One of my favorite treats that my grandmother used to make us when we went over to her house to play were her bran muffins. She liked to serve them warm and must have always timed it so they would come out of the oven right as we arrived. I will never forget the heavenly smell of freshly baked bread that would hit you the moment you opened her front door.

I know what you must be thinking: What kind of kid looks forward to bran muffins? Aren’t bran muffins kind of boring and not very kid friendly? Some bran muffins certainly do reside in the “blah” category, but my grandmother’s were sweet and had an almost nutty quality about them.

Sadly, I don’t have my grandmother’s recipe, but I still wanted to recreate that food memory from my childhood. I played around a bunch until I came up with this version, which I think is pretty close to my grandmother’s. To give my muffins a little extra zing, I added one of my kids’ favorite dried fruits, cranberries, for both color and taste.

When I bake these, the smell in my kitchen takes me back to when I was kid and the taste is just as delicious as my memories. This recipe will make you think twice about ever calling bran muffins boring again — they are anything but!

Cranberry Bran Muffins (makes about 40 mini or 15 regular muffins)

1 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour
1/2 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 Cup Wheat Bran
1 Tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp Baking Soda
1/2 Tsp Salt
1 1/2 Cups Buttermilk
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
2 Large Eggs
1/2 Cup Honey
1/4 Cup Oil
1 Cup Dried Cranberries

1. Preheat oven to 350° F.
2. Combine the first 6 ingredients in a bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the remaining ingredients except for the cranberries.
4. Slowly combine the dry ingredients into the wet, and then stir in the cranberries.
5. Pour batter into greased mini muffin cups about 2/3 of the way up and bake for 15 minutes (or 2/3 of the way up into regular size muffin cups and bake for 20 minutes).
6. Cool and serve.

Besides shopping at the farmers’ market for the food we eat during the week, we also like to stop when we get there and get breakfast from the prepared food vendors. For years we have been partial to pupusas, but in recent days, we’ve been switching things up a bit.

One of our newest obsessions are the multi-grain muffins from Valerie Confections, a local bakery. They set up the most beautiful display of baked goods and it is impossible to resist stopping by to check everything out, let alone not buy something. Pastries, cookies, chocolates, hand pies and — the inspiration for today’s recipe — beautiful little muffins packed with millet and pieces of dried apricot. My kids and husband adore them.

I’ve tried to pry the ingredient list out of one of the owners on more than one occasion. He will only hint as to what is inside these baked marvels, and even the few ingredients he would share are more likely found in a professional bakery than in a home kitchen. So, I finally stopped grilling him and got to work on developing my own muffin that would work for the rest of us.

These sweet, delicious gems are truly a treat. They may not be exactly what we buy at the farmers’ market, but if you saw the crumbs left on my family’s plates after I served them the first batch I made, you’d swear I got pretty darn close!

Millet Apricot Muffins (Makes 12 Regular Muffins)

1/2 Cup Millet
1 Cup All Purpose Flour
3/4 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
1 Tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp Baking Soda
1/2 Tsp Salt
1 Cup Buttermilk
1 Large Egg
2/3 Cup Brown Sugar
1/4 Cup Unsalted Butter, room temperature
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
2 Ripe Bananas, mashed
3/4 Cup Dried Apricots, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Place millet on a baking sheet and toast for 5-6 minutes. Remove and toss the millet to make sure it is toasted evenly and toast an additional 5-6 more minutes. Set aside and allow to cool.
3. Raise the oven temperature to 375 F.
4. In a bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir in the toasted millet.
5. In a separate bowl or standing mixer, beat the butter and sugar until combined, about 1 minute. Add the egg and beat for another minute.
6. Add the mashed bananas, vanilla extract and buttermilk and beat until combined.
7. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix in the chopped apricots until just combined.
8. Grease muffin tins and fill cups 2/3 full with batter.
9. Bake for 20 minutes if using regular muffin tins (or until a toothpick comes out clean) or 14 minutes if using mini muffin tins (or until a toothpick comes out clean).
10. Cool muffins for 5 minutes in their tins, remove and continue to cool.
11. Serve.

