Thursday, September 3, 2009

pet peeves


People that don't use turn signals.
People that read over my shoulder.
People that turn every conversation into one about themselves.
Bad grammar.
People that write checks in the express line at the store.
Wal-mart-pretty much everything about Wal-mart annoys me!
Junk mail.
Slow computers
Telemarketers.
The term semi-homemade??!!??
Sandra Lee- I'm sure she's a wonderful person...she annoys me.(see previous pet peeve)
People that leave their shopping cart in the parking lot rather than walk a few steps to put it where it belongs.
Men in too short shorts.
Know-it-all's.
People with no sense of humor.
We all have them, those little things in life that just make you crazy. These are just a few things that annoy me. I could go on but I wanted to keep this post to a reasonable length.
What brought on this little rant you ask? I made chocolate muffins a couple of days ago and was reminded of one of the things that really gets under my skin. I get really annoyed me when I'm reading through recipes on websites that have reader reviews and someone writes a review of a recipe that they completely changed and then complain about how they didn't like it. I'm all for using a recipe as a guide and changing it up to suit your personal tastes. Writing a review and sharing the things you changed is fine. I find that very useful. However when someone completely changes a recipe by making substitutions, additions, etc.. that don't work out, it's not the recipes fault. You screwed it up! Please don't rate and review a recipe you didn't make.
Then there are those reviewers that start the review with "I don't like ...but I thought I'd make this anyway and I didn't like it." Okay.  If you don't like ginger and make ginger bread, chance are your not going to like it. Is it really  necessary to write a review?  Major pet peeve! Anyway...

In my continuing effort to eat more healthful foods and sneak in fiber where possible, I bought some milled flax seeds. Flax is a great source of fiber, high in Omega 3's and helps lower cholesterol. All great things. Milled flax seeds can be used in baking and I'd seen a recipe for chocolate yogurt muffins. Mmmm chocolate muffins as health food. Perfect! As I was getting ready to make these muffins, I decided to make a few changes and substitutions to the original recipe. I used Hersey's Special Dark cocoa powder in place of regular cocoa. The darker the chocolate the better for you it is, right? That was a good substitution. The recipe called for vanilla yogurt, I used plain yogurt and added 1 tsp. vanilla. A little less sugar, also good. Everything was fine up till this point. Just as I was measuring out the dry ingredients, I saw the bag of King Arthur half white half wheat flour I'd just bought. Oh yeah a little wheat flour and these muffins are officially in the health food category. It can't hurt to add wheat flour...umm yeah, not the best baking decision. The muffins were still okay but the wheat flour made them too heavy and really changed the flavor. The flax already adds a bit of a nutty flavor but combined with the wheat flour it was just too much. I'm not saying they were throw out terrible just less good then they would have been. Totally my fault. I made a substitution that just didn't work well. Actually I made them a couple of days ago and they tasted better a day or so after later than they did straight out of the oven, or they've just grown on me. So here's the recipe as I made it but except for the flour change.  Without that mistake these muffins would be quite good. And that's my review!

Chocolate Yogurt Muffins

1 1/2 c all purpose flour
1/3 c milled flax seeds
1/2 c cocoa (I used the Hersey's Special Dark cocoa powder) 
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt 
3/4 c sugar 
1 c yogurt 
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 c vegetable oil 
1/4 c milk 
1/2 c chopped nuts
1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners or grease.
In a large bowl, blend dry ingredients together. In another bowl, blend yogurt, vanilla, oil, and milk. Add nuts and chocolate chips to dry ingredients and pour in liquid stirring until just blended.
Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups filling about 2/3 full. Bake at 400 degrees F. for 18 - 20 minutes or until done.
Yields 12 muffins using a regular size 12 muffin pan.


21 comments:

Suzette said...

