Health-Packed Pumpkin Bran Muffins

Before I get going with my recipe, I wanted to quickly share this week's favourite moments with the kids:

- Logan came up with the nickname "babykins" for Chloé, a mixture of "Chloékins", which we call her, and "baby", which he almost always calls her.  I LOVE her new nickname!!

- ever since we finally got around to opening up our pool, Logan has been running around the house shrieking "Logan in a pool" non-stop.

- when I had to brake quickly the other day, Logan told me "whoa! careful car".  God that kid makes me laugh.  When he isn't making me pull my hair out.

Now onto the good stuff.

Today's recipe comes from the amazing cookbook Simply Great Food.  In my quest to empty my freezer as quickly as possible, I whipped up these muffins this weekend with some leftover canned pumpkin I had frozen awhile back.  The thing with this freezer challenge is that you take out a small bag of pumpkin, only to transform it into a mountain of muffins, which can't possibly be eaten before they go bad.  And back in the freezer these bad boys go, only now, taking up 20 times more space than the pumpkin originally did.  I don't think I'll ever see the end of it!

I made half of these into mini-muffins and the other half into regular sized ones.  Logan liked them almost as much as he liked these muffins here and scarfed down 4 of the mini muffins as soon as they came out of the oven.  Guess I could have made them all just regular sized and saved myself the headache of washing those tricky mini-muffin pans!

I made my muffins with 3/4 C of pumpkin and 1/4 C of unsweetened applesauce, only because I didn't have quite enough pumpkin (just an idea, for when you get to the bottom of your canned pumpkin).  I also made them entirely with whole-wheat flour instead of a mixture and they turned out fine.

I like these muffins because they're full of all things healthy: whole-wheat flour, flax seed, sesame seeds, wheat germ... and even some sneaky vegetables!

2 C bran cereal (I used All-Bran) or 1 C natural bran
1 1/4 C all-purpose flour
1 1/4 C whole-wheat flour
1 C raisins
1/2 C sesame seeds
1/2 C ground flaxseed
1/4 C wheat germ
2 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 C buttermilk or sour milk (1 tbsp. lemon juice/vinegar added to each cup of milk)
1 1/2 C lightly packed brown sugar
1 C mashed cooked pumpkin or canned pumpkin (not pie filling)
1/2 C vegetable oil

1.  In a large bowl, combine bran cereal, all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, raisins, sesame seeds, flaxseed, wheat germ, baking soda and salt.

As you can see, I cheated, and mixed the wet ingredients in first

 

2.  In a very large bowl, combine eggs, buttermilk, brown sugar, pumpkin and oil.  Gradually fold in bran mixture until well combined.  Bake immediately or cover and refrigerate for up to 1 week.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees Farenheit.

3.  Scoop about 1/3 C batter per muffin into prepared muffin cups.

4.  Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until tops are firm to the touch and a tester inserted in the centre of a muffin comes out clean.  Let cool in tins for 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 24 muffins.

Difficulty level: easy to moderate

Healthy, Veggie Packed Morning Glory Muffins

Happy Mother's Day to all you mommies out there!!!  I hope that everyone was spoiled and enjoyed a day of relaxation in the sun.

I've had a nice, quiet day.  I woke up this morning to a brand new KitchenAid mixing bowl.  Does my husband know me or does my husband know me?  Or was it just an attempt to get me to make more goodies??  So, I of course had to test run it as soon as I got home from my zumba class. 

So I made some muffins, as it's been quite awhile since I've made any and Logan has been asking for them lately.  Remember here when I said that I had found a delicious, new, healthy recipe for muffins?  I think I love these ones here even more.  I got this recipe from Katie when we were in Vancouver.  These muffins are packed with vegetables, which as any mom of a toddler knows, are almost impossible to get into most kids.  Logan has no idea that he's eating anything good for him here.

I would usually leave the cranberries and pumpkin seeds out, as Logan doesn't like to mix textures of food together.  But he has recently fallen in love with dried cranberries and cherries - I've convinced him to eat them by telling him they are candy.  I have no idea how he even knows what candy is, as I've certainly never given him any (daycare???), but it was enough to make him try (and love!) these.  We also tried to sell him on some soup by calling it ketchup, but he was a bit too smart for that one ;)

I left the dried cranberries and pumpkin seeds in and it seems to be a success, as he ate one and a half of these huge muffins within a few minutes of them coming out of the oven.

