One Bowl Oat Muffins

BEST OF THE TASTY CHEAPSKATE

You know how often muffins are just cupcakes without the frosting. Which is kind of depressing on all counts. Dieters don't want some bald-headed cupcake wrecking their calories and using up their points. And sweets-devotees don't want a bald cupcake because, well, it's bald.

It doesn't help when those little bald sugar bombs are just kind of meh in flavor and texture anyway.

Well, folks, it's your lucky day because today you get a muffin that contains a mere 1/4 C sugar, plus a couple whole grains. But it doesn't announce that fact by being bland and boring. It has the perfect amount of sweetness, a beautiful texture.

They can be made in larger batches and saved or frozen (assuming you don't live in a house with 6 hungry people).

Not only that, but these babies come up to $.10/muffin (take that bald cupcakes).

And they are infinitely adaptable. You can add chocolate chips and coconut (like I did, which, yes, makes them a little less righteous). But you could also add carrots or blueberries or apples or rhubarb or raspberries (making them even more righteous). You could do dark chocolate and strawberries (walking the delicate line of food virtue and vice). Or you can just eat them plain.

And if all that isn't enough, get this--you just stir these with a spoon in ONE bowl. How delightful is that. I mean, in that way they're like a really good friend who can come over and see you in your sweats and still know you're awesome. Yes, my dears, that friend is what these muffins are.

So take 20 minutes and make them.

One Bowl Oat Muffins
adapted from Simple Bites
makes 12 muffins
prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 10-12 minutes
Cost: $1.20 (without add ins)
milk: .15, oats: .10, brown sugar: .10, butter: .60, flour: .15, other stuff: .05

1 C milk
1 tsp white vinegar
1 C oats (rolled recommended, but quick work too and are better if you've got a child with a texture aversion)
1 egg
1/4 C brown sugar
1/2 C butter, melted (oil works too, but butter is tastier)
1 C plus 2 Tbsp flour (I use mostly white, but sub in 1/4 C of whole wheat)
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
add ins if you choose (we usually go for 1/2 C chocolate chips)

Combine Milk and vinegar (note: If you've got a cup of buttermilk, you can use that in place of the milk and vinegar.) Add oats and let sit for about 5 minutes (with quick oats, you can just give it a quick stir and you're good to go).

Mix in egg. Add brown sugar and melted butter. Mix.

Combine remaining dry ingredients and stir them in just until combined.

Add add ins if using.

Pour into 12 greased or lined muffin tins. Fill 3/4 full. 

Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes (slightly longer if you've added fresh fruit as an add in).

Potential add ins:
raspberries
apples
nuts
dried cranberries
blueberries
rhubarb
coconut
dates
carrots
chocolate chips

If you are interested in some amazing flavor combinations (and specific measurements) instead of my lazy-bum suggestions above, check these out. They are from Simple Bites .

ONE-BOWL OATMEAL MUFFINS: FLAVOR COMBINATIONS

• 1 cup Raspberries, fresh or frozen & ½ cup Dark Chocolate, chunked or chips
• ¾ cup Diced Apple (Granny Smith or Russet) and ½ cup toasted Walnuts, roughly chopped
• ¾ cup Dried Cranberries & ½ cup toasted Pecans, roughly chopped
• ¾ cup White Chocolate, chopped or chips & 1 cup Blueberries, fresh or frozen
• ½ cup toasted unsweetened Coconut & ¾ cup Peanut-Butter Chips
• 1 cup diced Rhubarb, fresh or frozen & ½ teaspoon Green Cardamom, freshly ground
• ¾ cup Dates, pitted and chopped & ½ cup Pistachios
• ¾ cup Golden Raisins & ¾ cup grated Carrot

Favorite Pumpkin Recipes

Because it's almost October, here are a few of my favorite pumpkin recipes from the blog.

1. Pumpkin Oat Breakfast Cookies. The BEST.



2. Not-for-breakfast Pumpkin Cookies. (Though if you eat them for breakfast, I won't tell; I'm not your mom.)



3. Pumpkin Refrigerator Oatmeal. And we're back to breakfast.



4. Pumpkin Alfredo. In case you don't just eat breakfast and dessert.



5. Pumpkin Spice Muffins.



6. Pumpkin Muffins with Cream Cheese Filling. Because...more muffins.



7. Self Frosting Nutella and Pumpkin Muffins. Because...even more muffins.



8. that classic...Pumpkin Pie.

Sweet Potato Cornbread

One of the key things in eating tasty and cheap is packing as much health and yumminess into your dishes as possible. That said, health and yumminess are sometimes kind of difficult to balance.

