Whole Wheat Honey Applesauce Muffins

We needed a snack for a group in a hurry today, these were quick and easy to put together, and delicious.

Whole Wheat Applesauce Spice Muffins
Yields: 12 Muffins 24 mini-muffins

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1/3 cup honey
2 Tbsp butter, melted
1 cup unsweetened applesauce


Preheat oven to 400°F. Grease muffin pan or place muffin liners. Stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt in a large bowl, set aside. Melt honey in a med bowl.  Whisk in eggs, honey, and applesauce until combined well.  Then fold in flour mixture until flour is just moistened. Divide batter among muffin cups. Bake until muffins are puffed and golden brown, about 18-20 minutes (13 for minis).  Adapted from this recipe.

Honey Wheat Zucchinni Muffins

I tried a recipe from Me and My Pink Mixer for honey wheat zucchini muffins.  I chose her recipe, though it looked almost exactly the same as another, because hers used 3/4 instead of a full cup of honey.  (I'm trying to wean us from the need for everything to be super sweet--a little sweet is enough)

This recipe is made with 100% whole wheat flour.  Because muffins use chemical leaveners to rise, instead of yeast and gluten, there's no reason to use anything but the wheat.

Honey Wheat Zucchini Muffins

3 cups whole wheat flour

2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2 cups shredded zucchini

1/2 cup butter, melted

3/4 cup honey

2 eggs

In a large mixing bowl combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, nutmeg and baking powder.  Stir and then add zucchini and toss together.  In a separate bowl, melt butter, stir in honey and eggs.  Make a well in the dry ingredients, pour in the wet, and mix just until moistened. Scoop dough into paper-lined muffin tins. Bake at 400 degrees for 16-20 minutes.

This recipe made 1 dozen muffins plus 1 dozen mini muffins.   We cooked the minis for 10 minutes and the regular for 16 min. 

Cranberry Salsa

 Cranberry salsa.  A bit tangy, kind of sweet with a kick of spiciness.  Sooo good.

And adorable with little Christmas tree chips made from spinach tortillas.

Another great thing about this recipe--it was a Christmas "treat" I could share with my friend who doesn't eat dairy, eggs or chocolate. 

Cranberry Salsa with "Tree" Chips

12 oz. bag fresh or frozen cranberries
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, cut in eighths
1/2 large red pepper, cut in large chunks
1/2 medium red onion, cut in large chunks
3/4 C sugar
1/3 C apple juice
3 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
2 Tbsp. chopped pickled jalapeno pepper
1 tsp. grated lime zest

1 pkg. spinach flour tortillas (green)

Put cranberries, apple, red pepper and onion in food processor; pulse until chopped. Transfer to a large glass bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients until blended. Cover and refrigerate or spoon into crocks or jars and refrigerate. (I suggest dividing into two processor batches to avoid pureeing the ingredients too much. Can use a food chopper instead. Adjust amounts of onion and/or jalapeno according to your desire for spiciness and apple juice according to your desire for juiciness.)

For chips, heat oven to 375°. Use a 3" cookie cutter to cut out tree shapes. (Or just slice with a pizza cutter into abstract triangle trees.) Place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake 8 minutes. Remove to wire rack to cool completely. Put in plastic bags; give with the salsa. Can be made up to 2 weeks ahead. Store chips airtight at room temperature.

Makes 4 C salsa; 36 chips

Banana Oat Drops

When we could tell Wyatt was ready for some food of the teething biscuit variety I started looking for recipes. I found some recipes on this baby food website which is also where we got the info on making the rice cereal.  I wanted a non-wheat recipe, no extra sugar, and having no eggs was a good thing too.

The recipe we tried out recently --Oat and Banana Drops-- was a hit.  It made a biscuit that was soft and mushy in the baby's mouth (as opposed to the type that is hard and dissolves as the baby sucks on it).  They were delicious--tasting similar to a banana-walnut-type muffin but with 753 less calories a piece (estimated) and containing only happy baby ingredients.  And they made for one satisfied baby.

This is the only picture I have because the entire family ate up the half batch within 12 hours.  (Had to let the baby share his nourishing snack with the rest of us--we need it too!)


