Muffins!

Christopher is getting pickier by the minute, he now turns his nose up at many of his old staples. We've been on a muffin kick lately and he hasn't had a muffin he doesn't like yet! I freeze them and use them for breakfast and on the go snacks.

This recipe I got off of allrecipes.com, I used white wheat flour instead of all purpose flour to give them a little more fiber and they still turned out great!

To Die For Blueberry Muffins:

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (White wheat)
  
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 cup fresh blueberries
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup butter, cubed
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.
2. Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.
3. To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.
4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.

I also found this on allrecipes.com and used white wheat flour:

Banana Muffins:

Ingredients

* 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (white wheat)
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 3 large bananas, mashed
* 3/4 cup white sugar
* 1 egg
* 1/3 cup butter, melted

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Coat muffin pans with non-stick spray, or use paper liners. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
2. Combine bananas, sugar, egg, and melted butter in a large bowl. Fold in flour mixture, and mix until smooth. Scoop into muffin pans.
3. Bake in preheated oven. Bake mini muffins for 10 to 15 minutes, and large muffins for 25 to 30 minutes. Muffins will spring back when lightly tapped.

This last recipe I got out of the book "The Toddler Bistro". I used all white wheat flour instead of whole wheat and all purpose.

Raisin Bran Muffins

• 2.5 cups raisin bran
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 cup whole wheat flour (white wheat)
  
• 1.5 cups all purpose flour (white wheat)
• 2.5 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 2 cups buttermilk

Mix the raisin bran, sugar, flour, soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add the eggs, oil, and buttermilk. Use vegetable cooking spray or line regular-sized muffin tin. Fills cups two-thirds full and bake at 400 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes. The recipes says you can store the batter in a covered contianer in the refrigerator and use as desired. I made all of the mix and froze the muffins instead.

EASY turkey meatballs with hidden green beans

Ingredients

* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 1 (20 ounce) package ground turkey
* 1 egg, beaten
* 1/3 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
* 1 cup of green bean, finely chopped in food processor

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish with the olive oil, and place it in the oven while preheating.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together the ground turkey, egg, finely chopped green bean and bread crumbs using your hands. Using an ice cream scoop if possible, form the meat into golf ball sized meatballs. Place about 1 inch apart in the hot baking dish. Press down to flatten the bottom just slightly.
3. Bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven, then turn them over, and continue baking for about 5 more minutes, or until somewhat crispy on the outside. Serve with pasta and sauce or however you'd like.

I made extra and put them in the freezer, they do not reheat well at all. Once reheated they become very dry and Christopher wouldn't touch them. Thankfully they are easy enough to make on the spot.

Homemade fish sticks!

Fellow bumpie Osco13 posted this recipes and we just had to try it. I made it last night and Christopher loved it! He ate the WHOLE piece of fish! I made 2 pieces for myself and I must admit they were pretty darn good! This will without a doubt be a repeat in our house!

1 piece of Tilapia
1 egg
5 whole wheat ritz crackers
1 handful of cheddar cheese

Grind together crackers and cheddar cheese to make course crumbs. Dip tilapia in egg and then cover in crumbs. Dip in egg a second time and then back in the crumbs. Bake at 425 for 10 minutes (fish is done when it easily flakes up with a fork) and then broil 1 minute to get a crispy coating.

Blueberry pancakes = FAIL!

We tried blueberry pancakes this morning. I thought surely he would like those, because he loves cinnamon pancakes. He didn't like how squishy the blueberries feel. I think next time I will put them in the processor so he is still getting the blueberries without the texture.
UPDATE:
I put frozen blueberries, some fresh strawberries and a banana in the food processor then added it to fiber one pancake mix and he LOVED it! Lots of fiber and fruit for breakfast this morning. YAY!

No more bagel bites for us!

After weeks of giving my son bagel bites I looked at the sodium and almost had a heart attack. Seeking a healthier alternative I bought some multigrain english muffins, cheese and pizza sauce after a few seconds in the microwave...viola pizza! I feel better about giving him that, they are faster to make and he loves them! I still don't like the sodium in the sauce so I am thinking of trying a whole tomato in the processor and throwing some other veggies in there too. I'll update if he falls for that one after we try it ;-)

Veggie biscuits:

I made this recipe for the first time today (thanks JOEBunny). My son is napping so he has yet to try them, I tasted one and it was good! I'll update if my son eats them. I didn't have peas or carrots so I put broccoli, carrots and corn in the blender.
Update: My son was OK with the biscuit. He didn't tear into them the way he does the spinach balls but he did eat a half of one. I think the broccoli is too over powering, it takes away from the sweetness of the banana. I think sticking to milder veggie like carrots, corn and peas would work best.

I use about a 1/2 cup of reduced fat bisquick or TJ's whole wheat baking mix, 2 eggs, a banana, then stir in peas and or carrots. Should be about the texture of a chocolate chip cookie, if not add more veggies or more mix to thicken. I drop like a cookie on a cookie sheet and Bake on 400 until done. He can pick them up to eat them and they have everything he needs. Sort of a full meal biscuit. I make a lot at a time and freeze. You can also put peanut butter in them for extra protein.

Spinach Balls

This is the first recipe I tried (that I got from a bumpie lauren&matt), my son LOVED them! That is when I knew I had to keep being creative in sneaking in those veggies! They freeze really well.
Ingredients
• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
• 2 cups finely crushed herb-seasoned dry bread stuffing mix
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 3 eggs, beaten
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl combine spinach, stuffing mix, Parmesan cheese, garlic powder, black pepper, Italian seasoning, melted butter and eggs. Shape into walnut-sized balls and place on a baking sheet.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until heated through and browned.