Muffin Mania

Remember when I would take a million step by step pics of the whole recipe process? We loved that, right? Well guess what! I have like 8 pics to add for this entry. Huzzah!

Okay, tonight we had double muffin breakfast dinner and ain't nothing better.
Our first recipe comes from the super awesome site Cooking With My Kid.  We tweaked the style a bit and Teagan says they need a cuter name than Egg & Cheese toast cups... So I give you Super Flower Toast Cups!

Ingredients:
6 slices wheat bread
6 slices bacon (we didn't use)
4 eggs + 1 tablespoon milk, lightly beaten together
1/4 cup shredded cheddar or mozzarella cheese
butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Use a rolling pin to flatten bread. (We removed the crusts, you don’t have to.) Butter one side of the bread and then place buttered side down into a muffin cup. You’ll need to overlap the bread a bit to fit it all the way into the cup. Press against the sides to form a hole in the center. Repeat this for all 6 slices of bread and then lightly spray the insides with olive oil cooking spray.   Cook bacon on a paper towel in the microwave for 2 or 3 minutes. The bacon will not be crispy – it will just be par-cooked.  Place one par-cooked bacon slice in each bread cup and then pour some egg into each cup dividing evenly among all bread cups. Sprinkle the tops with cheese and bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until set. Use a butter knife to loosen bread cups. Serve warm.

Our second muffin is a Pineapple Upside-Down Muffin

INGREDIENTS
TOPPING
2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons chopped walnuts, or pecans (optional)
1 10-ounce can pineapple slices

MUFFINS
3/4 cup whole-wheat flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
2 large eggs
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
2 tablespoons pineapple juice, or orange juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 8-ounce can crushed pineapple, (not drained)
1 cup grated carrot, (1 large)
1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
3/4 cup raisins, preferably baking raisins (see Ingredient note)
1/4 cup chopped walnuts, or pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 400°F. Coat 12 muffin cups with cooking spray.
To prepare topping: Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar into each muffin cup. Sprinkle nuts, if using, over the sugar. Stack pineapple slices and cut into 6 wedges. Place 2 wedges in each muffin cup.
To prepare muffins: Whisk whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a large bowl.
Whisk eggs and brown sugar in a medium bowl until smooth. Whisk in oil, juice and vanilla. Stir in crushed pineapple. Make a well in the dry ingredients; add the wet ingredients and stir with a rubber spatula until just combined. Stir in carrot, oats, raisins and nuts, if using. Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin cups (they'll be quite full).
Bake the muffins until the tops are golden brown and firm to the touch, 15 to 25 minutes. Immediately loosen edges and turn muffins out onto a baking sheet. Restore any stray pineapple pieces and nuts. Let cool for at least 10 minutes. Serve upside-down, either warm or at room temperature.

TIPS & NOTES
Ingredient Note: Baking raisins, moister than regular ones, ensure a better texture. To substitute regular raisins, plump them first: soak in boiling water for 10 minutes; drain well.

I added wheat germ and ground flax and they were good but drier than I prefer so next time I will add a bit of applesauce.

~Venus

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Breakfast...Dinner of Champions

Tried a new pancake recipe tonight and while it needs a bit of tweaking the kids both gave it thumbs up.


Coconut Mango Pancakes


Ingredients

1 cup coconut milk

1½  cups mango puree (available at Indian grocery stores or make yourself)

2 whole eggs

1½ cups all-purpose flour

1 tbsp baking powder (optional)

1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)

butter – for making pancakes

Method

1. Whisk together coconut milk, mango puree and eggs until mixture is smooth
2. Add the flour in 4-5 batches whisking each time to incorporate
3. Melt butter in a non-stick pan, pour in a 1/3 cup measuring spoon of batter and cook till small bubbles appear on the surface.  Flip over and cook the other side.
4. Serve with honey or syrup and some fresh fruit

I added ground flax, wheat germ and unsweetened coconut flakes to the batter which thickened it up so I need to play around with the consistency. 

Lovely color!

Dinner is served...

~Venus

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Super simple secret smoothies

I have incredibly picky kids. Sometimes I think they're having covert meetings about how to drive me crazy with which foods they will or will not eat this week.

