Cabbie’s Cooking

This is my mother’s recipe, and these are quick and delicious!

BREAKFAST MUFFINS1 egg
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 cup milk
2 Tablespoons melted shortening (or vegetable oil)
2 cups sifted self-rising flour
1/2 cup chopped nuts OR 1 cup blueberries

Beat the egg. Add milk, shortening and sugar. Add the flour. Stir only until moistened. Fold in nuts or blueberries, if desired. Fill greased muffin cups 2/3 cull. Bake in hot oven (400 degrees) until lightly browned.

Two Gulf oysters walk into a bar, sit down on barstools and start complaining about what a stressful week they had.  After listening for a few minutes, the bartender tells them, “Hey, don’t sit there and stew about it.”  Okay, that was really lame.  I know.  However, speaking of oysters and stew . . .

I remember my mother making oyster stew when I was a child.  There is just nothing that compares to the comfort food taste of oyster stew.  And nothing makes oyster stew better than using fresh oysters.  In years past, using fresh oysters was a little risky because of Vibrio Vulnificus.  However, now there are post-harvest processes that allow oysters to be consumed raw but with added safety features that reduce Vibrio Vulnificus to non-detectable levels.  If you have any questions about oysters, check out this website.

Oyster Stew

1/2 cup butter
3 stalks celery, chopped finely
1 shallot, chopped finely
1 quart half and half
2 containers (12 ounce each) fresh, shucked oysters, undrained
salt and pepper, to taste
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)

Melt the butter in a large skillet. Add the celery and shallot and stir over medium heat until the veggies are tender. Pour the half-and-half into a separate large pot over medium-high heat. Add the butter, celery and shallots. Stir continuously until the mixture almost boils. Add the oysters along with their liquid. Add the salt, pepper and cayenne pepper. Cook (stirring continuously) until the oysters are done. Oysters curl at the ends with they are fully cooked. Serve with crackers and a salad. Enjoy!

This is a recipe from my sister, Joan of Daddy’s Roses.  I haven’t had them in a long time, but I remember them being absolutely delicious.  When I make them, however, I always leave out the raisins.  I just don’t like raisins in cooked dishes.  If you also don’t care for raisins in muffins, you could substitute chopped dates or dried cranberries for a good option.

BEST EVER OATMEAL MUFFINS

1 cup quick cooking oats (uncooked)
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup raisins (optional)

Combine oats and buttermilk. Let stand for one hour. Add egg, sugar and oil, stirring well. Combine other ingredients and add to the oats mixture. Stir just until moistened. Baked in greased muffin pans for 18 minutes at 400 degrees. Contains 120 calories each if you make 12 muffins (80 calories each if you make 18).

Yesterday my granddaughter told me about a going-away party her first grade class had for a student who is moving to Thailand (the family serves as missionaries) over spring break.  She said that they had oatmeal muffins for treats during the party. 

Have you ever heard someone mention a food, and suddenly you just REALLY start craving that food?  That’s how I felt about oatmeal muffin.  Up to that point I hadn’t thought about oatmeal muffins, but after she mentioned them, I knew I wanted to make some.  I immediately started looking for recipes.  Here’s one I found that included ingredients I already had on hand.  As soon as I got home, the grandgirls and I made a batch.  I really liked them.  They were moist, lightly sweet with a crunchy outside.

When my daughter came to pick up the girls, she tasted one and commented, “These taste healthy.”  You can make of that what you want.  They ARE healthy.  They’re sweetened with honey, the flour is whole wheat, they have skim milk, old fashioned oatmeal and two cups of fresh grated apples. 

The recipe makes a dozen muffins - and between the six of us (RT, me, daughter, son-in-law, grandgirls) we ate them all yesterday.  I plan to make these again and freeze them individually and grab one to eat for breakfast on my way to school on mornings when I’m running late.

Oatmeal Apple Muffins

1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup old fashioned oatmeal
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup skim milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup honey
2 cups shredded apples

Combine the flour, oatmeal, baking powder, soda, salt and cinnamon in a mixing bowl. In a separate bowl mix the milk, oil, honey and shredded apple. Combine the ingredients and mix well. Spoon into muffin tins that have been sprayed with PAM - or you can use cupcake papers. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Yield: one dozen large muffins. Calories: approx. 190 per muffin with 5 grams fat.

Cabbie’s Cooking is less than a month old, and this is my second Thursday Thirteen.  Here are another thirteen of my favorite recipes:

(1) Chocolate Meringue Pie

(2)  No Sugar Peach Ice Cream

(4)  Monkey Bread

(5)  Grape Salad

(6)  Corn Salad

(7)  Tantalizing Taco Soup

(8)  Mexican Chocolate Pecan Riches

(9)  Sweet Potato Souffle’

(10)  Old Fashioned Tea Cakes

(11)  Quick and Easy Chicken Dumplings

(12)  Ruth’s Cucumber and Cream Cheese Sandwiches

(13) Lisette’s Apple Dumplings (made with Mountain Dew)

This is simmering on the stove as I write this.  It smells divine! This is a great diet soup since there is virtually no fat in it (depending on how lean the ground beef is). You can leave out the ground beef if you want a vegetarian soup which would make the soup fat-free. However, I personally like the flavoring and extra oomph that the beef adds. This makes a large pot of soup - enough for freezing some for later. Or better yet, put some in a quart jar and take it to a neighbor or friend. I like to put leftovers in small individual serving plastic containers, and take it to work to heat in the microwave for a quick and delicious lunch.

Cabbie’s Cabbage Soup

1 lb. lean ground beef
2 large onions, diced
1 small head cabbage, shredded
2 carrots, shredded
1 green bell pepper, diced (or use a mixture of green, red and yellow bell peppers)
5 stalks celery, diced
3 large cans of diced tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste
enough water to cover (2 - 4 cups)

Brown the ground beef in a large pot. Add all the other ingredients and bring to a boil. Let it simmer until all the veggies are tender.  Serve with crackers or cornbread and a salad.