Back to School Prep #1: Breakfast

Back to school is right around the corner!  I'm not feeling quite as apprehensive as I was last year, but the Mama Bear in me still likes it when all of my kids are at home under my roof and supervision.  I know they need to grow their wings, but it still makes a mama sad that her kiddos are growing up!  I thought I'd share a few series of posts entitled Back to School Prep.  I'd like to tackle breakfast, lunch, and of course, some sweet treats!

With school comes hectic mornings, especially in those first few weeks.  Getting everyone ready and out the door can be a challenge, so why not make breakfast a little easier?  Since we are working on cleaning up our eating, I wanted to make some homemade goodies to put in the freezer to supplement our usual oatmeal or cereal breakfasts (organic cereal is expensive and not an option every day if we're going to stay on budget!).  

Today I thought I'd share some make-ahead recipes that you can freeze and either pull out the night before you need them or throw it in the toaster in the morning.  Pair them with fresh fruit or a smoothie and your kiddo will be ready to tackle the day and learn (we hope!).  As always, the recipes I share are free of peanuts and tree nuts.     

Bottom left to right:  Cinnamon Zucchini, Banana Chocolate Chip, and Fresh Blueberry Muffins

Top:  Fruit Smoothie, Homemade Waffles, and Banana Bread

All of the recipes can be found by clicking the name except the Cinnamon Zucchini...they're new (and a huge hit!).  I'll share the recipe with you today.  Included in the waffle post is also another recipe for a lighter zucchini muffin.  I hope you enjoy and save some time during the morning rush!

Cinnamon Zucchini Muffins

Source:  www.southerfood.com (adapted)

2/3 c. canola oil (I found a great organic canola oil on Amazon)

2 large eggs

2/3 c. sugar

1/2 c. light brown sugar, packed

1 t. vanilla

2 c. flour

1/2 t. baking soda

1/2 t. baking powder

1/2 t. salt

2 t. cinnamon

1 1/2 c. finely shredded zucchini

*sugar/cinnamon mix for topping

In a mixing bowl, beat together oil, eggs, sugars, and vanilla until smooth.  Add in remaining dry ingredients and stir until blended.  Fold in zucchini.  Place in a muffin tin lined with papers.  Top with cinnamon and sugar mix.  Bake at 375 degrees for 16-20 minutes.  

Nesting, Nesting! Might as Well Bake!

This week has been a long one!  I'm trying to be patient awaiting Baby #4's arrival, but two days of constant contractions has made me a little impatient.  My body always does this, though, and I know it could go on for a few more weeks, but at least it kicked me into high gear!  My house is cleaned, the nursery is coming along, and I finally packed my hospital bag.  Now we just wait and what better way to pass the time than to...bake!

Today I decided to try out a blueberry muffin recipe I had come across awhile ago.  It's been on my list of things to freeze for "after baby," so I tackled them today.  We have done a little taste-testing this morning.  My husband and I like them a lot, the kids are a little uncertain.  They are certainly not as sweet as a box mix, but they are much healthier and very moist!  I thought I'd share the recipe in case you'd like to try them out!

Blueberry Muffins
Source:  Joy of Baking (adapted a bit)

1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 cup yogurt (calls for plain, but I used vanilla)
1/3 c. canola oil
1 t. vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/4 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
6 oz. fresh blueberries

In a small bowl, mix together egg, yogurt, oil, and vanilla.  In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients.  Add wet ingredients to dry, folding in using a spatula, blending well.  Better will be thick.  Fold in blueberries.  Scoop into lined muffin pans using an ice cream scoop.  Bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.  Recipe says it makes 12, but I got 24 out of it because I don't make giant muffins!

New Traditions and Christmas Morning Breakfast

This year we will be spending our first Christmas morning at home.  I am beyond excited!  Since we always had to travel so far, we always had our Christmas at home early and then took off on our "tour" of Christmas.  While we always made our Christmas celebration day special, it just never really felt like Christmas since we were sometimes celebrating up to a week early.  I am thankful to be close enough to family now that we can have Christmas morning with our not-so-little family in our own home and still be able to spend time with both of our families throughout the holidays.  I have always missed not being able to wake up and enjoy Christmas morning at home and felt like we were missing out on these family moments, so our inaugural year will be extra special.