Oat and Banana Drops -- Baby Biscuit Recipe:


1 c old-fashioned oats
1 c ground oats (oat flour)
1/4 t salt
1/4 t cinnamon
1/4 t nutmeg
1 t baking powder
1 c (2-3) ripe bananas, mashed
1 t vanilla extract
3 T oil


Mix dry ingredients together, set aside.  Mix wet ingredients, pour into to dry mixture. Drop by the spoonful onto parchment paper or greased baking sheet, or use a piping bag to make long bars. Bake 12-15 min at 350.

This is (before cooking) how I made mine.  I piped them into bars because Wyatt likes to be able to grab on and have something sticking out of his fist to chew on.  This was a half batch and made 16.  A full batch should make about 32 bars or 64 drops and should hopefully last more than a day. 

Real Convenience Food

"I need something to eat right now," is the hardest time for choosing real food over processed food.  So I've spent a few days thinking about the way we do things, and I've come up with some ideas to share.

I identified three different tiers of solutions to this issue.   The first being purchasing prepackaged--but non-preservative-filled foods.  The second being planning ahead.  And the third being true, real, convenience food.

Purchasing prepackaged foods:  I throw this idea out there because there are times when you are out on the run--or maybe on a car trip--when it seems you have no alternative than purchasing something.  My point is that there are some things that you can buy that fit mostly into the "real food" category.  Pretty much everything I will mention in the following two categories will offer some prepackaged version or another with varying levels of processing and additives.  But if you look closely you should be able to find an acceptable option.  You can buy a packaged fruit leather made with fruit and lemon juice rather than a bag of gummi worms made with HFCS and artificial colorings.


Planning ahead:  I say this as motivation to myself not because I am at all consistent about this currently.  But obviously the amount of snack foods that you can make ahead and have waiting and ready for "emergency" are endless.  I mentioned buying fruit leather--but I would love to make my own.  I'm waiting for a cheap dehydrator on Craigslist.  Then there are the baked goods: homemade crackers and granola and other things.

Crackers can be made in advance and kept in an airtight container.  granola bars can be stored individually wrapped in the cupboard or even the freezer for longer periods so that it's ready when you want it.  We also recently made homemade "Oatmeal-to-go" bars.  Take your cue from the grocery store--anything they sell you,  you can make at home instead.  And it will be cheaper and better for you.

One thing my boys really love to snack on is our homemade granola. They will often be found eating straight from the bucket.  I love the granola as a quick snack as well.  I'm a real cold-cereal lover and granola with milk satisfies that craving.

I'll put hard-boiled eggs in this plan-ahead category too.  It takes about 15 minutes to get a hard-boiled egg, but if you make them a day in advance they are very quick to grab and eat.  

Now there is an overlap to my categories, because technically everything in this next category must be planned ahead for and bought, or made, or grown, or fermented, but in our home all contents of the following category are available regularly for fast and easy consumption

 Real Convenience Food:  The obvious first answer is fresh fruits and vegetables.  Grapes, bananas, apples, carrot sticks, slices of sweet peppers, sugar snap peas.  (My boys love their vegetables crunchy.)  The choices are endless.  Out of season you can enjoy applesauce and bottled or frozen fruits and vegetables along with dried fruits.  (We love raisins, craisins, banana chips, and dried pineapple.) 

If you are looking for a snack that sustains your energy it's good to pair a protein source with them.  That sounds lame but it's not.  Yogurt with berries on top. Celery with peanut butter (and rasins?). Apple slices with cheese (don't knock it). Cottage cheese with pears.

All of those pairs are favorite options on their own as well,  yogurt (maybe topped with granola?), and cottage cheese or cheese slices make great snacks

One of our favorite quick filling snacks is smoothies.  

 I keep assorted frozen fruits in the freezer at all times.  That goes into a bowl with any fresh fruit going soft or brown, fresh greens from the fridge (spinach in the summer, kale in the winter)  and plain yogurt.  Buzz it up with a stick blender.  I use a little bit of 100% fruit juice or rice, almond, or cow milk to thin it out, and it's fast and delicious. And it's the easiest way I know to get a lot of greens into my boys.

A quick snack we eat regularly is toast.  Jeremy loves his toast with chocolate milk and although there may be healthier options--it's a surprisingly satisfying snack. 

   Toast and eggs are easy too and filling.  We'll even do toast and eggs for a super-quick dinner sometimes. Peanut butter on toast would be a good snack too.

Finally my boys do love tangy, briney-type foods as well.  The love to eat pickles and olives (black, green, and purple) by the crock-full. I haven't tried making any other pickled vegetables, though I probably should because the boys would love them.  Jeremy actually made pickled eggs recently.  Wow--potent. . . but really good sliced on a sandwich.

