Little Miss Muffin

"Pay it forward."

Among my goals for 2016, I listed that I wanted to be more thoughtful and generous this year. I had ambitions of buying meal supplies for a needy family and starting a "pay it forward" chain at Starbucks.

But it hasn't quite worked out that way. Sure, I have done some things. I put together a comfy care package to give away on the page of a local Facebook group and I have responded to a needs request for workout equipment on the same site.

However, I've realized that sometimes it's those around us who can benefit from a small gesture of kindness. A $5 gift card to the coffee shop emailed to a friend on a bad day. An unexpected (or very belated) gift mailed out to a gal pal. A manager's special bouquet of flowers to a co-worker who has been stressed. A care package of goodies to a family member who isn't feeling well or who has had surgery. Through Mark's church, there's sometimes the opportunity to cook meals for members who have had babies or are undergoing medical treatment.

The small things can mean so much to those we love the most especially during the times when they feel the most overlooked.

What I've become most known for (in a very small circle), though, is depositing food items in my mother-in-law's freezer. Just because. I might make a batch of soup, knowing that it's her favorite and give her a couple of bowls. Or, I might make cookies with Miles so that he can take them for dessert on Thursday nights when he goes over for dinner.

When I make other baked goods, such as muffins or bread, I almost always double the recipe and send part of it her way. Doubling a recipe takes no extra effort on my part (save for a little math) but means a lot to my mother-in-law who is busy and doesn't always have the time to cook.

This week, as I was home with Si, it was the last item on that list – muffins. I made Carrot-Craisin Muffins on Tuesday, modifying this recipe based on my pantry, and a Caramel Delight muffin on Wednesday, based on my intense craving for Girl Scout cookies.

The chocolate based muffins have shredded coconut and sea salt caramel chips for a touch of decadence but whole wheat flour, flax and applesauce improve the nutritional profile. They are perfect with a travel mug of hot coffee in the morning for a quick breakfast or for an after dinner treat with, well, a cup of hot coffee. Just decaf in the evening :)

The following makes 24 muffins – 12 for you and 12 to share.

Caramel Delight Muffins

2 tablespoons ground flax seed
6 tablespoons water
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup Dutch processed unsweetened cocoa powder
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup sugar
2 cups nonfat milk of choice
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup sea salt caramel chips
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

In a small bowl, combine ground flax and water; set aside for 15 minutes. Using non-stick spray, coat the wells of two muffin tins.

In a large bowl, whisk together flours, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt and sugar. Combine milk, applesauce and vanilla with flax "eggs." Fold wet ingredients into dry until just combined. Add caramel chips and shredded coconut, folding so that the add-ins are evenly distributed.

Add 1/4 cup batter to each muffin well. Bake for 15 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool. Store in an air-tight container or freeze in plastic zip bags.

Big baking theory: Life with a toddler + recipe

My mothering skill have taken a hit lately.

Quite literally.

My cute and precocious toddler has gone from cute and precocious to temperamental and physical. Or, as Kim said this weekend, a boy of many opinions. He will tell you what he wants, what he doesn't want, what he likes and what he doesn't like. If you dare cross him, which I do often, his response is a bossy "I told you not to {insert action here}" - at best - or tears or ... a bop in the nose, kick in the shins, slap on the hand.

It's a bit disconcerting to say the least. Not only is it embarrassing to have your 2-year-old hit you in front of your friend or have your kid kick you in the grocery, I don't want to be that mom - the one who raises a bully.

I shared my frustrations with my grandma, whom I think was slightly amused by at all. She listened and then I listened, waiting for a grand piece of advice. I was sure after seven kids that she would have insight on how to curb hitting. And maybe she did but what she said surprised me.

Maybe Miles wasn't being a bully. Rather, it's possible he was trying to vie for my attention. It might help, she said, if I gave him a bit more focus.

I wanted to gaffe. I spend my mornings with him, I come home from work and spend time with him. We read at night and hang out on the weekend. The thing is, though, that much of my time is spent in a flurry - doing dishes, packing lunch, switching laundry, trying to get a quiet moment to myself in the bath. I might be with him but I'm not spending time with him.

