Spicy Cheese Cilantro Muffins and Citrusy Muffins

I was tired last night and physically could not go into detail about my muffins.

The spicy cheese cilantro has a blend of shredded Monterrey,  Colby Jack, and cheddar cheeses and some chili powder, paprika,  salt, chopped fresh green onion and cilantro. My roommates loved those.

When I told people at work that I wanted to make savory as well as sweet muffins, many of them never heard of the concept. I only had six savory muffins to distribute at work, so I will tell you how it goes.

The citrusy muffins measurements were thrown off but I think I recovered. It is more like a dense bread than a muffin. In it are dried blueberries, cranberries, golden raisins, and figs soaked in orange juice. It also has sesame seeds and pistachios. I wanted the muffins to be more citrusy than sweet.

As I am writing this, I just received some feedback. The spicy cheese cilantro muffins just blew the socks off of one of my coworkers. He liked the citrusy ones but not as much as the spicy ones. Whereas, another coworker really loved the citrusy ones and confirmed that they are more citrusy than sweet.


By the way, I have not stopped making cookies or cupcakes. They are just not my focus. I stick to my statement of muffins being superior and more versatile.

Muffins! Glorious Muffins!

I know that I said that I was not going to bake for awhile but I could not help myself. I baked a batch of spicy cheese cilantro muffins and multiberry muffins. I think I am ready to say to hell with cupcakes and cookies and hello muffins and specialty desserts. Don't hold me to it though.

There is no reason for the cupcake to get all the glory. Can a cupcake be savory as well as sweet? And how filling is a cupcake anyway. I think I might start a muffin revolution.

Ideas

While I am on baking/cooking hiatus, I have some ideas that I would like to share. Banana pudding is a classic southern/black dish. Sweet potatoes are a classic southern/black ingredient. I would like to create a dish that combines the two. I am thinking of a sweet potato pudding. I also would like to make plantain pudding, cassava pudding and cassava pie.

I would like to explore more of my soul food roots and place my own spin on some recipes.

Since my boyfriend is borderline diabetic, I want to come up with the perfect sugar free dessert for him.

To Tide You Over

It may be awhile before I am able to create again but until then, here is a picture of my most successful cookies.

Beginnings

I have recently lost 155 lbs with twenty five more to go. I have never been a cook/baker before my weight loss. Although, I was a pro at lasagna, fried chicken, and baked honey-glazed salmon because those are the dishes I love. I have also considered myself a *foodie (not quite sure what that means), in the sense of tasting different cuisines and experimenting, but I have never wanted to take it beyond that point. Half a person later, I have become fascinated with baking cookies, muffins, cupcakes and cooking savory foods such as bison and seafood burgers, vegetarian casserole, and much more. The thing is, I have not tasted any of what I have made. I have "used" my friends, roommates, family, and coworkers to taste my creations. On this site, I will offer some opinions and pictures of that.

Occasionally, I will probably stray onto the topic of weight loss, since I do believe--in some weird way--this has lead me to this passion. And there is the possibility that I will even talk about some personal issues.

So far, my most successful creations are lemon ricotta cookies, chocolate chip chipotle cookies, oatmeal butterscotch craisin cookies, and vegetarian corn muffin casserole.

Pictures are soon to come.


*Foodie definitions per Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foodie