Before I get on with the recipe, I wanted to share a few of my favourite moments from this week:

- Logan turning to wave to our family doctor as we were leaving his office and saying "bye Soucie".

- how Chloé has started pulling at her hair and her ear when she is falling asleep.

- watching how Chloé watches Logan's every move, wherever he goes.  She cranes her neck at insane angles to not lose sight of him and he eats it up.  It's so special to get to watch such a bond develop between the two of them.  I think of how close I am with my siblings and realize that it likely started way back in the beginning.

- seeing how excited Logan was when Jérôme took him for his first ride of the season in the bike trailer.   He kept begging "vélo, vélo" (bike) even after returning from an hour long ride.  And refused to take off his helmet for at least an hour afterwards. In true Logan style ;)

- the sound of Chloé starting to babble (what S-LP wouldn't love that??). 

- how when I kissed Logan good night tonight to go put Chloé to bed (unsuccessfully), Logan smiled and said "dance".  I usually only kiss him goodnight before he's in pyjamas on the night I go to zumba.  So much better than the tears we used to get at my departure.

Enjoy your muffins.  And your Mother's Day.  I hope you have something special planned for dinner.

Beat together with a fork:

1 egg
1/2 C brown sugar
1/3 C plain yogurt
3 tbsp. canola oil

I used plain Greek yogurt, as this is all that I had in my fridge.

Whisk together in another bowl:

1 1/2 C flour (I used whole-wheat)
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon

Mix wet and dry mixtures until just combined and then add:

1/2 C grated carrot (Katie mentioned she usually puts in a fair amount more, so so did I) 
1/2 C shredded zucchini
3-4 lumps of frozen spinach, defrosted and well drained (pat with a paper towel to dry well)
1/2 C grated apple (I left the skin on for extra nutrients and fiber)
1/4 C cranberries (I used dried cranberries)
1/4 C pumpkin seeds or walnuts
1/4 C shredded unsweetened coconut

I doubled the recipe, and it took me almost an entire bag of mini carrots to get 1 C grated (didn't have any regular carrots in the fridge), about 1 and a half tiny zucchinis and about an apple and a half.  Just to give you an idea on how much to buy.  And it was maybe total 1/4 C of spinach that I put in.

Next time, I'll also throw in some combination of the following: wheat germ, ground flax seed, hemp seed, and/or chia seed.

defrosted spinach

Mix until just combined.  Do not overmix (lumps are fine).

Pour into well-greased muffin tins and bake for 16-20 minutes at 350 degrees Farenheit.

The recipe says that it makes 6 large muffins, but I got 18 large muffins after doubling the recipe.  Katie always doubles it and makes them in a mini-muffin pan, yielding close to 2 dozen mini muffins. 

Difficulty level: easy to moderate

Carrot Bran Muffins

Can you tell that I'm not on vacation anymore??  No posts in almost a week!  And I haven't been trying out a ton of new recipes either (though I'm working on a brioche right now that, if it works, will be up here shortly).

I've had a great week overall though.  Busy, but great.  In fact, it's made me realize that I think I need to keep myself busier like this to maintain my sanity.  I feel that some weeks are so loaded with random appointments that whenever I don't have to be out of the house, I often feel like just relaxing alone.  However, I realized how happy I was this week and that I need to strive for more similar days of fun activities for me.

Earlier this week, I tried out a great mom and baby yoga class at Cielo Studios, which was a fantastic opportunity to relax AND work out a bit at the same time.  

The next day found me at the West Island Women's Centre, volunteering for their annual luncheon in celebration of International Women's Day.  For those of you who live out this way and are not yet familiar with the WIWC, they offer a vast variety of courses to women of all ages at extremely reasonable rates.  Free preschool childcare is also offered during the day while women attend classes, which makes it a fantastic way for moms to get a chance to have some precious "me time", while at the same time, working out, learning a new skill or working on self-growth (they offer everything from zumba to quilting to decluttering!).  This is where I am taking the knitting class that I talked about here.

I had a lot of fun helping set things up for the luncheon, and particularly, getting a chance to preview all of the delicious food!!.  One of the women (Donna) was even nice enough to give me a copy of a cookbook that the Centre produced a few years ago.  So stay tuned for some recipes from there as time goes on.  

As an aside, it turns out that Donna also has a blog, on books, which you can check out here.  And, funny enough, the review that is posted right now is of a cookbook!

