I still had lots of food in the house, but DH told me to go ahead and stock up since he'll probably be on the road for 5-6 weeks this time and the immediate future of our para-transit sytem is iffy at best right now due to budget cuts. (We won't know its fate until March 19. On the 22nd, we'll either have it or it's immediately gone.) So, hey, I'm no dummy. I stocked up. Trader Joes - greek yogurt eggs Cheddar cheese bacon almonds frozen haibut frozen green beans frozen mixed veggies frozen mixed peppers frozen naan butter canned diced tomatos quinoa mustard Regular Grocery Store bread Tortillas raisins black beans lentils canned tuna (my lucky day - albacore at .79 a can!) 5# chicken breasts (on sale at .99 a pound!) 2# pork bag of baking potaotes 2 cucumbers 3 onions 2 gree peppers # asparagas quart strawberries 1/2 gal milk canned mixed fruit # bananas # mushrooms garlic limes flour olive oil freezer bags pinto beans # coffee 2 boxes tea bags On the clearance shelf, we found organic pommegranate juice, V8, cherry juice and peanuts for $1.00 eash. The store isn't going to carry them anymore. So we got two each of those. And I had coupons for two free bottles of laundry soap that expire at the end of the month, so I got those now. Total - too much. OTOH, I'm set for another 4-5 weeks except highly perishable items like lettuce or milk. (Althogh I have some canned milk if I really need it.) That doesn't include the things we get for DH to take on the road as I consider his road supplies separate from my grocery budget.

Try this one, it's rich, but good! Flourless Chocolate Cake with Cassis ________________________________________ URL: http://www.RecipeCottage.com/cakes-chocolate/flourless-chocolate06.html ________________________________________ Flourless Chocolate Cassis cake with Creme Anglaise Serves 12 2 c half and half 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise 1/3 c sugar 4 large egg yolks 10 oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate 3/4 c unsalted butter 1/2 c creme de cassis 1/2 c cocoa powder 5 large eggs 1 c sugar 1/4 c whipping cream 6 tb plus 3/4 c creme de cassis liqueur 8 oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped Bring half and half to simmer in heavy medium saucepan. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; add bean. Whisk sugar and yolks in bowl. Gradually whisk in half and half mixture. Return to saucepan; stir over medium low heat until custard thickens and leaves path on back of spoon when finger is drawn across, about 5 minutes. (Do not boil) Strain sauce. Cover, Chill until cold, at least 4 hours. Preheat oven to 350. Butter 9 inch springform pan with 2 3/4 inch high sides. Line bottom with parchment, Dust pan with flour, tap out excess. Melt chocolate and butter in heavy medium saucepan over low heat, stirring until smooth. Cool slightly, whisk in cocoa and cassis. Using electric mixer beat eggs and sugar in large bowl until mixture lightens and triples in volume, about 6 minutes. Add chocolate-butter mixture and fold together. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake until top forms crust and tester comes out with very moist crumbs attached, about 40 minutes. Cool cake in pan on rack for 5 minutes. Press down on crusty portion of cake to even. Release pan sides from cake. Turn out cake onto rack. Peel off parchment and cool completely. Icing Bring cream to simmer in heavy medium saucepan. Add chocolate and 6 tb cassis; Whisk until smooth. Let icing stand until cool but still spreadable, about 15 minutes. Place cake on plate. Ice top and sides. Chill 1 hour. Simmer 3/4 c cassis in heavy small saucepan until reduced to generous 1/2 c, about 5 minutes. Cool. Spoon creme anglaise onto plates forming pool. Spoon reduced cassis decoratively atop sauce and swirl with knife. Place 1 slice in center of each plate. Here's another one that we like, super easy too! Passover Flourless Chocolate Torte Makes 10 servings: 8 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semi\-sweet chocolate, chopped (I used chips) 1 C. (2 sticks) unsalted kosher for Passover pareve (non\-dairy) margarine BUTTER IS FINE 8 large egg yolks 1 C. plus 1/3 C. sugar 5 large egg whites paper doily fresh raspberries (optional) raspberry sauce (see recipe) Preheat oven to 350 degress F. Line bottom of 9 inch springform pan w/ 2 3/4 inch high sides with parchment or wax paper. Stir chocolate and margarine in heavy medium saucepan over low heat until melted and smooth. Remove from heat. Cool until lukewarm. Using electric mixer, beat yolks and 3/4 cup sugar in large bowl until pale and very thick, about 4 minutes. Add chocolate mixture in 2 additions and beat until well blended. Using clean dry beaters, beat egg whites in another large bowl until foamy. Gradually add 1/4 cup sugar and beat until whites are stiff but not dry. Fold 1/3 of whites into chocolate mixture. Fold in remaining whites in 2 additions. Transfer batter to prepared pan. Bake torte until crust forms on top and tester inserted into center comes out with some moist batter and some moist crumbs still attached, about 55 minutes (top may crack). Run small sharp knife around torte to loosen. Cool in pan on rack (torte will fall and crack). Remove pan sides. Invert torte onto platter. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead and covered with cake dome and stored at room temperature.) Grind 1/3 cup sugar in blender until fine powder forms. Place doily atop torte. Sift ground sugar over doily; gently remove doily. Garnish torte with raspberries, if desired. Serve with raspberry sauce. ( I sprinkled powdered sugar over top instead of grinding my own.) Raspberry Sauce: 2 12oz. packages frozen unsweetened raspberries, thawed with juices 1 C. sugar Puree raspberries with juices and sugar in processor until smooth. Transfer mixture to strainer set over bowl; press on solids to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard solids in strainer. (can be made 2 days ahead and refrigerated)

You might want to try these one at a time to see what works. Reduce temperature first. Make sure muffins are in the middle of the oven, not on a lower rack (if you didn't already do that). Place muffin pan on a cookie sheet to insulate from the bottom if there's still excess darkening. If you're waiting till a skewer comes out clean to remove the muffins, back off a bit and remove when just a very few crumbs cling. They'll bake further from residual heat while resting and be a bit more moist. Waiting till there are no crumbs you risk dryness. You didn't mention tops browning excessively, but those could always be covered with foil part way into the baking process. If you find you really like this combo and are baking them regularly, at some future point you might think about switching out the milk for buttermilk or yogurt and adding some soda. Their keeping qualities will improve and I keep thinking it would be a nice counterpoint to the sweetness of the other ingredients. Soda wouldn't hurt with the honey anyway. Good luck.

It's not difficult to make your own almond butter. Just toast them for about 15 minutes in a 250-300° oven, stirring occasionally then toss them in a processor with a pinch of salt & a TBL or so of vegetable oil until smooth.