 In this cornbread, we have a nice balance of homey comfort food and healthy grains and vitamin-A packed sweet potato. There's nothing like working some orange veggies into your comfort foods. I think your grandmothers would all approve.

P.S. I think that pumpkin would work just as well, but I haven't tried it yet.

Sweet Potato Cornbread
adapted from Chew Out Loud
makes one 8x8 inch pan (16 small pieces)
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 20-30 minutes plus any cook time you need for the sweet potatoes if not using leftovers
Cost: $2.25
sweet potato: .40, cornmeal: .40, cream of wheat: .25, flour: .10, sugar: .10, eggs: .10, Greek yogurt: .50, milk: .10, other stuff: .30

1 large sweet potato (about 1.5 C mashed sweet potato)
1 C whole grain cornmeal (of course you can also use the normal kind and that works too, but it's a little less healthy)
1/2 C Cream of Wheat
1 C all-purpose flour
1/2 C sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/2 C Greek yogurt, plain
3/4 C milk
2 Tbsp oil (olive of canola)
butter for topping

So first you have to have some cooked sweet potatoes. You can use leftovers (roasted or boiled) or you can peel and boil some up for this (which will take 20-30 minutes). Mash them up.

Combine dry ingredients.

Combine mashed sweet potato and wet ingredients. Depending on how good of a masher you are, you might want to just throw them in a blender and give them a whiz.

Then combine dry and wet ingredients.

Grease an 8x8 inch square pan.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until a knife can be inserted and not come out with dough on it (moist crumbs=fine; wet dough= note fine).

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Secret Recipe Club: Avocado Banana Bread

Before I blab further, I will introduce my Secret Recipe Club blog this month: Making Miracles with Rebekah. Rebekah has lived a fantastically interesting life--enjoying her own children and family and being a surrogate mom to four other little girls. She's traveled the world and enjoys a lot of the same foods I do--quick, family friendly, and delicious. (Note: I'm also itching to try this casserole.)

I think that today's recipe perfectly showcases that. And it's barely even green. Greenness was one of my main concerns when I found this recipe. I knew that it would be my soul recipe regardless, but if it came out bright green I knew it wouldn't have a prayer with the minions. It's only just vaguely tinted, so no one was the wiser. I got my soul mate food and the kids spared me from eating the whole darn thing.

It's delicious, beautiful, healthy (if a little on the sweet side), moist, and a perfect summer breakfast. Especially if you've got those spotty summer bananas.

Avocado Banana Bread
adapted from Making Miracles
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 65 minutes
Cost: $2.05 ($2.90 with chocolate chips)
flour: .50, sugar: .15, bananas: .25, avocado: .50 (aldi price), honey: .40, oil: .15, eggs: .20, chocolate chips: .85

2 C whole wheat flour
3/4 C sugar
1 tsp baking powder
 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 C (about 2) very ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 C (about 1) avocado, mashed
1/4 C honey
1/2 C oil
2 eggs
1 Tbsp vanilla
1 C chocolate chips, optional

Preheat oven to 325. Grease a loaf pan.

Combine dry ingredients (unless you're too lazy for words, like me. Then you throw them in at the end, drag a fork through them, and hope for the best.)

Mash bananas and avocado. Then beat it to get it a little smoother. Blend in honey, oil, eggs, and vanilla.

Stir in the dry ingredients. Add chocolate chips if using.

Bake for 60-75 minutes (mine took 64 on the dot).

Allow to cool for 10 minutes or so, then turn out of the pan and allow to cool further.

PRINTABLE RECIPE

An InLinkz Link-up

Chocolate Banana Muffins

 This is kind of a photo redo. And also a reminder. Last year, I made this delicious chocolate banana bread. I didn't make it all winter, and then, sure enough, got a hankering for some chocolate banana bread yesterday. It was good to rediscover this recipe. When I did, I also remembered that taking pictures of chocolate bread is a beast. Muffins are easier.

They also only take 20 minutes to bake instead of the hour that banana bread takes. So if you're out of breakfast cereal or up for a picnic treat, make these.

As a bonus, they're pretty full of bananas, cocoa, and a bit of whole wheat just to keep it real.

Enjoy!

You'll find the recipe HERE. It makes 12 muffins.

