Breakfast Time - Muffins

I had something else planned for this post about muffins, but it fell through. I'll have to work on getting it put together at a later date. In the meantime, I searched the internet and came up with a list of muffin recipe and ideas plus added my favourite muffin recipe at the end.

 

Did you know you can freeze muffin batter? Laura at Heavenly Homemakers explains how to do it. Just think you could have a freezer full of muffins to bake just when you needed them. Fresh and hot muffins with no mess - how great is that? This is something I definitely want to do with my middle daughter who loves to bake. We don't usually have muffins for breakfast, but we eat them a lot for snacks.

Chocolate Overload Muffins - If it has chocolate I'm all over that. ☺

 

 

Strawberry Cheesecake Muffins - Strawberry and cream cheese a beautiful combination.

 

 

 

Peanut Butter Banana Muffins - My children would like these.

 

Oatmeal Flax Blueberry Muffins - These look delicious AND healthy.

Lemon Poppyseed Muffins - Lemon is my favourite flavour after chocolate. These look fantastic.

 

And here is one of my favourite muffins to make when I need a filling muffin for my hungry tribe. I found this recipe in a newspaper and used it numerous times ever since. I had been on the search for a good raisin bran muffin recipe, and this is it. These muffins are a generous size. They are tasty and filling. Sometimes we have them with peanut butter on top for a little extra protein.

 

Raisin Bran Muffins

 

1 1/2 cups wheat bran

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 large egg

1/2 cup butter - melted and cooled

1/3 cup molasses

1 1/2 cup raisins

 

Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners or grease well.

Stir wheat bran and buttermilk together and let sit for 10 minutes (or not - I don't always ~wink~)

Mix dry ingredients. Add eggs, butter and molasses to the buttermilk mixture.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and scatter raisins on top. Mix gently just until dry ingredients are incorporated.

Fill muffin cups (they will be full). Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes. Makes 12 muffins. 

What is your favourite muffin flavour?

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To see all the posts in this series go here.

Breakfast in Literature

Quite often food is mentioned in literature. We relate to people when they eat because it's one way we relate to each other in life as well.

 

One book in particular comes to mind - Farmer Boy - by Laura Ingalls Wilder. The meals Almanzo and his family eat are often described dish after delicious dish. Just to whet your appetite for the book here is an example of one breakfast.

"When Almanzo trudged into the kitchen next morning with two brimming milk-pails, Mother was making stacked pancakes because this was Sunday.

The big blue platter on the stove's hearth was full of plump sausage cakes; Eliza Jane was cutting apple pies and Alice was dishing up oatmeal, as usual. But the little blue platter stood hot on the back of the stove, and ten stacks of pancakes rose in tall towers on it.

Ten pancakes cooked on the smoking griddle, and as fast as they were done Mother added another cake to each stack and buttered it lavishly and covered it with maple sugar. Butter and sugar melted together and soaked the fluffy pancakes and dripped all down their crisp edges.

That was stacked pancakes. Almanzo liked them better than any other kind of pancakes.

Mother kept on frying them till the others had eaten their oatmeal. She could never make too many stacked pancakes. They all ate pile after pile of them..."

Now compare that with Jane Eyre's first breakfast at Lockwood.

"The refectory was a great, low-ceiled, gloomy room; on two long tables smoked basins of something hot, which, however, to my dismay, sent forth an odour far from inviting. I saw a universal manifestation of discontent when the fumes of the repast met the nostrils of those destined to swallow it; from the van of the procession, the tall girls of the first class, rose the whispered words -

'Disgusting! The porridge is burnt again!'  

'Silence!' ejaculated a voice; ... A long grace was said and a hymn sung; then a servant brought in some tea for the teachers, and the meal began.

Ravenous, and now very faint, I devoured a spoonful or two of my portion without thinking of its taste; but the first edge of hunger blunted, I perceived I had got in hand a nauseous mess; burnt porridge is almost as bad as rotten potatoes; famine itself soon sickens over it. The spoons were moved slowly: I saw each girl taste her food and try to swallow it; but in most cases the effort was soon relinquished. Breakfast was over, and none had breakfasted. Thanks being returned for what we had not got, and a second hymn chanted, the refectory was evacuated for the schoolroom. I was one of the last to go out, and in passing the tables, I saw one teacher take a basin of the porridge and taste it; she looked at the others; all their countenances expressed displeasure, and one of them, the stout one, whispered -

'Abominable stuff! How shameful!'"

I would imagine your breakfast falls somewhere in between these two. ~smile~

Don't forget to enter the giveaway.

