Honey Cornbread Muffins

I can’t sleep so I decided I wanted to bake a quick something.  After reviewing what ingredients I had on hand, I set out to make honey cornbread muffins.

Honey Cornbread Muffins

Ingredients

·  1 cup yellow cornmeal

·  1 cup flour (I used wheat)

·  1 tablespoon baking powder

·  1/2 cup granulated sugar

·  1 teaspoon salt

·  1 cup whole milk

·  2 large eggs

·  4 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil

·  1/4 cup honey

 

Directions

1.     Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2.     Into a large bowl, mix the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. In another bowl, whisk together the whole milk, eggs, oil, and honey. Add the wet to the dry ingredients and stir until just mixed.

3.     Place muffin paper liners in a 12-cup muffin tin. Evenly divide the cornbread mixture into the papers. Bake for 15 minutes, until golden.

Overall

This is a great, easy recipe for delicious honey cornbread muffins.  I like mine with a bit of extra honey, slightly warmed.  Enjoy!

Frugality

These muffins were virtually free since I had all of the ingredients on hand already…the joys of baking! 

Look Forward To

Doing something with all of these plums, nectarines and tomatoes…

Baked Yams and Dilled Green Beans

I have never cooked with or even tasted a yam.  So when they came in my co-op basket this weekend, I wasn’t sure what to make of them.  Since September is National Honey Month, I thought I would try a recipe that incorporated honey as well.  I used a recipe from www.allrecipes.com and adjusted it according to other people’s comments and recommendations.  This is the recipe I ended up with.

Camotes al Horno (Baked Yams)

Ingredients

• 6 small yams
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 6 teaspoons honey
• 3 teaspoons white sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. Place yams in a large pot of lightly salted, boiling water and cook for about 20 minutes, or until tender. Drain.
3. Arrange the yams in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking dish. Cut a slit down the middle of each one and dab 1 tablespoon of butter in each.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for an hour, or until golden. Spoon 1 teaspoon honey into each yam, sprinkle each with sugar and serve.

Overall

Since this was my first time working with yams, I thought that overall they turned out pretty good.  They remind me of not-so-sweet sweet potatoes.  They are no doubt firmer than sweet potatoes, which warranted the longer cook time.  The yams were pretty good but the long cook time makes me not want to buy them again.  If I did make them again I think I would try to use brown sugar instead of white for a better flavor combination.  Also when I cut them to put the butter in some of them cut in half and therefore the butter  seeped through to the pan and didn’t cook into the yams as desired.

Frugality

The yams cost me about $1.65 through my food co-op (www.bountifulbaskets.org), the honey, butter and sugar were on hand.  For $1.65 this is a great side dish but for an hour and a half of my time, not really worth it.

This second recipe is one of my favorite ways to prepare fresh green beans.  This is a recipe I adapted from my mother’s cooking. 

Dilled Green Beans

Ingredients

• 1 pound fresh, cleaned, trimmed green beans
• 1 tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon dried dill weed

Directions

1. Place trimmed green beans in medium sized bowl.  Add about ½ inch of water.  Seal with plastic wrap.  Microwave about 6 minutes, or until desired consistency.
2. Add butter, salt and dill, stir and serve as side dish.

Overall

As always with this recipe, it turned out great.  The dill gives the green beans a very fresh taste.  This is my go-to recipe for green beans and even tastes good on canned green beans if you don’t have fresh available. A delicious, low-cost side dish that could be served along side anything from meat to pasta.  If you don’t have butter on hand olive oil can easily be substituted.

Frugality

The green beans cost me about $1.65 through my food co-op (www.bountifulbaskets.org), the dill, butter and salt were on hand.  This is a cheap but yummy side dish that takes only minutes to prepare.

Look forward to:

I still have a cauliflower, a head of green leaf lettuce, a bunch of spinach and a head of broccoli to cook this week.

National Honey Month

According to http://www.honey.com/, September is National Honey Month.  To celebrate (and give us a reason to get together and share good food), a friend of mine hosted a “honey party” this Sunday.  Guests brought a honey-infused dish of their choice.  Being the overachiever that I am, I brought 2 dishes to share.  I found the original recipes on www.allrecipes.com and am publishing the altered, finished product recipes that I used.

Honey and Feta Dip

Ingredients

• 1 (6 ounce) package crumbled feta cheese
• 1 tub reduced calorie cream cheese
• 1 cup honey
• Crackers for serving

Directions

1. Combine ingredients in medium sized bowl.  Stir to mix and serve with apple slices and crackers of your choice.

Overall

Delicious!   Great combination of flavors.  I especially liked to dip whole wheat crackers in this mixture. 

Frugality

The feta cheese was about $3, the cream cheese was about $2 on sale and I had the honey on hand.  I got the crackers for $2.  For $7 this is a great party food that I will definitely make again!

Honey Brie Spread

Ingredients

• 1 (14 ounce) round Brie cheese
• 1 (10 ounce) can refrigerated crescent roll dough
• 1 1/2 cups honey
• 1 1/2 cups pecan halves
• Apple slices for serving

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Unwrap the wheel of Brie, and crescent rolls.
2. Unroll the crescent roll dough, and wrap around the Brie. Make sure to press seams together to seal in the cheese or you will have a mess on your hands. Place in a 9 inch round pie pan. Sprinkle pecan halves over the top, and drizzle honey over the whole thing.
3. Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown and cheese is soft. Serve with apple slices.

Overall

Another great recipe.  Next time I make it I will be more careful to seal all the seams of the crescent roll so the cheese doesn't get out of the brioche.  The honey sweetened the Brie and the crescent roll created a nice texture.

Frugality

The Brie was $6 at Costco, the nuts were $3 but I still have almost a whole bag left, the honey was on-hand and the pre-sliced apples were $3.  For $12, this is a great indulgent appetizer that all of the guests at the party enjoyed.