My husband has discovered a passion for cooking. For me, this newfound culinary obsession of his is both a blessing and a curse. While on one hand it’s a huge relief because I don’t have to cook, it can also be a total pain in my tush (and not just because of the potential mess I likely find afterwards) because while he is completely focused on his latest creation, I am left in charge of two cranky, hungry kids.

It’s hard for me to get upset though. Hubby gets so excited about the whole process and the two hour mental voyages he takes while focussed on a new dish are kinda hilarious to watch. It’s like witnessing a 4 year old
trying to finish a 50 piece jigsaw puzzle for the first time. Plus, I love watching how jazzed the kids get seeing Daddy work in what they consider to be Mommy’s turf.

One recent Saturday morning, Daddy decided to make a beet pancake recipe he had seen in Good to the Grain, a fabulously gorgeous book by Kim Boyce. As soon as Kenya heard the words “beet” and “pancakes” he said, “no way, that’s gross”. It didn’t take long for Chloe to jump on the “yucky” bandwagon. It seemed like this experiment was going to leave two out of four of us with empty tummies, but as soon as the kids got into helping Daddy stir, mash and measure, they apparently forgot all about their initial aversion. By the time the beautiful ruby discs finally came off of the griddle and onto everyone’s plates, the kids downed about 5 a piece.
My favorite part of this story though, came later on when my husband asked Kenya why he was so resistant at first to the beet pancakes. Kenya just looked at him and said, completely matter of fact, “who knew they were going to be that good!”

I’ve simplified Boyce’s recipe here, adding some whole wheat flour, more pureed beets to further brighten the color and some Greek yogurt too, making these red beet pancakes a breakfast that will make everyone’s eyes as big as their stomachs when you set them on the table.

He may make a bit of a mess and take a while finding his way around the kitchen, but I have to say it’s unbelievably charming watching hubby take over what I usually think of as my kitchen….and make it more of ours!

Red Beet Pancakes (Serves 6)

1 Cup All Purpose Flour
3/4 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
3 Tbsp Light Brown Sugar
1 Tbsp Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp Kosher Salt
2 Medium Beets, roasted & pureed (about 3/4 Cups)
1 1/4 Cup Milk
1/3 Cup Plain Greek Yogurt
1 Large Egg
3 Tbsp Unsalted Butter, melted
1 Tsp Vanilla extract

Accompaniments: honey, maple syrup, butter, raspberry sauce

1. Sift the first 5 ingredients into a bowl.
2. Place the rest of the wet ingredients in a separate bowl and whisk thoroughly to combine.
3. Add the dry ingredients into the wet and stir until just combined (you don’t want to overstir the batter — some lumps are good).
4. Drop about 2 tbsp of the pancake mixture onto a greased griddle or pan over medium heat and cook for 3 minutes on each side.
5. Serve with desired accompaniments.

* To freeze: Place the pancakes in labeled zipper bags and freeze for up to 3 months

As much as I love when my kids eat all of my cooking, I get a secret thrill when I look at the table after dinner and see that we have leftovers. Knowing that I’m not going to have to cook from scratch the following night or have to create something completely new to put in my little ones’ lunch boxes the next day makes a mom’s life just a little easier. And in my house — I’m happy to say — we have leftovers a lot. Yes, even on pizza night when you would think that not even one last bite would remain, we’ve got some slices for the fridge.

As delicious as a cold slice of pizza can be the next day, I like these Pizza Balls even better. The portioning is smaller than a big slice of pizza and they’re easy (and fun) for little hands to hold. I also find them a bit less messy than slices that can drip cheese and sauce everywhere. When these pizza balls are piping hot, the little spheres pull apart to reveal gooey melted cheese and whatever toppings you can think of to put inside. They’re great for dinner, to put in the lunchbox or even for when you need an afternoon snack that will sate your kids without stuffing them before dinner. Just one of the Pizza Balls will totally hit the spot, and yes, no matter how good they are, there will probably be leftovers!