Friday led me to a long visit with an old friend who I don't see near as much of as I used to.  And it was wonderful to reconnect.

I also think that the beautiful mild weather is also helping me feel more like myself, as I've been enjoying tons of long walks with the kids in the afternoons (for daily visits to see the diggers, of course).

Spring should keep me nice and stimulated, as I plan to continue my knitting course and also sign up for a cake decorating and a muscle toning class (talk about contradictory!!) at the WIWC if I can get to registration early enough.  I'm also going to take aqua-stroller again, as I did with Logan when he was a baby.  So I figure that between these classes and my zumba, this should keep me feeling like myself, despite the business of having two little ones. 

I made today's recipe awhile back, but never found the time to post it. Still in a quest to make Logan eat more vegetables, I whipped up a double batch of these carrot muffins.  I particularly like this recipe, as it has both carrot and bran, plus has only a little sugar and oil.  Pure health.  In one delicious muffin. 

This recipe comes from Dietitians of Canada's Cook Great Food.

1 1/4 C whole-wheat flour
1 1/4 C high-fiber bran cereal (I used Bran Buds)
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 C grated carrots
3/4 C buttermilk
1/3 C packed brown sugar
1/4 C vegetable oil
1/2 C raisins

1.  In a large bowl, combine flour, cereal, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.

2.  In a separate bowl, beat eggs thoroughly; blend in carrots, buttermilk, brown sugar and vegetable oil.  Add to dry ingredients, stirring just until moistened.  Stir in raisins.

3.  Spoon batter into greased or paper-lined muffin cups, filling about three-quarters full.  Bake in preheated 400 degree Farenheit oven for about 20 minutes or until tops of muffins spring back when lightly touched.

Makes 12 muffins.

Applesauce Snacking Cake

So much to post, so little time.  My blog files are getting backed up with recipes that I have made, but have yet to find the time to type up and post... I keep trying to clear out the backlog and just find myself getting further and further behind.  Maybe we should just order pizza for a month so that I don't have any more new recipes to post???

I decided early December to join a cake decorating club here in the West Island.  I was looking for some sort of new activity for myself, to help save me from my never-ending schedule of kid-related activities.  My sister mentioned that a friend of hers was taking cake decorating lessons and that seemed to be a great fit for me.  After doing a bit of searching, I came across this club that is cheaper than taking lessons, so I figured I would join. It'll get me out of the house once a month without the kids and will (hopefully!!) lead to me being able to decorate beautiful cakes for my kids' birthdays.  I had attempted my first cake decorating for Logan's 1st birthday and it turned out pretty well.  But I'm excited to learn all sorts of new stuff about cake decorating.

So today I rushed to get together all of the required supplies and then to get Logan fed before I was out the door with Chloé for my first meeting.  All to find that it had been cancelled because of the weather.  Boo!  Such disappointment... so any blogging of beautiful cake-related news will have to wait awhile still.

But at least it leaves me some time to put up another post.  And as a special bonus, I managed to already get Chloé down into bed on her own at 9pm, which is a new record.  So I actually have a bit of hands-free time before bed. Yay!!!

I made this recipe a few weeks back. I had made some Christmas cookies (that I still haven't posted!) and ended up with leftover icing.  And I really don't make much of anything that needs icing.  So I dug through some recipes and decided to make this applesauce snacking cake to use up the leftover icing I had.  So I didn't use the icing I'm including here with this recipe, but the one I used was similar.  

This recipe comes from Canadian Living's Best Muffins & More. I added a bit of ground flax seed to this, just replacing a bit of the all-purpose flour with flax (maybe 1/4-1/3 of the total amount of the all-purpose flour).  I also chose to make this in a bundt pan instead of the recommended pan, just 'cause I thought it'd make it look prettier.  I would probably normally just omit the icing if making this just for us, but it adds a nice touch for special occasions (and certainly makes it look nicer too!).

3/4 C all-purpose flour
2/3 C whole-wheat flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ginger
pinch each ground cloves and salt
1 C applesauce
1/4 C packed brown sugar
1/4 C fancy molasses
1/4 C vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 C raisins

Icing:

2/3 C icing sugar
1 tbsp. apple juice

1.  In bowl, stir together all-purpose and whole-wheat flours, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and salt.  Whisk together applesauce, sugar, molasses, oil and eggs; pour over flour mixture along with raisins.  Stir together just until combined.

