Pumpkin spice oatmeal

This pumpkin spice oatmeal is the perfect steamy breakfast on a cool morning. Whole grain oatmeal is filling and hearty, while the bright orange pumpkin provides a day's worth of Vitamin A. The spices add warmth and delicious flavor.

Pumpkin Spice Oatmeal

This recipe makes 3 adult-sized servings.

¾ cup pumpkin (canned or pureed from fresh)

3 cups skim milk

1 ½ cups old-fashioned oats

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

½ tsp cinnamon

1. Use a whisk to combine pumpkin, milk and spices in a medium saucepan.
2. Add oats and cook over medium heat until the mixture boils (about 10 minutes) stirring occasionally.
3. Remove from heat and enjoy with your favorite oatmeal toppings. The following are delicious with this pumpkin spice oatmeal: walnuts, cranberries, raisins, brown sugar, or honey.

You can portion any leftover oatmeal into small bowls and refrigerate for a quick breakfast another morning.

Today's tip: Enjoy sweet pumpkin spice oatmeal for a warm, filling breakfast.

Pumpkin muffins

I've been making these muffins for years. They are sweet and warm with the spices of Fall: cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and ginger. Sometimes I make them as directed, other times I switch out chocolate chips for the raisins for a sweet mini-muffin recipe. Either way they are delicious!

 

Pumpkin Muffins
from Cooking Light, November 2006

 

2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 ½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground ginger
¼ tsp salt
1 cup golden raisins
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin (or fresh pumpkin puree)
1/3 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup canola oil
¼ cup molasses
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 Tbsp granulated sugar

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat 18 muffin cups with cooking spray or line with paper liners.
2. Combine flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, ginger, and salt in a medium bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Stir in raisins and make a well in the center of the mixture.
3. Combine brown sugar, pumpkin, buttermilk, canola oil, molasses, vanilla extract, and eggs, stirring well with a whisk.
4. Add sugar mixture to flour mixture; stir just until moist.
5. Spoon batter into muffin cups. Sprinkle with granulated sugar and bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove muffins from pan immediately and cool on a wire rack.

My notes:

• I used half all-purpose and half whole-wheat flour and these came out great. I may try all whole-wheat next time after the success of the maple-apple muffins.
• For delicious sweet mini-muffins substitute ½ cup of mini chocolate chips for the cup of raisins. Scoop into mini muffin pan and cook for about 10 minutes or until done. This recipe makes tons of mini muffins!
• If you don't have pumpkin pie spice you can substitute: 1 tsp cinnamon, ½ tsp ginger, ¼ tsp cloves, and ¼ tsp nutmeg.
• If you don't have buttermilk in the house you can add 1 tsp vinegar to 1/3 cup of milk and let it sit for a bit as a buttermilk substitute.

Enjoy! Add fruit and these muffins are the perfect breakfast on a crisp Fall morning.

 

Today's tip: Bake up pumpkin muffins and enjoy a taste of Fall.

Apples

Fall is apple season here in New England. Apples are on sale at the grocery store, available as part of my CSA farm share, and abundant for picking at several local farms. We have a big bowl of apples on the counter so we can all enjoy this sweet fruit.

Does an apple a day keep the doctor away? Apples contain fiber – both soluble fiber that can lower cholesterol and insoluble fiber to aid digestion. Apples also contain quercetin, a powerful antioxidant. A medium-sized apple only contains about 80 calories but can be a filling snack.

We can't keep apples in the house long around here. We love to eat them plain, sprinkled with cinnamon-sugar, smeared with peanut butter, or baked into a tasty treat. I posted a recipe for delicious maple-apple muffins last week. Here is a simple apple recipe, applesauce.

I don't think this even qualifies as a recipe... it's pretty vague. I just wanted to let you know that homemade applesauce is easy to make.

Homemade Applesauce

Step 1: Peel, core, and chop apples (whatever amount you have on hand) into large chunks.

Step 2: Put the apples and a bit of water in a saucepan. Today I made applesauce using 7 apples and about ¼ cup of water.