 

 

Breakfast Time - Oatmeal

Oatmeal - I love it. For me it is absolutely the best breakfast. We like to have steel cut oats. They're less processed than rolled oats and therefore more nutritious. Right now our supplier is out so we are enjoying rolled oats instead.

 

I have found that a ratio of two to one works for any kind of oatmeal - two parts of liquid to one part of oatmeal. Steel cut oats take longer to cook unless you soak them overnight. That's not a problem for us because we also make eggs to go with our breakfast so we have something to do while waiting. Not that we're ever at a lack of things to do around here. ☺

 

Oatmeal is so versatile. You can add almost anything you want to it. Sometimes we have a buffet. We pull every topping imaginable out of the cupboards and fridge - brown sugar, honey, maple syrup, nuts, jam, dried fruit, cream, milk, etc. Then the children can have what they want.

Sometimes I need a faster option for oatmeal. I found this recipe on http://heavenlyhomemakers.com for making instant oatmeal like the kind you pay big bucks for at the grocery store. I ate a lot of those packets growing up, and I have to say that this homemade version tastes like the store-bought only better. Better because I know exactly what's in it. And that would be TWO ingredients. This is so simple to make and my children love having it for a bedtime snack. It's so easy that even my eight-year-old daughter can make up a bowl to feed her baby brother.

You need ten cups of rolled oats and two cups of brown sugar. Dump seven cups of the oats into a large bowl. Take the other three cups and blend them up. This helps the oatmeal to thicken when you "cook" it. I love my little coffee mill. I have never used it for coffee, but I do use it for grinding up oatmeal, coconut, almonds, etc.

 So here are the rolled oats. Seconds later oat flour.

Add the oat flour to the oats and two cups of brown sugar. Mix it well and transfer it to a jar. Some people put it in small, portion-size Ziploc bags. I prefer a jar. Often I give my toddler and baby just half of a portion.

This jar would have been a lot fuller, but four of my children wanted a bowl of oatmeal since I had just made the mix. I put the ratio of mix and boiling water on the lid. I have to admit though, that I have found you don't need quite the amount of water recommended. It's a bit soupy. Experiment to get the proportion you want. Also, after adding the boiling water let it sit for a couple of minutes. We always put a plate on top to help hold the heat in.

 

 

This is a picture of the oatmeal with some cream mixed in. Sometimes we add raisins and/or almonds. Again, the possibilities are endless. You could leave out the sugar and just add maple syrup or honey every time you make it. A new taste every time if you want.

The baby enjoys this at night for a bedtime snack.

We also enjoy other hot cereals like Cream of Wheat, Cream of Brown Rice, and a cereal that is apparently unique to Canada - Red River Cereal (a mix of wheat, rye and flax). Virtually any grain can be turned into a hot cereal. Our favourite though will always be oatmeal.

How about you? Do you like hot cereals?

Don't forget to enter our giveaway.

Breakfast Time - Giveaway

So what can make getting breakfast ready more fun? Not a cup of coffee - that just makes it doable. An apron! and as a bonus a matching potholder.

 

And here's the apron you can win this week. Don't these colours make you happy? Who wouldn't like to make breakfast while wearing this apron?

 

 

 

 

So - the details - how can you win?

• Leave a comment on any "Breakfast Time" post - one chance for every comment
• Share this giveaway on Facebook - leave a comment when you have shared
• Follow me on Pinterest - leave a comment when you follow

I will pick a winner Sunday night, May 11th.

 

Breakfast Time - The "Ideal" Breakfast

At the side of the post you will see that I've put a poll up for us to design the "ideal" breakfast. This is just something  I thought would be fun to do. Every day I will update the poll with the results from the previous day. So please vote, and let's see what we come up with. ☺

Breakfast Time - Introduction

My favourite meal of the day is breakfast, and my favourite breakfast if oatmeal. I could eat oatmeal every day and not tire of it. I've been known to have it for breakfast and for a bedtime snack. However, my children  are not quite as enthusiastic as I am about oatmeal. So every once in a while we take a break from oatmeal (sigh) and do something different. I thought it would be fun to do a series featuring all different kinds of breakfast foods.  If nothing else, my children will have some variety in their breakfasts for a while as we try out other kinds of breakfast meals.

 

We'll have posts on cereals - hot and cold, pancakes, muffins, coffee cakes, eggs, etc. We'll also have a voting tournament to come up with an "ideal" breakfast, and one day we'll have a guest posting. It's going to be a lot of fun including a giveaway. So get ready for a few days of yummy breakfast ideas.

