Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins

The other day I got some nice blueberries at the store. We love blueberry muffins but P#2 always eats them all before I get to make muffins. Well I made my move this morning! Here's the recipe I used. They are delicious and good for you!

I am afraid to post it because of something I read on the on the internet. Here's the story http://aloshaskitchen.blogspot.com/2008/07/illegal-or-not.html.

Anyway ....

Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins

Ingredients
1 1/4 cup oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
1 1/4 cup milk with 1T vinegar added (to make sour milk - unless you have buttermilk in the fridge!)
1 whole egg, lightly beaten
2 T vegetable oil
1/2 t grated lemon peel - fresh is best!
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
1/3 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
1 t all-purpose flour
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries (do not thaw)

Preparation Steps
Heat oven to 400°F. Lightly spray twelve medium muffin cups with cooking spray.
In medium bowl, combine oats and buttermilk; mix well. Let stand 10 minutes. Stir in egg, oil and lemon peel until blended.

In large bowl, combine all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, wheat germ, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; mix well. Add oat mixture all at once; stir just until dry ingredients are moistened. (Do not overmix.) Coat berries with the teaspoon of flour. Gently stir in berries. Fill muffin cups almost full.

Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool muffins in pan on wire rack 5 minutes; remove from pan. Serve warm.

Recipe Yield: 1 DOZEN
Serving Size: 1 muffin (1/12 recipe)
Nutrition Information:
Calories: 160, Calories from Fat: 25, Total Fat: 4g, Saturated Fat: 0.5g, Cholesterol: 20mg, Sodium: 170mg, Total Carbohydrates: 27g, Dietary Fiber: 2g, Sugars: 11g, Protein: 5g

Freaky Friday

Here's the latest installation of Friday Weirdness!!

Don't Give Wedgies!
In July, the Utah Supreme Court ordered a new trial for Erik Low, now 40, ruling that a jury should have considered the possibility of a lesser crime than manslaughter in the 2003 shooting death of a man who had just 15 seconds earlier during a fight given Low what was described as a violent wedgie. [Salt Lake Tribune, 7-2-08]

Being Gay is a Disability???
Gay Italian wins discrimination case
By MARTA FALCONI, Associated Press Writer
Monday, July 14, 2008
07-14) 10:44 PDT ROME, Italy (AP) --
The Italian government was ordered to pay $160,000 to a gay man who received a driver's license for the disabled after he volunteered information on his sexual orientation to military authorities, the man and a gay-rights group said Monday.
Danilo Giuffrida, 27, said he told officials about his homosexuality when he took a physical after being called up in 2000 for Italy's mandatory year of military service, which has since been abolished.
Giuffrida told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from his hometown, Catania, that he had hoped to avoid service and keep working to help support his family. Giuffrida was disqualified for psychological reasons.
"It's the old assumption that if one is homosexual then he is also psychologically disturbed," said Aurelio Mancuso, president the main Italian gay rights group, Arcigay.
Giuffrida's lawyer, Giuseppe Lipera, said a military official sent his client's paperwork to motor-vehicle officials in Catania, who changed his standard driver's license to one for the disabled.
Giuffrida said the disabled license must be renewed every year instead of every 10 years, as is the case for standard licenses.
"Some overzealous officer took upon himself the task of sending the paperwork" to the motor vehicle office, Lipera said. "Evidently, they thought that his sexual preferences were a mental disorder."
A judge in Catania, Sicily, ordered the transport and defense ministries to pay damages to Giuffrida in a ruling handed down last week. The transport ministry had no immediate comment on Monday, while defense officials said they had requested information on the case from military authorities in Catania.
Arcigay praised the court ruling and said it hoped the case would raise awareness about discrimination.
"In Italy, we still need to understand that differences among people make a country richer, not poorer," Giuffrida said. He did not say if his standard license had been restored.
He said that he will use some of the money to buy a car.

Making Bread

Leaving Excess had a great article about making your own bread. http://www.leavingexcess.com/ I have been making bread for our family for about 2 months too. Here's a photo of my bread.

I use my KitchenAid mixer to mix and kneed. It is very easy!

More on Beets

I had a comment from Rowena about my Harvard Beets. Where she lives canned beets are not accessible. You can use fresh if you have them.
Beets can be prepared 2 ways:
1. Cut off all but 1 inch of stems and roots. Do not peel whole beets. Cook, covered, in boiling salted water until tender. Cool slightly: slip off skins. (This is where you would get your beet juice for the recipe I posted). Time: 35-50 minutes

2. Peel beets; slice or cube. Cook, covered, in a small amount of boiling salted water until tender. Time: 20 minutes

Then just follow the recipe.

What's for Dinner?

Some of the frugal blogs I read the food they serve for dinner my husband would not eat. If I served hamburgers he would get mad. But I do get away with some easy and cheap things. Last night we had steak, those new Grillin' Beans from Bush's (I mixed in a can of Eden Organic Cannelini Beans)and some green leaf lettuce salad.
Saturday he was busy with a customer from NYC. So I made BBQ Franks, corn and french fries. He was not crazy about that, but he was hungry at 10:30pm when he came home.

BBQ Franks

1 medium onion, chopped
1T oil ( I use light flavored olive oil)
1T sugar
1t dry mustard (if you don't have it use 1T of yellow prepared mustard)
salt and pepper
1t paprika
1/2c ketchup
1/2c water
1/4 c vinegar
1T Worcestershire Sauce
1 pack of franks (I use Hebrew National - yummy!)

Cook onion in oil until golden. Add rest of ingredients except for franks. Split the franks the long way, place cut side down in baking dish. Pour BBQ sauce over them. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
I loved these hotdogs when I was a kid! My mom got this recipe from a Navy Wives Cookbook (I think.) Depending on what type of paprika you use it will change the flavor! http://www.cookinglight.com/cooking/flavorprofiles/Paprika.html

Yesterday I got a nice head of califlower. Tonight we are having califlower soup with homemade bread!