Jasdip, I made 12 muffins from your recipe. Usually I make the jumbo size muffins and use a full recipe for only six gigantic, bakery size muffins. This time, I decided to go back to the smaller, regular muffins size. The muffins didn't crown the top of the muffin tin much, so maybe I should have made 8-10 rather than 12. No matter -- they taste really good. I had another one this morning, thawing it in the microwave. I used half butter & half applesauce. I'm not one to eliminate butter altogether. Also, I eliminated salt because of my husband's dietary restrictions. If I hadn't been making these muffins for the first time, I might have used a no-sodium baking soda product too. But I didn't want to risk ruining the muffins. I use a no-sodium baking powder for all my quick breads, and it works just fine. But I've had some trouble in the past with the sodium-free baking soda. I also used the lowest sodium of all the commercial buttermilks available at my local grocery stores. Donna, I may try your recipe next. As I've said before, I'm a sucker for bran muffins. I'm still hoping to replicate the wonderful flavor of the Van de Kamp's bran muffins of my childhood in Los Angeles. I loved them, but unfortunately, Van de Kamp's discontinued most of their bakery items years ago.

Better Than Pam Mixture that works wonderfully-- 1/2 c solid shortening 1/2 c vegetable oil 1/2 c flour Beat first two ingredients till fluffy like marshmallow whip. Beat in flour. Store in a sealed container at room temperature. If it separates, stir again.

I think you can do it any way you want and it turns out pretty good LOL yes there are generic potatoes obrien and there are ore ida, mine were the store brand, they are diced up potatoes with bellpeppers and onions in the bag with the potatoes. Not the shredded but diced potatoes. I add the extra fresh onion especially when we have some of the good sweet Vidalias. If you use the smoked sausage you really do not need to cook it first it comes fully cooked and cooking it in the oven for an hour is fine if you brown it first that is a lot of cooking it may dry out. I do however (if I am not being lazy) saute the onions. this is what the they look like In searching for a picture to show you I found a ton of recipes using them LOL I created this one out of desperation one night, I started taking out stuff to see what I could make for dinner and that was what was available.LOL

And here's the wild rice salad recipe WILD RICE SALAD 1/4 tsp salt 3/4 cup brown rice, or brown basmati rice 1/2 cup wild rice 1 can sliced water chestnuts, drained 1 red pepper, diced 1 green pepper, diced 2 stalks celery, diced 1/2 cup raisins 1/2 cup diced red onion 1/2 cup toasted almonds 1/4 chopped fresh parsley DRESSING: 1/3 cup orange juice 1 tbsp grated lemon rind 2 tbsp lemon juice 2 tbsp soy sauce 1 tbsp vegetable oil 1 large clove garlic, minced 1 tbsp rice vinegar 1/4 tsp salt In small saucepan, bring 2 1/4 cups water and the salt to a boil. Add basmati and wild rice, reduce heat, cover and simmer 45 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl. Add water chestnuts, green and red peppers, celery, raisins, almonds and parsley. Toss. In small bowl whisk dressing ingredients. Pour over salad and toss to coat. Serve at room temperature.