Step 3: Cover the pan and heat the apples/water on medium until the apples are soft enough to mash. This takes a different amount of time for different varieties of apples. I used McIntosh apples and they took 20 minutes to soften.

Step 4: Use a potato masher to mash the apples to a chunky applesauce. Use a blender or food processor for a smoother puree. Cool and enjoy.

Today's tip: Make your own applesauce – it's easy, natural, and delicious.

Maple-apple muffins with oat topping

I found another muffin recipe in another novel! I already posted the recipe for coconut orange blueberry muffins from The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs. I recently read the sequel, Knit Two, which featured another yummy-sounding (and healthy) muffin recipe. Now that it's officially apple season I had to give it a try.

 

These muffins were easy and so delicious! I followed the recipe exactly as written, except that I couldn't leave well enough alone and had to add an oatmeal crumb topping. I had them out on the counter and my sons wouldn't stop asking for them, then requesting seconds.

 

Each muffin contains 1/3 of an apple – not bad if you are having trouble getting your kids to eat fruit. Plus they are made entirely with whole wheat flour for added nutrition over white flour. You can also easily make them gluten-free.

 

I can't find the recipe officially posted anywhere, so I'm retyping it here in it's original form. The topping is my invention, though!

 

The only change I may make in the future would be to add a little maple extract. I couldn't taste maple in the muffins and would have liked that flavor to be stronger. Let me know how it turns out if anyone tries this.

 

Maple-apple muffins – from Knit Two by Kate Jacobs

 

1 ¾ cups whole wheat or gluten-free flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp salt
2 eggs
¼ cup oil – I used canola
½ cup applesauce
1/3 cup maple syrup – use the real thing!
1 tsp vanilla
2/3 cup dark brown sugar
2 ½ cups of peeled, cored, and chopped apples (the recipe calls for Granny Smith, I had macs in the house and they worked well)
½ cup chopped pecans, optional – I didn't add these

 

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a muffin tin with baking cups.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
3. Beat the eggs in a separate bowl. Add the oil, applesauce, maple syrup, and vanilla and stir. Mix in the brown sugar.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and combine. Stir in the apples. Add the nuts if desired.
5. Pour batter into muffin cups, filling to the top.
6. Make oat topping: mash 1 Tbsp softened butter with 1 Tbsp whole wheat (or GF) flour and 2 Tbsp brown sugar, plus a dash of salt and 1/3 tsp cinnamon. Stir in 2 Tbsp oatmeal. Top each muffin with this mixture, pressing it together lightly to form a crumble.
7. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until muffins are set and lightly brown. Remove the muffins from the baking pan and cool on a wire rack. Makes 12 muffins.

 

Note: If you are trying to make these muffins gluten-free you can either: omit the topping, make the topping without the oatmeal, or make it using certified gluten-free oats.

 

Today's tip: It's apple season, so mix up a batch of delicious muffins for your family.

Gingerbread pancakes

I remember that mom was on a fiber kick for a while when I was little. She would put Kellogg's All-Bran cereal in everything, from muffins to meatloaf.

 

She had good reason to be excited about fiber. People who eat higher fiber diets have been found to have:

• lower cholesterol
• improved digestive system health
• reduced risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and some types of cancer

Fiber also makes you feel full after eating fewer calories. Studies show that consuming a high fiber diet is one way to avoid excessive weight gain (or to lose weight and maintain weight loss for any parents who are interested).

 

Fiber is found in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Bran is the high-fiber outer layer of grains like wheat, oats and rice. Whole grains still contain this layer, while refined grains like white rice and flour have had it removed. The All-Bran cereal mom was obsessed with contains 10 grams of dietary fiber per ½ cup serving.

 

The USDA recommends that adults consume 25-38 grams of dietary fiber per day, (based on gender, age, and size) while children should get 19-31 grams per day (again, based on age and size). Check mypyramid.gov for personalized recommendations for your kids.