While you're waiting for these posts, you can check out Wikipedia's article on the "History of Breakfast" - very interesting. Breakfast has gone up and down in popularity. I totally agree with the current thinking that breakfast is a meal not to be skipped. I don't function well until I have mine. Of course, some of that may have to do with the fact that I still have a baby who nurses several times a night so I generally wake up hungry. ☺

You could also check out my Pinterest board "Food - Breakfast" for more ideas on what to make for breakfast including some you can make the night before or put in the freezer for busy mornings.

What's your favourite breakfast?
 

linked to: Made By You Monday and The Homestead Hop

Fish Chowder

 

Do you ever get down to random items in your kitchen before shopping day and wonder how you can make supper with them? I had a day like that last week. I had two packages of fish fillets that didn't match each other. And two is just not enough for our family of ten. It was a chilly damp day so maybe that inspired my next thought - fish chowder.

 

I didn't feel like endlessly scrolling through recipes to find one I liked. I've done enough cooking that I thought I could pull this off on my own. It worked and I am so excited. I don't often step out on my own to create something. I tweak recipes A LOT, but doing my own is a fairly new experience. My family loved it so I know I'll be doing it again. Not only that I loved it, and generally speaking I don't like fish (unless it's deep fried in a thick batter ☺).

 

This recipe is easy and fast and can easily be adjusted according to your family's likes or what you have in the pantry. I added some bread I had made that day, and we had a filling and comforting meal.

 

Fish Chowder

 

fish fillets - whatever amount works for your family

oil for frying

1/2 cup butter

2 medium onions chopped

1 can mushrooms (284ml/10 oz)

1/2 cup flour

4 cups cream (or milk, but cream makes is tastier)

2 cans corn (341 ml/12 oz)

1 tsp salt

 

Cut the fish into bite size pieces and place in a pan with oil. As they cook add pepper to taste.

 

In a pot melt the butter. Add the onions and mushrooms and cook until the onions are soft and translucent. Add the flour to form a paste.

 

Whisk in the four cups of cream and stir until thickened. Add the cooked fish, corn and salt. Stir frequently and serve when hot.

 

cooking the fish with pepper

 

onions and mushrooms

 

with the flour forming a paste

ready to eat

 

What is your favourite way to eat fish?

Library Time 26

This week I previewed a book for my daughter - Divergent by Veronica Roth. The setting is a dystopian world. I haven't read many books of this genre, but I did enjoy this one. There was almost no swearing unlike The Book Thief. The main character is a sixteen-year-old girl with a life-changing decision to make. I found the book a compelling read and was unable to put it down. I don't think my daughter enjoyed it quite as much as I did, but we've had some good discussions about it. It's fun when you read the same books as your teenager and then discuss all the pros and cons.

 

15-year-old daughter - The Allies by Jack Cavanaugh. The American Family Portrait Series.

 

 

13-year-old son - Western Allied Tanks of WWII.

 

12-year-old son - Reader's Digest Facts and Fallacies - Stories of the Strange and Unusual. We hear lots of tidbits from this book.

10-year-old daughter - Beezus and Ramona by Beverly Cleary.

 

8-year-old daughter - Norman Rockwell's America by Christopher Finch. This is a big, heavy book. I don't think she's reading it word for word, but it's full of Rockwell's paintings so I'm sure she has enjoyed looking at them.

This week in an effort to be more "intentional" with my reading to my little ones, I borrowed quite a few books from the library for them. So this week we are listing new books. We are breaking out of the usual books we have been reading.

 

6-year-old son - If You Give a Cat a Cupcake by Laura Numeroff. I'm sure you'll recognize this from If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. ☺

 

 

 

3-year-old son - If You Were My Bunny by Kate McMullan. This is a sweet bedtime story with various animals singing lullabies to their babies. The lullabies are set to well-known lullaby tunes. So if you can wrap your head around the new words, you can sing your way through the book. I love this book.

 

 

 

Baby Boy - Picture My Day by Severine Cordier and Cynthia LaCroix. This is a picture book with lots of things to name for baby so he can learn their names. It's a fat book, but when you read it to a baby it goes fast because he skips lots of pages. Also the pages are thick which makes them easier for a baby to turn.

 

 

Special Note: I borrowed The Church Mouse by Graham Oakley. I did this for my six-year-old son, but my older children love this picture book as well. It's about a church mouse who is very lonely living in a church by himself. There is also a tame cat, but they don't talk much since the cat sleeps so much. The mouse invites all the village mice to join him which they do. The cat and mice all get along and everything is fine until one Sunday the church people discover the mice. They are going to be evicted, but that night they stop a burglar from robbing the church, are forgiven, and it's happily ever after. That's pretty bare bones. It is a funny story and well worth the read. There is actually a whole series of Church Mice books. This is the first in the series.