Secret Recipe Club--Banana Coconut Bread

It's time for a Secret Recipe Club recipe again. This month I had Cookaholic Wife who has a ton of lovely Valentine's recipes up right now (unlike someone else we know) who a) forgot about the super bowl and b) keeps forgetting to make something amazing and heart-shaped. Alas. We'll have to let Cookaholic Wife do it for us. In searching for the perfect recipe, I made a delicious barley soup, annd I was going to post it. But then I made her banana coconut bread and decided to kill you with sweetness. Except that it's actually kind of healthy too--so now you can have your cake and eat it too. Mostly though I was just intrigued by the combination of flavors--banana, coconut, and chocolate. Perfect. You could doll it up with a glaze and a dusting of coconut if you want, but we just ate it deliciously as it was for breakfast.

Banana Coconut Bread
adapted from Cookaholic Wife
Makes 2 loaves
Prep time:
Cook time:
Cost: $4.25
sugar: .20, coconut oil: .50, eggs: .20, bananas: .50, buttermilk: .15, flour: .70, chocolate chips: 1.80, coconut: .20

1 C sugar
1/2 C coconut oil (I used extra virgin as should you if you want it to taste and smell coconut-y)
2 eggs
4 ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 C buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 C whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 C chocolate chips (let's be real; I totally used more than that--probably a whole bag)
3/4 C sweetened shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 350. Grease two loaf pans.

In a large bowl, combine the sugar and coconut oil. [Note: Coconut oil is liquid over 72 degrees and solid under that. So, if your oil is warmish, mixing will be easy--you'll just mix. If it's not, you can either warm it, or combine it by cutting it into the sugar with a pastry cutter like you would cut butter into a pie crust]. Stir in eggs, then bananas, buttermilk, and vanilla.

To this add your dry ingredients. Don't overmix them (meaning--mix until they're just combined with the wet ingredients and then stop mixing).

Add chocolate chips and coconut (again just mix until combined).

Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool for 10 minutes, then turn it out to cool the rest of the way (if you don't do this it might get stuck in your pan).

We ate ours the next day for breakfast and it was fantastic.

PRINTABLE RECIPE

An InLinkz Link-up

Secret Recipe Club--Apple Cinnamon Bread

(Can't you just imagine some chopped pecans on the top of this as well? I know I can)

I've made a lot of quick breads--banana, pumpkin, chocolate. I love them all, but this month for the Secret Recipe Club I realized that I had a gaping hole in my repertoire--Apple Cinnamon Bread. I realized this as I was scrolling through Renee's Kitchen Adventures. There it was--a recipe for a quick bread with cinnamon and apples, and that little light went off--the little light that says, "You really need this in your life." I mean, it's fall--it's time to give the people what they want. And the people want delicious comforting sweet (but not too sweet) bread that has grated apple and cinnamon and nutmeg. At least that is what the people want if they live in this house.

I loved so much about this bread. It's definitely on the healthy-ish side. It has fruit, yogurt, the potential for whole wheat. Also, there's not a truck load of sugar in it, which I appreciated. Though perhaps I should warn you that if you're used to intensely sweet quick breads, this one is only mildly sweet, so be prepared for that or jack up the sugar if that's your thing. I'm not here to judge--only to encourage you to get your autumn on and make this bread.

Apple Cinnamon Quick Bread
adapted from Renee's Kitchen Adventures
Makes 1 loaf
prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 60 minutes
Cost: $1.90
flour: .30, sugar: .15, apples: .70, eggs: .20, yogurt: .35, oil: .05, spices: .15

2 C all purpose flour (I think it would be amazing with 1 1/2 C all purpose and 1/2 C whole wheat, but we were out of whole wheat)
1/2 C brown sugar, packed
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutment
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt (I just used regular salt whatever that is)
2 C grated apples (peels and cores removed--this is about 2 apples)
2 eggs
3/4 C plain Greek yogurt
1/4 C canola oil
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp turbinado sugar for topping, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a loaf pan with spray. Renee used a 9x5x3 inch pan. I used the size down, which is 7x3xsomethingorother--still a large loaf pan, not a mini, but not as large as Renee's.

Combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In medium bowl, combine apples, eggs, yogurt, canola oil, and lemon juice. Stir to combine. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir just until combined. Don't over mix. And you really just need a spoon--no beaters or mixer required.

Pour batter into prepared pan and sprinkle with rubinado sugar if you want (this was a hit with my kids. Bake for one hour (mine was done and perfect at EXACTLY one hour, but you should test it with a toothpick--or fork for the unrefined--to be sure there's no uncooked batter lurking in the middle). Let cool in pan for 10 minutes. Then remove to cool completely.

This is even better and more apple-y the next day, but that didn't stop my kids from porking out on it soon after it came out of the oven on the first day.

