Adventures in Baking, Etc.

Sometimes recipes don't go as well as planned.  I have a whole bunch of ingredients in our pantry I've been trying to use up including flaxseed meal, coconut oil, and a can of pumpkin.  Two weekends ago, I found a recipe that used these.

Here are all the ingredient.  Minus the walnuts.

Here is the concoction plopped into lovely muffin tins.

And here are those muffins after they were in the oven for -- wait for it --  over 45 minutes.  Seriously.  I thought it was some kind of joke.  Or that I didn't have the oven on (I did).

The recipe said these should be in the oven for 25.  I kept checking them and they never rose.  And even after 45 minutes, they still looked like they weren't done yet in the middle.

They ended up tasting ok... we ate them.  But knew that they were more like a dense pumpkin bar in muffin cups.  Not at all a pumpkin muffin.  I'm not sure what went wrong here.  The recipe called for whole wheat flour, which might explain a denser end result...yet the muffins pictured with the recipe are light and fluffy.  Someone brought to my attention that if your baking powder is a little older, your baked goods may not rise.  But this same baking powder has not failed me in other recipes (banana nut bread, oatmeal butterscotch cookies).

The verdict is... I might think about trying to make this again, but I would sub in all-purpose flour for half of the flour in the recipe.  When I typically take a recipe that calls for all-purpose flour and sub in whole wheat, I usually only do up to half whole wheat.

To redeem myself, I made oatmeal butterscotch cookies later in the week and succeeded.  It's just the recipe on the back of the Toll House butterscotch chip bag, but I use half whole wheat flour.

And because I am easily excited by all things related to food, I will share some recent purchases.

Left 2 from Trader Joe's; Dannon's stepping up their Greek game w/a new flavor.

The key lime Greek yogurt is pretty delicious. Perhaps because it's not the nonfat kind.  I'd buy it again, regardless of its 4.5 grams of fat.

Had this at a friend's house, had to stop myself from downing half the jar.

How badly can I mess up this recipe?

Not as protein- and fiber-ful as Kashi's TLC bars, but a good tasting crunchy granola bar.  Or more like a crunchy chocolate chip cookie. 4g protein, 3g fiber per 2 bars (1 package)

Have any good baking disaster stories?  

What's your favorite thing to bake?

Oh. and PS...

I don't really know what to do with this.  I bought this MLO brand brown rice protein powder.
I can't remember if I picked it up at Wegmans or Trader Joe's. 

Regardless, after trying it in 2 smoothies, it's not my cup of tea, but I feel like I can't throw away a nearly full 24 oz canister (minus 4 scoops). That's like 22-23 servings left.  

It's vegan.  I'm not, but I thought I might prefer something without a lot of added sugar or other flavors.  But after buying a couple brands, I find that I prefer a protein powder with flavor (i.e. chocolate).  This one tastes kind of like flour if you don't blend it well.  

Ringing endorsement, I know. 

I don't know if this is weird, but if someone wants it: claim it, and I'll mail it to you.  Seriously.  

If there are no takers, I guess I'll toss it because I don't know what else to do with it, and I'll feel bad.

Goodies from Trader Joe's and my first Group Run!

I am trying to post quickly because I am so absorbed in watching the return of Conan on TBS. 

Last night I went to Trader Joe's before my regular grocery shopping.  I got some fun new things.

Well, some new, some old.  I haven't tried the dried Bartlett pears, the Three Layer Hummus, the Sunflower Seed Butter, or this kind of TJ's peanut butter before (crunchy, unsalted).  The Nutty American Trek Mix and Soft & Juicy Mango are repeat favorites.

This was kind of my dinner last night:

I can tell you that the three layer hummus is fabulous!  This container is supposed to be 12 servings.  I stopped when I realized I had eaten about 1/5, 1/6 of it?  Unintentionally.  Whoops.  It's roasted red pepper, cilantro, and plain hummus.

I used this hummus for a delicious lunch pita today as well.

I smeared some hummus on my Multi-grain with Flax Flat Out Wrap.

Added shredded carrots and Alfalfa Sprouts

And some Heluva Good extra sharp cheddar and tomatoes.

To get these suckers to stay put once you wrap them up, I like to wrap them in foil.

Add some Greek Yogurt, a pre-sliced Honey Crisp Apple, Banana and you've got lunch.  Not to mention, the above dried pears and mango came to work with me where they will now live and be healthy work snacks.

No pictures, but tonight I met up with some local runners courtesy of the local running company & Lululemon for a 10-minute pace 3 mile run.  While there wasn't a high chance of rain for today, it ended up raining for most of the late morning, afternoon, and evening.  It let up just in time for the run.  

I wore my Lululemon Inspire Jacket again - and while I didn't need it for rain, it was good for the 45F & wind and for night time visibility.  After our run we went to nearby Cool Vines for a beer sampling (a Belgian...the name is escaping me!) and some mini cupcakes courtesy of The Bent Spoon.  I enjoyed the evening and will definitely go back for more group runs in the future!