 

Mom has since stopped stashing cereal in her meatballs and instead focuses on including plenty of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains in her diet. I still love the recipe for Kellogg's All-Bran original bran muffins. While searching the Kellogg's All-Bran website I found a recipe for gingerbread pancakes. These are delicious – I have been making them for a few years. These tender pancakes are sweetened with molasses and spiced with cinnamon and ginger. Lila and I made them this morning and Ned ate two!

 

Gingerbread Pancakes (from Kellogg's)

 

1 cup Kellogg's All-Bran cereal
3 Tbsp canola oil
1 ¼ cups skim milk
¼ cup molasses
1 egg
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
½ tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon

1. In large mixing bowl, combine cereal, oil and milk. Add molasses and egg and beat well.
2. Stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices. Add to cereal mixture, stirring only until combined.
3. Cook on greased preheated griddle until brown on both sides, flipping only once. Serve hot with preserves, warmed applesauce, or syrup.

Today's tip: Check mypyramid.gov to figure out your family's fiber needs, then track your diet for a few days to see if you meet the recommendation.

Kid Superfood: Low-fat Greek Yogurt

We LOVE yogurt! You may be asking, “What's the deal with Greek yogurt?” Greek yogurt has been strained to remove more water than is removed in traditional yogurt, in addition to other processing steps that make it thicker and creamier. The result is a smooth yogurt that resembles sour cream in texture and is much higher in protein.

Greek yogurt has been around for a while, but it's recent popularity has prompted the major yogurt companies to package it, and it can now be found in most grocery stores. You can find whole, low-fat, and non-fat varieties in addition to plain (unsweetened) and flavored versions.

I prefer to keep plain low-fat Greek yogurt on hand, since it's easy to add fruit, a drop of vanilla, or a sweetener like honey (NO honey for children under 1-year-old!) or maple syrup to flavor it up. Substitute plain Greek yogurt for sour cream in dips or as a topping for potatoes, tacos, and soups (like my black bean soup).

Try the simple snack pictured at the top of the post: sprinkle on some chopped walnuts and drizzle a little maple syrup for a delicious maple-walnut yogurt!

Today's tip: Grab some low-fat Greek yogurt to use for creamy treats and toppings!

Kid Superfood: Blueberries

While all berries are great sources of fiber, vitamins, and antioxidants, blueberries win the superfood designation. In fact, blueberries have the highest antioxidant activity of any food according to the USDA. Antioxidants work to help your body fight diseases like cancer and heart disease. Blueberries contain color pigments called anthocyanins that are powerful antioxidants – another reason to include colorful foods in your family's diet.

In the summertime we go berry picking every weekend. The kids love to fill our baskets with fresh berries, sampling along the way! In New England, blueberry season starts in mid-July. My kids are already talking about it! Find a farm near you for summer berry-picking fun.

We used fresh blueberries to make pancakes over the weekend. Deacon loved them so much he was still talking about them at swimming lessons later that day! We used a boxed multigrain pancake mix, then added blueberries to make faces or initials before flipping the pancakes.

Blueberries make a delicious addition to salads, baked goods, cereal, or oatmeal. Stir some into yogurt for a quick breakfast or snack idea. Add some to a dish of ice cream. Frozen blueberries are just as nutritious and available year-round – I made a big batch of blueberry puree for Ned using frozen blueberries over the winter. I stirred this puree into applesauce, yogurt, sweet potatoes, and even veggies like cauliflower.

I've already posted some blueberry ideas and recipes, check out the yogurt parfaits we made last month, try blueberries on one of my sweet pizza ideas, or the original recipe for oatmeal, blueberry and orange muffins.

Today's tip: Give your family antioxidant power with blueberries.

Fruity Muffins

Last year I read a novel called The Friday Night Knitting Club that had this recipe in it for Oatmeal, Blueberry, and Orange Muffins. The muffins sounded delicious, so I gave them a try. The oatmeal and coconut give them a great texture!

Today Deacon and I made them, but we didn't have blueberries so we used bananas. They came out really well... the orange, coconut, and banana combination is tropical and fun. Deacon snagged a lot of bananas while we were cooking -- another reason to make healthy food with your kids. He will eat anything if it is an ingredient!

