This started out as a recipe for bran muffins, but since my version doesn’t actually contain any bran I had to call them something else. Also, the original recipe didn’t have frosting but that was just a damn tragedy. Everything should have frosting. They’re just about as healthy as a muffin can get before you move into inedible cardboard territory and contain both a fruit (wait, are raisins a fruit? if they are then it contains TWO fruits) and a vegetable so you can feel good about feeding them to toddlers. Just don’t feed them TOO many because, hello, how much fiber does one 25 lb child NEED?

The best part about these muffins is, like my cereal bars, you can add or subtract based on what you have on hand and/or can find at your grocery store. I couldn’t find bran flour so I used wheat germ and substituted whole wheat flour for the white. If you wanted them to be more cake-like I would definitely use white flour (OR try the white whole wheat flour I saw at the store but was too dumb to actually put in my cart thanks to having both kids with me). You can add nuts, dried cranberries or blueberries, zucchini or squash. If you don’t like cinnamon use cloves or more nutmeg (actually, I might throw more spices in anyway the next time I make them.) And of course, if you hate deliciousness you can always omit the frosting.

Here’s what you need:

What, you don't buy baking soda in giant 10 lbs bags?

1 ½ Cups whole wheat flour
½ cup wheat germ
¾ cup ground flax (I found it near the oatmeal at the store)
1 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
¾ cup milk (I used 1%)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tablespoons applesauce
2 cups shredded carrots
2 apples, peeled & diced
1 cup raisins

Mix all the dry ingredients:

Add the wet ingredients, fruit and carrots:

Fill muffin tin cups about 3/4 of the way (I used paper liners, you could just spray the tin with some Pam):

Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. While they cool, make the frosting.

Cream cheese frosting:

2 8-oz packages reduced fat cream cheese
½ cup butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Beat it all together:

This makes MORE than enough frosting for the muffins – you could probably halve the recipe easily. But then you wouldn’t have nearly as much left over to eat with a spoon store in the fridge for next time.

The muffins are sort of carrot cake-y and a little dense but not too much. You can’t really taste the apple so if you WANTED to I would add at least another whole apple. I ate two to taste test them and now I am STUFFED – they are really really filling thanks to the whole wheat, wheat germ and flax seed, although none of those flavors are distinguishable from the muffin as a whole. With the frosting you could easily trick children into thinking they’re cupcakes, especially if you added an extra half-cup of sugar to the muffins.

Enjoy!

The Best Lasagna Ever – The Pioneer Woman
Spicy Pulled Pork – The Pioneer Woman (apparently, this one’s cookbook exclusive – I can’t find it online)(it was not spicy)
Drip Beef Sandwiches – The Pioneer Woman
Peach Crisp with Maple Cream Sauce – The Pioneer Woman (Yeah, I’m a fan. In case you didn’t already know. It doesn’t help that I just bought her cookbook.)

Not pictured (because it was after the fair and I was too tired to remember: Mini Meatball Sandwiches – The Pioneer Woman

Fish Tostadas with Chili-Lime Cream – Better Homes & Gardens
Gnocchi with Spinach and Goat Cheese – originally from Giada but I can’t find it, posted in the comments here by my friend Merin
Marinated Chicken with Cucumber Mint Salad – Martha Stewart
No-knead Lemon Rosemary Bread – Williams-Sonoma (mine is torn out of a catalog from Christmas 2 years ago)

And then we ate leftovers, leftovers, leftovers, LEFTOVERS.

What did you eat this week?

(P.S. If you’ve noticed a sudden spike in the number of photo collages here on ye olde blog, it’s because I just discovered Picasa & I’m OBSESSED. It does everything from little edits like removing red eye to cool effects to watermarking photos. Why did no one tell me about it before? <—- not a paid endorsement)

These were my FAVORITE snack when I was a kid, although I’m using the term “kid” very loosely since I definitely remember asking my mom to bake a batch or two when I was in high school. The wheat germ makes them sweet and nutty and incredibly satisfying and the shape is fast-moving toddler friendly. They aren’t exactly healthy – hellooooo butter and sugar – but they’re definitely better than a store bought snack, if only because you know exactly what’s in them and can avoid preservatives and high fructose corn syrup. It’s also a SUPER easy recipe to adapt – use gluten-free flour, add chopped nuts or dried fruit, substitute the vanilla for almond flavoring or use rolled oats or Grape Nuts instead of the wheat germ.

The original recipe comes from my very well used copy of “Feed Me! I’m Yours” by Vicki Lansky the “New and Revised” edition…published in 1974. Some of the food suggestions seem a little outdated (Chicken Liver Special? Vegetable Egg Yolk Custard?) but the book is charming and the recipes for homemade, healthier versions of everything from brownies to edible paste are great. (As a bonus, it has TONS of other advice on everything from entertaining your child while you’re trying to cook dinner – ice cube in a cup – to the dangers of children’s birthday parties – little girls catching their hair on fire and kids running with straws and lollipops.) It may be worth trying to track down an original copy although the new and revised version from 2004 might be just as charming.

