Toddler Muffins

A couple of weeks ago I reached out to one of my facebook groups for breakfast ideas for Zeke. He is not a picky eater at all and was happily eating what I made for breakfast each day, but I wanted some ideas for my arsenal. I was the one getting bored! Several ideas these moms suggested were smoothies, greek yogurt, fruit, banana pancakes, giant breakfast cookies, and these, Toddler Muffins. I entered the search on pinterest and found them quickly. I made them just a few days later and they were a success! Jeremiah and I really enjoyed them too, so we had to set limits for ourselves so we wouldn't eat all of Zeke's breakfasts! I enjoyed them best on the first day when they were fresh out of the oven. I tried them with a little butter one time and a little glaze another and actually preferred them plain! (Which is a surprise if you know me.) If you would like a good breakfast for your little one that increases his intake of fruits and vegetables (or even for you adults!) then you should give these a try!

Toddler Muffins
**From Deliciously Declassified

Ingredients:
1/2 c. butter, softened
1/2 c. brown sugar, or to taste (I used 1/2 c. and was happy with the amount of sweetness)
2 large bananas, mashed
1/2 c. pumpkin puree
2 carrots, grated (I'm not actually sure how many I put in, I had baby carrots I wanted to use up, but they were not overwhelming, regardless.)
2 eggs, beaten
1 c. all-purpose flour (I used Ultragrain flour)
1/2 c. Quaker oats
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. nutmeg
1/4 t. cloves (I don't always have ground cloves on hand, so I'll often substitute pumpkin pie spice and use a little less of the cinnamon and nutmeg.)
1/2 t. salt

HOW TO MAKE THEM:
In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar until smooth.
Mix in the mashed bananas, squash, carrots, and eggs.
Stir in the flour, oats, baking soda, spices, and salt until just combined.
Grease 24 mini muffin cups or 12 standard muffin cups.
Spoon the batter equally into the prepared muffin cups (if you’re making large muffins, use a full ice cream scoop, if you’re making mini muffins, use 1/2 a scoop).
Bake at 375°F for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean- bake time largely depends on your muffin size, I only baked my mini muffins for 13 minutes.
Cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.
Store at room temperature for up to two days, or freeze. (We ate ours quick enough, we just left them at room temperature. Next time I might actually double the batch so we'd have some to put in the freezer.) 

To life... full of sneaky fruits and vegetables! 

Homemade Yogurt

When I first saw this recipe for homemade yogurt I thought, "That looks like a great idea! We eat quite a bit of yogurt. I want to try it!" Then I printed off the recipe -- 1 1/2 pages worth of *precise* instructions? Can I do this? I felt overwhelmed and thought I would probably mess it up. But I didn't! It turned out beautifully! Even I, non-yogurt lover, am really enjoying it! It is creamy and delicious. I will most definitely be making it again! I know Jeremiah would eat more yogurt if we always had it around, and Zeke loves it as well. It is typically his afternoon snack every day. So if you are a yogurt eater and interested in making it yourself, don't be intimidated... you too can have a good yogurt making experience.

Homemade Yogurt from Mel's Kitchen Cafe
** The directions are hers, the pictures are mine. I will add my comments in blue.**

*Note: I have not tried this recipe with skim milk so I don’t know how/if it would work. I have made it consistently with 1% and it works great, so I’m sure 2% and above will work great, too (and probably be even creamier). The milk powder adds extra protein and I always use it and don’t notice a strong taste to the yogurt but you could leave it out if you’d like. I use a 5-quart slow cooker. If you have a smaller (say, 4-quart), you may need to adjust the amount of milk. If you are only decreasing the amount of milk by a few cups, you can leave the other ingredient amounts the same. On the other hand, if you are using a large, 6-8 quart slow cooker, feel free to increase the milk and other ingredients accordingly. You can use 1/2 cup of the yogurt you make for a future starter, just be sure to reserve it out of the batch before mixing in fruit or add-ins. If you don’t have a slow cooker, you can follow the basic instructions (temperature, etc.) using a saucepan on the stove. Just make sure to keep an eye on the temperature because it will heat much faster than a slow cooker (although it needs the same incubation period in the oven). I have this process down to a science now: if I start it at 4:00 p.m., I can put it in the oven to incubate overnight at around 10 or 10:30 p.m. and pull it out anywhere from 6-8 a.m. I have included a very simple, delicious fruit syrup recipe below the instructions that we use to stir into the yogurt. You could also stir in honey to lightly sweeten it. Remember this is plain yogurt unless you add something else to it, although the plain yogurt makes a great substitution for sour cream.

