But living in the country, and having a much bigger kitchen with the most awesome gas stove ever, has moved me to bake more. I started my adventure in baking this last weekend....making 75 mini muffins in two flavors. Sara loves mini muffins, and up until now I bought them pre-made in packs at the store. But no longer!! From now on I'm determined to make our meals and snacks healthier and cheaper, both good things. And when you love to bake, it just takes time. Plus, its a great way to spend quality time with Sara, while it helps her to learn math and other great skills she'll need later in life!!
The first muffin I made was called a Toddler Muffin, which is based on how to hide nutritious things in muffins...always good! So I made them with bananas, carrots, and squash...then added oat bran and whole wheat flour instead of the usual white. They came out delicious, and Sara (along with my niece and nephews) scarfed down half of them on the first day. So much for making snack packs for the freezer and them lasting for a month's worth of breakfasts. LOL!
The second muffin I made was a Buttermilk Spice Walnut. It was also delicious, and was substituted with whole wheat flour and lower sugar to help nutrition values. It also received rave reviews from everyone, and the adults ate them up like the kids ate the others. So again, so much for a second month's worth of breakfasts. But that's okay. It was tons of fun baking and experimenting with healthier choices, and I have new ideas for next time...which will probably be this weekend since the muffins are almost gone already.
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| Banana, Carrot, Squash Muffins |
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| My snack packs all ready to go! |
Since this was such a hit, we decided that it would be great to see if we can avoid buying pre-baked products any more and just let me make our bread and everything. I've never made bread before, so this is a new challenge and I'm really excited about it. Its cheaper and healthier to make it ourselves, so we're going to give it a try.
I'd love to try lots of new recipes for muffins, bread, and other baked goodness. If you have something you think I should try, send me a comment!
