Pumpkin Apple Muffins

 
Muffins have got to be one of the most commonly found food options in our house. They are such an easy choice at breakfast or for a snack at home/on-the-go. Oatmeal, apple cinnamon, banana, berry, etc are all great! But during this fall season we've been all about pumpkin, adding it in whenever we can, so what better combination than pumpkin and apple muffins!

I've tried a few different variations of this recipe, but think I have settled on this one. These muffins are wonderfully moist and delicious. The whole wheat pastry flour does make them ever so slightly more dense than you may expect, but there is no sacrifice in taste!

Pumpkin Apple Muffins*

1 1/3c Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
2/3c Whole Wheat Flour
2tsp Baking Powder
1/2tsp Baking Soda
1/4tsp Salt
1tsp Cinnamon
3tbsp Plain Fat-Free Yogurt or Plain Greek Yogurt
1/2c Honey
1 Egg
1/2c Skim Milk
1/2c Pumpkin Puree
1 Medium Apple, peeled and grated (we use Gala apples)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Combine the first six ingredients in a bowl and mix
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the remaining ingredients together
4. Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and stir until just combined
5. Grease muffin tins or line them with muffin cups and fill each cup 3/4 full
6. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean (depending on oven, you may need to increase bake time)

Storage - These are best stored in the refrigerator or freezer

*Adapted from the weelicious.com recipe for Pumpkin Apple Muffins http://weelicious.com/2010/10/18/pumpkin-apple-muffins/.

Moldy Cookies...Oh My!

This week I decided to give my kids a treat and bake them cookies. I had found a sugar free peanut butter oatmeal cookie recipe and wanted to experiment with reducing the butter, along with substituting the peanut butter with sunflower butter. I was so excited to see if they would be good enough to eat! 

Everything went really smoothly until I wanted to use a fork and put hash marks on the cookies. The fork stuck and tore the cookie apart. What? Oh well. I baked them and let them cool on a rack for a couple hours. 

I am not a fan of sunflower butter, but I have to admit they turned out fairly well. My husband really liked them and my kids were happy as well. I was counting this a success. Since baking cookies is rare, I don't really have anything quality to store them in. So, I put some in a plastic bag and the remaining cookies in the freezer. 

Much to my surprise, less than 24 hours after being in the bag, I went to take one out for my kids to share and found an odd green layer on some of them. Unbelievable! Mold? Really? Needless to say...nothing was eaten out of that bag! 

I'm not certain what caused them to mold that quickly. Perhaps there was too much moisture in the cookies?

Here's a lovely picture of our mysterious science project. The expression on my husband's face when seeing these was priceless. I wish I had gotten a picture of that too. 

Veggie Lasagna

I hadn't planned on writing about this veggie lasagna today, but couldn't resist after serving leftovers of it for lunch. Please excuse the picture. It doesn't do it justice.

I've never been overly enthusiastic about lasagna, it's usually too cheesy and has some form of meat in it. This one appealed to me because it seemed veggie heavy and cooked in a crock pot. Busy mom = love of crock pot meals.

This lasagna is great, easy to make and every delicious bite has vegetables in it! We only have one little person in the family who is holding out on deciding to try this dish, but I can live with that. I have a feeling it will be a favorite for the entire family before too long. The biggest challenge is actually convincing my husband to leave some for leftovers!

Veggie Lasagna (Crock Pot)*

2c Spinach, Broccoli and Zucchini
1 15oz Container Ricotta Cheese
1/2c Parmesan Cheese, shredded
1tbsp Dried Italian Herbs
1/2tsp Garlic Powder
1/2tsp Sea Salt (finely ground)
1 Large Egg
1 25oz Jar Pasta Sauce (I use tomato basil sauce)
1 Box Whole Wheat Lasagna Noodles (uncooked)
1 1/2 - 2c Mozzarella Cheese, grated

1. Defrost vegetables, if needed
2. Place vegetables in a food processor and pulse to chop
3. Place the ricotta, parmesan cheese, herbs, garlic powder, salt and egg in a bowl and stir to combine
4. Pour half the pasta sauce in the bottom of the crock pot
5. Place a layer of noodles on top of the sauce, covering entire surface, breaking the noodles to fit the pot
6. Layer half the ricotta mixture on top of the noodles, followed by one cup of the chopped vegetables and then one cup of mozzarella cheese
7. Repeat with another layer of noodles, followed by the remaining ricotta mixture and chopped vegetables
8. Pour the remaining pasta sauce on top of the lasagna and top with the remaining cup of grated cheese
9. Cook on low for four hours

*Adapted from the weelicious.com recipe for Crock Pot Veggie Lasagna http://weelicious.com/2011/09/14/crock-pot-veggie-lasagna/.

