mo' muffins (caution, graphic puke photo)

I'll just start off with the cute Zoe picture...

she was all dressed up for church, I was so sad that I was the only one who got to see this cute outfit, so (naturally) I decided to photograph her cuteness so you all could see it too.

I was going to try out a pumpkin bread recipe this afternoon, but due to some puke-age in the car on the way to church, we had to turn around and go home, and the carseat cover was in the wash so we couldn't make it back for the next service when J-pooh was done with his bath. I tell you, folks, they always have more in that little tummy than I think they do!

I brought him inside carseat-and-all. As you can see, he thought it was funny that every 5 seconds I would shout "oh, that is SO GROSS" - he wasn't really phased by being covered in puke. The photo really doesn't do it justice.

So, since he had to eat again, we made some pancake muffins since I had all the necessary ingredients. They were good! Would have been better had I not been too lazy to make honey-butter or get out the butter & maple syrup. I didn't actually change much in this recipe. I even amazed myself! I'll also include the What I'll Do Differently Next Time version.

Without further ado...

(and 2+ hours after I typed that, I'm back with the recipe. The kids have eaten & are asleep, I've folded laundry, picked up the kitchen, and done who knows what else. I'd better hurry before they wake up though!)

2 c. Aunt Jemima whole wheat blend pancake & waffle mix (I only used 1c. of this since I ran out, 3/4 c. light bisquick, 1/4 oatmeal - I always like to sub a little oatmeal & flax seed for another dry ingredient, it makes me feel healthier :)

1/2 t. cinnamon (I always use a little extra but I was trying so hard not to mess with the recipe so I just made it a rounded 1/2t.)

2/3 c. 2% milk

1/3 c. honey

1 egg or 2 egg whites slightly beaten (I used the egg since I'm low on eggs)

1/4 c. vegetable oil (I meant to use applesauce but then forgot and used olive oil. I'd use a little extra next time since they were a little drier that I like - I'm sure syrup would have helped too)

1t. vanilla extract (I used a little more since I had a splash left in the container and I couldn't put it back in the cupboard and certainly didn't want to waste it!)

**next time, I'll use all whole wheat mix, add flax seed, use more cinnamon, sub applesauce or softened butter for the oil, and add a little more, maybe sub some plain yogurt for milk, or just add some yogurt, use skim milk, and use 2 scoops of vanilla protein powder (I forgot to mention that this time around I used one, which is 25g protein - only about 1g/mini muffin)

I need to go grocery shopping for sure now! As you can see, most of my work in the kitchen is ingredient, not recipe, driven. Since I'm out of vanilla, flour and eggs, I'll have to get real creative if I want to continue avoiding the grocery store like this! The good news is that we still have milk and peanut butter (and now, muffins), so Joshua won't starve.

As usual, the directions were more involved than I wanted to get, so I just put it all in a bowl and mixed it until it looked, well, mixed. If you want to do it Aunt Jemima's way, you can mix the dry ingredients, mix the wet ingredients, then mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until they are "just moistened."

Aunt Jemima says: spray 12 muffin cups w/ Pam (why is it called "Pam" anyway?), fill 3/4 full, bake 15-18 min @ 425

Kim says: use mini muffin cups because Joshua likes "Joshy muffins" and they make less mess. Spray with said "Pam." Bake at 425 for 5 minutes then realize that that is too hot for mini muffins & turn the oven off for another 5 minutes before taking them out. FYI, the second batch at 375 for 10 minutes was also a little too hot. I'll go 350 for 10 minutes next time.

Use honey or syrup and/or butter. Or be too lazy and just eat them, like moi.

And we'll end with (what else?) a cute picture of Zoe.