Hey all! Just wanted to check in and say hi, since it’s been a few weeks. We have been busy a around here, but it has been the best possible kind of busy. We are loving and enjoying the presence of the gorgeous and sweet Miss E. She arrived, just as scheduled, on the 10th of February at 9:53 am, weighing in at 7 pounds 15 ounces and 20.5 inches. She came out yelling but quieted down after about 5 minutes and since then has really only cried when she’s hungry or being changed. She is calm and has adapted quite well to the noisy world she shares with her two very loud brothers.
Miss E, practically perfect in every way
Proud and happy big brothers, H and L
Alright… now that all the introductions have been made, I’ll take a break from my baby bliss to talk about something other than children, which I haven’t done in weeks. I decided that I was going to give my oven a good workout this weekend. Miss E had some visitors on Saturday, so I decided to try a recipe for Spinach Artichoke Lasagna from Lauren’s Latest. If you have never heard of her, you should remedy that and check her out immediately, if not sooner. She has so many delicious recipes you will lose hours just drooling over the pictures and imagining being awesome like her and making amazing meals for your family (your family will be starving by the time you eventually resurface and realize that you’ve somehow lost half a day). The lasagna was met with rave reviews but I was a little bit sad that we had such a large group and a couple of big eaters, because there were no leftovers. Next time, I’ll have to make two. I added some extra spinach and threw in some red pepper for color, but I’m sure the recipe would be just as delicious if I followed it just as written. I seem to have a problem with following recipes and always tend to start improvising as I go (probably for the same reason that I can’t blog about just one thing at a time). Which leads me to the muffins…
I started out with a can of pumpkin puree. I have a few of them and I LOVE pumpkin everything, so I planned to make a batch of muffins. Fortunately, I also had a bag of cinnamon chips in my pantry. So, I decided to make some sort of pumpkin cinnamon oatmeal whole wheat lowered sugar muffins. Sounds delicious, right? Well, they were, in fact. The thing about making it up as you go is that, as long as you follow a few rules (balance of dry vs. wet ingredients when baking, for example), stumble upon a lot of deliciousness, basically by accident. But that actually isn’t the recipe that I am going to share. I’m not even sure I could replicate that one if I tried. I really need to get better at writing things down.
Once I started on the muffins, I found more fun ingredients in my pantry, so after church on Sunday, I set to making muffins to sustain us through the snowstorm that was approaching (though fortunately it turned outto be a bust). I made some triple chocolate cherry, after the pumpkin, and then I made some banana peanut butter chocolate chip. H and L were happy little taste testers and quite patient while I played around in the kitchen. It got to be about 4 o’clock and I realized that, while sweet muffins are delicious, I probably shouldn’t feed them to my children for every meal of the day. Savory muffins however… well, that’s totally acceptable, right? I have to be careful what I try to give the boys because children are supremely annoying when it comes to trying new things picky. Since ham and cheese are pretty safe in or house, I decided to go with it. I usually have a variety of veggies, fresh and frozen, in the house but I didn’t want to push the envelope too much, figuring I was already pushing it with a savory muffins, so I resorted to hiding some vegetable goodness and fiber in the muffins like a big fat liar good mom. Now, I used ham and cheese, to be safe, but you could make these with just about any add-ins you want. If you were in a veggie-ish sort of mood, I imagine some spinach and parmesan cheese would be delicious… or maybe some turkey sausage, peppers and mozzarella… I’m beginning to feel another muffin baking session is in order.
Kid-Friendly Dinner Muffins
Yields approx. 36 mini muffins or 18 muffins
2 1/2 c. Whole wheat flour (you could also use a combination of ww and all-purpose for a lighter muffin)
2 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1 t. garlic powder
1 t. onion powder
2 t. parsley flakes
2 t. sugar (or a sugar blend)
3/4 c. pureed squash
1/3 c. milk + a couple of Tablespoons, if needed, to thin batter a bit
3 T. oil (vegetable, canola, whatever your preference)
2 eggs
7 oz. Ham steak, finely chopped (about 1 1/3 cups)
1 1/3 c. cheese, shredded (I used reduced fat sharp cheddar)
Preheat oven to 350*F and line your muffin tins with liners.
Mix together all of your dry ingredients and set aside.
In separate bowl, lightly beat your eggs and mix in the rest of your wet ingredients.
Combine wet and dry, until just combined and stir in your ham and cheese. The batter will be thick and relatively dry, but add some of your extra milk if you feel it it’s too thick.
Scoop batter into your liners and bake for 10-15 minutes, depending on the size of your muffins. Check with cake tester or just press lightly on top of muffin to check “springy-ness”. Your muffins should bounce back, not sink or jiggle.
Enjoy with your favorite soup or salad or some fruit!
TheMomOfAllTrades 