Pasta Salad

Pasta salads have never really appealed to me. I can count maybe three times in my life when I've actually tried a bite of one. But, in my quest to find healthy, easy foods I kept coming across different variations of pasta salads. When my October 2011 issue of Parents magazine came in the mail I discovered "Wheel's Up Pasta Salad" and adapted it to the recipe below. Each of the ingredients I had on hand and I thought it looked like something my kids may enjoy (and I may even like it too).

As with most newly introduced foods my kids immediately started examining the salad, touching it and naming the different parts. But, none of it went into their mouths. I had my own portion so as I was taking bites we would talk about how it tasted. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked its simple and lightly sweet flavor.

My little ones eventually picked out some of the apples, cucumbers and raisins to eat but never touched the pasta. This was very odd since these noodles are their favorite when topped with pasta sauce. Regardless, the amount of pasta salad each ate was barely noticeable. Our policy is not to pressure the kids into new foods (as difficult as that can sometimes be when you take the time to prepare something good), but it was offered again at dinner and the next day for lunch and dinner. Each time they picked through and ate what they wanted, but never the pasta.

I've found that maybe I should give pasta salads a little more of a chance and since both my husband and I enjoyed it I'll be making it again very soon. It will continue to be an option on our kids' plates, when we have it available, and hopefully they'll begin to enjoy it as well. After all it took us nearly a month to get one of our kids to like broccoli...and that was with us offering it almost daily. :)


Pasta Salad

2c Cooked Pasta
1 Small Apple (cored and chopped)
1/2 Cucumber (seeded and chopped)
1/4c Raisins
2tbsp Olive Oil
1/8tsp Salt
1/8tsp Ground Black Pepper
1 Lemon (cut in half)

1. Place chopped apple in large bowl, take one half of the lemon and squeeze over apples, stir to combine
2. Add pasta, cucumber, raisins, olive oil, salt and pepper
3. Stir until well combined
4. Squeeze remaining half of the lemon over salad and stir

5. Cover and let pasta salad chill in the refrigerator until serving time

Apple Oatmeal Bars

One of the snacks my kids like most comes in the shape of a bar. Oat-fruit bars and fruit filled grain bars tend to be their favorites. I am not opposed to having a couple boxes of these pre-packaged bars around to take along for a quick snack when we're out of the house, but would prefer not to give them while at home.

Some time ago I found a great recipe online for oatmeal bars and since then have made many variations of the recipe for my kids and for my husband and I.

Adapted from the weelicious.com recipe, http://weelicious.com/2010/03/01/oatmeal-on-the-go-bars/, these Apple Oatmeal Bars are favorites of my little ones and baked every couple of weeks or so. They keep well in the refrigerator for about five days and freeze great!

Apple Oatmeal Bars

2c Rolled Quick Oats
1c Whole Wheat Flour
1 1/2tsp Cinnamon
Pinch of Salt
1tsp Baking Powder
1 1/2c Skim Milk
3tbsp Honey
1/2c Unsweetened Applesauce
1 Large Egg
1tsp Vanilla
3/4c - 1c Dried Apples (chopped in mini food processor)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Place the first five dry ingredients in a bowl and stir to combine
3. Mix the milk, applesauce, egg, honey and vanilla in a separate bowl
4. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet mixture, stir to combine and then stir in the dried apples
5. Pour the oatmeal mixture into a lightly buttered 9x13 baking dish
6. Bake for 30 minutes or until thick and golden
7. Cool, cut into squares

Inaugural Post

Well here it is. I'm taking a leap and starting the blog I've wanted to begin for some time now. 

For those who know me well...they know I am most comfortable with simple foods and up until about two years ago the idea of preparing anything in the kitchen was a daunting one. My idea of cooking meant removing something from a box or pouring contents from a can and "cooking" them in a microwave.

When I became a mom I committed myself to trying new things and providing my family with nutritious food prepared at home. It has been a slow evolution and one that has required lots of reading, testing and even frustration. Determining the paths you want to take on nutrition for your family is not easy.

It has been during the challenges, like a horribly burnt pot of carrots on my stovetop, and even the triumphs I decided it could be fun to write about all of this. But, don't ask about the carrots...those are still a sore subject. 

The intention of this blog is to share my adventures in the kitchen and hopefully give others some ideas to try in their own kitchen. I don't always follow a recipe ingredient for ingredient or measurement for measurement. What fun would that be? I attempt to take a recipe and make it even more nutritious, whenever possible, and hope my family will not only eat it but enjoy it.