*Second Note {Update on 2/21/2013}: After I posted this, many of you had great recommendations so the last few times I’ve made this, I’ve followed the general method except that I’ve heated the milk on the stovetop (I still prefer the slow cooker way for a no-brainer, no-scorching method but the stovetop is a bit quicker if you have time to babysit the milk) then after following the other steps of cooling, stirring in the yogurt culture, I portion the milk mixture into quart-size canning jars and add a lid and a ring. I’ve used the light-on-in-the-oven method to culture (still works great!) but I’ve also put the jars in a large cooler bag (one of those thermal cooler bags) and placed 3-4 quart-sized jars filled with really, really hot water that have lids and rings on them. I zip up the bag and let the warm yogurt mixture sit in there with the hot water and after 8-12 hours, the yogurt has cultured perfectly. Also, I’ve been making this with whole milk for my baby and I still strain it for a couple of hours otherwise it’s too thin and runny. Phew! I think that’s all the updates for now. (I did not have this note before I made mine.) 

*Makes 6-8 cups of yogurt (I filled 2-24 oz. yogurt containers + 1 sm. {2.5 c.) tupperware container, mostly full 

INGREDIENTS:
1 gallon milk (I used 2% milk, it turned out nice and creamy and I did not have to put it in the blender as she describes in her directions)
1/2 to 1 cup nonfat dry milk powder (optional) (I did not use this because we didn't have it on hand)
1/2 cup plain yogurt with live and active cultures (look at the ingredient list to make sure it includes Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus) (I used 2% Fage and it was good; next time we might try the greek gods brand because that one is the most effective for Jeremiah) 

Fruit syrup, if desired (recipe below)

DIRECTIONS:
Pour one gallon of milk into a 5-quart slow cooker, leaving enough room for 1-2 cups more liquid. See the note above for adjustments if you are working with a larger or smaller slow cooker or pan. Whisk a cup or so of milk into 1/2 to 1 cup powdered milk until the mixture is smooth. The powdered milk is optional but adds protein and creaminess. Pour or strain the powdered milk mixture into the slow cooker. Cover the slow cooker and heat on low until the mixture reaches 180 degrees F (in my slow cooker, this takes about 2-3 hours, although each slow cooker will heat a bit differently). Remove the slow cooker insert and let the milk cool to between 112 and 120 degrees F. Too warm or too cool and the milk won’t culture into yogurt. Without any stirring to help cool, it takes 1-2 hours for the milk to cool. Stirring will help the milk cool more quickly. (I started the slow cooker process at 3 pm and had it into the oven at 9:15 pm; I was pretty nervous at this point because I was in the middle of putting Zeke to sleep, so let it cool a little longer than I wanted. When I checked it before sticking the wrapped crock pot in the oven my thermometer only registered about 108/110 degrees, so I was afraid it wouldn't set up. But it turned out just fine! I would also like to get a better thermometer, but if you are like me and only have a candy thermometer with wide ranges of temps, just be as close as you can, but don't stress yourself out over exact numbers.) 

Once the milk has cooled to that temperature range, measure out 1/2 cup plain yogurt (Greek or regular) in a small bowl and whisk in 1 or so cups of the warm milk into the yogurt. Whisk the yogurt/milk mixture into the warm milk. Now lay out a standard size bath towel and place the covered slow cooker in the center. Fold up each side until it makes a neat little towel wrapped package and the slow cooker is completely insulated. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. Once the oven is fully preheated, turn it off. Turn the oven light on. This will help maintain the warmth of the oven while the yogurt cultures. Place the towel-wrapped slow cooker into the warm oven. Let the wrapped pot sit in the warm oven for 8-12 hours. The idea is to keep the milk/yogurt mixture in the 112-118 degree range for that period of time. It is what cultures the milk and turns it into yogurt. (My oven does not have a light, so I preheated the oven to 250* the first time, and then turned it on to 250* two additional times for about 5 - 10 min. around 10:15 pm and 11:30 pm. I never opened the door during this process.) 

After 8 or so hours, remove the pot, take off the bath towel and take off the lid. The mixture should be very thick and set and it may have a layer of clear liquid on the top (whey). If it is still too liquidy, return it to the warm oven for a longer period of time. If you think your oven may not be holding warmth, you may need to preheat it to 250 degrees and then turn it off every couple of hours but usually just keeping the oven light on after preheating it once should do the trick.