PRINTABLE RECIPE

An InLinkz Link-up

Chocolate Banana Bread

Originally, I made this as a loaf of bread. I love sweet loaves. But recently, I made the muffin version and got some prettier pictures! 

(original photo of chocolate banana loaf. Chocolate bread is so hard to photograph)

I know when you think summer fruit you're not like, "Hey bananas." But we've always got a bunch hanging there in the kitchen getting spotty way faster than in the winter and needing to be used just as desperately as any bowl of berries. We also have a few more pleasant sleepy-in mornings than we do during the school year (thank goodness). These mornings and a batch of old bananas are the perfect summer combination.

This week we made these into a bread. They can become muffins even easier (think 20 minutes instead of 60).

Chocolate Banana Bread

adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Makes on loaf pan or about 12 muffins

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 60 minutes (for loaf)

Cost: $2.45 (or about $.20/serving)

bananas: .40, butter: .50, sugar: .10, egg: .10, flour: .10, cocoa: .30, chocolate chips: .80, other stuff: .15

3 medium over ripe bananas

1/2 C butter, melted

3/4 C granulated sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 C flour (I used 1/4 whole wheat and 3/4 all-purpose)

1/2 C cocoa

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 C chocolate chips

Heat your oven to 350 and spray a loaf pan generously. 

Mash bananas in a bowl. Add melted butter, granulated sugar. Mix. Add egg and vanilla. Mix. Add dry ingredients (sure, you're supposed to pre-mix these, but I never do; I just throw them in--be sure your cocoa isn't super clumpy though). 

Pour into pan and bake for 55-65 minutes (I use the 7x5 loaf pan rather than the larger size and it is on the long end. If you use a bigger one, you'll probably be on the shorter end time-wise). When a toothpick comes out clean or with moist crumbs attached, you're done. 

Cool in pan for 10-15 minutes and turn out. 

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Zucchini Lemon Bread

Pictured here with all white (all-purpose) flour and a more sugary glaze. 

Zucchini season is coming. It's like the zombie apocalypse, only greener and without dead people who are trying to eat you (sounds like a win win to me). But anyway, yes, zucchini--sometimes there's a lot of it. I have a zucchini bread on here that I love with my soul, but when I saw this zucchini lemon bread on Cooking on the Ranch, it really caught my eye. It was like a lemon bread with zucchini snuck in. Zucchini sneaks very well (just like a zombie, right). Zucchini is so mild in flavor that it can meld with a lot of foods while also adding moisture to them.

This bread is delicious. The first time I made it with all white flour (pictured above). The second time I used half whole wheat flour so that I could justify it for breakfast instead of dessert (story of my life, people). I think I might like the second version even better. I often enjoy the depth of flavor a whole grain gives baked goods. I also thinned out the glaze on top so it was intensely lemony and I looove that.

And here with the whole wheat and thinner glaze. 

Zucchini Lemon Bread
adapted from Cooking on the Ranch
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour
makes 1 loaf
Cost: $1.50 (or about $.10/serving)
(flour: .10, whole wheat flour: .20, eggs: .20, oil: .10, sugar: .10, milk: .10, lemon: .20 (asian store price), zucchini: .50 (and that's gonna be all but free come summer)

Note: I peeled my zucchini in order to keep my children unsuspecting. Because that's the kind of Mom I am.

1 C all-purpose flour
1 C whole wheat flour (preferably white whole wheat)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/2 C canola oil
2/3 C sugar
1/2 C buttermilk (or 1/2 Tbsp vinegar with 1/2 C milk)
juice of 1 lemon
zest of 1 lemon
1 C grated zucchini

In large bowl, beat eggs. Add canola oil and sugar. Then buttermilk, lemon juice, lemon zest, and zucchini. Mix.

To this add the dry ingredients. Mix.

Grease a loaf pan. Bake at 350 for 1 hour or until a knife inserted comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs. (Note: If you use a 9x5 inch pan, your baking time may be shorter.)

Let cool 15-20 minutes. Add glaze. Let cool another few minutes and remove from pan (if you want; we're not bossy around here).

Lemon Glaze:
(Yes, you can skip the glaze, if you want to be lame or healthy or something, but I do believe it increases the overall lemony-ness of this bread. It adds another $.30 cents or so to your cost)
Note: The original recipe called for 2 Tbsp lemon juice and 1 C powdered sugar. It was good, but I found that I liked it better with less sugar. I poured some lemon juice into a bowl and then added powdered sugar until the mixture was still clearish (as opposed to white, which is how it is with more sugar) and sweet/tart. Feel free to experiment with the ratios of lemon to sugar as your little heart/tongue desires.

