Muffin Tin Monday-Apples

well i decided to order my groceries this week through stop and shop' peapod. I ordered a bag of apples as this week's them is Apples, little did I know that the apples never came until I tried to cook with them last night. So I did what I could with no apples...

So here is what Avery had! The author of this blog had some GREAT ideas! She is so creative!

bananas(for the song "apples and bananas), apple and cinnamon cottage cheese, "a" ginger pancakes, and "a" pb&j. he then also stole my carrots and licked off the ranch dressing.

Muffin Tin Monday(posted on wed)

A friend of mine shared with me this blog called, Her Cup Overfloweth. On this blog they had this MARVELOUS idea for Muffin Tin Monday.(if you click the link above it will tell you how to do it). I found the idea intriguing so I decided to do it and see if that would help avery eat a little better! This will also help to get my creative brain moving again..even if it is for my kids!

So I stopped by Michaels to get some silicone muffin cups...I don't know about you, but washing reg. muffins tins bugs me. So after I paid a small fortune for them I got a coupon...so I will be going to buy more next week. In the meantime, I just used some little cups I had at the house. This week there was no theme and we actually had Muffin Tin Tuesday as we were away on monday.

For lunch I went with a shape theme: goldfish(fish shape), bananas for circles, and star shaped cheese. He ate almost all of it except for 2 pieces of cheese and a couple bananas.
For dinner, I just basically gave him what we were eating, just in the cups. there is rice, beans/corn, cheese, dried fruit, goldfish, and what we were having mixed together. I figured he should get used to eating with all the flavors mixed too. Again he did very well!(lunch pic is on the bottom and dinner is on top) I can't figure out how to switch them!

Tasty Tuesday

I've been experimenting with some new recipes lately and here are the verdicts!

First up, Mega Turkey Nacho Dinner-we really liked this and it was VERY filling! i did add in extra zucchini. i also used gr. beef, added in a can of tomatoes for the romas, no avocado, and used diced jalepino's instead of the sliced. next time i think i will omit the chicken stock as it made it too "juicy". i also didn't layer it and yet we still had lots of extras!

Next, Citrus Curry CHicken-we both liked the unique taste of this dish. it does NOT make enough sauce if you want it over rice so i would double it. i think next time i will marinate it in the sauce as the chicken was a bit dry. i didn't cook it in the microwave but on the stove top. it was pretty simple too! i used chicken breast too.

We also tried, Fluffy French Toast, to me they weren't that fluffy. it was basically french toast with a thicker batter on them. they were still pretty tasty! Although it could have been the bread, i just used reg. wheat bread. I also used rice milk instead of reg. milk. My dinner guest did like them too! Just be fair warned...they are messy! I also added in a sprinkle of cinnamon!

Finally, Cranberry turkey loaf-we like this one as well...but i thought it needed more flavor. i did add extra cranberry sauce and it was def. moist! i used turkey flavored stuffing instead of herb(wasn't paying double for it!) the extra sauce made it taste better. im thinking ill add in some more s&p and poultry seasoning next time. maybe even some apple/celery too!

Tasty Tuesday-Reviews

After last week of not cooking very much...b/c I was melting!(in the 90's and HUMID) I've been cooking or will be cooking quite a bit this week due to the lower temps. I LOVE to do it and it makes me satisfied that I am providing my family with a healthy meal. I am always trying new recipes(well i used to try a lot more, when our budget allowed and before I had Quinn) Hopefully now that he is getting older I will be able to get back into cooking/baking. I find it very relaxing and enjoy impressing people! Btw, if you are ever a guest here or come over for a meal you eat QUITE well...im sure my friends can vouch for that!



so here are some recipes we have tried lately!



Ham and Cheddare Supper Waffles: these were FABULOUS! I really liked how the cheese got crispy...I LOVE crispy cheese. Plus they were different. I do advise if you have a belgian waffle maker to cook them a little longer(the first couple were still a little soft on the inside) and also to double the"dough" part, maybe the whole recipe as it only made 3 belgian waffles. I may try experimenting with ham/swiss, or turkey/swiss. i did also use the finely shredded cheese and used rice milk in place of the reg. milk. but they were fluffy on the inside and crispy on the outside.


Today I am trying another waffle recipe: chocolate pecan waffles for lunch. ill write a review after I have them.(and the recipe). ok if you want the recipe i will gladly share...but im not sure i can link it right now as its from a magazine and you need a subscription so before i type it all out, ill want to know that someone would like it!
-they were pretty tasty! even my lunch guest liked them. again they were in the belgian waffle maker so it only made 3 or 4. they didn't get crispy on the outside, but im wondering if it had to do with my eggs(they were supposed to be foamy and i thought they were, but not sure if they were foamy enough) i even cooked them longer, but then they were starting to burn so i stopped them. another thing i will make sure to do is temper the choc with the milk. you are to melt the choc. but then you add it into cold milk so it solidified and they were like choco shavings...i still went along and cooked them.
-as for the choco. it called for the unsweetened baker's choc. squares. I had none so i found a sub for it online. 3 tbsp cocoa powder to 1 tbsp shortening.

chocolate zucchini cake with peanut butter frosting! again if you would like the recipe let me know...its another great way to use up the over abundance of zucchini that we all seem to have! it was pretty easy to make as well. the frosting was super simple and tasted GREAT! i could have just eaten that. the cake was a denser cake where I like a fluffy cake, but it was completely edible!

I also made Big Dipper Oatmeal cookies as well today...they are my go to oatmeal cookie recipe now. I LOVE them and so do keith and avery. I started to make them b/c I didn't care of oatmeal and I had heard that oatmeal can help improve milk production during breastfeeding...its a good excuse to eat cookies at least! I wasnt sure I was going to like the cinnamon/choc. combo but it actually went together quite nicely. glad i tried them...and yes I do generally eat reg. old oatmeal for breakfast every morning now. I tend to crave it...i serve it with some brown sugar and REAL maple syrup, and some cinnamon. no instant stuff here...well keith likes it! i also use a little rice milk so its safe for quinn to recieve.