So there you have my ideas about real convenience foods.  I think it's one of those things where there are really more ideas than we realize until we sit down and think about them. 


It finally cooled down here enough for us to turn our oven back on.  I christened it back into service this week with a giant batch of homemade granola.  We're excited to be able to turn the oven on more regularly again this fall season, and bake a lot of the foods that we've relied on the (air-conditioned) grocery store for this summer. 

October Bento

Happy First of October!

Peanut butter Pumpkin sandwich.  A ghost egg with nori eyes.  Mozzarella moons.  Sweet pepper pumpkins atop black olive fence posts on a bed of spooky orange carrot sticks.

American Bento

I haven't actually been trying that hard on Owen's lunches.  I've been letting his new cute containers do most of the work for me thus far.     That was. . . until we had the following conversation:

Me:  Owen how do you want this carrot in your lunch?  Do you want me to cut it into carrot sticks or do you want me to leave it like this-- like a big carrot rocket?

Owen:  I don't want any carrots in my lunch.

Me:  Would you like me to put some dip in for your carrot sticks?

Owen:  I would like ketchup. . .
            with french fries. . .
            and some chicken nuggets. . .

That got no reply from me other than to turn and march myself right back into the kitchen to finish making his lunch.  This is exactly why I am making his lunches at home and sending them to school.

Kindergartners want to eat fun food.  And right now he's thinking that those french fries and chicken nuggets look fun.  That is one of the whole ideas behind bento.  People, especially children, eat with their eyes first, and if the food isn't visually appealing--they won't want to eat it.

Carrot sticks, sweet red pepper squares on toothpicks, cheese leaves, and ants on a log.  He also had a half a sandwich.  (Jeremy had made him a whole sandwich, but Jonas found it and ate one half for his breakfast.)

When I finished putting together Owen's Americanized bento box I took it over and showed him.    I got the wide-eyed expression of surprise and interest I was looking for.

"This is your lunch."  I told him.  (And no, you may not have fries with that.)

I think he enjoyed his lunch.  I definitely was excited to show it to him, and he ate most of it.  Now I just have to stop by the principle's office when I drop him off today and ask for his plastic toothpicks back.

Apparently they were confiscated for being "spaceships--flying through the hair galaxy." 

("Who's hair galaxy Owen?")

Seriously, they should be paying me to send my kid to school.  You know those teachers haven't had laughs this good in a long time.

Thin Wheat Crackers

I am a snack-y type person. There are times I'm just in the mood to snack on something. Preferably something light and crunchy.

I've always been curious about making my own crackers. It was one of those things I just thought I had to rely on the grocery store for. And I thought that if you were going to make homemade crackers then the only thing that would make the effort worth it would be to make a ton at once (making it take a long time). I was pleasantly surprised to find it was fast and easy to whip up a batch of these homemade crackers. It sounds a little nuts--but I highly suggest giving cracker-making a try sometime.

This is another example of a recipe that is trying to closely mimic a store brand. These tasted right on. Now I'm curious to see if I can adapt the recipe to make the sundried tomato and basil version I've had from the store as well-yumm!

Homemade Thin Wheat Crackers Recipe:

In a medium bowl, whisk together:

3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
2 T. brown sugar
2 T sesame seeds optional

Add these to the ingredients in your bowl:
1/2 cup buttermilk
3 T. oil or melted butter

Stir together to make a soft dough. It will be very soft and sticky. It should be stirred just until the flour is all absorbed, but not kneaded. Once it’s all incorporated, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit for about 10 minutes. This lets the whole wheat flour absorb all the liquid.

Divide the dough in half. Grease the bottom side of two sheet pans or use a silicon liner. Plop half of the dough on one sheet pan. Place a piece of saran wrap over the dough and begin rolling with a rolling pin. Roll to cover the sheet pan entirely.

Use a pizza cutter to score the dough into cracker squares. Then sprinkle the dough with a generous sprinkling of salt, and if desired, sprinkle it with some sesame seeds or garlic salt, onion salt, etc.

Bake at 350 for 14-15 minutes or until golden brown and crisp.

Homemade Granola

I will eat this granola with milk poured over the top as a replacement for store-bought cold cereals. (It's good when mixed half and half with crisp rice or "O" cereal too.) I also like to put it in the microwave for 30 seconds just to warm it but not make it soggy. This is great as a topping on yogurt, you could even try it as a topping on ice cream or a salad.