Pizza Balls (makes 16 balls)

1 16 oz Pkg White or Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
3/4 Cup Broccoli Florets, cooked & chopped*
1 Cup Mozzarella Cheese, shredded
1/2 Cup Pizza Sauce
Olive Oil
Parmesan Cheese, grated

Additions: chicken, mushrooms, onions, bell peppers, tomatoes, olives, pepperoni, pineapple, ham — the sky’s the limit

1. Preheat oven to 425°F.
2. Bring pizza dough to room temperature and divide into 16 even pieces.
3. In a separate bowl combine the broccoli (or whatever addition you choose), mozzarella and pizza sauce.
4. Roll out each piece of dough into a round, about 3 inches wide, and place 1 tbsp of the cheese mixture in the center.
5. Take the edges of the dough and bring them to the center, pinching along the edges to make sure they stick together, then roll into a ball.
6. Place the ball, sealed side down, in a greased pie plate and repeat these steps making the rest of the balls.
7. Brush each ball with olive oil and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.
8. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden.
9. Serve.

* You can substitute the broccoli for any additions you desire.

Every week at our local farmers’ market I buy several pints of assorted berries for the kids to munch on at breakfast or lunch. Chloe loves her berries, but when I offer her a mix, she always picks out the blackberries to eat first.

Over the past few weeks, the blackberries have gotten even bigger and sweeter than usual, so I’ve been buying extra. I love using them to make smoothies, popsicles, in cereal or just to eat on their own, but coming up with a recipe for a cake for them to star in was really exciting and new for me.

The best part about this the cake is that it isn’t too sweet, so you can happily enjoy it for breakfast, as an after school snack or even as a simple dessert (with tea of course, though it’s not required!). I didn’t actually get to test it out for all those different uses though since it didn’t stick around along enough. In less then 24 hours, the cake I made completely disappeared. Granted, it’s debut from my oven conveniently coincided with a gaggle of hungry kids that happened to be playing at our house, but it’s popularity only confirmed to me how special and unique this treat really is.

Blackberry Tea Cake

2 Cups All Purpose Flour
2 Tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp Salt
1 Cup Sugar
1/2 Cup Unsalted Butter, room temperature
2 Large Eggs
2 Tsp Vanilla Extract
1 Cup Whole Milk
1/2 Cup Sour Cream
2 Tsp Lemon Zest
2 Cups Fresh Blackberries

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Butter and flour a 13″ x 9″ baking dish.
2. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
3. In a standing mixer or bowl, beat the butter and sugar until fluffy.
4. On low speed, add the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla, milk, sour cream and zest.
5. Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet until combined.
6. Place blackberries on the bottom of the dish and top with the batter.
7. Bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
8. Cool for 20 minutes on top of a cooking rack then flip dish over for the cake to come out.
9. Cut into squares and serve.

One of the very first recipes I made when I was younger was banana bread. I loved peeling the bananas, smashing them in a bowl, dumping and stirring in the rest of the ingredients and just making something so easy and delicious. Everyone I offered it to always seemed to love it (which made me feel good). Those early experiences are probably one of the reasons I loved baking so much. Even as a kid, I found that when people responded positively to my cooking, it made me want to cook even more. The same is true today.

As long as you have ripe, sweet bananas, this is a fool proof recipe, even for people who rarely bake. I adapted my original recipe for muffins, which I find are more appealing for little hands, and added chocolate chips as a special treat. I guarantee the same great feeling I still have offering these to friends and family will happen for you too!