1/3 C powdered sugar
2 Tbsp lemon juice

Combine. Drizzle over top of bread (I do this while still in loaf pan so that the pan catches the drippings and then they sort of soak into the loaf. But you can take the loaf out and then glaze if you wish.

PRINTABLE RECIPE

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Lemon Poppy Seed Donuts

We usually have breakfast for dinner at least once a week. I think it's one of the best ways to keep your food budget down (unless you go overboard with the bacon, people) and it can be healthy and fast. This week I'd planned to make a variety of muffins, hash browns, and some eggs. Because I forgot that one of the purposes of breakfast-for-dinner night was also to keep things simple, which does not involve anything like a "variety of muffins" so I just made a few eggs and one type of muffin. Well, donut. That's right. I fancied it up by making my muffins into donut shapes, which took no extra effort on my part (though it does require a donut pan). I even gave it a glaze. Why? Because my kids are ever grateful for all my sacrifices and hard work. Ha ha. Just a little joke there. No. I did it because I wanted to, that's why. And I did not regret it. Everything was simple and delicious. And I even threw a little whole wheat flour into those donuts and they were still awesome. And I felt better about eating them for dinner (though as we all know, that was just denial/justification of course).

Of course, if you don't have a donut pan, you can make this into muffins and then dip the top in the glaze.

Lemon Poppy Seed Donuts
makes 6 large donuts
adapted from Healthy Delicious
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes

1/2 C plus 1 Tbsp milk
2 Tbsp sour cream
1 1/2 C flour (I made 1/2 C of that whole wheat)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
6 Tbsp butter
1/2 sugar
1 egg
1 lemon, zested and juice (zest goes in donuts; juice in glaze)
1 Tbsp poppy seed
1 C powdered sugar (for glaze)

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly coat a donut pan with cooking spray.

In small bowl, whisk milk and sour cream.

In another bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, and salt.

In large bowl, cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add egg, lemon zest, and poppy seeds. Beat until combined.

To this, add half flour mixture and half milk mixture and beat.

Then add the rest of the flour mixture and the rest of the milk mixture and beat.

Put batter into the donut pan. You can do this by just plopping it in. If you worry about neatness, you can put the batter in a pastry bag (or a Ziploc bag with one of the bottom corners cut off) and pipe it in. This is neater, though I find that I always make such a mess getting it into my bag that I'm not sure it helps me personally that much.

Cook 15 minutes or until you can stick a toothpick in and it comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs. Leave to cool for a few minutes, then turn out and cool completely.

Now for the glaze:

Take the lemon juice from your lemon and add it to the cup of powdered sugar. Whisk it together.

When the donuts are cool, drizzle this on them. I did this on a plate so as not to waste any precious glaze. Also, I didn't wait until my donuts were completely cool, but all was well anyway. If they're cool it will make a better "glaze." If they're warmer it will sink into the donuts more and still create amazingness.

PRINTABLE RECIPE

One Bowl Oat Muffins

January has arrived in all its negative degreed glory. My kids have been home the last couple of days due to "unusually low temperatures" (Really school system? Truly I think that the superintendent had just planned a romantic rendezvous with someone and then when we only got a centimeter of snow, she had to come up with some other reason to cancel school--"uh, well, it is awfully cold outside, unusually so--eureka, that's it-- romantic rendezvous here I come.") Anyway, it has been cold and we've had people home and hungry. What better thing to do than make muffins.

I thought I had these on my blog.

I would have bet money on it, but I have trolled my way around it several times and can't find this recipe anywhere. Which is just wrong because these are some of the most delicious, most simple, most adaptable, and just generally best muffins out there. So now I will give you this recipe. And happy January because it's also low in sugar (though it doesn't go all out and announce that fact) and low in cost ($.08/muffin--that's what I'm talking about January), and did I mention infinitely adaptable.

One Bowl Oat Muffins
adapted from Simple Bites
makes 12 muffins
prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 10-12 minutes
Cost: $1.00 (without add ins)
milk: .13, oats: .10, brown sugar: .07, butter: .50, flour: .15, other stuff: .05

1 C milk
1 tsp white vinegar
1 C oats (rolled recommended, but quick work too and are better if you've got a child with a texture aversion)
1 egg
1/4 C brown sugar
1/2 C butter, melted (oil works too, but butter is tastier)
1 C plus 2 Tbsp flour (I use mostly white, but sub in 1/4 C of whole wheat)
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
add ins if you choose (we usually go for 1/2 C chocolate chips)

Combine Milk and vinegar (note: If you've got a cup of buttermilk, you can use that in place of the milk and vinegar.) Add oats and let sit for about 5 minutes (with quick oats, you can just give it a quick stir and you're good to go).

