Whole Wheat Strawberry Muffins with a Brown Sugar Lemon Glaze

I am so excited about sharing these deliciously moist and healthy muffins with you. I found myself with an overflowing refrigerator of strawberries (they were on sale) that needed to be used up before they began to go bad. Since it had been a while since I made muffins and I was more than ready for a change in breakfast options this was a perfect way to put the strawberries to good use.

 These muffins can be easily substituted using other fruits that are in season. Just like the Bran Muffins that I make I prefer to heat them for about 15 seconds in the microwave before eating them. The muffins can be made with or without the Brown Sugar Glaze topping.

Whole Wheat Strawberry Muffins
Yields 12 muffins

Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cup of strawberries, chopped
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 cup low fat cottage cheese
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup canola oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/4 cup milk

Directions:
- Add flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon to a large mixing bowl.
- In a separate bowl combine cottage cheese, egg, oil, vanilla, and milk. Mix the wet ingredients in with the flour mixture then fold in the chopped strawberries.

- Add dough to a greased muffin pan and bake on 375 for 25 minutes.
- If you choose to add the Brown Sugar Glaze drizzle about 1 teaspoon over top of each muffin after it has baked and cooled (about 20 minutes).

Brown Sugar Lemon Glaze
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 teaspoon lemon juice

- Mix and  drizzle over top of the muffins.

Banana Pudding

Banana Pudding is truly one of my all time favorite desserts. Growing up, whenever we would visit my grandmother's house, whether it was a holiday or a Sunday morning after church, she would always have banana pudding ready and waiting for us to dive into for dessert. Still today whenever my mom's side of the family gets together someone will provide the Banana Pudding. As soon as the  pudding is unveiled the mad dash begins.

This is hands down the best no bake banana pudding around. It can be made up to a day ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Banana Pudding
Yields 8-10 servings

Ingredients:
- 1 can sweet condensed milk (14oz)
- 1 1/2 cups cold water
- 1 package instant vanilla pudding (5.1 oz. box)
- 2 containers of cool whip
- vanilla wafers
- 3-4 bananas

Directions:
- Mix water, milk and pudding mix in a bowl and place in the refrigerator for 5 minutes. Fold in 1 container of the whip cream.

- In a 9 x 13 casserole dish cover the bottom with vanilla wafers, add half of the pudding mixture over top, then add a layer of bananas. Repeat by adding another layer of vanilla wafers, the remaining pudding mixture and banana slices.

- Add the other container of whip cream as a topping.

- Chill until ready to serve

Poppy Fruit Salad

 I am a little late in posting my recipes from Easter but we have had a lot going on in the past two weeks. Hopefully I can begin blogging again on a somewhat regular basis. I have not done much cooking since Easter so I am itching to try some new things. Until then here is a crowd pleasing recipe that calls for fresh fruit and topped with a smooth vinaigrette dressing.

The combinations of the sweetness from the fruit, sharpness from the cheddar, and crunch from the pecans has this salad bursting with different taste and textures. Refreshing and delicious, it's perfect for these warmer days. Since I was making this salad for a large crowd I played around with the ingredients, basically tripling the recipe, but I am including the original.

Poppy Fruit Salad:
- 2 tablespoons Cider Vinegar
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 teaspoons poppy seeds
- 2 medium pears (chopped)
- 2/3 cup grapes (cut in half)
- 1/2 cup sharp cheddar
- 1/2 cup crushed pecans

Directions:
- In a bowl mix together the vinegar, honey, dry mustard, and oil.

- Add the chopped pears and grapes to a separate bowl and top with the cheddar cheese, pecans, and poppy seeds. Drizzle the dressing over top.

Serve chilled or at room temperature

A Wonderful Easter Sunday

Happy Easter a day late.
We started our day yesterday with a wonderful church service then quickly rushed home to get everything ready for our family that was coming over for Easter lunch. It was a great day spent with wonderful family, good food, laughter and the Masters.:)

We all pitched in to come up with this yummy spread of food. It was a good ol'southern feast.

Ham, Potato Salad, Deviled Eggs, Macaroni and Cheese

Spinach Casserole, Fruit Salad, rolls and a tossed salad (not pictured)

My contribution was the fruit salad, Banana Pudding and a Dump Cake (recipes coming this week).  I also made these festive cookies that I found on Pinterest that were very yummy.

I hope however you chose to spend your day yesterday it was just as wonderful.

Crab Dip

Last weekend we had a family get together at my aunt and uncles house to visit with the foreign exchange student from Germany that they hosted several years ago. She had been spending the past month here doing an internship for a local law firm and visiting with her American family.

Jason and I were in charge of bringing the appetizers, which gave me the perfect reason to make this dip that I have had my eye on for a while now. I am a sucker for hot crab dip served with good toasted bread.

I tried to lighten the crab dip by using reduced fat cream cheese and skim milk. The end result was a big bowl of warm, creamy goodness.

 Crab Dip
- 2- 8oz. packages of imitation crab meat
- 1 10oz. can of diced tomatoes and green chilies (Rotel)
- 3 -8oz. packages reduced fat cream cheese
- 1/2 cup skim milk
- 1 cup chopped green onions
- 1- 4oz. can green chilies

Mix all the ingredients together in a dish. Bake on 350 for 30 minutes.
Serve with toasted bread or crackers