2.  Pour into greased 9-inch square cake pan, smoothing top.  Bake in 350 degree Farenheit oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until cake tester inserted in centre comes out clean.  Let cool in pan on rack.

Icing:  Whisk together icing sugar and juice; drizzle over cooled cake.  

Makes 16 servings.

Difficulty level: easy

Making Blueberry Muffins with Grammy

What a long drive round-trip from Montreal to Toronto for Christmas, with two little ones under 20 months!!  However, I hope that everyone was as fortunate as I was to be able to spend this time of year with family.  The drive was well worth getting to spend time with loved ones (never mind getting to sleep in every morning while grammy got up with the kids!).  We had a lovely visit with everyone and got a chance for everyone to hang out with all three kids.

Grandpa with baby Chloé

The beautiful Maddykins in her Christmas gear

Cuter than the real Santa

Maddy and mommy on Christmas morning

Logan, discovering the joy of stockings

Auntie Kristy with all three monkeys

Daddy and Chloé

I guess I can't really complain about the drive, given that Chloé slept the entire way both ways, only waking twice each time to feed quickly.  Logan, on the other hand, spent much of his time on the way home alternately whining and screaming, waking Chloé up on occasion.  At one point, he was so tired, he was screaming "dodo, dodo" (which means sleep in French), but the poor guy just couldn't fall asleep. When he finally did (less than an hour from home), Chloé of course woke up to feed... grr... but we made it home safely and in good time.  I just wish that I'd brought a pair of ear plugs!

Logan still hasn't been eating much for the past few weeks, probably because he's been teething.  Well, that is, he hasn't been eating much other than the day that he ate 3 melting moments cookies for lunch at my parents' house.  This was his first introduction to "real" cookies other than when my sister gave him one months back, after which he immediately learned the word "cookie" (can you say motivation??).  In any case, the one thing that he will still eat is muffins, so I've been making sure that we always have some on hand. I'd brought home a batch of zucchini muffins with us, but he ate through those before we left.  So we dug through grammy's recipe books and fridge and quickly whipped up a batch of these blueberry muffins.

Logan, helping to stir the muffins

He discovers that he likes muffin batter about as much as he likes muffins.

Giving grammy a taste.

This recipe comes from Company's Coming Muffins & More. I first made the recipe as is.  I just don't bother mixing the blueberries with the additional flour, as I don't care if the batter all turns blue if the muffins are just for us.  I packed them away for our car ride home, along with some cheese, tofu spread and crackers and applesauce, for Logan to eat on our way home.  But when we stopped for lunch, Logan wasn't hungry.  We quickly packed the car back up to get back on the road.  And only maybe half an hour later, Logan was yelling that he was hungry and wanted a muffin.  And as I begun to dig for the muffins, I suddenly realized what the big thud we had heard as we had pulled onto the highway was... it was our blueberry muffins flying off of the top of the car, which is where I'd put them when I'd strapped them into his car seat.  And there began the fits... at least he finally cried himself to sleep.

So I whipped up another batch of these as soon as we got home and a bit unpacked.  This time, I used 1 C of all-purpose flour and 3/4 C of whole-wheat flour.  I also used only a 1/2 C of blueberries and used a 1/2 C of cranberries as well.  I probably won't make these a ton, as I typically prefer more hearty, healthy muffins.  But these were good and nice for a change.  And they were especially good served warm with a pat of butter on top.  They're more cake-like than the muffins I usually make, more like the ones you'd get in a store.  

1 3/4 C all-purpose flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 C butter or margarine
1/2 C sugar
1 egg
3/4 C milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 C blueberries, fresh or frozen
1 tbsp. all-purpose flour

1.  In a large bowl put flour, baking powder and salt.  Stir together thoroughly.  Make a well in centre.

2.  In another bowl cream butter and sugar.  Beat in egg until quite smooth.  Mix in milk and vanilla.  Pour into well.  Stir just to moisten.  Batter will be lumpy.

3.  Stir blueberries with flour lightly.  Fold into batter.  Fill greased muffin cups 3/4 full.  Bake in 400 degree Farenheit oven for 25 minutes until nicely browned.  

Makes 16 muffins.