Mix in egg. Add brown sugar and melted butter. Mix.

Combine remaining dry ingredients and stir them in just until combined.

Add add ins if using.

Pour into 12 greased or lined muffin tins.

Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes (slightly longer if you've added fresh fruit as an add in).

Potential add ins:
raspberries
apples
nuts
dried cranberries
blueberries
rhubarb
coconut
dates
carrots

You can go to Simple Bites for exact measurements on the add ins if you're interested.

PRINTABLE RECIPE

3 Breads to Make with Zucchini

Last night I was supposed to go to an activity at my church. Unfortunately when I went to get into my car, well, there were no keys. Because they were sitting in my car staring at me. Kip had left for work and we hadn't gotten around to making a spare key. I am sure the activity at church was wonderful, but sometimes there's nothing better on earth than being stuck at home with nothing at all you can do about it. I had a big zucchini and some spotty bananas. I made muffins. And muffins. And muffins.

And I realized that I hadn't done something like that for a long time--where I just stayed home and made a lot of food for fun without the pressure of doing something else looming over me. It was delightful. It was more than that--it was soulful.

I've actually been meaning to make a stock-pile of snack food to stash in the freezer for a long time. I find that it's nice in summer. That way we can pack up and head to the park or pool or library or hiking trails spur of the moment and just grab something out of the freezer. Otherwise, I'm like, "Well, I guess we better eat lunch first." And then we do. And then there's a mess. And then, inevitably some other type of meltdown happens. And then we're just barely walking out the door when we should have been walking back in for afternoon naps and quiet time. And then I just end up grumpy and/or angry about whatever activity it was that we did. Freezer snacks solve this problem beautifully. But the great irony of this summer is that I haven't had time to make any freezer snacks. Well, last night without even meaning to, I did. Best locked-out-of-car experience ever.

1. Zucchini Coconut Bread. This is my very favorite zucchini bread ever. For me, it can do no wrong (unless you count causing me to gain dozens of pounds as wrong). I love it to a problematic point. I've eaten several pieces already today and probably won't be hungry by dinnertime.

2. Zucchini Chocolate Bread/Muffins. The recipe here has been healthified. The original used about twice the sugar and only oil--no applesauce. I like it with some whole wheat either way just because I don't love white flour muffins. Last night we threw caution to the wind and made it with all the sugar and all the oil and about 1 C of whole wheat and 1 cup regular wheat. Either way these are nice because the chocolate hides the zucchini better than other recipes do (although not perfectly unless you peel the zucchini).

3. Zucchini Blueberry Bread.  We didn't make this one last night, but we could have because we just went blueberry picking last week. This is a fairly wholesome breakfast bread that is still tasty. It's also pretty.

Blueberry Apple Almond Whole Grain Muffins

This month for Secret Recipe Club, I had Bizzy Bakes. Up in the upper left corner, Bizzy has a whole section donated to muffins. I always figure if someone's got a specialty, you should got with that. So I did.

These were great. They had nuts, fruit, and whole grains. I subbed out the brown rice flour because I didn't have it. I subbed part whole wheat, part all-purpose, and a bit of barley flour I had lying around. You could do all white or all wheat if you wish. These also have oatmeal. Which just made them really really well rounded. Bizzy made these with blueberries, but mentioned in the post that they had originally had apples. I thought I'd use apples and blueberries. I did not regret it. Next time I make them, I think I'll even throw in a half cup of shredded zucchini. Yes I will.

It also called for cardamom, which I love and forgot and was sad about. But if you don't love it, know that these are still good without it.

Blueberry Apple Almond Whole Grain Muffins
adapted from Bizzy Bakes
makes about 18 large muffins
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 15-20 minutes
Cost: $3.50 or about $.20/muffin
milk: .10, eggs: .20, sugar: .15, oil: .10, blueberries: 1.00, apple: .50, whole wheat flour: .30, flour: .10, barley flour: .30, almonds: .75

Note: Muffins with whole wheat risk being dry. Buttermilk will help them to be a little moister, and as I said in the above comments, I'd throw in 1/2 C shredded zucchini, which would also keep these from risking dryness.

2/3 C milk or buttermilk
2 eggs
2/3 C canola oil
1 C sugar
1 c old fashioned oats
1/2 C barley flour
1 1/2 C whole wheat flour
1 C all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 scant Tbsp cardamom, optional
1 C blueberries
1 apple, peeled and chopped
1/2 C almonds, chopped

Preheat oven to 375. Prepare pans. Chop apples and almonds.

