Whole Wheat Muffins - Ready for Mix-ins! : Freezer Friendly

I've been doing a lot of reading online lately about food, our ability to get food, and the kind of foods we eat.  I have high cholesterol.  At 28.  Had I not had Little One I probably wouldn't have learned this little tidbit and it might not have mattered as much to me.  Honestly, my whole worldview has changed now that I'm a mom.  This little life depends on me to be healthy... to set a good, healthy lifestyle example in food and exercise.  Now, I don't love eating healthy all the time (cheese is my weakness!!) and working out on a regular basis (ugh.  it feels soooooooo repetitive.  I just don't enjoy "the hurt" from working out.  But.  My mind has got to change.  I'm really trying to become better at these - for myself and for Little One.  

Now back from that tangent - I am trying to reduce the amount of processed (pre-made) food that we consume and to increase our amount of daily vegetable and fruit intake.  DH and I decided yesterday that we will cut out most fast food, especially if we're eating it because we're being lazy.  I read something a while back that has really stuck with me as it pertains to children and what they eat.  It was something along these lines... children aren't born with the taste and cravings for salty, processed, empty food.  They learn to like these foods because we feed it to them.  I fail daily at this, but it serves as a reminder to me to stop and think about what I'm feeding Little One.  

So you're a busy mom?  Hectic schedule?  Too many things to do in one day?  How can I possibly cook for my family to cut out some of the processed foods?  Check out this site and this site.  Tried and true places to start.

1) Start with freezer friendly meals.  

2) Set apart an hour a week to meal plan (look up some recipes you want to try!).  

3) Prepare your grocery list based on sections of the store.  I'm kinda crazy, but every time I go I always follow the same path.  This allows me to set up my grocery list the same way every time.  This little time I take to categorize my list based on section of the grocery store or aisle saves me A TON of time in the store and I don't have to backtrack.  

4) One weekend day (or week day - it doesn't matter... just sometime when you have childcare or you know your child can be easily entertained while you cook for about 30 - 45 minutes...) prepare your meals.  

5) Start with 2 or 3.  That's 2 or 3 more than you had before you started!  I try to pick meals or foods that have similar ingredients to save time on prep work.  Start small and slowly work it in.  If you don't like something you've made, mark that off the "to-try" list for next time.  If you like it add it to your "regulars" list.  You can do it!!  

I've found this site - 100 Days of Real Food - she has A TON of good ideas and recipes.  These muffins are from her site.  Little One LOVED them.  They aren't sweet like regular muffins - and it's super fun to be able to add your own different "sweet" fruit mix-ins.  Banana was our favorite (but we're a banana muffin kind of family!)  Let me know what you decide to mix in - the options are endless!

 

Baked Broccoli & Rice Cups

My SIL and her sweet husband came for a visit (waaaay back in February).  We had a busy weekend planned and I was looking for vegetarian friendly recipes to meet her needs.  Can I just say I'm so glad I have someone I can bounce ideas off of as I contemplate heading more towards a vegetarian lifestyle for myself?!  I found these baked broccoli and rice cups on Pinterest - old trusty friend - and decided they were exactly what I was looking for! They had a great texture and were very filling.   Great for little ones or those on the go!

Twice Baked Potato Casserole & Pan-Seared Flank Steak: Freezer Friendly

I told you in my last post that I've bitten the freezer bug.  It's true!  My little freezer over the refrigerator is stocked full - quick meals: some cooked and some to-be cooked, frozen veges, frozen fruit (we make a lot of smoothies for breakfast), and what I like to call "bits & pieces" - little leftovers that can be used elsewhere - for example: a 1/2 can of green chiles, a little diced onion, a bag of walnuts.  So far having meals on hand has proven to be effective if for no other reason than providing me peace of mind that I don't have to plan a meal on hectic nights, or in our case, when we return from a trip.  If I have time, I can thaw and cook a meal.  If I'm pressed for time, I can microwave-to-heat-up an already cooked entree.  I'm telling you - it is worth any extra time and money up front to make ahead.

This is one of the freezer meals I made a few weeks ago and we ate it last night along with a pan-seared flank steak.  It was delicious!!

Mini Whole Wheat Zucchini Muffins

I've been on a search for ways to incorporate more veggies into Little One's diet. He is a very independent eater (prefers finger foods that he can have complete control over) but this also means that he's not too big on eating in the veggie department.  We've fallen into a peanut butter on pita sandwich for lunch every day the past 2 weeks.  I know he's tired of eating it because I'm tired of making it!!  I finally just bought some zucchini when I was at the grocery store last week.  I knew I could find some recipes for some zucchini muffins... and this one didn't disappoint!

Yum!

Grab a hot cup of tea or a tall glass of milk - you'll want to have something on hand when you enjoy these tasty treats!