Zucchini Nut Loaf

Still on a hunt for new muffin recipes, as Logan is still plowing through muffins as if there is no tomorrow.  He ate 1 1/2 of these muffins today.  I forgot that he couldn't have raisins when I made the raisin breakfast bars, so it's been about a week that he has been muffinless.  And not a day has gone by that I haven't heard him beg "uffi, uffi".  So this morning, as he was eating his breakfast, I whipped up a batch of this zucchini nut loaf.  I figured that it was a good way to sneak a bit more vegetables into him.

I used to often throw a mixture of flax, chia and hemp seed into my muffins, just to make them a little bit healthier.  But as Logan started eating them, I often omitted these ingredients, just in case he was allergic to them.  But I've finally given him each of them and he's not.  And further to an e-mail from my dad reminding me of these ingredients, I've gone back to throwing them in.  I put maybe a tablespoon or two of each of them into the batter, but I really just play it by ear with each recipe.

The minute Logan saw the hemp and flax seed bags, he started yelling "cookie, cookie".  I guess the bags look like the bag of baby cookies that I give him.  And there's no telling a 19 month old that it's not cookies.  So finally, I just sprinkled a bit on his cereal.  But then he wanted some in his spoon.  And proceeded to eat spoonfuls of flax and hemp dry, directly from his spoon (yuck!) saying "mmm... cookie".  I'm glad my kid things hemp and flax seed are cookies, lol.

Logan sat in his high chair, screaming "see, see" as the mixer whirred and realized the minute I got out the muffin tins that muffins were soon to be had.  Poor thing is still too little to understand that they need to be cooked and he just lost it when they disappeared into the oven. 

I can't wait until the kids are old enough to actually participate in some of the baking projects (aka tear apart my kitchen).  In the meantime, I'll keep whipping up muffins with him in his high chair, providing commentary the entire time.

I omitted the nuts from these again, since I'm not eating nuts.  The recipe says you can substitute with raisins or chopped fruit if you want to lower the fat content of the muffins, though I didn't bother.  This recipe comes from the Dietitians of Canada's cookbook Cook Great Food.

1 1/2 C all-purpose flour (I used whole-wheat)
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. each salt and ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 egg 
3/4 C granulated sugar
1/3 C vegetable oil
2 tbsp. 2% milk
1 C shredded zucchini (unpeeled)
1/2 C chopped walnuts or pecans
1/2 tsp. grated lemon zest (optional)

1.  In a large bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, nutmeg and baking powder.

2.  In a medium bowl, beat egg; whisk in sugar, oil and milk.  Stir in zucchini, nuts and lemon zest, if desired; stir zucchini mixture into dry ingredients.

3.  Pour batter into greased 8- by 4-inch loaf pan. Bake in 350 degree Farenheit oven for 50 minutes or until tester inserted in centre comes out clean.  Cool for 10 minutes in pan.  Turn out onto rack to cook completely.

Makes 10 servings.

Nut-free if walnuts/pecans are omitted.

Raisin Breakfast Bars

This recipe comes from Canadian Living's Best Muffins & More, which I am shocked to see that you can still find on Chapters' website, as it was published in 1994.  My copy has "To Sleepy Owl from 2nd Bradford Brownies" written on the inside of it from back in the days when I used to volunteer with Brownies.  And used to live in Bradford.  And that was ages ago.  My Brownies are not getting married and having their own babies.  That's how old I am. 

I was flipping through this for some new muffin recipes.  Logan is more than slightly addicted to muffins.  He stands at the bottom of fridge (I keep the muffins in a Tupperware on top of the fridge) shouting "uffi", "uffi" incessantly until someone finally appeases him with some muffin.  And the kid doesn't quite understand that sometimes that Tupperware is up there even when there is nothing in it to savour.  And then begin the fits... If terrible twos begin at 18 months, does that mean they should be over by 2????  That is my question (prayer) of the month.  

I've been trying to keep muffins in the house as regularly as possible, since the little guy loves them so much.  But I'm getting a little sick of always making the same recipes.  So I came across this recipe that sounded not only delicious, but also super healthy, since yogurt replaces a lot of the fat in the recipe.  They're really just muffins, but baked as a bar instead.  Their flavour is actually quite similar to my mom's recipe for bran muffins - which is fantastic, and highly recommended.  But it makes fewer, which is good for when you're not necessarily feeding a crowd or looking to fill your freezer.  Maybe if Logan loves muffins as much as he does now when he's 16, I'll be making my mom's recipe (which makes 60) on a weekly basis.  But these are a nice substitute for days when I want something that makes a smaller batch.

