream Together:
½ cup margarine (preferably Earth Balance)
1 cup white sugar

Mix In:

Powdered egg replacer for two eggs
½ tsp salt
½ tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp baking powder
¼ cup toasted wheat germ
1 cup Whole Wheat pastry flour
1 ¼ cup white flour
Cooled raspberry tea

Then Fold In:

¾ cup sliced fresh strawberries
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Fill muffin cups ¾ full. Sprinkle tops of muffins with a little more white sugar.

Bake for 20-22 minutes.

Once the baking was done and out of the way, it was lunchtime. It was only Daniel and me and home, so this was the perfect time to retest Simple Ramen Noodle Soup. (Courtney doesn't care for it, silly girl...)

This is a soup that can be whipped up with ingredients pretty much anybody would have on hand, and at least adds some nutrition to a package of Mr. Noodles, which has no redeeming qualities whatsoever, except cheapness.

After a nice long walk with the kids around the village, (with a stop at the Critter Burger for the first slushie of the season), I got cleaned up and Bob and I hit the town for Date Night. He might have been living it up in Nashville all week, but I was stuck at home being Mom AND Dad, and I needed a break.

We went to a local tourist trap called the Mug and Anchor Pub, a place that we only visited once before, and not as vegetarians either. I was apprehensive as to what they might have for us to eat. I need not have worried...I find touristy spots are more likely to have veggie options than places the locals hang out. Here's a shot as you enter the Pub...it's a pretty cool place inside, low ceilings, exposed beams, lots of beer coasters from around the world stapled to the rafters..

They actually had a veggie burger platter, which is what I ordered.

The burger was unlike anything I ever had before, and I'm still trying to figure out if I liked it or not. It had a lot of veggies in it which I can't place. I ate half of it, and Bob inhaled the other half, along with an onion ring appetizer, French Onion soup, and a veggie wrap platter, which I didn't take a picture of. It looked hellishly bland to me, but Bob said it was good.

After dinner, we capped off the evening like the exciting, live-on-the-endge people we are- we stopped at the grocery store and picked up a few things. Here's Bob having a debate with himself in the natural foods aisle...

Turns out we had a cart with a couple of bad wheels. Bob entertained the blue haired old ladies by pushing his cart up the aisle sideways, while loudly comparing it to something they do in Nascar and the movie "Tokyo Drift." He can be a bit of a ham when he wants to be. The children would have been less work to take to the store!

Anyway, Saturday night ended up with a cold beer on the sofa watching "Jackass Two." A fine day, with more excitement for Sunday. Courtney needs a dress for the "Junior Prom" and I need some things too, so we're heading to the city. I'll be sure to take pics of our adventures. Have a great Sunday peeps!