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins (Makes 12 regular muffins)

1 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour
1 Tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp Baking Soda
1/2 Tsp Salt
1/4 Cup Honey or Agave Nectar
1 Large Egg
2/3 Cup Milk
3 Tbsp Vegetable or Canola Oil
2 Ripe Bananas, mashed
3/4 Cups Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips*

1. Preheat oven to 400° F.
2. Combine the first 4 ingredients in a bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the honey, egg, milk, oil, and mashed bananas.
4. Slowly combine the dry ingredients into the wet, and then stir in the chocolate chips.
5. Pour batter into greased or lined muffin cups, about 2/3 of the way up, and bake for 18 minutes.
6. Cool and serve.**

* You can replace the chocolate chips with chopped nuts or dried fruit if desired.
** Place muffins in labeled bags to freeze for up to 3 months.

Leggo my Eggo! Remember those commercials of two kids fighting over that last waffle just as it popped out of a toaster? I know how those kids felt because I grew up loving boxed frozen waffles, too. But I also adored the fresh taste of right-out-of-the-waffle-iron waffles.

As a busy mom, I’m often tempted in the frozen food section as I pass the perfectly arranged boxes with pictures of golden-brown waffles piled high under amber syrup and perfect pats of butter, but when I think about the ingredients most boxed frozen waffles are made with AND the cost of them (6 waffles for $4!), it doesn’t seem worth it to me at all. Not when I can easily make my own healthy, delicious waffles at home for less money than the store brands (try 10 for under $2!) and not forego the convenience of frozen waffles.

My solution is to make a single or even double batch of homemade waffles and freeze what we don’t eat for breakfast. Then, no matter how much of a rush we’re ever in in the morning, I’m always prepared for my kids last minute request for waffles and this couldn’t be more nutritious, so I know their bellies are filled with truly wholesome stuff and no one has to fight for the last one since I always have them on hand!

Whole Wheat Waffles (makes 10 waffles)

1 1/2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
2 Tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp Salt
1 Cup Milk
1/2 Cup Plain Greek Yogurt
1 Large Egg
1/3 Cup Vegetable or Canola Oil
2 Tbsp Honey or Agave
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract

Accompaniments: maple syrup, honey, or raspberry sauce

1. Preheat waffle iron.
2. Sift the first 3 ingredients into a bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the remaining wet ingredients.
4. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and whisk until combined. Do not over mix.
5. Pour 1/2 cup of batter into a greased waffle iron and cook about 3-4 minutes or according to manufacturer’s directions.
6. Serve with desired accompaniments.

*To freeze: Allow to cool, place in a Ziploc bag, label and freeze. When ready to eat, place in toaster oven until heated through or in the oven at 300 degrees and heat for 10 minutes or until heated through.

Easter is almost here and my kids are already asking what kind of treats they’ll be getting. Maybe it’s because they hang around me too much, but when my guys know a holiday is coming up, it’s all about the food for them.

As the name of this recipe states, these muffins are made with carrot, apple and coconut and are so naturally sweet and tender, you could put a few in your kids’ Easter baskets and they wouldn’t be at all out of place. And while muffins may not be an obvious substitute for jelly beans, Peeps or chocolate eggs, I guarantee they won’t disappoint your little Easter bunnies!

Carrot, Apple & Coconut Muffins (Makes 30 Mini Muffins)

1 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour
1 Tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp Baking Soda
1/2 Tsp Salt
1/2 Cup Unsweetened Coconut Flakes
2 Carrots, peeled & grated, about 1 cup
1 Apple, peeled & grated, about 1/2 cup (gala, fuji, pink lady or red delicious are good choices)
2 Large Eggs
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
1/3 Cup Milk
1/4 Cup Vegetable or Canola Oil
1/2 Cup Honey

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine the first 7 ingredients in a bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the remaining ingredients.
4. Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet and stir to combine.
5. Place 1 tbsp of batter into greased mini muffin tins.
6. Bake for 15 minutes.
7. Serve.

There’s a vendor I’ve been buying from for years at our local farmer’s market who has the most incredibly tender and almost candy-like tasting sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes take a bit of time to cook and since we eat them all the time in our house, I try to bake a bunch every Sunday or Monday so we always have enough for the whole week to snack on or to serve as a last minute side dish for dinner. Sometimes I get carried away and make enough sweet potatoes for a small army, hence the inspiration for this mini muffin recipe.