Once the milk has successfully cultured and turned to yogurt, line a colander or strainer with cheesecloth and set it over a large pot or bowl. Pour the yogurt into the strainer. It may be lumpy but as long as it’s thick, it will strain just fine. Using lowfat milk will produce more whey and the yogurt will need more straining time; using whole milk will produce less whey and you may not even need to strain it at all. Place it in the refrigerator and let it drain for 4-6 hours. There will be quite a bit of whey in the pot or bowl. Discard this liquid. (I did not have cheesecloth, so I used this fine mesh strainer for part of the yogurt and then put a clean coffee filter in my colander and poured the rest in there to drain. I let it drain for 5 hours in the refrigerator.) 

Separating the whey

Scrape the yogurt off the cheesecloth into a bowl or other container. Whisk to recombine the yogurt. My yogurt, at this point, looks almost like cottage cheese and has little lumps no matter how much I whisk it, so I pour it into my blender and blend it for a few seconds (too long and it will become runny). The yogurt can be stored in the refrigerator for 1-2 weeks. If you want to continue making yogurt like this, reserve 1/2 cup of the yogurt to use as a starter in your next batch.

Beautiful, creamy yogurt! 

If you are interested in adding fruit syrup, I use the following simple method. Simmer these ingredients for 5-7 minutes until thick: 2 cups fresh or frozen fruit, 1/4 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon cornstarch, 2 teaspoons lemon juice. You may need to increase or decrease the sugar accordingly. I find this makes the perfect amount for one batch of yogurt. (I made a blueberry variety, as you can see. I felt like it could have been sweeter, but I think that was partially due to the fact that we made it with Fage. I will probably make the same amount again when we use the greek gods yogurt and see if a different brand changes the result before changing the fruit syrup recipe. Zeke ate his portion just fine, but Jeremiah and I both added a little honey to our bowls when we ate ours.)

Homemade Blueberry Yogurt 

Our yogurt lasted from Sunday - Thursday, like I said, Jeremiah loves it! And it helps his stomach feel so much better. It looks like I'll be making this regularly. It will be fun to try all different varieties! Let me know if you have any questions about the process or yogurt itself. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did! 

To life... full of good bacteria! 

Brown Sugar Oatmeal Pancakes

Last night when I opened the fridge, there wasn't much to see, so I had to be creative. I had planned on making some scrambled eggs and corn for Zeke and I; a little veggie and some easy-to-eat protein. I thought about finishing up the cornbread I had made a couple days ago, but then decided, maybe I'll make waffles. I opened up my "Taste of Home" cookbook and checked out the waffle recipes. I wasn't entirely sold on the idea, then I turned to the previous page and saw Brown Sugar Oatmeal Pancakes. I felt a little better about choosing them as part of Zeke's dinner because they called for oats and whole wheat flour. I had made them once before in November 2010 and rated them as 'Good.' I think I liked them even better this time. They are more hearty than your run-of-the-mill pancake and are a nice twist. You might enjoy them for breakfast (or dinner!) too! 

Brown Sugar Oatmeal Pancakes

 - From my "The Taste of Home Cookbook" 

   *Yield: about 10 pancakes

1/2 c. plus 2 T. quick-cooking oats (ummm, just saw that + 2T. oats as I typed this :o)) 

1/2 c. whole wheat flour

1/2 c. all-purpose flour

1/2 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

1/3 c. packed brown sugar

1 egg

2 T. vegetable oil

1 c. buttermilk (I don't know who keeps buttermilk on hand, but I don't. So I always add 1 T. of white vinegar to a glass pyrex mixing cup, then add milk in the rest of the way to fill it to the 1 cup line. I usually do this at the very beginning of working on a recipe then stir it up when I'm ready to use it.)

In a small bowl, combine the oats, flours, baking soda, salt, and sugar. In another small bowl, beat the egg, oil, and buttermilk. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Pour batter by 1/3  cupful onto a greased hot griddle. Turn when bubbles form on top; cook until the second side is golden brown. 

I enjoy breakfast for dinner from time to time. The only thing that would have made this dinner better was adding bacon or sausage! 

To life... full of pancake variations! 

Pumpkin Crock-pot Oatmeal

It has been awhile since I've posted a recipe! So here's a quick and easy one.

Once October hits it seems like the perfect time to start making pumpkin everything :o) I found a recipe on Tasty Kitchen for Pumpkin Pie Crockpot Oatmeal. Since Jeremiah can't have *much* dairy, I edited the recipe for our needs, so I'm going to claim it as my own! Hooray! I rarely create my own recipes. But I still have to give credit to Tasty Kitchen for my inspiration.