When I was young, we went to my grandparent's home on Christmas Eve and then spent the entire day at home on Christmas.  It was so wonderful to wake up, open our gifts, and then have brunch with my other grandparents.  Since our kiddos are so young and believe in all of the Christmas magic, I am thrilled we can start some traditions in our own home.  I don't think the timing could be better, because our kindergartener now understands dates and realizes that Santa makes his stop at our home sometime while we're sleeping between the 24th and the 25th.  I'm not sure how I would have explained his early visit this year.  He is very excited that he will be stopping at our house during that time this year.  Christmas is just such a magical time for the little ones that I am looking forward to having this time with my family.  I think this is one of the great joys of parenting and I am going to love making these memories in our new home.  I can't wait to work our "magic" and watch the kids' reactions that morning.

I am sure our children will be up and at 'em early, which is good as our church service on Christmas is at 8:30 in the morning!  I hate to admit this, but we have not gone to church on Christmas Eve or Christmas in years, because we've always been running from one place to another trying to fit everything in.  This is one wonderful change I am looking forward to!  I thought that I would have a light breakfast treat ready for them to eat quickly before church and then when we return we can have a nice breakfast that we can prepare while they check out their new gifts.  I chose to make our favorite banana chocolate chip muffins in cute Christmas papers early and will freeze them to pull out the night before Christmas.  These muffins really are so delicious.  I could eat them all day (and sometimes do!).  When we return from church, we will have homemade waffles (my husband's specialty), scrambled eggs with cheese, sausage links, and fruit.  Since I'm sure they'll have juice with their muffins, I think we'll treat them to hot chocolate with breakfast.  This is making my stomach rumble!  

I really can't wait to wake up, turn on the fire, and enjoy the morning my husband and kiddos.  These are the moments we will always treasure and this year will be extra special in my book!

(The recipes are linked in this post to previous posts.  Enjoy!)

Bananas and Breakfast

Breakfast really is the most important meal of the day.  I think this is especially true for my oldest son, as he doesn't eat lunch until noon and most of his learning occurs during the morning.  I don't want him to be hungry and distracted, so we try to my sure he eats a hearty breakfast.  I like to switch things up a bit and take a break from the usual oatmeal and cereal routine, so I try to make homemade goodies that we can eat now or freeze for later.

As you've probably figured out, I like to bake things for breakfast.  I think I've shared all of my muffin recipes that I use, so I thought I'd share our family's banana bread recipe.  My mom and aunt have made this for years and it's a favorite in our house now.  I always seem to have a few overripe bananas sitting on the counter, so this morning we enjoyed a freshly baked loaf of banana bread.  This is best with a little butter spread on top and goes well with a side of fruit, oatmeal, or cereal.  Enjoy!

Banana Bread

1 1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. softened butter
2 eggs
2 c. flour
pinch of salt
1/2 t. baking soda
1 t. baking powder
1/2 c. buttermilk (may substitute powdered)
2 t. vanilla
2 ripe bananas, smashed

Cream butter and sugar
Add eggs
Alternate dry ingredients (if using powdered include mix with dry ingredients), add water in between dry ingredients
Add bananas and vanilla last

Spray pans.  Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes

*We have found it works best to use the disposable loaf pans (not the mini), it will make two loaves

Muffins...I Love Muffins!

I have another muffin recipe to share with you for a breakfast idea.  While it is fairly healthy, it does contain some chocolate chips.  My neighbor was poking fun at me and my love of chocolate chips, but what can I say, I love them!!!  This is one of my favorite new recipes I discovered this summer.  Our local grocery store had a great sale on bananas, so I bought a bunch so I can make a few more batches to freeze this week.  Enjoy!

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
3/4 c. sugar
1 t. baking soda
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1 egg
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1/2 c. vanilla or french vanilla yogurt
1 t. vanilla extract
1 c. bananas (mashed ripe)
3/4 c. milk chocolate chips

Combine dry ingredients.  In a separate bowl combine egg, oil, yogurt, and vanilla.  Stir into dry ingredients until moistened.  Fold in bananas and chocolate chips.  Fill paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full.  Bake at 350 for 22-25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.  Let cool 5 minutes before removing from pan to put on wire racks.

