THE world's best blueberry muffins

little baby muffins make a great breakfast on the go... freeze em and take em out as you need em...boy likes em.

these are my extra-super favorite...

ingredients for muffins:

1 1/3 cups all purpose flour

1/3 cup white sugar

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/3 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk



what makes them extra-special:

a good 2 cups of blueberries
(mine were big ripe berries we froze from this summer)

2 tbs flax seed
(for extra fiber and omega-3)



and of course the cinnamon-y sweet topping:

1/3 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup butter softened

1 tsp cinnamon

1/3 cup brown sugar



pre-heat your oven to 375. line your muffin tins... i use foil liners cause they hold up to the ooey-gooeyness of these muffins. mix flour, white and brown sugars, salt and baking powder. stir oil, eggs and milk until the lumps are gone. gently fold in blueberries. fill muffin tins, i like mine nice and full for a good muffin top.


for topping, mix flour, butter, cinnamon, and brown sugar. sprinkle a little on top (or a lot).

bake for about 12 to 15 minutes if using small muffin tin (20 to 30 minutes for larger muffins).

the extra berries make these muffins almost like a tart. a little crunchy sweet muffin wrapped around a yummy blueberry filling... mmm...

its time again for a "not me monday"

this has been one of those extra-special mondays that put you in your place just in case you were getting a little cocky and thought you could get through a day without God.

i did not wake up late (as in twenty minutes before i needed to leave for work). i had not slacked sunday night and not packed lunches or backpacks. i did not go to get boy's clothes out of the dryer to realize that i didn't put them in the dryer last night so he had NO dry pants or big boy underwear! (and i don't have to pack like three sets of extra clothes just in case since we are potty training) i did not throw the three sets of pants and underwear i thought would dry the fastest into the dryer and crank it on high just to send my sweet stinky boy out the door in slightly damp clothes. we did not get out to the car to find the car seat was not installed and did not have blueberries smashed in it from gamma and paw paw borrowing it sunday. i was not late for work...

the day did improve from there, then i came home from a run to start dinner. i decided to make philly cheese steak (a really yummy recipe i'll share in a bit).

i cut my almost frozen roast into strips and put them in the food processor to thinly slice...


i was cutting roast and suddenly i did not hear boy screaming as raw meat was flinging through the air. i did not turn to see this...

i did not get distracted by boy's screams and take even longer to stop the food processor. boy had not minutes before opened the dishwasher and pull out the baskets of clean dishes. the dishwasher was not directly behind me. i did not need to rewash all the dishes because they had tiny chunks of raw meat all over them. i did not spend the rest of the night cleaning the mess up... i am way to "together" for any of that to happen to me, but i will pray for the poor soul that did have this day...

chefin' it: homemade apple sauce for baby boy

made homemade applesauce for boy last night.

it is really easy, really yummy, and all natural.

what you need:

*fuji apples

(i used 8 large apples and made about 3 cups)

a food processor

and well that's about it

peel, core, and cut

(i'm not fancy enough for a corer or peeler, so a good old knife was used)

i sliced my apples into eighths.

baked for about 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

stirred once to keep the apples on top from drying out.

(put a baking sheet under them just in case they bubble over)

dumped into the food processor, juice and all,

and ran until the apples were a good smooth consistency.

i poured the apple sauce into ice trays and froze.
then just pop them out, put in freezer bags and i have
fresh apple sauce in perfect boy portions any time.

*fuji apples are very sweet and crisp. they bake well, not turning mushy.
no need to add sugar to the sauce.

i have even used them in apple pies,
cut the sugar from the recipe,
and it's still sweet and delicious!

chefin' it: my favorite fall meal

the rules are simple... the first cold night you make a big pot of stew.

it's really easy and really yummy.

what you will need:

a pound or so of stew meat
(any cut of meat cubed will work)
half an onion diced
a large clove of garlic minced
(about 1/2 tsp of garlic powder will work)
about 2 cups of frozen veggies mix
(any flavor you like, mine has green beans, carrots, peas, and corn)
about 5 potatoes cubed
an 8oz can of tomato sauce
a little worcestershire
a tbs of beef base
(or a couple beef boullon cubes)

saute onions and garlic in a bit of oil
brown meat (the house is already smelling yummy)
add veggies and potatoes and stir
add can of tomato sauce and enough water to cover meat and veggies well
add beef base, cover and let simmer
when potatoes are done i add a splash of worcestershire sauce and salt and pepper to taste.
(if it is too tomato-y add a bit of brown sugar, you can also thicken it a bit by combining a tbs of flower and with water and mixing well then stirring the mixture into the stew)


now i know some people would say your potatoes need to cook for a while before you add the rest of the veggies blah, blah, blah... i am here to tell you that it does not matter. when the potatoes are done (you can smash'em with a fork) it's cooked long enough. now it will be better if you let it keep cooking over a low heat a little longer and it will be EVEN BETTER heated up tomorrow.




add a big slab of sweet cornbread from grandma's recipe and its
pure, soul-warming, goodness in a bowl...