Author Archives: Virginia Wright

About Virginia Wright

VIRGINIA WRIGHT (born Virginia Brown) is an American multi-genre best-selling author, award-winning illustrator, and nature photographer born and raised in Maine. As an artist, the cover Wright designed for Steampunk Alice by Dennis Higgins won the AUTHORSdb Gold Award (2014). She won the AUTHORSdb Silver Award (2016) from Timothy the Christmas Mouse Coloring Book. Crying Bear ranked #1 Amazon Best Seller in Children's Bear Books (2016). Buzzzzzzzz What Honeybees Do, ranked #1 Amazon Best Seller in three categories (2016). Buzzzzzzzz What Honeybees Do is the AUTHORSdb Cover Contest Bronze Award winner (2018), in the Education category. Ayuh, Another Downeast Cookbook ranked #2 Hot New Release Best-Selling in New England Cooking, Food & Wine (2018). As a multi-genre writer, Virginia's WIP is currently a romance novella. Besides writing, in her pastime, when she isn't spending time with her husband, Virginia is a foodie and restaurant reviewer. She enjoys sifting through old recipes and photographing everything she cooks and eats. She is also a nature photographer and a mixed media artist; she gets her ideas for her illustrations through inspiration that she gathers from the nature that surrounds her, which is ever-present in her designs.

Recipe | Pineapple and Grape Smoothie

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1st post on August 20, 2012 – The Recipe Weekly

Let’s Make a Smoothie

The other day I was reading comments from my Google+ circles, and one of the circle members asked of others what we’d had for our breakfast that day– I had eaten, and posted what I fixed that morning.

Out of curiosity, I perused the comments seeing what everyone else had eaten; when I came upon a commenter that told she had a pineapple and grape smoothie with oats. I thought it sounded really healthy, and knew that viewers here on The Recipe Weekly would enjoy her recipe. I emailed the commenter to let her know that I would be interested in having her recipe so that I could post it here on The Recipe Weekly. The commenter was very prompt in getting it to me, and I wanted to be sure and be prompt about getting it posted for this weeks post.

So the next time you wonder what should be for breakfast– try this delicious, healthy breakfast recipe that is also quick and easy to make! Enjoy.

Summary: A healthy breakfast for two that is super simple to make. Made with pineapple, grapes, yogurt, milk, oats, and honey.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup of fresh or can (drained) diced pineapple
  • 1/2 cup of green seedless grapes
  • 1 cup of low-fat vanilla or plain yogurt
  • 1 cup of low-fat milk
  • 1/8 of a cup of oatmeal
  • 1 tablespoon sugar or honey if desired for sweetness
  • 1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
ENJOY!

Instructions

  1. Combine all ingredients in a blender… process until desired smoothness…

Preparation time: < 5 minutes

Cooking time: N/A

Number of servings (yield): 2

My rating 5 stars:  ★★★★★ 1 review(s)

Recipe Contributor

Recipe Contributor: Leeza Maez

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-Virginia Wright

Author, Food Writer, Recipe Developer, Foodie & Queen of Recipe Adaptation

© 2012 The Recipe Corner– Virginia Wright. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.

Cooking Tip | How to Spice Up Ground Turkey| Spicing Up Turkey Burgers | Seasoning

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Quintin Holzner on November 10, 2012, at 11:36 pm said:

Q: Is there a means to spice the turkey burgers, I discover them really hard to eat?

Virginia Wright on November 17, 2012 at 10:02 pm said:

A: Thanks for stopping by the recipe corner. When using (ground turkey) in recipes–we recommend spicing-up turkey burgers with, “Cilantro.”

Herb | Cilantro

Herb | Cilantro

Spicy Turkey Burgers

Before turkey burgers are cooked, simply mix in a generous amount of fresh or dried cilantro, salt & pepper to taste–mix well. Then place meat in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours to let the flavor from this spicy herb seep into the turkey meat.

Cooking Tip (s):

Make sure when using fresh herbs that you crush the leaves to release their flavor.

Good Luck with your recipe! Visit often, to see what we are cooking up next!
-Virginia Wright

Author, Food Writer, Recipe Developer, Foodie & Queen of Recipe Adaptation

Twitter: @virginia_wright

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/virginiabrownwright

© 2012 Virginia Wright. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.

Herbs & Spices to Use With Turkey | Turkey Burgers/Cilantro | How much-dried cilantro equals fresh |

Blueberry Season in Maine | Wild Maine Blueberries |Blueberry Muffin Recipe

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Posted on April 14, 2012

Maine Blueberry Field © Photo By Shane Wright

Maine Blueberry Field                                                 © Photo By Shane Wright

In the early years of my children’s lives– during blueberry season, each year, we would rake blueberries. It was a way to make extra money and a way to fill our freezer with blueberries.

We would pack the white Thunderbird with our blueberry rakes, wooden crates, a cooler filled with plenty of drinks, and a lunch. Then, we’d grab up the kids…and off to the wild blueberry fields we would go to rake blueberries for the day.  The kids sat down in the patches of blue and had tons of fun picking and eating, and they always ate more blueberries than they picked! Yet, we would always go away from the blueberry fields with plenty of blueberries to sell, and ample berries for the freezer, enough blueberries for blueberry muffins, blueberry cake, blueberry cobbler, blueberry pie and the like.

I hope you enjoy this blueberry muffin recipe; it is our families favorite! When you shop your supermarket for blueberries, look for Organic Wild Maine Blueberries, or “Organic” blueberries, wherever you shop.