Using smoothie to get healthy fruits into kids is probably as old as the invention of the blender, but it really does work. I make them at least 2-3 weeks for dessert. I've recently started adding the secret ingredient, organic baby spinach, thinking it was going to go over like a lead balloon because they always know whenever I try to be creatively sneaky, but by some miracle it passed. And just in time, I was thinking if I didn't get a green vegetable in them somehow the Good Mother police was going to come along and yank my Good Mother badge away soon.

Super Simple Secret Smoothies
Makes about 2-3 servings

1 cup organic baby spinach, rinsed very well and dried very well with any large stems removed
2-3 cups frozen and/or fresh fruit (we like half mango, half berries)
1/2 to 1 cup milk (nondairy is fine, I like vanilla flavored almond milk)
1 tablespoon sweetener, like agave syrup or maple syrup (optional)

Dump everything in a blender and blend until it is a creamy, thick consistency. We like them as thick as a Wendy's Frosty so we can eat them with a spoon. The color will not be pretty, it's like what happens when all the playdough colors get smooshed together. But it does taste very good, and I promise you cannot taste the spinach.

*No pics because I broke my camera. And let's be honest, Venus's pictures are so much better. She rocks!

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More breakfast yum

Well I've already talked to you about boosting waffles and pancakes so now it's time to veggie up your eggs.


Veggie Frittatas are very easy and customized for your favorites.


Basically saute any veggies you like then pour your scrambled eggs on top, cook until mostly set and then finish off under the broiler until cooked. Sprinkle cheese on top (if you want) and cover for just a few minutes.



the white chunks in mine are actually little bits of brie left over from broc cheese soup.


  All Done





I made cinnamon raisin oatmeal to fill up the bottomless teen pit and served with fruit. My daughter cannot get enough of these adorable Clementines.


~Venus

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Boosting your Breakfast and other foods

What is better than eating foods you love? Nothing, unless it's eating the foods you love and having them be healthier while still tasting great. That is the best!

This recipe, which I found on All Recipes, is for waffles but this info works for pancakes, muffins, cakes, etc.
This is for 6 servings so adjust as needed.

Ingredients
2 eggs, beaten
1 3/4 cups skim milk
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (I just used wheat flour)
1/2 cup flax seed meal
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt


Directions
In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, oil, applesauce, and vanilla. Beat in whole wheat pastry flour, flax seed meal, wheat germ, all-purpose flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt until batter is smooth.
Preheat a waffle iron, and coat with cooking spray. Pour batter into waffle iron in batches, and cook until crisp and golden brown. 

Flax and Wheat Germ are amazing additions your recipes and pack tons of nutritional and health benefits.

Benefits of Wheat Germ

Flax Rocks

~Venus

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Crockpot steel-cut oatmeal experiment

And it worked!

I read a tip from a friend (Hi, M!) that she makes oatmeal in the crockpot in a water bath. I had resisted making oatmeal in the crockpot overnight because I thought it would turn out like inedible paste, but a water bath seemed like a great idea and I had to try it.



First, my crockpot is a funky oval and the only bowl that would work wouldn't sit right, so I had to fashion a trivet of some kind to use, in this case scrunching up aluminum foil.



I added the oatmeal and water to the glass bowl and then sat the bowl on the aluminum foil balls in the crockpot, and then added water to the crockpot so it came up to 2/3 way of the bowl's side. This was around midnight, I turned it on low and went to bed.



I woke up around 7 and checked it, it was a little dry so I added another cup of water, gently stirred it, and let it cook for another hour and half. It was perfect!



Here is my bowl, I added a little rice milk, maple syrup, and some dried cranberries. It was so good and creamy. Steel-cut oatmeal is a little chewier than rolled oats but made in the crockpot it was creamy and tender, yum.

Crockpot Steel-Cut Oatmeal
Serves 4

1 cup steel-cut oats
2 1/2 to 3 cups water

In a small bowl add oats and water and stir to combine. Place in crockpot crock carefully making sure it is secure, you may need to use a heat safe trivet or aluminum balls to steady it. Add water to the crockpot, not the bowl with the oats, until it reaches the 2/3 the way up the side of the bowl with the oats. Cover and set on low for 8 hours. Check towards the end of cooking, and add more water with necessary. Top with favorite oatmeal accompaniments, like butter, milk, nuts, dried fruit, etc.

-Empress

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