Homemade Cereal Bars
Adapted from Feed Me! I’m Yours 1974 edition

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/4 cup white flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/3 cup wheat germ (other options: Grape nuts, granola, rolled oats) plus another 1/3 cup for rolling

Cream butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla in a mixer. Add wheat flour first, then add 1 cup white flour. Mix in baking soda & 1/3 cup wheat germ. Check your dough for stickiness – if it seems too soft add the rest of the white flour, a little more wheat flour or more wheat germ until it’s the right consistence for shaping (you want it just a little less sticky than cookie dough).

Take a small piece of dough and roll it into a snake – if you have anyone around with play dough experience they can definitely help with this part! Then roll the snake in the extra 1/3 cup of wheat germ and place it on a greased cookie sheet.

You can make yours prettier than these if you want - the finger dents show when they're baked.

Bake at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes, depending on the size of your bars. The edges will be slightly brown.

Give them a minute to cool, pop them off the cookie sheet and enjoy. They keep pretty well in an air-tight container or zip-lock bag for up to a week and will stay edible all day in a snack bag or car seat cup holder.

Baby Evan approved!

Clockwise from top left:
1. The Pasta Salad – From “A Taste of NPS”, a collaborative cookbook my mom bought 20 years ago
2. CPK’s BBQ Chicken Pizza – Tasty Kitchen/The Pioneer Woman
3. Chicken Fried Rice – Tasty Kitchen/The Pioneer Woman
4. Asian Noodle Salad – Tasty Kitchen/The Pioneer Woman

Clockwise from top left
1. & 2. Marcella Hazan 3 Ingredient Tomato Sauce – Steamy Kitchen
3. Espinacas con Garbanzos – Smitten Kitchen
4. Thai Chicken Pizza – Rachael Ray

We didn’t eat fast food ONCE this past week. For the record, they were ALL delicious. E ate everything, including the chickpeas.

I freaking love zucchini bread, even if it is healthy zucchini bread. Which is sort of weird, since I don’t really like zucchini. But when this time of year rolls around and the grocery store/farmer’s market starts selling them 3 for a $1 I find myself with a whole fridge full. Last year I did a bit of incredibly rare planning ahead and shredded up half a dozen zucchinis, popped then in the freezer and then made bread all fall whenever the urge hit.

When I posted about our lack of healthy food choices I got a TON of great suggestions, including one from my friend Ernie Bufflo who said healthy baked goods like zucchini bread were the only “junk” food she kept in the house. Which seems like an excellent idea on the surface, except that even zucchini bread is bad for you if you eat the entire loaf in one sitting.

So I set off across the internet to find a recipe for healthy zucchini bread. But because I am NOT willing to sacrifice the tastiness of actual bread for whatever the totally vegan, gluten-free, no-calorie sweetener, enriched with twigs and sticks option is, it’s not truly healthy. We’ll call it healthier.

Suzanne’s Healthy (er) Zucchini Bread
(I started with this recipe but used several commenter’s suggestions as well as my own adaptations)

Please ignore the ridiculously large bag of baking soda. I read a list of like 1,001 things to do with baking soda and planned to clean the whole house or make my own tooth paste or cure cancer with it or something. So far, I’ve used 2 tablespoons for baking.

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 eggs
1/4 cup oil
3/4 cup applesauce
2 tablespoons vanilla
2-3 cups zucchini, grated (2 medium sized zucchini)
1 1/2 cup white flour
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
Raw sugar for sprinkling (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine the first 6 ingredients in a large bowl & mix until smooth. Stir in zucchini. Add remaining ingredients to bowl and stir stir stir.

Go ahead and stick your finger in it. You know you want to. Just remember the raw eggs and don’t complain to me if you end up puking out your eyeballs. That was a stupid thing to say in the middle of a recipe.

Pour into muffin tins or loaf pans that you’ve sprayed with non-stick spray. Add the SUPER SECRET INGREDIENT: Sprinkle the top(s) with a little raw sugar*. When doling out the batter, remember it rises but not an enormous amount so don’t skimp on filling them up. For loafs, bake at 350 for 60 minutes. For muffins, 350 for 25 minutes.

Get in my face

See the sugar on top? SO GOOD.

With a little *real* butter it’s a fantastic breakfast. Or lunch. Or dinner.

I’m not going to lie, using whole wheat flour instead of all white changes the texture a little, but not so much I would know if I didn’t know. Y’know what I mean? You could also get away with using a little less sugar – maybe 1 1/2 cups white plus the brown – but you might want to add a bit more flour to keep them from getting to liquidy. Overall I am deliciously pleased with these. Any baked good that contains both a fruit and a vegetable counts as health food in this house!

*Super Secret Ingredient:

I buy it in the little packets so I can toss some in my tea. I only used 2 packets for all 27 muffins.