Lemon Curd Muffins

Yes, they are as wonderful as they look! We have some lemon lovin' people in our family, so I used my favorite muffin recipe, added some lemon curd to the middle and tops and they are now the favorites! I must admit I had to bend a homemade rule and bought the lemon curd in a jar. These only take a few minutes to put together but they will disappear rather quickly!
Ingredients:
2 c flour
3/4 c sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/2 c butter, melted (I let it cool for about 10 minutes)
3/4 c milk or half-n-half
1 tsp vanilla extract
fresh lemon juice from 1/2 lemon, squeezed
1/2 jar lemon curd
Directions:

• Whisk dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. 
• Add eggs, butter and milk. Stir with a spatula or I use a wooden spoon. 
• Add vanilla and lemon juice. You don't need to use an electric mixer so stir together with your wooden spoon.
• I use a muffin-cupcake baking pan and paper liners and fill them about 1/2 full (using a cookie dough scoop).
• Add about a teaspoon of lemon curd to each individual muffin in the middle of the batter.

• Using your cookie scoop, place another scoop of batter over the lemon curd. Your muffins will be about 3/4 full, fairly close to the top. This makes 12 muffins.

 

•  Place in preheated 350F oven and bake for about 22 minutes, depending on your oven it might be a couple of minutes longer or shorter time.
• When the muffins are baked, place them on a cooling rack for about 5 minutes.
• Melt about 1/4 c lemon curd in a glass measuring cup.
• Pour about 1/4 c sugar in a dish.
• Remove the muffins from the pan and dip the muffin top into the warm lemon curd then dip the top into the sugar for a light dusting.

Don't they look simply beautiful? Now, be prepared for them to disappear! Enjoy!

Love and peace,
~ Simply Tammi

Roasted Chicken the Easy Way

Running out of ideas for a home cooked meal? Roasted chicken is a favorite at our house. There is only a little preparation time and if you're lucky enough to have left-overs, you can actually get a couple meals out of one chicken.
Ingredients:
1 whole chicken
1 T rosemary
olive oil or butter
salt and pepper if you like
Directions:

• Rinse the chicken with water, inside and out (don't forget to take the inside parts out!)
• Preheat oven to 400F
• Pat chicken dry with paper towels
• Mix rosemary with as much olive oil or butter you want (I usually use about 1/4 cup) and rub the mixture over the chicken (use your hands or a pastry brush)
• Place the chicken, uncovered, in a roasting pan (mine has a rack), in the oven
• Bake for about 1-1/2 hours, depending on the size of the chicken
• I place a piece of foil to cover most of the chicken for the last 15 minutes
• Remove chicken from oven and let it rest for about 10 minutes
• Slice the chicken, I remove the legs and wings first then slice the breast into pieces

Serve with your favorite side dishes. Our favorites are mashed potatoes and veggies! Enjoy!
Love and peace,
~ Simply Tammi

French Toast

My family loves to eat breakfast together on the weekends and french toast is a favorite. This is a simply delicious french toast recipe that I have used for years. Today I actually measured the ingredients so you can make it just like me! You can use Texas bread if you like big slices, french bread, white bread, gluten free bread, pick your favorite bread or my favorite is to choose the bread that is the least fresh, rather than throwing it away.
Ingredients for 6 pieces of french toast:
2 eggs
1/2 c milk
6 slices of bread
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon
a pinch of sugar
Directions:
I mix all of the ingredients on a dinner plate (because that's how Mom did it). With a fork, whisk the eggs until they look slightly scrambled, add the rest of the ingredients and whisk together.

I use my electric lefse griddle and heat it to 325F. Dip one side of the bread into the egg mixture, turn it over and coat the other side of the bread. Place it on the griddle for about 3-4 minutes per side. You'll know it's done when the bread looks like the picture on the top.
I heat my homemade syrup, Simply Homemade Maple Syrup and serve it on the side. This syrup is great and you will save so much money using it rather than buying real maple syrup. Not even the kids can tell the difference!
Enjoy your breakfast or make french toast for any meal - it's delicious!
Love and peace,
~ Simply Tammi

Fall Table Centerpiece

Simply the easiest DIY project ever!! As I was cleaning out my kitchen cabinets, I found some outdated food items and had an idea to make a dining room table centerpiece.

I layered black beans, split green peas, garbanzo beans and topped it off with some yellow popcorn in a decorative glass bowl. I love bees wax candles so I placed one in the middle of the bowl. For those of you that never have time for projects or if you think you are lacking in the creativity department, you can absolutely tackle this little DIY project or have you can have your kids help!

 It's a nice fall look for the dining room table.

Love and peace,

~ Simply Tammi