2 C raisins
1 C whole-wheat flour
1 C All-Bran cereal
2/3 C packed brown sugar (I used 1/2 C)
1/2 C all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 1/2 C plain yogurt
1/4 C vegetable oil
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tbsp. coarsely grated orange rind (I omitted this, as I'm not a fan of orange in baked goods)

1.  In large bowl, combine raisins, whole-wheat flour, cereal, sugar, all-purpose flour, baking soda and salt.  Whisk together eggs, yogurt, oil, vanilla and orange rind;  pour over dry ingredients.  Stir together just until moistened.

2.  Pour into greased 9-inch square cake pan.  Bake in 350 degree Farenheit oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until tester comes out clean and cake has come away from sides of pan.  Let cool on rack; cut into bars.  

Makes 16 bars.

Bran Muffins

Today's cooking adventure went just as planned.  Logan surprised us by sleeping until 7:45 and Chloé was still asleep when he got up.  So instead of being greeted by the screams that we are used to, I awoke to hearing Logan chatting away quietly to himself in his crib.  And he pleasantly said 'hi' to me when I opened the door instead of whining for about 30 minutes.  I wish every day could start like this!

Logan and I headed out on a walk to the grocery store as soon as we were up, dressed and fed.  And then after some major temper tantrums to get him back in the house, I whipped up some hot artichoke and spinach dip (that we enjoyed for lunch) and started making the zuppa du jour that we will eat tonight.  After further temper tantrums to get Logan down for a nap - first time even in his big boy bed! - I started my cooking bonanza.   

As I type this, Logan is out with Jerome at the hardware store, Chloé is still sleeping in her sling (going on 3 hours now!) and I've got zuppa du jour and carrot and coriander soup simmering on the stove top, some maple surprise cooking in the crockpot, the muffins below in the oven and some dough for homemade donuts just waiting to be thrown into the deep fat fryer (that recipe to come, if they turn out to be any good).  The kitchen is a crazy mess, the dishwasher is full and running and I'm taking advantage of what will probably be my last few minutes of quiet to get this typed up.

I love, love, love the other bran muffin recipe that I have already posted, but they make about 60 muffins.  So at times when I don't have freezer space (like now), I whip up these ones instead.

I opted to throw some frozen blueberries into these muffins, as Logan is a bit young still to be having raisins.  He's really hit and miss on blueberries.  Sometimes, he picks them out, says 'uh oh' and chucks them right on the floor.  And other times, he picks them out and they're the only things that he will eat.  We'll see what happens with these muffins...

1/4 C margarine
1/2 C brown sugar (firmly packed)
1/4 C molasses
2 eggs 
1 C milk
1 1/2 C natural wheat bran
1 C flour (I used whole-wheat)
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 C raisins (optional)

1.  Cream together the margarine and sugar.  Add molasses and eggs and beat together.

2.  Add milk, and then add bran.

3.  Combine flour, baking powder, soda and salt together.  Add to liquid ingredients.  Add raisins, if desired.

4.  Place in muffins pans and bake at 400 degrees Farneheit for 18 to 20 minutes.

Makes 12.

Spinach and Parmesan Muffins

The cheese muffins I made earlier this week reminded me of some absolutely delicious spinach cheese muffins that I use to get in Paris... of all places... for muffins. The first summer that I spent in Paris, I worked in a little American bakery - the San Francisco Muffin Company. Which ceases to exist. It was owned by an American couple and they sold all sorts of delicious North American baked goods and sandwiches that, at the time, were somewhat tough to find in Paris.

And I think my absolute favourite thing they sold was their spinach cheese muffins. Wait... maybe it was their lemon squares... but these were a close second. So I started hunting for a recipe last week after making my cheese muffins. And I stumbled across one on the Good Food Channel and made them this morning.  Tasty indeed.  I think these are going to be my favourite side to a hearty winter soup in the months to come. 

This is also hopefully a good way of sneaking some spinach into Logan.  We'll see what he thinks of them when he gets home from daycare later today, but I suspect he will enjoy them just as much as he does any muffin.  Well, except banana chocolate chip muffins, I'm sure.  I had thrown a very small handful of chocolate chips into my maple-banana muffins with flax earlier this week.  Only a small handful because I knew Logan would be eating them, and I don't really want him eating chocolate just yet.  Well, the little monkey proceeded to smash the muffin into little bits, in a hunt for the few chocolate chips he could find.  And then, that's all he ate.  Even though he usually loves banana muffins.  So maybe he'll do the same and pick out the spinach?? Or maybe if I hid a few chocolate chips into just his spinach muffins???

