Muffin Mania!

So apparently most women who are nearing the end of their pregnancies go through a `nesting` stage. The last few days have been great and I`ve been able to get lots done around the house and even some light baking. I`ve had this desire to want to get in the kitchen lately and now have the energy at the moment to do so... barefoot and pregnant! I found a couple muffin recipes while hanging out at my parent`s place in my mom`s Land O`Lakes cookbook. What an amazing cookbook! I was in the mood to make muffins for freezing for when I`m recovering from post-pregnancy. They`ll be something quick to grab and eat when hunger strikes.

So the first muffin recipe I tried are the "Award Winning Blueberry Muffins"
What you need:

1/2 cup sugar
1/4 butter/margerine softened
1 cup of sour cream
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp grated lemon peel
1 egg
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup blueberries (thaw first if frozen)
1 tablespoon of sugar or brown sugar
1/2 tsp grated lemon peel

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake for 20-25 mins.
Makes 1 dozen

Mix sugar and butter, add sour cream, lemon juice, 1 1/2 tsp. of lemon peel, and the egg. In another bowl mix the flour, baking soda then add the dry ingredients to the other bowl of wet ingredients and add the blueberries. Once mixture is in the tins, add some sugar or brown sugar on the top with some lemon peel.

To tweak this recipe you could use whole wheat flour,  fat free sour cream, Splenda, and flax seed as a topping.


Next I tried the "Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins"
What you need:

3/4 brown sugar
1/2 butter or margerine softened
1 1/2 cups (3 med) mashed ripe bananas
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup of all-purpose flour
1 cup of whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake for 20-25 mins.

Mix sugar and butter, add bananas, eggs, and vanilla. In another bowl add both flours, baking soda, and salt then add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and add the chocolate chips. And if your like me and you like chocolate, go ahead and add a bit more chocolate chips!

Strawberry Spinach Salad

There's nothing better than fresh out of the garden strawberries. Usually the ones you buy in the grocery store have no flavor and come from the states and are grown in a greenhouse. My parents have put in a great garden this year and the strawberries were first to be harvested. They also have raspberry bushes which will be in season in the next couple of weeks which would also go great in this fantastic salad as well!

It's an easy summer salad to put together. Just take baby spinach, cubed up feta cheese, sliced avocado, sliced almonds, and sliced up strawberries into your salad bowl and you are done! Pair it up with a nice poppy seed dressing or vinaigrette. Or go all out and use no dressing at all. There is lots of flavor in this easy salad, enjoy!