Island Mama in the Kitchen: 6 Week Muffins

I like making muffins for our family but I never know how many to make. A recipe for 12 is not enough for our family of six (yes, my kids will devour 3 regular sized muffins at one sitting) Doubling the recipe make more than enough but not enough leftovers for a second sitting. I know I could freeze the leftovers but I'll probably not remember they are in the freezer. You see my dilemma? Granted,  not a life changing problem but one of those little annoyances that I only remember as I am making the muffins. SOOOOO... when I stumbled upon this recipe I was pleased.

6 Week Bran Muffins (Auntie Anne's Muffins)

Photo from Food.com

First of all the name was intriguing... 6 week muffins? At first I though it meant muffins that lasted 6 weeks... I couldn't imagine how fresh they would taste in all that time..okay, don't laugh at me.. I am only a little slow :)

So here's the deal, this recipe makes enough batter for 24- 30 regular sized muffins but you can keep the batter in the fridge for up to 6 weeks!  My dilemma solved.  I can make the exact number of muffins needed at the time and save the rest of the batter in the fridge.  And if I'm the only one that wants a muffin for breakfast, I can bake one or two at a time. 

BUT how do the taste?? I don't know who Auntie Anne is but if I knew her I'd hug her!  The are delicious... really.  They are the best bran muffins I have ever had, moist, tender, sweet but not too sweet.  A perfect muffin in my estimation.  And to top it off... pardon the pun... there is an optional cinnamon sugar topping that my kids {and I} LOVE!  Sometimes I make mini muffins, roll them in the cinnamon sugar and they are almost like eating donut holes.  I have now made 3 batches and I always get 6 thumbs up!  Definitely a keeper.  I can't really vouch for the 6 weeks though since the batter is never around that long!


Here's the recipe as posted on Food.com

Six Week Muffins (Auntie Anne's Muffins)

• 3 cups bran buds (Kellogg's All Bran cereal preferred-the little stick type cereal...not flakes)
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1 1/2 cups oil
• 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
• 2 eggs , beaten
• 2 cups buttermilk  (I make my own- 2 TBS of white vinegar or lemon juice and enough milk to make 2 cups)
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt

Optional Topping

• butter 
• cinnamon sugar 

Directions:

1. Pour boiling water over 1 1/2 coups of the bran buds. Let stand while mixing other ingredients.
2. In a separate bowl, combine rest of dry bran buds, flour, soda, and salt.
3. In another separate bowl, cream sugar and oil.
4. Add eggs to this mixture.
5. Add buttermilk alternately with dry ingredients.
6. Add the 1 1/2 cups soaked bran buds and mix well.
7. Store batter in fridge for up to 6 weeks.
8. Bake as needed in 400F oven.
9. Bake regular size for 15-20 minutes and mini muffins for 8-10 minutes
10. Dip tops in melted butter and then cinnamon sugar.
11. If you are really trying to be healthy, skip the butter and just dip the hot fresh baked muffins in cinnamon sugar and it will stick.
     
     
    Try them and let me know what you think!

Pin it Do it: Something yummy!

I am back with another Pin it Do it Challenge! (sorry for all those who came by for the last two weeks looking for the challenge.. we were on vacation!)

The pin I used this week was from my recipe board which I originally found here. It was a recipe for Chicken Parmesan Meatloaf. Remember,  I have a love of Italian food so this one sounded right up my alley! And it was. I followed the directions exactly and if I made it again there is nothing I would change. It was the right blend of seasoning, a great texture and SOOOO easy to make! You can even make it ahead, freeze it and then bake it when you need it. It got 5 out of 6 thumbs up from the family so that means it makes it into our regular rotation.

from "What's Cooking Chicago"

We'll I have to go... I'm in the midst of changing over wardrobes for all four kids... ugh!

Link up below and show us all the great ways you brought Pinterest into real life this week! Happy Pinning!

Pin it Do it: Week 2

Welcome to week 2 of the Pin it Do it challenge. It has been quite a week around here with the first week of school. It feels good to have some routine back. I managed to fit in a couple of easy Pinterest inspired ideas.

My favourite was this clever idea to use a magazine type holder to hold kitchen items.  I have been frustrated with the loose boxes of ziploc bags that get tossed around the cupboard.  I can never find the size bag that I need when I need it.  I didn't have any magazine holders laying around and a trip to town with 4 kids to look for one was not and option but I did have a perfect size cereal box that I managed to recycle in to the perfect solution!  My plastic storage bags are now neat and tidy and in one place!  Here's my cereal box version:

The original was pinned  from Chica and Jo who have lots of great ideas.


OK, your turn....Come on, link up!
Read here to see how this challenge came about and the posting rules and then feel free to link up using the linky below. You will have until Friday evening to link up. I can't wait to see how everyone is bringing Pinterest into real life!!

Mini Lasagne Cups

I love Italian food... tomato sauce, cheese, pasta, cream... in any combination... mmm!  One of my favourites is lasagne but it's not really a favourite of the kids so I don't make it very often.  When I saw a recipe for mini lasagne cups I though I might be able to convert them.  Look at these tiny individual lasagnes... aren't they cute?

Here's the recipe (Adapted from Kevin {and}Amanda)

Mini Lasagna Cups

For the sauce
1 TBS olive oil
1 medium onion (diced)
2 medium carrots (chopped)
1 lb lean ground beef
1 lb italian sausage
salt & pepper to taste
1 can tomato paste
1 28oz can crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup apple sauce

For the cheese filling
1 cup part skim ricotta cheese
1/2 cup Mozzarella cheese (shredded)
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese (grated)
1/2 cup fresh baby spinach (chopped)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

48 wonton wrappers
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Saute onions and carrots in olive oil in a large skillet  until tender.  Add sausage and hamburger continue to cook over medium high heat,  drain.  Add salt, pepper, paste, crushed tomatoes and apple sauce.  Cook for 10 minutes on low heat, stirring occasionally.

