Maple Spice Muffins

From Double Delicious (page 33)

Lovely paper plate courtesy of my grandmother :-)

These muffins are great!  I've never used allspice or clove in anything before... not only does my kitchen smell fantastic, but the muffins taste awesome too.  They were really easy to make; just mix everything together and then bake.  I used paper baking cups rather than just spraying the pan and they stuck to the paper a little bit, but maybe I just didn't let them bake enough.  I think they turned out great; they have a lovely texture -- the grated apple is really nice.

I am planning on eating these for breakfast over the next week.  I made 14, gave 6 to my upstairs neighbors (Thrice), and plan on freezing 4 for later in the week or next.  In a toaster oven, I'm sure they'll reheat just fine.

Orzo Risotto with Chicken

I got a new cookbook! Sadly, the Borders in Lynnwood, Washington (about 30 minutes from my parents house) is going out of business.  The only upside of this is that they had a closing sale so I got this cookbook for 20% off.  It's very pretty; lots of pictures and cute design elements so even if the recipes in it are lousy, at least it looks nice in the kitchen.  The book is spiral bound so it lays flat (though hopefully I'll be getting a book prop soon to hold up the cookbook while I'm cooking) and all of the nutrition info is there for each recipe.

"Orzo Risotto with Chicken" (page 94) is the first recipe I've made from this book.  A little disappointing, but I made a few changes that I probably shouldn't have.  First of all, the recipe calls for lemon zest and the juice of the lemon.  I don't have a juicer and I was really tired so zesting and then using a fork to juice the lemon just seemed like too much work.  This was a mistake; without it, the dish seriously wanted acid.  When I reheat the left-overs, I'm going to add a squirt of lemon juice to see if that helps perk this dish up.

My second mistake was I didn't realize I had mozerella cheese instead of romano.  The mozerella was far too mild and made the whole thing kind of bland.  I added a ton of salt though and that livened things up.

An interesting aspect of this book are the purees.  The author, Jessica Seinfeld, is a big advocate of vegetable purees.  In most of her recipes, at least one vegetable puree is present.  In Orzo Risotto with Chicken, the recipe calls for cauliflower puree.  I was able to make it without a hitch (steam cauliflower; blend until smooth) and made enough to freeze (in 1/2 cup baggies) for future recipes.  This seems like it'll be great for me since I am loathe to eat my vegetables.  I even considered -- granted I was very hungry -- making mashed potatoes with cauliflower puree instead of potato.  I think I put a little bit too much in; I could taste the cauliflower.  So next time, I'll be sure to use the right cheese, less puree, and the lemon zest and juice.

I might also consider just frying the thin strips of chicken (which were delicious with sweet paprika, salt, and pepper) and leaving them on the side with the risotto (for the record, this isn't technically a risotto) rather than shredding the chicken (which made it lose a lot of the flavor from the spices) and mixing it in.

I chose not to take a picture of this dish because it is not the most appetizing dish to behold.  Not good for fancy dinner parties.

9 points per serving.

Grilled Sirloin Teriyaki

This grilled steak was pretty disappointing. The marinade smelled really great and tasted pretty good too, but unfortunately very little of it actually transferred any flavor to the steak. I used the panini press to cook the steak and I cooked it on too low of a heat so by the time it was cooked, the outside didn't actually get grilled. I'm pretty sure I know where all the marinade went too...

.

Gross.

I do not plan on making this again.

From WeightWatchers New Complete Cookbook
Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook
page 188