1 3/4 C flour (I used whole-wheat)
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. sugar
75g Parmesan (I used fresly grated Parmesan)
100g spinach, cooked, cooled and chopped (I used a 300g package of defrosted frozen chopped spinach, well drained)
1 egg
1 C milk
1/3 C vegetable oil

1.  Grate the Parmesan finely and set aside.

2.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Farenheit.  

3.  Sift the flour, salt and baking powder in a large mixing bowl.  Stir in the sugar, about 2/3 of the Parmesan and the spinach.  In a large jug, beat together the egg, milk and vegetable oil.

4.  Pour the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients.  Using a metal spoon, stir until just combined.  You must not beat this mixture or stir it too much.  It should be quite lumpy, but there should be no traces of dry flour.

5.  Spoon the mixture into muffin cups and sprinkle the remaining Parmesan on top.  Bake for 20-25 minutes until risen and golden.  Serve warm.

Serves 8 (I got 11 muffins)

Cheese Muffins

I should have known as I woke this morning that it was going to be one of those days... 

The day began with me lying in bed, groggily watching Logan playing with some of his cloth diapers. Until I came to the realization that he was playing with the dirty diapers from his diaper bag. Could have been worse - at least they were all wet and not dirty! But still... how disgusting is that?

Heather called me early this morning to join her at Ikea. The last thing she said before hanging up was "no rush". Good thing. Apparently, there is no such thing as being able to leave your house in a rush when you have kids. Or, viewed alternatively, it is always a huge rush to ever be able to get out of the house... To the point that I'm wondering how I'll ever get out of the house for 7:30 a.m. twice next week to get to our doctor's appointments on time?!?!?!  I was just about ready to leave to meet Heather, but wanted to quickly change the kids' diapers before leaving. And then Chloé peed all over herself and the change table... that's how life goes with newborns.  

A few moments later, I gave Logan an applesauce pack - the ones with the little spouts you can sip from, which tend to be pretty mess free. I quickly put Chloé into her car seat and turned around to see Logan, with a huge grin on his face, shaking the applesauce pack as hard as he could. And there he was, covered head to foot in applesauce. As was the floor of my entrance, the living room, as well as two doors. Lesson learned. It is not advisable to give your toddler applesauce as you are getting ready to leave the house. Quick clothing change for Logan... that's 4 outfits to wash from today and counting, and it wasn't even 9:30 a.m. yet. And I had just *finally* caught up on all of the mountains of laundry the night before. *Le sigh*

So finally out the door and off to Ikea. After a relatively uneventful trip to Ikea, as I went to put Logan in the car, I realized that he had peed through his outfit (and all over the stroller) while in the store.  No chance that I was gonna pack Chloé back up to change him in the store, so I opted to change him in the trunk of the car. Much to the alarm of a few people who glanced in our direction, giving me "most terrible mother in the world" glares. Come on!!!  It was a bit chilly outside, but not that cold and he was only naked for a split second. And really, he survived, so that's all that matters...

In true child style, Logan fell asleep just seconds away from our house. I didn't dare wake him up, for fear that he might not nap at all today, so I decided to drive around until he woke up (enjoying the precious silence and a tea!). Only to get home to realize that I hadn't done Chloé's car seat up before leaving Ikea!!! And that's the moment where I got today's first nomination for the "best mother in the world" award. I can only be extremely thankful that we didn't get an accident on my leisurely scenic tour around the West Island...

After lunch (yes, it was still only noon!), we were off for an uneventful walk to the grocery store, followed by a trip to the park. I'm still really getting the swing of managing this whole two kid thing. Or I should say, not getting the swing of it, but hoping that I will soon. I quickly laid Chloé down on the bottom of a slide to put her back in her sling only to turn around to Logan dumping handfuls of sand directly onto her face. Poor thing is only 2 weeks old and she's already being picked on by her older brother! At least she was sleeping, so her eyes and mouth were closed...

