Apple Cinnamon Muffins

We had these this morning.  They were yummy and warm and I should have split mine open and slathered it with butter, but I am trying to set a good example for the children.

APPLE CINNAMON MUFFINS

• 1 cup wheat flour
• 1 cup white flour
• 1/2 cup organic cane sugar or brown sugar
• 1 t. cinnamon
• 1 T. baking powder
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1/2 t. baking soda
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup plain yogurt or buttermilk (I used yogurt)
• 1 t. vanilla
• 4 T. melted butter or canola oil
• 1 tart apple (I used Granny Smith), peeled and diced fine

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Prepare muffin pan to your liking.  I use nonstick spray.  Mix dry ingredients. In a separate bowl combine eggs, yogurt or buttermilk, vanilla and butter. Gently combined wet and dry ingredients. (I never use a separate bowl...I just throw the wet stuff in with the dry stuff.)  Fold in apples.  Divide among 12 muffin cups.  Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until tester comes out clean.  Enjoy warm and slather with butter if you dare.

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Is The Sassy Chicken Dead?

No, she is just sittin' on an egg.

Vegetable Beef Soup

Money Saving Mom posted this recipe on her blog the other day.  I thought it looked tasty.  I changed a few things to fit what I had around the kitchen and the result was a delicious and thick and hearty soup.  Everyone loved it but the boy.  The boy only likes peanut butter or grilled cheese.  Oh well.  I am sure he will expand his pallet someday. 

Vegetable Beef Soup

• 2 lbs. ground beef
• 2 cups onion, chopped
• 4 cups potatoes, peeled and diced
• 2 cups carrots, diced
• 2 cups celery, diced
• 4 (14.5 oz. each) cans diced tomatoes
• 1 c. white or brown rice, uncooked
• 10 cups water
• 1/2 teaspoon basil
• 1-1/2 tablespoons salt
• 2 bay leaves

Brown ground beef and onion together until lightly browned. Drain off excess fat.  Add all remaining ingredients and bring mixture to a boil.  Reduce heat to a simmer and cook covered for another 2 to 4 hours.  Stir occasionally and add more water if needed. Taste for seasoning and add more salt if necessary and a few cranks of black pepper. Remove bay leaves before serving.  This will make 18 to 20 cups of soup...enough to feed a crowd.  I would imagine this could easily be done in a crock pot (or probably 2).  Just brown beef and onion, and then throw the rest in the crock pots.  I am quite sure you would need two.  I have never heard of anyone having 2 crock pots.  I have often thought 2 would be handy, especially when making stew and it is hard to fit all the potatoes in!  I was inspired to consider another crock pot by Kim at Large Family Logistics who has...drum roll please...FIVE crock pots!  Now that is some serious large family cooking.

Homemade Fire Starters

Our primary source of heat these days is a wood burning stove.  I have been meaning to make these since we moved and finally got around to it on Saturday.  When Rowdy got up on Sunday morning and started the fire I asked him what he thought.  He said "I am not sure if these are fire starters or bombs."  I guess he thought they worked okay.  The best part is these can be free or at the very least a lot cheaper than buying fire starters! 

What you need:

• Paper egg cartons
• Dryer lint
• Old candles or Paraffin blocks from the store
• Coffee can

Place egg cartons on newspaper.  Stuff egg cartons with lint.  Dryer lint is highly flammable and really gets things cookin'.  Melt your old candles or paraffin in a coffee can placed in a pot of simmering water.  (Okay, so I don't use a coffee can.  I use an applesauce can.  Coffee from a can is wrong!)  Once the wax has melted pour over the lint.  Let dry.  Cut apart into desired size.  We use 4 egg slots for one fire. 

Basic Muffin....add what you like!

We like muffins around here.  I make them a couple times a week for breakfast.  This is my basic go to muffin recipe.  You can throw in whatever you like to this recipe.  My kids favorite add-in is miniature butterscotch chips.  (I get these in the bulk section at Winco.)  For some reason when you add in butterscotch chips the muffins taste like yellow cake batter.  Weird, but good.

Basic Buttermilk Muffins 

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 T. baking powder
• 1/2 t. baking soda
• 1/2 t. salt
• 2 lg. eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk, plain yogurt or sour cream
• 2/3 cup white sugar or brown sugar  (I always use some kind of cane sugar here...or brown if I am out of cane, very rarely white sugar)
• 4 T. melted butter or vegetable oil
• 1 t. vanilla

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare muffin pan either with cupcake liners or nonstick spray.  Combine dry ingredients.  Whisk together eggs, buttermilk, sugar, butter or oil and vanilla.  Do not over mix; batter should not be smooth.  Gently fold in add in of your choice: 1/2 cup mini-butterscotch chips, 1 cup blueberries, 1 cups nuts, etc. Divide evenly amount muffin cups. Bake until tester comes out clean, 12 to 15 minutes.

****If you do not have buttermilk, plain yogurt or sour cream, you can use 1 cup regular milk and omit the baking soda.

Start The New Year Off Right....Lemon Blueberry Muffins!

I started the New Year off right.  Last night I passed out on the couch at 8:30!  The kids stayed up until 9:30...Holy Smokes Batman.  They are such party animals.  This morning I made Lemon Blueberry Muffins and they were fab-oo!  I found this recipe at For The Love of Cooking.  I will be trying lots of things from this site. 

Lemon Blueberry Muffins

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup of frozen blueberries, plus a few extra for the top of each muffin
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• Finely grated zest of 2 small lemons
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• Demerara for sprinkling on top of muffins or 2 packets of raw cane sugar for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Spray muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray. Combine dry ingredients.  In a separate bowl combine eggs, milk, oil, zest and lemon juice.  Fold into the dry ingredients. Next fold in blueberries.  Scoop into muffin pan.  Sprinkle a couple more blueberries on top of each muffin and then sprinkle with demerara or raw sugar.  Bake for 20 to 23, until tester comes out clean.  Let cool in pan 5 minutes and then cool a little longer on a rack.  Enjoy as they are or slather with butter!