Here is my modified version. I tossed the diced bananas in the orange juice before adding them and they didn't turn brown.

Banana, Oatmeal, and Orange Muffins

Makes 16 muffins

Ingredients:
1 cup plain rolled oats
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp each baking powder, baking soda & salt
Grated rind of one large orange
1½ cups flaked sweet coconut
½ cup liquid pasteurized honey
1 egg
3 tbsp canola or extra-light olive oil
1 tbsp vinegar
Juice 1 orange & add water to make one cup of liquid
1 1/2 cup diced bananas

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F.

Line a muffin tin with paper cups.

Combine the dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl: oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Next, add the coconut flakes and orange rind to the dry ingredients.

Get a separate bowl and beat the egg. Then incorporate the wet ingredients: honey, oil, vinegar, juice and water.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry mix and stir until just moist. Then fold in bananas.

Pour batter into muffin cups, careful not to let any batter spill onto the tin. Bake in a preheated oven for 20-25 minutes. (Check to see if the muffins are fully baked by inserting a toothpick before removing from the oven; it should come out clean.)

Remove muffins from the pan and cool on wire rack.

Making everyone happy!

Ahhh, Saturday morning! Time to make a yummy breakfast! With help from Lila and Deacon, I made waffles with warm bananas (sauteed with cinnamon, nutmeg, and a little butter and brown sugar) and toasted walnuts. Deacon and I loved them!

However, Lila is the queen of plain food. She took one look at breakfast and said, “I only like plain waffles.” I planned for this by keeping some plain waffles, bananas, and walnuts aside for her.

This is a tactic I often use. While cooking a meal, I keep ingredients separate for her when possible. For example:

• If we eat chili, she will have a plate of beans, corn, peppers, and whatever meat I cooked up.
• When we have pasta and meatballs in tomato sauce she has plain pasta and meatballs (separately on the plate) without sauce.

Ned got cut up plain waffles and bananas. I was happy to make one meal for all of us.

I still give her a very small taste of our “real” meal – this morning she tried a bit of the bananas. Sometimes she will surprise herself and like our meal!

This way she gets food she will eat, but I'm still only preparing one meal for the family.

Today's tip: Try to satisfy picky eaters without preparing different meals for everyone.

Cereal -- for breakfast and beyond!

Healthy cereal is a great pantry staple to keep on hand. In general, cereal is a good source of whole grains, fiber, vitamins and minerals. Here are some guidelines for selecting the healthiest cereals:

• Aim for cereal that has at least 2.5 grams of fiber per serving.
• Pick a cereal that provides at least 25% of the recommendation for vitamins and minerals.
• Try to keep cereals with 5-10 grams of sugar (or less) per serving around. Make these the most popular cereals in the house by serving them up often!

I stock up on cereal when it is on sale at the grocery store to avoid high prices. Two of our favorites are Cheerios and Wheat Chex. I often pack these alone as snacks, or mix them with more popular dry snacks like Goldfish or pretzels. These make great snack mixes to pack for car trips and play dates!

Obviously cereal makes a healthy choice for breakfast, too! These additions can boost it's nutritional power:

• Skim milk or yogurt add protein and calcium (for strong bodies, bones, and muscles), plus vitamin D (which helps your body absorb calcium), potassium (which can help maintain healthy blood pressure), and more! If your family chooses to not drink milk you should try to find a soy, rice, or other beverage that has been fortified with all the nutrients of milk, and shake it well before serving.
• Fruit adds more fiber, plus natural sweetness and potassium, vitamin C (helps with growth, repair, and healing bodies), and folate (helps make blood cells), and other vitamins and minerals.
• Nuts can add crunch plus omega-3 fats (the “good” kind found in fish that lowers your risk of heart disease), protein, and antioxidants to fight disease.

Today's tip: Stock up on cereal for your family.

Egg Triangles

My kids aren't huge fans of scrambled eggs, but they love egg triangles! They are just as easy to make for a yummy breakfast, brunch, or quick dinner like the one the kids had Saturday night (after a day of too many snacks).

