Blueberry Muffin Recipe

Coming to us courtesy of The Moores Six

Blueberry muffins:

I found this recipe in an issue of Wondertime a year ago. It has become the only muffin recipe I use – the kids love it. You can use different fruit too. I use blueberries and raspberries typically, but one of my friend uses only raspberries and yet another only blueberries. Best of all, they freeze great! So, after I make them, I divide them up in batches and freeze some for future use!

Makes 24

2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
16 ounces sour cream
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter
2 cups light brown sugar, packed
2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
2 cups blueberries (if frozen, do not thaw)
2 tablespoons sugar

Heat oven to 375.

Line two 12-cup muffin tins with muffin-cup liners. This recipe won't work without them. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat eggs with sour cream until thoroughly combined. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt together butter and brown sugar, about 3 minutes. Cool slightly, about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, then beat this mixture into egg mixture. Stir in oats.

Fold in flour mixture and then — very gently — fold in berries. Fill muffin cups about three-quarters full. Sprinkle a pinch of sugar onto the top of each muffin.

Bake for 25 to 28 minutes, or until edges are medium brown and tops are firm.

Cool for 5 minutes, then remove muffins (in their papers) and finish cooling on rack.

I usually skip the sugar on top. Sometimes I lessen the brown sugar and use honey or agave nectar in it’s place – but I have no exact formula to share. I always use one cup of ultragrain flour and one cup of white whole wheat flour. And lastly, I always add flax meal. In case it isn’t obvious, I can’t stick to a recipe to save me! But my point is you can play with it and they still turn out wonderful!

Another Great Recipe - Healthy Mini Cupcakes

Healthy mini cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

Here is a recipe I found for mini cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. If your kids know what cupcakes are, then I would call these muffins with frosting because they are definitely not cupcakes like most kids (or adults) would think of them.

I tried these twice, once in big muffin pans (because I didn’t have a mini pan) and once in (new) mini muffin pans. I would recommend the mini pans over the large pans (which is what the recipe calls for anyhow). The cupcakes are very dense and full of fiber. They are good, but not very sweet. I think the ratio of cream cheese frosting to hearty healthy cupcake is more balanced in the mini size. The frosting, by the way, is the BEST part (it is soooo good). The cupcakes also freeze well if you want to freeze some for later.

Mini cupcakes:

1 1/2 cups shredded/grated carrots
1/2 cup ground nuts
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup honey
2 beaten eggs
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup flax seed
1/4 cup dried cranberries (or whatever dried fruit you want – I’ve even used two kinds at once)
1 1/4 cup organic whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder

Mix all the ingredients together. Full each mini cupcake in the tin to the fullest it can go. Cook at 350 for 15 mins or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool and top with cream cheese frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting
Combine all ingredients and mix well with an electric mixer:

1 1/2 cups organic softened cream cheese
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
6 Tablespoons maple syrup

Enjoy!

Oreo Truffle Recipe

OREO TRUFFLES
1 pkg. (1 lb. 2 oz.) OREO Cookies, finely crushed, divided
1 pkg. (8 oz.) Cream Cheese, softened
2 pkg. (8 squares each) BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate, melted
Sanding Sugar (optional)


Mix 3 cups of the cookie crumbs and the cream cheese until well blended. Shape into 42 (1-inch) balls.


Dip balls in melted chocolate; place on waxed paper-covered baking sheet. Sprinkle with remaining cookie crumbs or sanding sugar.


Refrigerate 1 hour or until firm. Store any leftover truffles in tightly covered container in refrigerator.


How to Easily Dip Truffles
To easily coat truffles with the melted chocolate, add truffles, in batches, to bowl of melted chocolate. Then use two forks to roll truffles in chocolate until evenly coated. Remove the truffles with forks and allow excess chocolate to drip back into bowl before placing truffles on prepared baking sheet.

To Split or Not to Split

Many of us see Kindergarten on the horizon. I found an interesting opinion on this one on the How do you do it? blog. Click here to read the entire posting all all the comments.

An excerpt is below:

“Unless there is a compelling reason to separate them, the National Organization of Mothers of Twins Clubs ( NOMOTC) and other experts advocate keeping them together, especially in early elementary years. ”


The NOMOTC website has a great article, some of which we have listed below. For the entire article, click on this link.

“Dr. Nancy Segal, author and advocate of keeping multiples together says, “In our culture we appreciate uniqueness, and people wrongly equate twin closeness with a lack of individuality.” She continues, “There’s research that suggests that when friends are in the same class, they’re more exploratory, they cling to the teacher less. So, if we are worried about individuality, why do we let best friends go to school together?” In a University of Wisconsin and the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s College in London research study, 878 pairs of twins from ages 5 to 7 found that twins separated early were observed to be more anxious and emotionally distressed than those who remained in the same class. This was especially true for identical twins.”

We're wondering what your experiences have been like. Please post experiences and opinions in the comments below so others may benefit. Thanks!

This was written by a wise friend of mine. Her children are now in college and she's lamenting over the passed time. I thought this was an incredible perspective for those of us who are deep in the trenches. Enjoy the moment, folks.


Emma was sitting on the aisle, quiet and content with her Momma. She was four months old. She cooed, looked at Warren making funny faces, drank her bottle and was very content in her Momma’s arms.

Anna Belle was screaming at the top of her lungs behind my seat...uncontrollably. I guess she had not flown before. Her parents were a bit frazzled, the last ones on the plane with their carseats and two children.

As I sat listening to her Momma try to comfort her, talking about Jasmine, Cinderella, Ariel… the tears started streaming down my face.