All I did was take a cup of pureed sweet potato and add it to an easy-to-whip-up batter. Not only did my kids love the bright orange color of these muffins, but they were also a major hit with a bunch of Chloe’s little friends (aka my wee-testers). A lot more flavorful and healthy than anything you could buy at the supermarket, these sweet treats are something you can keep on hand for breakfast, lunch or any time of day.

Mini Sweet Potato Muffins (Makes 30 Mini Muffins)

1 Cup All Purpose Flour
1 Cup Old Fashioned Oats
1/3 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp Baking Soda
1/2 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Cinnamon
2 Large Eggs, whisked
1 Cup Sweet Potato Puree, cooked*
1/2 Cup Milk
1/4 Cup Canola or Vegetable Oil
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Place the first 7 ingredients in a bowl and whisk to combine.
3. In a separate bowl whisk the remaining ingredients.
4. Slowly combine the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients just until they are combined (be careful not to over mix the batter).
5. Place 1 tbsp of batter in each cup of greased mini muffin tins and bake for 15 minutes.
6. Serve.

* To make sweet potato puree, bake sweet potatoes (or yams) in a 400 degree oven for one hour, allow to cool, slice in half lengthwise and mash flesh with a fork until smooth.

** You can place muffins in labeled freezer bags and freeze for up to 3 months.

A friend of mine who I really admire is an avid cook — and a great one at that. She’s an awesome mom and wife, works full time and makes it all look effortless (a rare feat for most women). One way she likes to spend time with her kids is by getting them into the kitchen, where they make everything under the sun together. We had dinner at her house a while back and she put out a spread for us that would have made the most talented restaurant chef envious. Right in the center of the table was a loaf of fresh, homemade bread. It was warm, soft, made the whole house smell like a bakery and was nothing like the variety you would buy at the grocery in a plastic bag.

I don’t know many kids who don’t like to play with dough, so I decided to make some Honey Wheat Bread and get Kenya involved in the fun. Breads that contain yeast can be intimidating to bake at first, but this recipe couldn’t be easier. Kenya has a blast dumping all of the ingredients in a bowl, mixing it up, watching the dough rise (a magical site for a little kid) and finally kneading and pulling apart the dough to make rolls for us to eat at dinner and use for sandwiches the next day.

Is it possible to be the perfect mom? Probably not, but at least we can have some fun with our kids and give it a try!

Honey Wheat Bread (Makes 2 Loaves or 24 Rolls)

2 1/2 Cups Warm Water
1/3 Cup Honey
1 Tbsp Butter
1/2 Tsp Salt
1 Package Dry Instant Yeast (you can find it at any grocery)
2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
4 Cups Bread Flour (plus 1/2 cup extra to dust your work surface for kneading)

1. Whisk the warm water, honey, butter, salt and instant yeast until the ingredients dissolve.
2. Gradually add the flours into the bowl, stirring with a whisk to combine.
3. Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface and knead for 10 minutes or until the dough is smooth (it’s done when you poke your finger in it and it bounces back).
4. Place in a large greased or oiled bowl, cover with plastic and place in a warm area (I like to set it on top of my oven) for 1 1/2 hours or until the dough has doubled in size.
5. After the dough has risen, place it on a floured work surface. Cut into 2 equal pieces if making loaves or into 24 equal pieces if making rolls.
6. Shape the dough into 2 even loaf shapes and place into two greased 9 x 5 inch loaf pans (or shape the 24 pieces into rolls and place on parchment lined sheet trays).
7. Cover the loaves with greased plastic wrap (so the dough doesn’t stick to it) and set aside in a warm place for 1 hour for loaves, 30 minutes for rolls or until the dough or rolls have doubled in size.
8. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
9. Bake 50 minutes for loaves or 30 minutes for rolls.
10. Serve.