Donut Muffins

These are my new favorite thing. Like a snickerdoodle all wrapped up in a muffin. I didn't have nutmeg so I sprinkled some cinnamon into the batter which tasted great. Also, maybe my muffin tins are small, but I made 12 instead of 10 easily. I think they'd be super fun as mini-muffins. Enjoy!

3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking power
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup milk (low fat is fine)
1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp butter, melted
1/2 cup sugar, for rolling

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a muffin tin with cooking spray or vegetable oil.
In a large bowl, beat together sugar and egg until light in color.
In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. Pour into egg mixture and stir to combine. Pour in vegetable oil, milk and vanilla extract.
Divide batter evenly into 10 muffin cups, filling each about 3/4 full.
Bake for 15-18 minutes, until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean.

While muffins are baking, melt butter and pour remaining sugar into a small bowl.
When muffins are done, lightly brush the top of each with some melted butter, remove from the pan and roll in sugar. Cool on a wire rack.

Makes 10 muffins.

Taco Seasoning

I got this recipe from here. Another great help if you run out or if you're making a huge batch of taco meat. :)

1/4 cup chili powder

1 1/2 tsp onion powder

1 1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 1/2 tsp cumin

1 1/2 oregano

1/2 tsp paprika

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

Mix all the ingredients above in a small bowl. Keep fresh in an air tight container for up to 6 months.

Double or triple recipe as needed.

To use: substitute 2 rounded Tablespoons for 1 packet of taco seasoning.

**You can also kick up the heat a notch by adding in 1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes!!**

Dinner This Week

I have been really slacking on trying new recipes and posting things on here, but here's my menu for the week in case anyone is needing inspiration. It's not super exciting, but at least I have it planned out more than 10 minutes before I need dinner on the table. For me lately, that's success.

Mon - Hot wing pizza
Tues - Grilled chicken salads
Wed - Hamburger soup
Thurs - Grilled pork chops and Parmesan potatoes
Fri - Porcupine meatballs (from the freezer)
Sat - Chicken enchiladas (from the freezer)

Also, I'm starting to get smarter about how I prepare meals. Like last night, instead of just making the chicken and hot wing sauce I needed I made 4 times as much chicken and twice as much sauce. I have another pizzas worth of chicken and sauce frozen and some more chicken breasts cooked, chopped and frozen. These little things are helping me get ahead more since I am not really getting any major freezer cooking done. I'm just trying to double or triple anything I am already making (quickly) that will freeze well.

Homemade Baking Mix

I saw this tonight on a blog I was reading and thought it looked interesting. She is posting some recipes for a freezer meal day to go with it later. You're supposed to use it in place of Bisquick. Might be handy in a pinch. You can see the post here.

• 10 cups flour (I used freshly-ground whole-wheat. Doreen suggested doing half white and half whole-wheat.)
• 8 Tablespoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 1/4 cup powdered milk
• 1 Tablespoon salt
• 1/4 cup sugar or turbinado
• 2 1/4 cup coconut oil or shortening

Mix all dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Cut in shortening or cold coconut oil until you have fine crumbs. Store in a tightly covered container in a cool place (if you use freshly-ground flour, store in the freezer). Use in place of Bisquick.

Hot Bean Dip!

Hey there, I feel so special contributing a recipe to Dinner Tonight!! This is a recipe I originally found on Allrecipes. I needed something to feed my girls at lunch time other than mac n cheese and peanut butter! (ya know, the lunch rut=) ...Bonus that it is beans since meat doesn't go over too well in our house.

FYI, I usually half it and bake it in an 8x8 dish, and I rarely fix it as it is written. I will add either sour cream OR cream cheese- whichever one I have- and never the full amount called for! Thankfully it is always eaten... so I hope you enjoy!

Hot Bean Dip

1 8 oz pkg cream cheese, softened

1 C sour cream

2 16 oz cans refried beans

1/2 pkg taco seasoning

5 drops hot pepper sauce

2 T dried parsley

1/4 C green onions, chopped

1 8 oz pkg shredded cheddar cheese

1 8oz pkg shredded monterey jack cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Blend cream cheese and sour cream. Mix in beans, taco seasoning, hot sauce, parsley, green onion and 1/2 of cheeses. Spread in a 9x13 baking dish. Top with remaining cheeses. Bake 20-30 minutes, until cheese is slightly browned.