Combine milk, eggs, oil and sugar.

Combine oats, flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cardamom in another bowl.

Add dry ingredients to wet ones. Then add fruits and almonds. Mix until just combined. Bake for about 20 minutes or until a fork comes out with a few moist crumbs. If you're going to err, underbake rather than overbake. An overbaked healthy muffin is a very dry muffin.

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Whole Wheat Strawberry Donuts

These donuts are baked, not fried (this does mean that you'll need one of those Donut Pans.
If you don't have one, you can easily make these into muffins (which, surprise, is what they really are--only in donutty shapes and with a glaze). Incidentally, we also made several that were mini muffins which turned out cute little donut-hole looking things that were super fun.

My only caveat is that they don't come out all nice and pink, like I was hoping they would. If you want pinky pink strawberry donuts you're going to have to use some food coloring in either the donut or glaze. We skipped it and even my three young girls lived to tell the tale.

Whole What Strawberry Doughnuts
adapted from Mary Quite Contrary Bakes
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 9 minutes or until you stick a fork in and no batter comes out (this will be longer for muffins since they are not as flat)
Cost: $1.65 or about $.16/donut
whole wheat flour: .10, flour: .05, sugar: .05, milk: .05, egg: .10, butter: .05, strawberries: .75, powdered sugar: .40, other stuff: .10

1/2 C whole wheat flour (preferably white whole wheat flour)
1/2 C all-purpose flour
1/3 C sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 C milk
1 egg
1 Tbsp melted butter
1/2-3/4 C strawberries
2 tsp strawberry jam
1 Tbsp pure maple syrup

Glaze:
3 C powdered sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 C cold milk

Preheat oven to 425. Grease donut pan.

Combine strawberries and strawberry jam. Puree it in small blender.

Combine dry ingredients. Add milk, egg, butter, and maple syrup. Stir until combined. Stir in strawberry mixture, starting with 1/2 and only adding more if needed. Batter should be wet, but not crazy runny.

Plop it into donut molds. This makes about 10, so if you've just got a 6-donut mold, you'll need to do it twice or do muffins or mini-muffins (donutty holes) like we did.

To make glaze: Stir all ingredients until smooth. If you had a little extra strawberry stuff, you can add that too (we had a little extra and added it).

When donuts are cooled, dip them into glaze, set on wax paper and let glaze set.

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Green Tomato Muffins

We trust each other, right? We might need to a little here. Because I realize that when I say "Green Tomato Muffins" you're not like "Move over, chocolate chips; I need to get me some of that action." I mean, well, maybe you are, but if you are you're just a little, well, probably not average. Anyway, I'm not going to compare these to chocolate chip cookies because that's kind of like comparing my post-baby body to Beyonce's or something like that. And we all know who's going to win in that contest (duh, me of course; I mean, that is what you were thinking, right?). Okay, we're just not going to compare them because. But do trust me when I say that these are excellent. As in very very good. As in could be eaten for breakfast, but could also be eaten for dessert. Also, they use up a lot of those tomatoes you brought in on that night of the first frost. For us, this was Wednesday. So at 9:00PM on Halloween night, I could be seen in all my weird neighborly creepiness out among my garden plants with a light on picking away. I'm glad I did. Because did I mention that these were excellent.

I adapted them from a Green Tomato Cake, which I will post soon hereafter. It was also good, but I gotta tell you that, between you and me, these were kind of my favorite. They didn't have all that glamorous extra sugar and frosting and all-purpose flour like the cake did, but I thought that they were more complex and flavorful and interesting--kind of like eye wrinkles (told you I had the best post-baby body).

Green Tomato Muffins
adapted from Cooks
makes 11-12 muffins
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 15-20 minutes
Cost: $.90
tomatoes: free, butter: .50, sugar: .10, egg: .10, flour: .05, whole wheat flour: .10, other stuff: .05

Note: My only complaint about these was that they were a little delicate and the bottoms stuck to my muffin pan. Use muffin papers (or whatever the heck they're called) and you won't have to worry about this.

1/2 C (1 stick) butter, softened
3/4 C sugar
1 egg
1 C pureed green tomatoes
1/2 C all-purpose flour
1/2 C whole wheat flour (I used white whole wheat)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 350. Line your muffin pan with muffins liners (or whatever the heck they're called).

Puree tomatoes. I put mine in a food processor to do this, although a blender would work too. I confess that I have no idea how many pounds of tomatoes equals 1 C as it was late and I didn't keep track. I say just puree what you've got and if you don't use all your puree, you can freeze in Ziploc baggies for later muffin cravings.