Beat up as many eggs as you need with a little water or milk. Lila (4) can eat two, Deacon (2) just gets one. Preheat a small nonstick skillet over medium heat and spray with cooking spray. Pour a thin layer of eggs in the pan and let them cook until they are practically set. Gently flip the eggs over to quickly cook the other side. Remove to a plate and slice like a pizza. Voila, egg triangles! They can be cut further if your child wants to use a fork (in our house they are finger food). My kids dip them in a bit of ketchup, but salsa would be a great choice here, too.

Lila helped me cook these, so I broke all the eggs into a container with a tight-fitting lid. She shook the eggs to beat them, then I did the cooking at the stove.

 Today's tip: Try egg triangles instead of scrambled eggs.

mmmmm... Muffins!

Deacon and I had fun baking muffins today! I wanted a quick project, so we used a boxed muffin mix. Deacon has recently started cooking with me, and loves it. He is always asking me for the step stool so he can make something.

It can be a little scary to cook with young children. Believe me when I say that I am a control freak. I would never cook with the kids if it meant cleaning batter off the ceiling when we are done! Plus Deacon has a tendency to taste the ingredients or batter if he is left alone for any amount of time. My kids have started out doing small cooking tasks, adding more as they get older.

Here is how the muffin baking went:

1. Deacon put muffin liners in the muffin tins while I got the rest of the ingredients ready and turned the oven on.
2. I cut open the muffin mix and we dumped it into the bowl together.
3. I measured the water and he carefully poured it into the bowl.
4. I cracked the egg and added it to the bowl.
5. We stirred the batter together with both of our hands on the wooden spoon.
6. Deacon counted the muffins as I scooped the batter into the liners.

He was very excited to taste the muffins. I have to keep an eye on him or he will steal them off the counter while they cool.

When Lila and Deacon were younger they would just stand on the step stool by the counter as I cooked. Now that she is 4 ½, Lila can crack eggs into the bowl for me (then we wash her hands right away!), dump in measured ingredients, stir carefully, and spoon out dough onto a pan if we're making cookies. Plus she helps me dry off fruits and veggies when we wash them while making meals.

Today we used Trader Joe's Triple Berry Bran Muffin Mix, which was very good. It contains whole wheat flour, bran, and dried fruit (among other ingredients) – just add egg and water. The resulting muffins tasted great and had 7 grams of fiber and only 150 calories.

We often make bran muffins using The Original All-Bran Muffin recipe, which are also yummy. Sometimes we add whatever fruit is in the house, or a teaspoon of jam in the center.

Today's tip: Let your kids help you cook, even if you're just preparing a snack.

Easy Oatmeal

We love to have oatmeal for breakfast. ¼ cup of oatmeal mixed with a smushed banana is Ned's favorite way to start the day! By making oatmeal myself, I get to control the amount of sugar it contains. Since breakfast time with three little kids is CRAZY, I have a hard time making oatmeal from scratch most mornings. I've found a cool short-cut: cook-ahead oatmeal.

When I do have time to make oatmeal (sometimes this is in the afternoon or evening), I make extra and throw it in the fridge. The next morning I pull it out, add a little milk or water, heat it up in the microwave, and we're ready to go.

Just follow the cooking instructions for your favorite variety of oats (quick, old fashioned, steel cut, etc).

Oatmeal is good for everyone in the family! All varieties of oats are whole grain. Studies show that oatmeal lowers bad cholesterol while improving intestinal health (read: helps you stay regular) and controlling appetite.

To make super-nutritious oatmeal even better, try one or more of these ideas:

• Make it with milk instead of water for added protein, calcium, vitamins and minerals
• Add your favorite fresh, dried, canned (drained), or frozen fruits
• Add spices like cinnamon or nutmeg
• Sprinkle on a handful of nuts

Today's tip: Make a batch of oatmeal and portion it into covered bowls. Pull them out tomorrow for a quick and healthy breakfast!