So yesterday, I took my grandma on and came up with an activity that I was sure we'd both like and might bring us together.

Baking!

I thought it might be a nice treat to make some muffins for my mother-in-law, and Miles would be motivated knowing that we were doing it for Nana.

To make things easier - for Miles and my patience - I measured out all of the ingredients and prepped a few others before I brought him into the kitchen.

I got him set up on a chair and gave him directions on what to add and when but he really did a lot of the work. To be honest, I was surprised at how well he did. He didn't stir too vigorously, swishing flour everywhere, or completely miss the bowl when dumping in baking powder. Our only close call was when he wanted to dump the entire thing of salt in the bowl.

I gave him a mini muffin pan to scoop batter on his own while I tackled bigger pans for Nana and my freezer stash.

While the morning wasn't picture perfect, we did end up with some delicious muffins and a nice gift basket for Nana. Miles was more than proud to deliver it at dinner, and Nana loved having the gift. As for me, I felt better that I could say exactly what we did - together - that day.

Tangerine-Cranberry Yogurt Muffins

Makes 2 dozen

2 cups all purpose flour

2 cups wheat flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/3 cup oil

1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce or mashed banana

4 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 containers Yoplait Blended Greek Yogurt, Tangerine flavor

1/3 to 1/2 cup orange juice or unsweetened almond milk

1 cup reduced sugar dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place liners in muffin pan or prepare with non-stick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, salt, sugar and cinnamon. In a separate bowl, combine oil, applesauce, eggs, vanilla and yogurt. Add the wet ingredients to dry, stirring gently to combine. Add juice or milk to reach desired consistency. Fold in cranberries. 

Scoop batter into prepared pans. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes clean.

Disclosure: I was provided with yogurt from Yoplait Greek but all opinions and words are my own.

Love muffin

Have you entered my Yoplait Greek 100 giveaway? Time's a tickin' ...

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I'm in a bit of a lull right now. Training is over and the holidays are a few weeks away. The weekends are quiet and time is seemingly plentiful. Well, unless of course it's nap time, and then there's never enough of that.

{insert mental image of nap time here. actual nap time image not Web appropriate since someone learned to take off a diaper.}

On Sunday, I tried to make the most of the 2.5 hours Miles gave me and went on a tear in the kitchen. I made Hungarian Goulash (later served over potato gnocchi), freezer breakfast burritos and Banana Coconut Muffins.

I might not have any holiday shopping done but damn if I can't be productive in the kitchen. Not only did the goulash make enough for dinner last night but there are leftovers for later in the week; Mark gave the burritos two thumbs up, saying they were better than McDonald's; and Miles actually ate the muffin. The whole darn thing.

Making muffins might not be a feat of greatness but given that I totally winged them (and almost forgot the egg), I think I deserve some points. Preferably in the form of a brownie.

Many of the recipes I found were not what I wanted or required ingredients (butter, coconut oil) that I didn't have. With two very ripe bananas, though, I was determined to make something. Not only for me but to take to my grandma next week. The sweet thing had a nasty fall last week, and there's nothing she needs more than a basket of tasty, easy to grab goodies.

She loves coconut, and I love the combination of coconut and bananas. Even better: Coconut, bananas and pineapple. I think there's a drink like that somewhere ... Anyway, what came out of the oven was a moist, flavorful muffin that's just sweet enough.

Like my grandma.

Banana Coconut Muffins

1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1.5 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup coconut
2 very ripe bananas, mashed
1/3 cup pineapple juice (from can of pineapple tidbits)
1/2 cup canola oil
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup pineapple tidbits

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray muffin tin with non-stick spray or line with muffin papers.

In a bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, salt and coconut. In a separate bowl, combine mashed bananas, pineapple juice, oil, egg and extract. Add wet ingredients to dry, whisking to just combine. Fold in pineapple bits.

Fill muffin cups 2/3 full with batter and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a tester comes out barely clean. Cool. Makes 13 muffins.

Three Things Thursday: Life outside the cube

She had it all - a plan, the will and the Beaba.

One of my best girlfriends, who gave birth 6 months before me, was determined to make her own baby food purees. It was a way for her to contribute to the family, as she said, and provide nutritional, chemical free food. She said that it was easy and took but a couple hours a week.

