Oatmeal Blueberry Muffins

Have you ever had an excess of something in your pantry, fridge or freezer? You know, that thing that you bought in bulk because at the time you were going through them so quickly and there was a great deal. Then, your families interest in that food wanes. In my house right now it is frozen blueberries. While my daughter was cutting her incisors her favorite food to eat was frozen blueberries. They were cold on her gums and I didn't mind because its way more healthy than those teething biscuits or a freeze pop. However, once she was done cutting those teeth, she was done with the blueberries leaving me with a HUGE bag of blueberries in my freezer.

So began my hunt for recipes using blueberries. As much as I LOVE blueberry muffins, I wanted to try to find a healthier version using things that I have at home. A quick internet search and I found a great recipe and made a few changes to make it healthier. 

The original recipe is found here at allrecipes.com .

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Oatmeal-Blueberry-Muffins/

Here is my version: 

• 1 1/4 cups old fashion oats
• 1 cup whole wheat flour (The original calls for all purpose, but you could also do half white and half whole wheat.)
• 1/3 cup brown sugar (Original calls for white, but who doesn't love brown sugar and oatmeal!)
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup milk
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup applesauce (I used one of my daughter's applesauce cups instead of the oil called for in the recipe.)
• 2 cups frozen blueberries, rinsed and drained. (Original called for one, but many of the comments said they upped the amount so I did too with all of those berries to use up!)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Combine the dry ingredients. 
3. Mix in the wet ingredients until combined. (Don't over mix!) 
4. Let the mixed ingredients sit while you put cupcake liners in your muffin tins. 
5. Fold in the blueberries.
6. Fill muffin cups. The original said fill 2/3 of the way, but I had more than that, but not enough to do a second batch. So I filled each cup a little more and I'm glad I did. 
7. Bake for 20-25 minutes. 

     

Here is how mine turned out. They were great! My daughter and I loved them. All afternoon she would walk up to where the bag was and ask for a "cook". That's her version of cookie and she couldn't remember muffin. It also told me she thought they were more like cookies than crackers or chips, her other go to words for foods she doesn't know. YAY! 

The real test came when my husband came home. He tends to shy away from anything made with whole wheat flour, so I just told him that they were oatmeal blueberry muffins and he liked it. After I shared that tidbit with him he was quite impressed.

 I say that is a SCORE for my healthier version of a blueberry muffin!

Menu Boards and Fat Quarters

Ok, as a budget conscious homemaker menu planning is my primary tool for money saving. I plan my menu based on the coupons that I have and what's on sale this week. My "menu" is usually written on a magnetic grocery list on the side of the fridge. 

The problem:
1. My toddler loves to color on the notepads as I am trying to write my menu. 
2. I often forget some of the dishes that we don't make very often which means they continue to not be made very often. 
3. If our week changes, my written menu doesn't change to adjust. 

There are a TON of menu board ideas on Pinterest and I have pinned many of them. But what will fit my needs, work with my budget and look nice in the kitchen my husband and I painstakingly renovated this past winter? 

The Pins:

 http://pinterest.com/pin/265008759294977960/

1. This pin comes from Sugar Doodle (Right). It is so amazingly organized and I love the color coding, but that takes a lot of things that I didn't have at home. I also tend to be more general in my menu, especially the sides. 

http://pinterest.com/pin/265008759294452686/

2. This pin comes from Sarah Potter Photography (Left).  I loved the simplicity of this menu board! And the mini clothes pins are FABULOUS!! 



3. This pin came from Shugabee Lane's Etsy Shop (Below). This concept worked with what I had at home. 

http://pinterest.com/pin/265008759293484611/

My Solution: 
Alright, so my solution used a combination of things that I already had at home plus 2 small purchases. 

Supplies: 
- frame with glass that I already had
- Rustoleum Cabinet Transformations System - We used this to finish the cabinets in our kitchen when we recently remodeled. I absolutely love the way our cabinets turned out!
- Leftover glass tiles from back splash
- Scrapbook paper
- Ribbon scraps

Purchases: 
- A fat quarter that coordinated with my kitchen
- Mini clothes pins

The Process: 
1. Refinished the frame to match our cabinets. This would be easily done with spray paint. 
2. Peel away backing from glass tiles and attach to frame with E600.
3. Iron the flat quarter and put it between the backing and glass. (I added a little bit of ribbon around the outside and down the middle.)
4. Write in the days of the week. I used permanent marker. If you use dry erase markers on glass it comes off too easily for what I wanted. But, have no fear, permanent marker wipes off glass with a little water if you have an oops.
5. Attach mini clothes pins to left of ribbon down the middle using hot glue.
6. Cut scrapbook paper for menu cards and write down your favorite meals. 

THE FINAL PRODUCT:

Right now, I have my menu cards stored in an old baby food container.

I am loving my new Menu Board! It is so much easier to adjust the menu for the week for those things that always come up, like an invite to dinner with friends! I also like to have a "clear the fridge" day. Being home with my daughter for lunch most days and rarely eating out during the week usually leaves us with quite a few leftovers by Friday. 

Thanks for stopping by my new blog and I hope to see you again soon!

Next up? Baby food containers and fabric scraps = homemade air fresheners!

Challenging Myself

If you are anything like me, you have seen all sorts of great ideas on Pinterest, but haven't really used many of them until you need a recipe for that get together tonight and you don't have any ideas. I decided to challenge myself this month to actually use some of those many pins. One of my challenges as a stay at home mom is to make every dollar stretch as far as possible, so I have to adapt some of the pins to a shoe string budget using things that are readily available.