And then we finished off our park visit with Logan pulling a Superman stunt off of one of the park structures. He was playing with (which is a politically correct was of saying pushing around) a little girl at the top of a slide. And I looked down for one second to get Chloé to feed and looked up to see him basically jumping off the top of the ladder. How can kids move so fast??? Good thing the random stranger I had just met at the park had the wherewithall to catch him. This is when I got my second nomination for the "best mother in the world" award... Even though I saw it happening and was close enough that he wouldn't have hit the ground. But there's something super embarrassing about not being the one to be the first one to respond to your kid's suicide attempt.

And yes, I came home from all of this exhausted and with a splitting headache and vegged in front of the tv with Logan playing at my feet, Chloé in my arms, counting the minutes until Jerome came home. But the day's fun was not quite yet over. Logan managed to puke all over me before the day's end. Self-induced vomiting. Caused by a major temper tantrum over I-don't-even-know-what. 

And then for one last grand finale, while I was running his bath (and in his bedroom putting away his laundry), he managed to reach a bucket on the counter (gosh he's getting too tall!), stick it under the tub faucet a good number of times, and create an artificial lake in our bathroom... good times... Lucky for him, he went to sleep without a peep, or I might have just lost it.

People have been asking me since Chloé was born if I find the adaptation to having two kids easier or harder than adapting to having a first baby. Or if I find it tough that they're only 18 months apart. Up until today, I'd have said that the adaptation to two kids wasn't all that particularly challenging. But that was before I was nominated for any awards. Funny how much one day's events can change your perspective. Today, I felt like I couldn't even handle one of them, never mind two. And I'm sure that everyone reading this who has kids has had these kinds of days where you count the minutes until your husband gets home, until your kids go to sleep, until you can finally go to sleep... and I guess that's just part of the game. 

Luckily, even in the craziness of days like today, there are many moments that help you quickly forget the struggles. Like watching Logan giggle his head off as he ran through the tunnels in the play structure or through the leaves. Or getting to cuddle with him beside me, Chloé in my arms at the end of the day. Or watching him give Chloé 10+ kisses in a row saying "mmwa" every single time. Or getting a huge chuckle over one of his first combinations: "bum boy J" - I call Logan stinky bum boy when I change his diaper, which he repeats as "bum boy" and he has gotten into the habit of calling Jerome "J", imitating myself. I'm not quite sure what he meant when he said "bum boy J" this evening, but I laughed so hard that it made up for all of the crap he put me through today!!

And I'm sure that tomorrow will bring a whole new set of adventures... though Logan is in daycare about every other day, which means that I'll have a bit more peace for some of the day tomorrow.

Given what I just wrote, I guess that it's evident that I haven't had a ton of time to be cooking/baking since our return home from the hospital with Chloé.  I have made a few of my tried and true recipes that are already up here on my blog. Particularly, recipes which tend to be pretty quick and easy to whip up, such as:


shredded chicken

chicken coconut curry soup: 
 



  




mom's mac and cheese:
    








date and apple muffins:

maple banana muffins with flax

apple cream cheese pie for my parents' visit this past weekend:

Logan has been on a muffin binge for the past week or so, eating more muffins than Jerome and myself combined. And since I was home without Logan on Monday, I took advantage of a quiet moment while Chloé was sleeping in her car seat to whip up a batch of cheese muffins, which I haven't made in ages.

4 tbsp. butter (I used low-fat margarine)
1 1/2 C flour (I used whole-wheat)
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tbsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. paprika
2 eggs
1/2 C milk 
1 tsp. dried thyme
2 ounces (60g) sharp cheddar cheese, cut into 1/2-inch dice (I used low-fat cheese) (next time, I'd throw in some extra cheese)

1.  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Farenheit.  Melt the butter and set aside.

2.  In a mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and paprika.

3.  In another bowl, combine the eggs, milk, melted butter and thyme and whisk to blend.

4.  Add the milk mixture to the dry ingredients and stir just until moistened.

5.  Place a heaped spoonful of batter into muffin cups.  Drop a few pieces of cheese over each, then top with another spoonful of batter.  For even baking, half-fill any empty muffin cups with water. (hmm... I didn't read this step until just typing it right now... I just grated the cheese into the batter. But this sounds like it would have been tasty. I think that next time, I'll grate some of the cheese into the batter and then put some of it cubed into the middle).

6.  Bake until puffed and golden, about 25 minutes.  Let stand 5 minutes before unmolding.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

Makes 9.