Source

Inspired by Heather, I committed to the same. Or my version of same. Heather's schedule had a bit more flexibility in her day to make the purees each week. I was afraid that with working, I wouldn't have the time every weekend. I decided that it would be best for me to make in bulk.

And I mean bulk. I made 10 pounds of steamed, then pureed, sweet potato cubes; five pounds of carrots; and what had to be at least 10 pounds of pears and apples. There was banana, too, and avocado. (I saved things like green beans and peas for Gerber.)

The things I failed to realize, as my food processor whirred with exhaustion, was that Heather is a stay-at-home and would be offering every meal - not just the two or three I would be. Oh, and she would be offering meals to her twins. Twins. Double the meals, double the babies.

Miles with his friend Luke, one of Heather's twins

She made purees each week; I had enough to make it through another baby. Thank goodness I discovered how to use them without getting knocked up.

 Do you know the muffin (wo)man? The apple and pear purees were the easiest and most obvious choices. Applesauce can be a substitute for oil in baking recipes and the same for pear puree as it has a similar consistency. Both tasted delicious in the Carrot Zucchini Muffins I've baking for Miles and me.

Oat'ncha gonna try it? I am pretty sure that I've tried on more than one occasion to make a carrot cake-inspired oatmeal but have come up short every time. Shredded carrots doesn't magically make it carrot cake. I came close, though, here recently. I defrosted a cube of carrot puree and mixed it into the oats, along with golden raisins, cinnamon, pecans and a packet of Stevia.

Smoothie operator. Every fall, people flip for pumpkin this and pumpkin that - myself included. In my world, though, sweet potatoes aren't that different from pumpkin. I decided if people drink pumpkin smoothies that Miles could drink a sweet potato smoothie. He's been drinking a blended fruit drink at morning snacks lately, and he happily took down a mix of banana, frozen sweet potato, low-sugar apple juice, milk and a dash of cinnamon.

It looked so good that I considered stealing it from him ... until I realized it had dairy. D'oh.

Cheater, cheater, pumpkin eater!

It all started with the Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream from Toft's Dairy in Sandusky. My obsession with pumpkin. The ice cream took me to Pumpkin Spice Lattes from Starbucks to pumpkin cheesecake to pumpkin donuts ... well, you get the picture.

These delicious, delicious things, though, were more than an occasional treat. I am fairly certain that I enjoyed Toft's ice cream more than once a week - as an ending to a fast-food dinner. When I recommitted myself to weight loss last year, I also committed myself to finding healthier alternatives to my favorite things.

Pumpkin fluff. Pumpkin lattes (or chai lattes) made with actual pumpkin - not sugar-laden syrups.

And this week, it was the pumpkin muffin. Or this week, the pumpkin muffin tried to be a healthier alternative.

I found a recipe on a diabetic recipe website, and I thought it might work well. Plus, it only made six muffins - just enough as Mark doesn't care for fall's glories.


To get started, gather your ingredients. You'll need:

• 3/4 cup flour (I used whole wheat)
• 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
• 1/4 cup brown sugar (I used 4 tablespoons Splenda Brown Sugar Blend)
• 1 teaspoon low-sodium baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree
• 1 egg, slightly beaten (I used 1/4 cup egg substitute)
• 1/2 cup fat free milk
• 2 tablespoons margarine melted

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line six muffin tins with paper baking cups. In a medium bowl, combine the dry ingredients.


In a small bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, egg, milk and margarine.


Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients.


Add the pumpkin mixture and mix just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Do not overmix.



Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling till almost full. I use a small ice cream scooper and count how many scoops per muffin so that I can ensure that each has about the same amount of calories.


Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the center comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached.


Let the muffins cool. Do not try to taste them straight out of the oven ... just sayin'.

The verdict: These muffins taste good but taste healthy if you know what I mean. They are not overly sweet and feel a bit dense in the mouth. Next time, I'd use 1/2 cup all purpose flour and 1/4 cup whole wheat flour. I'd also use real brown sugar or 6 tablespoons of Splenda.

What's your favorite healthy way to eat pumpkin?