In a large bowl, combine the ricotta, mozzarella, parmesan, spinach,  salt and pepper and stir to combine.

Coat two 12 cup  muffin tins with cooking spray, and arrange a wonton wrapper in each cup. Fill each cup  in this order:
sauce (enough to cover bottom of cup)
a little cheese mixture
spoonful of sauce
a little grated cheddar
wonton wrapper- press down gently
sauce
grated cheddar

(there will be a little less than  half the sauce remaining... I will use it later in the week for spaghetti or it can be frozen.)

Bake at 375 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes until the cheese is melted and the wonton wrappers are golden. Cool in the muffin tin for 5-10 minutes before serving.

makes 24 lasagnes or 6 servings.

SO what was the verdict??  5 out of 6 of us liked it so definitely a recipe I will try again.
Even though there were lots of ingredients, it was an easy recipe (my version has more ingredients than the original).  They were fun to make... I even had the kids help fill the muffin tins with the various layers. 

Enjoy!

Island Mama in the Kitchen: A Tip

When I find something that makes my life easier I like to share it.  Like when I discovered a pizza cutter is fantastic for cutting things into bite size pieces for your little one and it can even be used one handed while holding the fussy, impatient, hungry little one, I made sure to tell everyone I knew that had a baby or toddler.  Or when I finally tried Google calendars and realized I could have several colour coded calendars in one, I knew I had to blog about it.

So here's the tip of the week that has made my life easier and my grocery bill smaller... sure it maybe only by a few cents but in this economy every little bit helps right?

I wash a lot of dishes... by hand... we don't have a dishwasher.  Sometimes I feel like all I do is wash dishes. Anyway this tip won't reduce the amount of dishes or the time spent washing them, but it will reduce what you spend on dish liquid.  I used to by the expensive brands but as our family size has increased faster than our grocery budget, I have looked for ways to make a dollar stretch.  I started buying a less expensive brand of dish liquid but the thing I hate most is having a dish liquid that does not cut grease.  I found I was using twice as much of the cheaper brand so it really wasn't saving anything.  That is until I discovered that putting about 1/8- 1/4 of white vinegar in the water cuts the grease.  The dishes come out squeaky clean.. I can even wash a glass after a pan of bacon fat and the glass will sparkle! 

Maybe you knew that already, but if you didn't, that tip is my gift to you!!

Happy dish-washing!


Linking this to Works for me Wednesday.

What's for Dinner?

I like to cook. It's not my favourite thing but I do get a certain enjoyment being in the kitchen. The one thing I hate is deciding what to cook. Especially when pressed for time or when 3 hungry kids are asking "what's for dinner?"

One thing I do like to do is entertain although having had 4 kids in 6 years I have had very little time to do so.  When I entertain I like to plan out a menu, get creative and then spend time preparing food so that my guests can have an enjoyable culinary experience.

One day as I was throwing together something entirely uninspired with very little thought,  completely out of necessity for my hungry brood, I started thinking... these 5 individuals that I share my life with are the most important people in my life.   If that is the case, they deserve the same thought and care when preparing their meals that I give when I am entertaining.  Now don't get me wrong... I do put thought into what I am feeding my family, making sure it is a balanced meal, trying to find things that they like, but sometimes the attitude behind cooking for them is "Oh, this is such a chore".  Right then I knew they deserved better... I had to bring the joy back into feeding my family.

The most important thing I have to do in order for this to be a joyful experience is that I have to be organized.  At the beginning of each month, I have been making a list of 20- 25 meals that I want to make.  Some are my basic, old faithful recipes like chili, chicken fried rice, BBQ chicken, spaghetti,  but others are new recipes that I want to try.  I have some cookbooks that I may look through from time to time but most of my new recipes come from the internet.  I have a few trusted sites that are my go to recipe sites like The Pioneer Woman (PW), Brown Eyed Baker, A year of Slow Cooking (Crock pot recipes) to name a few.   Before I grocery shop each week I look through my list and make a menu for the week. What I choose will depend on what activities we have planned and how much time I will have to prepare each meal.  Once I use a recipe on the list, I cross it off and make a note of the result.  If it is a winner I put it on the list for the next month.  I have recently been ranking the meals depending on how many thumbs up I get from the family.  Each person gets one vote so until Marcus can participate a winning meal gets 5 thumbs up.  I am happy when it is at least 3 thumbs up but it makes the do again list if it is at least 4 thumbs up.

Another important thing is that the recipes have to be fairly uncomplicated... I like a challenge but with 4 kids running under my feet (well... 3 running, 1 crawling) it has to be something that isn't going to add to my level of stress!  They also have to be economical.  Healthy is good too although I have a weakness for anything with cream and butter.. I'm a Paula Deen kind of girl!!

Once my fridge and cupboards are stocked with the necessary ingredients, menu is planned and recipes are printed, I can then exhale and enjoy the task of feeding my family.

I'll try and share more about my adventures in the kitchen each month, the recipes that worked and the ones that didn't but for now, what about you?  How do you plan your meals? What are some of your go to recipe sites?  Please share... I am always looking for new things to try!!

Linking this to Works for Me Wednesday at We Are That Family... head over to see what great tips others have.

Happy cooking!