Flying to Fort Collins where we have been for so many summers. It just wasn't quite right going without our two little girls.. oops they are not so little any more.. 19 in a few days and 21.

Just yesterday they were crying over not wanting to go to a new school in foreign country, not wanting to go into the pool for swim lessons. Now they have their own lives.

I love being a mom.. having someone that needs me to hold them, comfort them, talk to them about pretty princesses that make things better. Why do I still ache so much? I guess sometime I will get used to life as it is now. I don’t know. I am still crying. I wonder if Emma and Anna Belle's Mommas realize how precious this time is they are having with their little girls right by their side? Maybe so. They will one day.

Also posted at:
http://necessaryventing.blogspot.com

Awesome Summer Recipe

This is from Wendy at http://www.themooressix.blogspot.com/

Popsicles with a little green secret…

My kids are all still very young (a four year old and almost 2 year old twins), so I try to keep all the food they eat very healthy (while I can still get away with it), all while trying to keep it kid friendly and fun. I have been making homemade fruit and yogurt popsicles for a couple years for my four year old who absolutely thinks they are the bomb. So, when I came across a new popsicle recipe with a twist…spinach… I was all over it. Oh yea, you heard me right, fresh spinach… in a popsicle! Here it is:

Berry popsicles

1 pint of blackberries
1 pint of raspberries
1 qt of strawberries
1 cup of fresh squeezed orange juice (I usually just squeeze two oranges but you can do it to your taste)
2-3 cups of fresh spinach (or other leafy greens – I use baby spinach)
1-2 tbsp of raw agave nectar (for natural sweetener – if you want)

Mix everything in a food processor or blender until smooth (I mix the berries first, then add spinach and mix – mostly due to space in my processor). Pour into popsicle molds and freeze.

I have used blueberries in place of the blackberries. Really you can use any berries you want – even just one kind of berry - whatever you think your kids will like. You can also use as much or as little of any of these ingredients - it’s pretty fail proof. I mess with it all the time. I add yogurt sometimes for a creamier popsicle.

They turn out a really nice purple color and mask the little tiny pieces of spinach leaves well. You honestly cannot taste the spinach at all. They are fresh, cool and best of all a healthy treat!

Here is another recipe I tried. My kids did not like it as much, but they really like berries, so no surprise there.

Electric Green Popsicles

2 ripe bananas
1 medium pineapple
2-3 cups spinach (or other leafy green)
Water

Blend until smooth and pour into molds and freeze.
Note: since the fruit is lighter in color the little tiny pieces of spinach are more evident. If your kids are older, they may wonder what those are, thus not such a secret ingredient.

Tovolo makes really cool BPA free popsicle molds, in case you are concerned with that. They are a little on the large side, so I use the molds I bought at Kohl’s more often (which I verified with the company to be BPA free as well). Also, sometimes I make half popsicles which are easier for my not quite two year old to hold.

Enjoy! Our little secret though… okay??

Stroller Advice

This week we are focusing our posts on stroller advice. Here is some from Amanda:

When they were really little- like in their (infant) carriers still, I preferred a front to back style where the carriers could just lock right into it. I am not really a brand specific kind of person. As they got older, it became more difficult with a front to back for two reasons: First, front-back models (when not used with carriers....) are generally designed for an infant and toddler, not twins. Second, we had problems with the one in the back kicking and pulling hair of the child in front. So, once they got bigger, I have preferred a side by side umbrella style-one built kind of narrow to fit through doors easily. You may want to consider whether or not you want trays as a feature. They can be nice to feed them while in the stroller, but they can also get in the way. So, that is a personal preference.

The Moores Six

Check out these two posts from The Moores Six here and here.

Postings

Below you will find a sample posting of the possibilities for this blog. It can be full of fun stories, questions, venting...whatever our club finds helpful. Please remember to post via the gmail address. Also, feel free to link your blog if you keep one. Can't wait to hear from you.

YUCK!

So, I did it again. I ventured into the mysterious unknown with a set of 4 yr old twins and a 2 year old. I needed 40 fruit roll-ups for the kids' class. Some kind person had suggested COSTCO since it carries bulk and the prices are good. After my work-out I decided to be brave and head to COSTCO. Big mistake. But any of you with kids could have told me this already.

I had a few things working against me. 1) They were way hyper from running around like crazy people at the athletic club's child center 2) It was lunch time. Hungry and hyper children are never a good combo. 3) I had 3 children age 4 and under with me. Bad recipe, right? Well, they caused all kinds of usual havoc while we were there. That- I was ready for. What I was not ready for was to look down to find that my 2 year old had POOPED IN HIS SHOE! What? How does one go about pooping IN A SHOE?

Well, after 5 years of parenting, I've learning two things. 1) Put NOTHING past them. 2) Don't let your 2 year old wear boxers, no matter what kind of fit he throws. While running around tearing apart Costco, he had managed to have a bowel movement and it dropped out of his underwear, down his leg and INTO HIS SHOE! Ick! EEEEWWW! Gross! I have cleaned up MANY dirty diapers and underwear in my day but this one was a new one for me. It was disgusting.

I had to ask the sample lady to pass me some napkins while I announced, "Wow, you must have stepped in something!" No need to clue her in to this nastiness but I'm sure she could have smelled it; thankfully she was really old. The shoes are now running through the wash for the 2nd time and amazingly, there wasn't a spot on the underwear. My 2 yr old did take a long, hot bath when we got home...so did I! Yuck!!!!

Posted by KP at www.necessaryventing.blogspot.com