I know what you mean about changing a recipe and then reviewing it. ARRRGH! "I made Suzy's Pea Crostini, but instead of peas I used green beans and...." Well, you get the picture. I wanna say, "HUNNY! You did NOT make Suzy's Pea Crostini!" I also get aggravated when someone cooks a wonderful dish and then just gives us the dang PICTURE of the thing! Give me the recipe! Or at least tell me where I can get it! Puhleeez! :)

Jennifer B said...

Ohhh those look incredible! Also with you on the pet peeves..particularly men in short shorts and the cart leavers in parking lots. Argh!

glamah16 said...

Your peeves are mine as well. One you change a recipe, you own it and shouldn't judge it by the original.It's another recipe all together now.I do like the sound of these chococlate yogurt muffins however.

Eliana said...

Oh goodness - we share a lot of the same pet peeves. Especially the one about Sandra Lee.

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

Those muffins must be delicious and so moist! Yummy!

Cheers,

Rosa

muzzyblue said...

OMG! Maybe we were separated at birth. Every single one of your pet peeves are mine as well, with the addition of one more: when I hand my husband something of interest (from the newspaper, etc.) and he proceeds to READ IT ALOUD. It drives me mental.

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

Anythung with chocolate has to be good:D

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

Anything with chocolate has to be good. Usually if I make a mistake in a recipe it is my own darn fault for not rereading:D

grace said...

my list of pet peeves is pretty much neverending, but one thing near the top is people who smack their chewing gum loudly. good heavens, that drives me CRAZY. your muffins look pretty darn dense and delightful to me, so keep up the healthy work. :)

Anonymous said...

those look awesome!
so so moist.
i would love to sink my teeth into those babies!
heh. thanks for dropping by btw!
love your blog ;)

La Cuisine d'Helene said...

This is a great post. Those muffins look delicious.

Nic said...

Stick me on the end of the list of people that agree!! Nice looking muffins and kind of healthy too!

Jamie said...

This is a really funny and astute post. And I saw that Sandra Lee show once and didn't quite get it. Show me how to make cupcakes with a boxed mix? Duh!

These muffins look pretty good, dense and chocolatey. Hey, they look worth the try and if I don't like them, well, I guess I know who to blame!

Zoe said...

I share your whole list of pet peeves! Great job on those muffins

Maya said...

I stumbled here and love the comment on top.. A gourmet who counts calories is like a tart who looks at her watch ..James Beard ! :p Can I be a "tarty" gourmet ?! or is that too much of an oxymoron?

By the way, do these muffins taste "healthy" or good enough to sneak by the kids and DH? and many of your peeves are worthy..specially the Sandra Lee... :)

Half Baked said...

Suzette, Oh yeah that's another one that bothers me too. I don't just want to see a good recipe, I want to make it!!
JenniferB Thanks!
glamah16, Thanks and I agree if you change a recipe you own it!!
Eliana, :)
Rosa, Thanks!!
Jane,Lol reading aloud would make me crazy too!!!
Bellini Valli, Yes anything chocolate can't be all bad!
Grace, I can't believe I left chewing gum off the list! That is soo annoying!
Thanks!!! muffinsareuglycupcakes Helene and Nicisme
Jamie. LOL consider yourself warned;P
Thanks! Zoe
Maya, Thanks! I think the only thing that made these muffins taste "healthy" was my using half wheat flour. With just white flour I think your kidos will love them!

Anonymous said...

I like the idea of chocolate yogurt muffins! A similar thing with substitutions happened to me just the other day with peach muffins :)

Jennifer said...

I loved this list! but these chocolate little cakes... so healthy, yet sound SO good!!!

Foodiewife said...

Amen, Sister! This has been a rant of mine for ages... especially when they use Splenda or margarine to cut calories on dessert. Just eat it the way it's written, I say! I almost always make a recipe, the first time, the way it's written. I make notes, and next time I might adapt.
BTW, great muffin recipe.

Maris said...

These look SO good.

Your list made me laugh, glad to see we have some of he same pet peeves in common (I thought I was the only one!)

Palidor said...

LOL, yeah I agree with you on those pet peeves. The chocolate muffins look wonderful!!