Fall is Upon Us

The weather today definitely feels like fall and the ten-day forecast shows no 80 degree temperatures, so I think it's time to switch to fall mode.  While summer is truly my favorite season as I love warm weather, fall is okay, too.  I love to pull out the old sweatpants, whip up some yummy fall treats, and decorate the house for the upcoming holidays.  Fall also brings on football season, which goes hand-in-hand with yummy soup and appetizer recipes.  See, fall isn't so bad!

Yesterday I had my little kids make some stained glass apples to hang on our patio door.  It's so simple and a great craft for those little hands.  Simply print off an apple coloring page, cut the apple out, trace it on some construction paper, and carefully cut it out leaving an open space, while leaving the outside edges in tact, to put the tissue paper in.  Cover with contact paper (make sure the sticky side will face away from your tracing marks) and cut it out.  I pre-cut the tissue paper for my kiddos, but if they're a little bit older they can rip the pieces for some extra fine motor practice.  To go along with our project, we read a few stories about apples:  Apple Trouble by Ragnhild Scamell and The Biggest Apple Ever by Steven Kroll.

Look at those little fingers working!

Taking their time to make...

Beautiful apples!

Fall also means time to make some pumpkin recipes!  Today I thought I'd share with you a healthy (by my books!) pumpkin muffin recipe.

Pumpkin Muffins

 1 1/2 cups flour (whole grain works well or do half and half)

3/4 c. sugar

1 t. baking powder

1 t. baking soda

pinch of salt

1 t. cinnamon

1 regular size can of pumpkin

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 c. canola oil

1/3 c. greek yogurt (vanilla or plain; I prefer vanilla)

Combine dry ingredients.  Mix pumpkin, eggs, oil, and yogurt in separate bowl and add to dry ingredients.  Bake at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes (may take longer, as original recipe was for mini muffins).

Changing Up Breakfast

Breakfast has always been an important meal in our house.  It's one of the best meals our kiddos will eat and they all wake up asking for it.  I do my best to keep our breakfasts as healthy as I can.  We limit their intake of "sugar cereals" like Fruit Loops and Apple Jacks to special occasions and have kicked frozen breakfast foods like Toaster Strudels and Eggo Waffles to the curb.  While they are very convenient to serve, I do my best to avoid frozen processed foods, as I prefer to not serve food filled with preservatives and words I cannot pronounce.

Now that the school year is in full swing, I really try to make sure our kindergartener gets a breakfast that will hold him over until his lunchtime at noon.  His personal favorite is simple:  Quaker Quick Cook Oats with a spoonful of brown sugar.  I feel like this is a pretty nutritious and filling choice (yes, I understand brown sugar is not in a "healthy" category, but it's a small spoonful!).  We have plenty of cereal days with our younger two and they prefer Multi-Grain Cheerios, Kix, or Rice Krispies.  We always have cereal in the house, though it has become such an expensive item to buy that I've begun to look for alternatives.

As you know, I enjoy baking and have come across a few healthy and filling muffins that I have added to the mix.  Muffins are great, because you can either eat them right away or pop them in the freezer and pull them out for a later date.  There also a pretty quick breakfast for those rushed mornings.  We also like to make homemade waffles, which can also be frozen and toasted later.  Any of these options paired with some fruit make for a good start to the day!  

Today I'd like to share with you a great muffin recipe (it includes a vegetable!) and our waffle recipe.  Next week I'll share a few more muffin recipes with you to enjoy!

Cooking Light Zucchini Muffins

1 scant cup whole wheat flour
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 t. cinnamon
1 1/4 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
1 1/3 c. shredded zucchini
1/2 c. skim milk
2 T. Canola oil
2 T. honey
1 large egg
(Raisins may be added)

Preheat over to 400 degrees (375 degrees for a dark pan).  Combine dry ingredients (first 6).  Stir with whisk.  Combine zucchini, milk, oil, honey, and egg in small bowl. Blend.  Make a well in center of flour mixture; add egg mixture.  Stir just until moist.  Spoon mixture into 12 muffin cups.  Combine 1 T. sugar (or brown sugar) and 1/4 t. cinnamon.  Spoon mixture on top of muffins and bake for 15 minutes.

Zucchini Muffins

Waffles

2 eggs
2 c. sour milk (to 1 c. milk add 1 T. lemon juice or vinegar; let stand 5 minutes)
1 t. soda
2 c. flour
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
6 T. soft butter

Beat eggs well.  Add rest of ingredients and beat until smooth.  Batter will be thin.  Make using a waffle iron.