Sunset at Lake Erie

We've seen sunsets all over the world, but still some of the prettiest ones I've seen have been right in Dunkirk. I took these today...

Agave Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Muffins

Instead of copying the entire recipe to my blog, I thought I'd post the link to the recipe I found, thus giving credit to the creator.

On second thought, maybe I should copy and paste the recipe anyway just in case the link ever stops working. This one looks so good and I don't want to lose it!

http://www.cookiemadness.net/?p=2761

Small Batch Agave Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Muffins

1/2 cup all purpose flour or white whole wheat flour (2 25 oz)
3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons lightly beaten egg or egg substitute
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
6 tablespoons agave nectar
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons quick cooking oats, divided**
1/3 cup miniature chocolate chips (semi-sweet)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray 6 muffin tins with flour-added cooking spray or line them with paper liners.

Stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside.

Using a fork, lightly beat the oil and egg together in a medium bowl. Beat in the vanilla, ricotta cheese and agave nectar. Mix in the oats, then slowly add the flour mixture. When flour mixture is almost but not quite mixed in, add the chocolate chips and stir until flour disappears.

Divide the batter evenly between the muffin cups and bake for 25 minutes.

Cool on a rack and remove from pan.

**If you don’t have quick oats, you can pulse old fashioned oats in the blender and sue those instead. Also, if you are short on agave or don’t want to use it sparingly, you could try using 3 tablespoons agave & 3 tablespoons of maple syrup. It would change the flavor of the muffins, but I think it would still be good.

***I had to use whole fat ricotta, but next time I’d use low fat or part skim.

Chris' roller coaster obsession

A while back Chris and I were in the car and I started asking him if we could list all of the roller coasters he's been on. I wrote up a list but I want to get rid of it so that it's one less paper sitting on our counter (horizontal surfaces and I do not get along--they get cluttered fast!) and I don't want to lose it because I have plans for the list, so I'm going to type it up in my blog...

New York
Darien Lake
Superman
Predator
Mind Eraser
Viper
Boomerang

Coney Island
Cyclone

Great Escape
Steamin' Demon (was Ragin' Cajun)
Comet (was at Crystal Beach)

Massachusetts
Riverside
Cyclone
Black Widow
Jackrabbit

New Jersey
Great Adventure
El Toro
Superman
Nitro
Kingda Ka
Batman
Dark Knight
Great American Scream Machine
Rolling Thunder
Runaway Mine Train
Medusa
Viper
Skull Mountain

Virginia
Busch Gardens
Loch Ness Monster
Big Bad Wolf
Griffon
Alpengeist
Apollo's Chariot

Florida
Sea World
Kracken
Atlantis

Busch Gardens
Kumba
Montu
Shikra
Gwazi

Disney
Rockin Roller Coaster
Everest
Space Mountain
Big Thunder Mountain

Islands of Adventure
Hulk
Dueling Dragons

Ohio
Cedar Point
Top Thrill Dragster
Millennium Force
Mantis
Mean Streak
Iron Dragon
Blue Streak
Wildcat
Raptor
Wicked Twister
Disaster Transport
Gemini
Magnum
Maverick

Geagua Lake
Big Dipper
Villain
Dark Knight
Superman
Double Loop
X-Flight

King's Island
King Cobra
Top Gun
Son of Beast
Beast
Racer
Vortex
Italian Job
Outer Limits

Kentucky
Kentucky Kingdom
Chang
T2
Rolling Thunder

Nevada
Las Vegas
Speed

California
San Diego Boardwalk
Giant Dipper

California Adventure
California Screamin'

Magic Mountain
X2
Ninja
Goliath
Riddler's Revenge
Batman
Scream

England
Alton Towers
Nemesis
Air
Oblivion
Rita

I think the grand total is 83 coasters.

(Scallops) in Thai Sauce (Use tofu instead)

A friend of mine at work found a recipe in the Taste of Home magazine that she thought I'd like. She said that it could probably be done with tofu instead of the seafood it calls for. I haven't made it yet, but I thought I'd post it in case I decide to at some point. Deb noted that she found the Thai Chili Sauce in the international section at Wegman's (Asian section).

1T cornstarch
1 can (14.5oz) vegetable broth
2T creamy peanut butter
1 to 2T Thai chili sauce
1 lb cubed tofu (instead of sea scallops)
2 T vegetable oil, divided
1 small onion, sliced
1 large sweet red pepper, julienned
1/2 cup salted cashews
2 t minced garlic
1 can (8 3/4 oz) whole baby corn, drained

(hot cooked angel hair pasta, optional)

*In small bowl, combine cornstarch, broth, peanut butter, and chili sauce until smooth, set aside.
*In large skillet, saute tofu in 1 T oil for a few minutes on each side, remove from pan w/ a slotted spoon and keep warm. In the same pan, saute the onion, pepper, cashews, and garlic in remaining oil for 3-5 minutes or until veggies are crisp/tender.
*Stir peanut butter mixture and add to pan. Bring to boil, cook and stir for another 1-2 min or until thickened. Add tofu and corn, heat through, serve over pasta if desired.

Makes 5 servings

Remodeling our bathroom

We just remodeled our bathroom and I thought I'd post some pictures for everyone to enjoy. We have lots of pictures from the entire process, but it was so extensive that seeing the bathroom all torn up in those shots just stresses me out, so I'm posting pictures of the mostly-done bathroom in the process of being painted.

Here's the wall above the tub, primed and ready for paint...

And the wall next to the shower/above the toilet, also primed and ready for paint...
Our first glimpse of the blue paint we picked out, other than the little paint chip we used to choose the color. We thought the bluish-grey would bring out the blue/grey in the tiles we chose and would contrast nicely with the brown...
The first swipe of blue paint being applied to the wall above the tub...
Chris continuing to make his way around the bathroom, finished with the tub area and now painting over the window, working toward the shower...
The wall above the tub with the first coat of paint...
A little better view of the newly painted wall above the tub...
And finally, the first coat of blue above the shower...
I did some of the painting, too! We did the second coat this morning and we're waiting for that to dry. We have one wall that needs a lot of prep work before it's painted, and once that's done we'll get the paint on that. I'm anxious to get the tape off and see how it looks. We also need to work on the ceiling a bit, and we need to get some cabinets put up. We're getting there....

"Firemen's" Barbecue Sauce

I don't like traditional red barbecue sauce, but I love the white barbecue sauce on tofu (because I don't eat meat). We have always called it Firemen's Barbecue Sauce because every year the fire department in my home town of Cuba, NY has a chicken barbecue and they use the white sauce. So no matter whether the sauce comes from the bottle or is homemade, it's Firemen's Barbecue Sauce to us!

I don't know what the exact recipe is, but the main ingredients and approximate measurements are:
1 c. olive oil
2 c. cider vinegar
2 tbsp. salt
1 tbsp. poultry seasoning
1 tsp. pepper
1 egg

It works best to make it in a blender--put the egg in the blender and blend for a second, then add the oil and blend it good. Slowly add the other ingredients and mix it up. It will separate when it sits, so you'll need to shake it before you use it. Put it on whatever you normally put barbecue sauce on. I like to put tofu in a pie pan and dump some of the sauce on it, then put it on the grill. Delicious!

Another contest I entered

One of my favorite blogs right now is BabyMakin(g)Machine, and she has a great contest going to celebrate her 6 month blogoversary! http://babymakingmachine.blogspot.com/2009/05/6-month-blogiversary.html?showComment=1244407853482#c5402996555670271512



Even if you don't win the contest, the blog is worth checking out! Even though I've never met blog author FutureMama, I feel like we've become friends through her blog. She's adorable!