I don't put any dried fruit in my recipe. Those strong flavors tend to overwhelm me in granola.

This recipe calls for "Steel-cut Oats." You can often find them in the grocery store right by the other oats and oatmeal or by the grains in the "natural food" section. They are just oats processed by blades instead of rollers. They actually make for a really great porridge-style oatmeal as well.

Homemade Granola Recipe

3/4 C pure Maple syrup
3/4 C oil
1-3/4 C brown sugar

32 oz. container of old fashioned oats
1 C steel cut oats (also called Irish oats or “pinhead” oats)
4 oz. slivered almonds
1 1/2 C large flaked (shaved) coconut

Heat oven to 350°. Mix maple syrup, oil and brown sugar in large glass bowl--microwave for 1-1/2 minutes; stir; microwave 1-1/2 more minutes.

Put the oats, almonds and coconut in a large bowl. Pour syrup mixture over it and stir to blend.

Spread granola onto two half sheet pans and toast, stirring every 4 minutes until golden-crisp, about 12 minutes.

If you want it to be in nice clumps then do not stir it the last time you bring it out of the oven. After the last 4 minutes of cooking just pull out the sheets and leave them until cool. Cool completely before serving.

Store in airtight container.

Makes 20 cups

Homemade Granola Bars

I've been working on this recipe for a long time. This is an instance where I wanted to replicate my favorite store brand, so that's why it is the way it is. This includes the addition of crisp rice cereal (and peanut butter chips). This cereal really helps keep the bar light. Even with that addition these bars still have way less preservatives than what the grocery store sells. But if you want-- exchange them out for more oats.

Homemade Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Granola Bar Recipe:

3/4 C butter, softened
1/2 C honey
1/2 C packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 C flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 1/2 C rolled oats
1 1/2 C crisp rice cereal
1/2 C chocolate chips
1/2 C peanut butter chips
1/2 C peanut pieces (I put peanuts in a plastic bag and give my son a mallet and 60 seconds.)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly butter one 9x13 inch pan.

In a large mixing bowl combine the butter, honey, and brown sugar. Add the vanilla, flour, and baking soda, mix to combine. Add the oats, crisp rice and remaining mix-ins. Firmly press mixture into the prepared pan. Bake at 325 degrees F for 18 to 22 minutes or until golden brown. When you remove from oven, use the back of a spatula to press down and compact the bars. (This will make them easier to hold without them falling apart.)Let cool for 10 minutes then cut into bars. Let bars cool completely in pan before removing or serving.

**For oatmeal raisin granola bars leave out chips and peanuts, add 1 cup raisins.

Makes 24 1 x 4 inch granola bars. Freeze extras--though I doubt there'll be any.

Apple Sauce

A friend of mine came over on Friday and we canned homemade apple sauce. I have a bit of experience with canning, and most of the right tools, so she wanted to come see how one goes about the whole "canning" experience.

I've never done applesauce before, but I missed peach season due to the woes of early pregnancy, and wanted to do something that the young children we both have would enjoy.

It was pretty simple:

• Peel, core, and slice apples (We did about 12 lbs and chose a variety to get both good taste and texture.)
• Put in a pot and barely cover with water (I also squeezed in the juice of one lemon for preservation of color)
• Simmer 'till soft, then puree (I thought my stick blender might turn it to juice instead of sauce but it actually worked perfectly)
• Eat or "can" or I suppose you could freeze it too(Our batch made 11 pints)

The best part about it was seeing how interested and excited Owen was about the whole thing. The jars were cooling on the counter and Owen wanted to pop one open right then and eat it. We finally caved in for dinner Saturday night and let the boys have some. I'm really pleased with how well it turned out. And Owen's interest in the process makes it all worth it!

Now I have nine more pounds of apples I bought. What should I do next? More applesauce or apple butter? yummm. . . apple butter. . .

Sourdough Oatmeal Muffins

1 egg
1/2 C. oil
1 1/2 C. sourdough starter
1/2 C. brown sugar
1 C. flour
1 tsp salt
1 C. oats

Oil a muffin pan and preheat oven to 375*F.

In a small bowl mix together the egg, oil, and starter; set aside. In a large bowl mix together the brown sugar, flour, salt, and oats. Make a well in the dry ingredients, pour the wet ingredients in the well and stir just enough to moisten the dry mix. The batter will be lumpy.

Fill muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake for 30 minutes.