Muffins and Eggs saved my day!!

First...I know that my Blog has been very "Random". If I waited until I could do it perfectly the way I want to, than it would never get done. I am just posting things on my Blog as they happen in my life as far as meals, thoughts, events and so I hope it remains interesting and enjoyable to read!

So how could muffins and eggs save the day??

First the Muffins...

I usually make muffins a few times each month and try and freeze 1/2 of the batch. There are several times each month that we either don't have leftovers, beans/tortillas for "roll-ups", OR bread to make sandwiches for our lunches and so MUFFINS save the day
because I pull them out of the freezer...
add either a boiled egg OR string cheese,
throw in an apple
and a handful of carrot sticks
and we all have a LUNCH to take
(so we don't have to buy school lunch or buy something at work).

Here are my favorite muffin recipes.....
Regarding the Bran muffin recipe; Tracy and I have Bran muffins and stewed prunes (I know we're getting old) when we go on our cruises for breakfast every morning and I was so thrilled to come across this recipe as it is the closest I have been able to find to the ones we had on the ship. These are our favorite!

Cereal Muffins
2-1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2-1/2 tsp soda
½ tsp salt
2 cups ALL BRAN cereal (OR 3 cups quick rolled oats)
1 cup boiling water
½ cup melted butter
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup white sugar
¼ cup wheat germ
2 eggs beaten
2 cups buttermilk

Combine whole wheat flour, soda and salt….set aside. In a large bowl stir together bran cereal or oat cereal and stir in boiling water…cool slightly To the cereal mixture stir in butter, sugar, wheat germ, egg and buttermilk. Add in flour mixture, stirring just until blended.

To bake… spoon batter into buttered muffin cups about ¾ full. Bake in 375 degree oven for about 25 minutes or until golden. Makes about 2-1/2 dozen muffins.

If you don’t have anything to make sandwiches with for lunch,or leftovers, you can always boil up an egg and grab a muffin, take an apple and it makes a yummy lunch.

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Pumpkin Muffins
½ cup REAL butter
¾ cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon soda
¼ teaspoon salt
2 cups flour
1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon allspice
¼ teaspoon cloves
1 cup pumpkin (or leftover squash)
¾ cup raisins OR chocolate chips

Mix all ingredients together and bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes. These are really good and freeze well.

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Oatmeal muffins
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup buttermilk
1 large egg, beaten lightly
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup dried currants (I use dried cherries…..raisins would work well too, OR blueberries)


In a large bowl, combine oats and buttermilk and let stand 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 400°F. and grease twelve 1/2-cup muffin tins.

Add egg, sugar and butter to oat mixture, stirring until just combined.Into another large bowl, sift together flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda and add to oat mixture, stirring until just combined. Fold in currants.

Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin tins. Bake muffins in middle of oven until golden and a tester comes out clean, about 20 minutes. These freeze well.

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How could eggs possibly save the day?

Well, having the sometimes hectic life that we do there are those occasional nights where I don't have time to make anything for dinner and so EGGS save the night! (thanks to our wonderful chickens who provide us more eggs than we can use)

While we all love Fried eggs and toast, I like to throw in some veggies and make what my kids call "Omelette Eggs". (although Tracy doesn't think that's a good name for them, my kids do and so that is what I call them).

PS.....contrary to Old School Belief, eggs are healthy. Check out this link for some good documentation on this topic:
(click here)

FRUGAL TIP: I enjoy buying a big ham at Christmas time and Easter time and then cooking it in the crockpot at night and we enjoy it for breakfast the next morning. NOW the frugal part....I cut the ham in small pieces and divide it into "snack size" bags and then store it in the freezer and then anytime we need some ham for eggs, OR a bean dish I just pull out a bag and add it in. It's saves so much time and money to have things like this on hand.

Omelette Eggs
1 tsp. butter

1/2 a bell pepper, finely chopped
2 finely chopped carrots,
2 large slices of onions finely chopped
and 1/2 snack size bag of ham that I pull from my freezer.
6-9 eggs (depending how many you want)

Saute ham and veggies in 1 tsp. butter until the veggies are tender (5-10 minutes). Add in another 1 Tbsp. butter and crack in eggs and scramble all together.

This is a yummy and fun way to get your kids eating more veggies. And it's an inexpensive dinner or breakfast also.