Whole Wheat Apple Banana Muffins

Lately when I've made muffins, I've used this recipe I found on the blog 100 Days of Real Food. But today, I wanted to try something new. So, I used this recipe I found on weelicious.com. 

Here are the changes I made to the recipe:

·   Instead of 1½ cups of all-purpose flour, I used 1 cup of whole-wheat flour and ½ cup of all-purpose flour.

·   I only had 1 banana so instead of 2 bananas and 1 medium apple, I used 1 banana and 1 large Crispin apple. The apple was really juicy so I added the juice to the wet ingredients.

·   I don't have a pan for mini muffins so I used a pan for regular-sized muffins.  The recipe yielded 12 regular-sized muffins and a small loaf of bread.

·   I cooked the muffins for around 23 minutes. 

The muffins were delicious! I think adding in the apple juice made the muffins extra moist.

And did my teeny tiny foodie like them? Oh, yeah. The muffins were a major hit with Eliana. 

Can I get the whole thing into my mouth at once? You can bet I'm gonna try!

She loved them so much that when I had the nerve to try to give her a few spoonfuls of yogurt with cinnamon (which she loves) in between bites of her muffin, she had a MAJOR tantrum. She was so loud that I kept expecting my next door neighbor to come running over to make sure we were okay. Really.

But I want MORE OF THAT MUFFIN!!!!

GIVE ME BACK THAT MUFFIN YOU EVIL WOMAN!

I'm SO putting you into a nursing home when you're old, Lady!

After a brief hiatus from snack, Eliana actually finished all of the yogurt and then scarfed down the rest of the muffin. 

Let me shove this into my mouth super quickly in case she tries to take it away again.

And here are photos of the actual muffins.  

Happy Cooking!

Cinnamon Spice and Everything Nice

Here's a recipe I make for myself and Eliana as a quick and yummy snack. I think it could also be a tasty breakfast, or, you can even substitute vanilla ice cream for the yogurt and call it dessert!

Greek Yogurt with Cinnamon and Warm Apples

·    ¼-½ cup of Greek yogurt (I like the full-fat Fage brand for Eliana)

·    1 small apple, peeled and chopped

·    Cinnamon to taste

Put the apple chunks into a small bowl, sprinkle with cinnamon and stir. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and microwave for around 15-20 seconds until the apples are soft. Remove the plastic wrap and stir so the apples begin to cool a bit. Meanwhile, add some cinnamon to the yogurt and stir. Mix the yogurt and apples together and add more cinnamon as needed.

Variations: Add a few drops of vanilla extract to the yogurt.

Happy Cooking!

More pictures of me eating?

Feeding myself again, I guess. Sheesh!

I got this whole spoon thing down!
(Mostly.)

Let me try with the other hand, too.

Farm to Foodie

One of our family traditions is to go apple picking every year. For years, Matt and I would go on a weekend in the fall and load up on apples. We’ve continued that tradition with Eliana. 

Here are photos from her inaugural trip to the farm last year.

Don't worry, we didn't let her drive.

Apple picking October 2011

This year she was able to be a lot more involved in the picking!

Another family tradition: A photo of Eliana "driving."

Taking a snack break.

Family Fun!

Coming home with a bushel-full of apples inspired me to make a big batch of spicy applesauce to add to Eliana’s morning oatmeal. Here’s the original recipe I posted months ago and below is the “bulk” recipe. I put most of the applesauce into a container in the refrigerator to use over the next four days. I also filled three 2-ounce containers and put them in the freezer to use over the next three months.

Spicy Applesauce

·     6 apples, peeled and chopped (I used a mixture of Gala, McIntosh and Baldwin apples)

·     ¼ cup of water

·     Cinnamon and chili powder to taste

Put the chopped apples in saucepan large enough that they fit in an even layer. Add about half the water. Stir, cover the pan and heat the apples and water on medium-low heat. Let the apples simmer for around 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the apples are tender and smush easily with the back of a spoon. Add the cinnamon and chili powder and stir. Lower the heat, cover and let simmer another 5-10 minutes until the apples break down even more.

Happy Cooking!