I bought steel cut oats for the first time a couple of weeks ago because I had seen recipes for overnight oatmeal which I thought would be super convenient since that's pretty much Zeke's and Jeremiah's breakfast every morning. I thought it would be nice to wake up and the house would smell delicious and breakfast would be ready immediately. Here's what I did:

Pumpkin Crock-pot Oatmeal 
Rub butter around the inside of your crock-pot. Add 1 cup steel cut oats, 4 cups of water, a scoop of pumpkin puree (maybe 1/2 cup), a couple shakes of cinnamon (~1 1/2 tsp.) and a dash of pumpkin pie spice. Stir ingredients, put on the lid and turn the crock-pot on to low for ~8 hours. Serve with brown sugar and milk (or sans milk for non-dairy folks) and you have a heart-healthy, warm Autumn breakfast! 

My first experience with steel cut oats... I wasn't a huge fan. They had a weird texture, but I ate it anyway because I know oatmeal is good for you. I just made another variation last night and liked it better. Recipe to come...

To life... full of tummy-warming breakfasts!

Coffee Cake Muffins

I am really enjoying our long Sunday mornings. Church doesn't start until 10 AM, so I feel like I have so much time to get ready, and even make muffins like I did last Sunday! I had all the ingredients for these coffee cake muffins, so I went for it. We thought they were very good!

Coffee Cake Muffins
**From my "The Friendship House" cookbook

1/4 c. packed brown sugar
1/4 c. chopped pecans
1 t. ground cinnamon
1 1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. sugar
2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
1 egg
3/4 c. milk
1/3 c. oil

Glaze: 1/2 c. powdered sugar
            1 T. milk (I used Silk so Jeremiah could have glaze too; it turned out fine, but I could tell a difference in the taste)
            1 t. vanilla extract

Combine the brown sugar, pecans, and cinnamon; set aside. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In another bowl, beat the egg, milk and oil; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Spoon 1 tablespoon of batter into paper lined muffin cups. Top each with 1 teaspoon nut mixture and about 2 tablespoons batter. Sprinkle with remaining nut mixture. Bakes at 350* for about 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes. Spoon glaze over muffins. Yields 8 muffins.



To life... full of warm cinnamon breakfast treats!

Royal Rhubarb Coffee Cake

On the Saturday before Easter I decided I would make something nice for Easter breakfast. That day I had just been tossing a few things out of the fridge and freezer and noticed a bag of frozen rhubarb in the back of the freezer. I didn't want to throw it out, so I made a mental note to try to use it before it got much older.

Later in the day I decided to start looking for a recipe. I got out my Taste of Home Cookbook and started looking through the 'Quick Breads' section. I thought maybe I'd make muffins or something, then I saw a recipe for Rhubarb Coffee Cake and I thought, "Perfect!"

The recipe was quick and easy -- which is even more important to me now that I have a little one! And the best part was that I had all the ingredients on hand, so I didn't even have to go to the store!

I added a few frozen strawberries to the mix as well because the recipe called for 3 1/2 c. of rhubarb and I didn't think I had quite enough. I thought it was a great addition!

Royal Rhubarb Coffee Cake

1/3 c. butter, softened

1 c. sugar

1 egg

1 t. vanilla

2 c. all-purpose flour

3 t. baking powder

1/2 t. salt

1 c. milk

3 1/2 c. chopped fresh or frozen rhubarb, thawed and drained

Topping: 3/4 c. packed brown sugar

1/4 c. butter, melted

1 t. ground cinnamon

1. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla; beat well. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with milk.

2. Transfer to a greased 13"x9"x2" baking dish. Spoon rhubarb over top to within 1/2" of edges. Combine topping ingredients; sprinkle over rhubarb.

3. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-55 min. or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack.

Yield: 15 servings

To life... full of Easter breakfasts!

Pumpkin Pancakes

I've created my first pumpkin recipe for October -- pumpkin pancakes! I'd seen a few blogs where people had made them and I thought it would be fun to try. I referred to my Fannie Farmer cookbook for a basic pancake recipe, then I added about a cup of pumpkin and a few shakes of pumpkin pie spice.

I mixed up the batter and let it rest for a few minutes while the griddle got warm. The batter was a little thicker than regular pancakes and didn't spread out on the griddle as well. But some people prefer a thicker pancake anyway. Mine are usually on the thin side, so these were a nice change. I thought they were a great thickness, especially while I was eating them! Mmmm, now there's a stack of pancakes I'm ready to eat! Toss on some butter, but don't forget...

the syrup! That's more like it! Try these pancakes sometime this Autumn, you will not regret it!


To life... full of cool Autumn mornings and warm pumpkin panckes!