Cilantro Lime Chicken: Freezer Friendly

Another great recipe... make one, take one!  We had this one night this past week and I just dropped off the frozen one to sweet family #2 this morning :)  I hope they like it as much as we did!  I'm telling you what - I'm totally into these meals I've been doing lately where I pull out all the ingredients one time and have two meals when I'm done.  Let's talk about that math!  Does 1 = 2?  For sure this time around.  Hope you enjoy this spin on annnooootther chicken dish!

Pan-Roasted Chicken with Lemon & Bacon

I was sent this recipe and decided to give it a whirl!  And of course I couldn't follow it as-is ;)  I changed it to include... drum roll please... BACON!!... after seeing this recipe.  Oh yum.  Instead of too lemony (like some of the reviews suggested) it had a slightly lemony, slightly smokey flavor combination.  I was in love!  But know that this was not love-at-first-sight.  It took some interesting oven baking, but it ended up being worth it in the end.  And because I was flustered at the end of 3 separate cooking times (for a one pot meal!) I didn't even take a picture of the end result. Boo. It ended up being tasty and I will try the flavor combination again definitely!

Pork Tenderloin with Broccoli and Gorgonzola Polenta

This was one of the first recipes I made in our new home.  It didn't turn out as great as I'd hoped so I was just going to skip posting it.  But, for better or worse, right?!  This meal wasn't bad, it just wasn't the fantastic thing I'd hoped it would have been.  The reason?  The red wine made the pork tenderloin look purple.  Weird color.  Maybe next time I'll try white wine instead, haha!  And let's be honest, I was just having one of 'those days'.  It probably could have been a four-star dinner and I still would have found a way to pick out all its flaws.  Don't you just love that?  Let's be real.  Why are we so hard on ourselves?  Am I the only one who feels the need to be perfect? The quest will drive you crazy. Trust me.  Let's just take a moment to thank the good Lord that we don't have to be perfect. AMEN. I shredded the meat and was able to get past the color.  And once I did, I realized this was a pretty tasty meal!

Hearty Chicken Enchiladas

I'm on the search for good Mexican food.  Like the authentic, homemade kind.  I miss the good, non-chain kind of Mexican food I used to find elsewhere.  So, I decided to try these Chicken Enchiladas I found while cookbook browsing.

Vegetable Couscous Salad

The picture looked so good in the magazine and I already had some couscous that I had bought in the pantry hoping that I would be adventurous enough to try it one day.  You know the kind that usually gets thrown away years after its expiration date when you finally clean out the deep dark corners of your pantry?  Trouble is... I bought the wrong kind of couscous.  I had intended to buy the small fluffy kind, not the pearly 'mushy' kind.  Grrr.  I was just looking for one that said it had no flavoring.  It was hard to tell from the picture on the box because there was nothing you could visually compare the product to.  But, note to self, don't get couscous that says "PEARL" on the box.  Blerg.

As soon as I opened the box today, though, I knew.  This kind is too big.  And sure enough, it has flavors reminiscent of that awful oatmeal I tried to make Sunday morning.  I'm just not an oatmeal girl.  I think it's because I don't like mushy cereal.  Yep, I won't talk to you while I'm eating my cereal because it gets soggy too quickly.  Just ask DH, or my mom.  I inhale it.  She had to call me back one night because I had just poured a bowl of cereal.   Kinda sad you won't talk to your own mom over eating the cereal.  This was after my DH had answered my cell too.  I didn't even talk to her to tell her I had just poured a bowl and to call back in 5.  Bless her heart.  Thanks for still loving me mom!  But, I digress...

Here's the recipe:

from Martha Stewart Everyday Food September 2011 issue


1 cup couscous
1/4 medium red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 English cucumber, halved and thinly sliced
1 medium tomato, cut into 1/2 inch wedges
2 tablespoons fresh mint leaves, torn
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice


Cook couscous according to package instructions.  In a medium bowl combine all other ingredients.  Season with coarse salt and ground pepper.  (To store, refrigerated in an airtight container up to 3 days).  Serves 4.

I boiled the couscous according to package directions. It actually took 2 minutes less than what the package called for.

Meanwhile I chopped all the veges.  And I added an extra half of a tomato since mine were kinda small.

Then, after letting the couscous stand covered for 5 minutes I joined it with the other ingredients in the bowl.  I added the olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper.

 Notice how mine turned out (above) and what the magazine article looked like (below).

The Verdict:
It was bland, so I added some salt and pepper and another squeeze of half a lemon. Now it's a little salty and lemony.  Hmmm... better luck next time?  I will definitely try this recipe again when I have the smaller couscous.  Side note: I let it set for a while and the flavors seemed to meld together some.

I had hopes that it would be a good lunch for tomorrow with some chicken maybe.  We'll have to see about that.  Maybe it will be better tomorrow!