Blueberry Picking Times in Maine (ME)

If you happen to be visiting Maine…Pick your own blueberries that grow wild in Acadia National Park…Starting in July through August, you will find wild Maine blueberries ripening.

In the Blueberry fields– picking is generally from late July to mid-September. But if you are interested in picking your own, it is always best to call the blueberry farm to see when their picking times are.

Pick your own BLUEBERRIES AT A FARM IN MAINE, go to...www.pickyourown.org. for these counties Androscoggin County, Kennebec County, Lincoln County, Sagadahoc County, and Waldo County, Maine.

CLICK HERE FOR MAINE BLUEBERRY MUFFIN RECIPE

Please visit often to see what The Recipe Weekly is Cooking up next…

-Virginia Wright

Author, Food Writer, Recipe Developer, Foodie & Queen of Recipe Adaptation

© 2012  Virginia Wright. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.

Wild Maine Blueberry Muffin Recipe

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Originally Posted on February 13, 2012

Maine Wild Blueberry Muffins

Maine Wild Blueberry Muffins

Summary: Blueberry season in Maine. In the early years of my children’s lives, we lived in Maine; my husband and I would go raking wild blueberries to earn extra money while he was going to college. We would get our blueberry rakes, wooden crates, and …Please enjoy this recipe and read the rest of the story!

Ingredients

  • 2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour (reserve 2 tbsp of flour in a separate bowl)
  • ½ c. sugar
  • ¼ tsp. nutmeg
  • 3 tsp. baking powder
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 c. fresh wild Maine blueberries or other organic blueberries
  • 1 c. milk
  • 1 tsp. vanilla
  • 1/3 c. light olive oil
  • 1 egg, slightly beaten
  • Cinnamon – Sugar

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 400° F. In large mixing bowl, combine first five ingredients, mix well.
  2. Combine milk, vanilla, oil and egg; add to batter and beat until moistened; do not over mix.
  3. Take reserved flour and cover wild blueberries thoroughly, fold into batter.
  4. Grease muffin-pan cups with butter and pour batter in using a 1/4 cup measure, sprinkle a mixture of cinnamon and sugar on top of each muffin.
  5. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until sharp knife inserted in center comes out clean. Rest muffins 2-3 minutes to cool, and then loosen muffins with rubber spatula and pop-out of cup. This recipe makes 12 muffins. Don’t over bake.

Preparation time: 20 minute(s)

Cooking time:

Number of servings (yield): 12

My rating 5 stars:  ★★★★★ 1 review(s)

I hope you enjoy this recipe.

-Virginia Wright, Author of ‘Ayuh, Another Downeast Cookbook: Recipes From Maine’

Author, Food Writer, Recipe Developer, Foodie & Queen of Recipe Adaptation

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/virginiabrownwright

Wild Maine Blueberry Muffin Recipe | Breakfast Recipes | Blueberry Muffins

© 2012 The Recipe  Corner – Virginia Wright. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.

Adapting Recipes

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By Virginia Wright

Carrot Cake

Carrot Cake

Whatever your health goals are, adapting recipes, is a good place to start when wanting healthier versions. I’ll help you learn how to adapt recipes! For ten years I was a recipe developer on a low-fat recipe and health information website that I founded. I gained the name of “The Recipe Lady” while working there and I call myself– “Queen of Recipe Adaptation.” What I try to do in all my recipes is to change them up wherever I can to make them a healthier version. Many of the recipes that I created while a recipe developer, I will be bringing to my blog. They will be versions of recipes that I’ve adapted in some manner; cutting the sugar a little here, the bad fats a little there, cutting calories too!

How do you begin adapting recipes? You start by taking your favorite recipes and experimenting slowly, adapting them in small ways, such as in a cream cheese frosting recipe by substituting regular cream cheese for Neufchatel.

Example:  Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

If you want to make your favorite carrot cake and frost it with cream cheese frosting, here is an alternative recipe for the frosting. The original calls for confectioners’ sugar, regular  butter, whole milk, vanilla, and regular cream cheese:

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 box Confectioners’ Sugar

8 oz Neufchatel Cheese

4 Tbsp light margarine or Vegetable oil spread

2 tsp Pure Vanilla

4 Tbsp Fat-free milk, more or less

Cream non-hydrogenated margarine or Vegetable oil spread in large mixer bowl with Neufchatel cheese, add confectioners’ sugar alternately with milk, beat to spreading consistency ( an additional tbsp of milk may be needed, more or less, add a tbsp at a time until you reach the right consistency), blend in vanilla, mix well until frosting is a smooth consistency.

Savings in fat in the cheese alone…

1 serving Neufchatel Cheese    6 grams of fat

1 serving Cream Cheese   10 grams of fat

Tabulating results…

You save 4 grams of fat per 2 Tbsp serving

Then you will save more on saturated fat and cholesterol by using the Fat-free milk, you will save again using the light margarine or vegetable spread in place of butter.

Just Experiment with your recipes by adapting them.  Not all will turn out with the same texture or taste, but most of the time, the recipes won’t taste all that different than the original.  No palate death here!

Watch for the Carrot Cake recipe in upcoming postings…

Good Luck with your recipe! Visit often, to see what we are cooking up next!
-Virginia Wright

Author, Food Writer, Recipe Developer, Foodie & Queen of Recipe Adaptation

My Cookbook:  AYUH, ANOTHER DOWNEAST COOKBOOK: RECIPES FROM MAINE

© 2012 The Recipe Corner – Virginia Wright. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.

– See more at: https://virginiawright.com/blog/?p=2011#sthash.eXcTSqMS.dpuf