Beat butter and sugar until well combined. Add eggs. Add green tomatoes. Add dry ingredients. If you want you could add raisins or nuts, but I didn't.

Pour into muffin tin paper liner things and bake for 15-20 minutes or until a knife inserted comes out clean.

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Jewish Bread for our Christian Tradition: A Post on Matzah

When I was growing up, we would sometimes have a sort of "Jesus meal" on the Thursday before Easter. This was the night that Jesus and his disciples were celebrating Passover and the night Jesus broke and blessed the bread (and wine) instituting the Christian sacrament for the first time. Our simple homemade affairs involved flat bread or crackers, grape juice, maybe greens (um, bitter herbs), and some other stuff I can't remember. I think there were olives.

Anyway, that's not the point. The point is that it helped me think about what Jesus and his disciples were doing on that pivotal night before the crucifixion. It wasn't a sad day for us, though. It was kind of fun to eat different foods and learn about something in the sneaky sort of way my mom had fashioned. And the emphasis wasn't on the gloom of the crucifixion, but on the sacrament and the events that led up to the joyful resurrection. It was something that stuck with me.

So I've done it with my kids. We've had crackers, olives, nuts, fish (lamb being woefully too expensive). But this year, this year, I decided to do it right. I would make matzah or Jewish unleavened bread.

Except that then I found out what you had to do it right--sterilized everything (er, maybe some houses, but not this one), special flour that has never been exposed to moisture, spring water, and an 18 minute start to finish time to prevent any kind of possible fermentation. If they make more batches than one, they re-sterilize everything and even clean the rolling pin with sandpaper to ensure that none of the previous (and possibly fermenting dough) is stuck to it. Whoa. Next time someone tells me Mormons have a lot of rules, I'm going to tell them how to make matzah.

As a result, I may have (cough) cut a few corners. After all I wasn't really serving food for Passover. I was really serving food to remind us of a distinctly Christian tradition--the Passover where Jesus broke bread for his disciples. So I fudged a few things. Like those sterile utensils. Still, I did try to keep my bread within the 18 minute limit. I actually thought I'd be way ahead since the actual making of matzah is fairly easy (flour, water, a bit of salt), but I just barely made the time limit and the center of mine is still not crispy (is it required to be crispy?). This is because I used a pan instead of tiles, my oven only goes to 500 degrees, and I took one food blogger's suggestion and brushed on some olive oil and salt. The olive oil seemed to keep the cracker from crisping up as quickly.

Oh, and the fire alarm only went off twice. (A tip for the uninitiated: Make sure none of your parchment paper is hanging over the edge of your pan  or it will blacken and make your fire alarm go off.)

Nevertheless, I was pretty pleased with the final product. It looked interesting if nothing else (it also looked a bit like Illinois).

And while I'm pretty sure my kids will insist on putting peanut butter on their matzah (because it turns out that flour and water don't exactly make a baked good bursting with flavor), I'm guessing they'll probably eat it.

You can find plenty of recipes and videos for real matzah online, but if you're looking for a nice cheater version that's quick and easy and can provide a sort of Christian object lesson, I'll give you the skinny.

1. Sterilize everything. I wiped off my counters and that was pretty much the extent of it.

2. Make the dough by using 3 parts flour to one part water. Add a dash of salt if you want. I did 1 C white whole wheat and 1/3 C water. Stir this together, kneading it into a ball. (If you have to add a bit more water, that's okay, but don't go overboard--you don't want it sticking to your counter, and technically you're not supposed to flour your surface. This is a rule I would have broken if necessary, but I didn't need to).

3. Heat your oven as hot as it will got.

4. Roll out the dough super thin. Some tutorials rolled it into one-serving balls and then rolled those out, but I went with a method that used a long strip instead.

5. Put it on a pan lined with parchment paper. (This was a sort of cheater method. Normally, it would be cooked on hot tiles or even the bottom of the oven.)

6. Prick it with the tines of a fork (did you know you can buy a special rolling pin with pricky things on it?)

(See how that parchment paper is hanging over the side? Don't do that.)

7. I cut mine with a sharp knife so that it would be easier to break into "crackers."

8. Brush on some olive oil and give it a shake of salt. I don't know if this is usual or accepted or not, but it sounded more appetizing to me. However, as I said above, I do think it slowed the cooking.

9. Put this in your hot hot oven. Cook for 3-6 minutes or until it's cripsy and cracker-like.

10. Take it out, cool, and eat.