Friday, September 30, 2011

Our oatmeal consumption is about to skyrocket

Oh dear... I started this blog post 2 weeks ago and never finished. Drat. I guess at this point it's like reading yesterday's newspaper, but oh well. Here ya go....

In case you hadn't heard (how could you NOT have, though?) this weekend is the Minnesota Valley Mothers of Multiples bi-annual sale. Hundreds of women are selling their gently used goods to all us bargain hunters. It's a big deal. It's a lot of work. It needs some sustenance in your belly to get said work done! (edited after the fact - It was a LOT of work. I think I'm still tired from working 24 hours straight. But, lucky for me, I thought it was pretty fun - I have to do it again in March).

This morning my friend Kat and her precious girls came over to do some preparing for the sale - printing tags, cutting tags, hanging clothes, pinning tags, gossiping, and playing. I decided last night to assemble a baked oatmeal, put it in the fridge, and enjoy a warm, tasty treat with my & the babies' friends (because yes, whether they like it or not, B&H are going to be friends with Kat's girls. And, I even suspect her girls will fight over Ben. He's the Ladies' Man around them!).

The recipe was really very easy, the ingredients things I have on hand, and the dish turned out delicious - and pretty healthy, too! The recipe comes from Good Cheap Eats, a nice blog for finding healthy, simple food for grown ups (and many babies can eat too!)

Doesn't it look good - and it's not even baked yet!

Raspberry Baked Oatmeal


Ingredients


  • 3 cups old-fashioned oats
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup applesauce
  • 1/2 cup plain yogurt
  • 1/2 cup nonfat milk
  • 1/4 cup canola oil
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 cups raspberries
  • heavy cream, whipped or plain

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°.
  2. Grease a 9×13 inch baking pan.
  3. In a large mixing bowl, combine the oats, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
  4. In a second mixing bowl, whisk together the applesauce, yogurt, milk, oil, vanilla, and eggs.
  5. Pour the wet ingredients onto the dry, and add the raspberries.
  6. Fold gently to combine.
  7. Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan.
  8. Bake for 45 minutes or until golden.
  9. Serve with cream, whipped or not.
I wish I had a photo of it all baked and delicious looking, but I didn't take one. Boo! But, photo or not, I can attest that Kat & I each had a piece and if I must say so myself, it was SO delicious! I'm already thinking of other baked oatmeals I could make - apple & cinnamon, pumpkin, cherry, peach. Mmm. I think we'll have a very hearty winter around here.

Of course, by the time we got around to eating, B&H were already in bed for their morning nap. So they at theirs for lunch. What a fun mess!
Mmm. Baked Oatmeal.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Muffin Mania

The weather turned to fall overnight. I swear, earlier this week I was sweating all day, the a/c was on, and I dressed B&H in my favorite of their summer clothes, knowing it was one of the last of the hot days. Today, B&H are wearing longsleeves, pants, and even jackets for our morning walk. It's so chilly that I got the hankerin' for baking!

I had a bunch of super-ripe bananas laying around, so wandered over to Weelicious to see what sorts of recipes she had for banana bread or muffins. I have made her pancakes, and they are delicious, but we have some in the freezer, so I wanted something bread-ier. This recipe caught my eye - mostly because of the chocolate, but also because it's muffins. I've tried to make banana breads for the past 10 years and they rarely turn out. But muffins. Muffins I can do!

Weelicious Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

1 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour
1 Tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp Baking Soda
1/2 Tsp Salt
1/4 Cup Honey or Agave Nectar -- I used plain old regular sugar
1 Large Egg
2/3 Cup Milk
3 Tbsp Vegetable or Canola Oil
2 Ripe Bananas, mashed
3/4 Cups Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips*

1. Preheat oven to 400° F.
2. Combine the first 4 ingredients in a bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the honey, egg, milk, oil, and mashed bananas.
4. Slowly combine the dry ingredients into the wet, and then stir in the chocolate chips.
5. Pour batter into greased or lined muffin cups, about 2/3 of the way up, and bake for 18 minutes.
6. Cool and serve.**

* Omit chocolate for babies, or as desired.
** Place muffins in labeled bags to freeze for up to 3 months.

I got 12 muffins, 6 with chips and 6 without, out of the recipe and had enough batter left over to make a little banana pancake. So I got to taste the results while the muffins were baking. Delish! When the babies get up from their nap, they will indulge in a chocolate-less muffin with their lunch. I'm sure they'll love it.

After the successful banana muffin turnout, I decided to use up some of my plethora of zucchini and make some muffins. This time I headed to another of my favorite sites, Simply Recipes. I utilize this site for nearly everything - breads, cookies, soups, meat, etc. She literally has a recipe for EVERYTHING! I knew the zucchini muffins would not disappoint.

Simply Recipes Zucchini Muffins

3 cups grated fresh zucchini
2/3 cup melted unsalted butter1
1/3 cup sugar2 eggs, beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoons baking soda
Pinch salt
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup walnuts (optional)
1 cup raisins or dried cranberries (optional)

1 Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). In a large bowl combine the sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Stir in the grated zucchini and then the melted butter. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the zucchini mixture and mix in. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Stir these dry ingredients into the zucchini mixture. Stir in walnuts, raisins or cranberries if using.

2 Coat each muffin cup in your muffin pan with a little butter or vegetable oil spray. Use a spoon to distribute the muffin dough equally among the cups, filling the cups up completely. Bake on the middle rack until muffins are golden brown, and the top of the muffins bounce back when you press on them, about 25 to 30 minutes. Test with a long toothpick or a thin bamboo skewer to make sure the center of the muffins are done. Set on wire rack to cool for 5 minutes. Remove muffins from the tin let cool another 20 minutes.

Don't they look delish?

(You'll have to forgive my terrible phography talents.... I really have no idea how to take appetizing food photos. In fact, this photo was taken on my iPhone!)

Of course I had to taste-test the muffins, and they ARE delicious! I'm sad to be informed that the zucchini ones have 8 PointsPlus values per muffin and the banana chocolate chip ones have 5 PointsPlus. Needless to say, I'll be skipping Weight Watchers today.

But, babies don't care how man points are in each muffin. Look how much they LOVE them!

Babies Love Baked Goods

Welcome to my new blog!

I've found that while my infant twins nap, I tend to bake. While this probably explains why I haven't lost an ounce of baby weight in the 9 months since their birth, it does present me with a fun adventure each day. And now that they are eating solid foods, they get to enjoy my baked goods, too! So far, they've not met a muffin, pancake, or waffle they haven't loved, hence the name "Babies Love Baked Goods."

I can't take credit for any recipes I ever make, but I do have a LONG list of web sites to borrow recipes from. So, as I navigate through this new blog, I will publish links to my favorite web sites and recipes. Maybe this will help me be more organized. Maybe.

B&H are extraordinary nappers. I hope they continue to nap for the rest of their infancy and into their toddlerhood. Otherwise, I won't be able to bake!

I'm working on my first post now - muffin mania!

Hope you enjoy it here!