Peach and Ginger Muffins

Peach and Ginger Muffins

This very seasonal recipe needs to be shared before the peaches are past their best. We are enjoying the local peaches so much in this house, that I'm on a daily search for new ways to add them to our plates. I haven't been baking much in the last month but I suffered bigtime withdrawal last week and baked these muffins and eggless brownies one evening after the kids went to bed. The eggless brownies were misnamed. If there are no eggs in the brownie; you lose the fudginess which most of us love. They turned out to be little chocolate cakes. Pleasant but nothing to write home about.

The muffins, however, were delicious. I used the muffin mix from the apple butterscotch muffins in a previous post. Its my "go to" time saver for making muffins and is a pretty healthy base to work from.

Here goes:

Peach and Ginger Muffins

makes 15 muffins

Ingredients

1 cup mashed bananas ( approx 2 bananas)

2 large eggs

1/2 cup shaken buttermilk

1/4 cup canola oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 lemon, zested

3 cups muffin mix (stirred to aerate before measuring)

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 1/2 cups chopped peaches (skin on)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400°F/ 200°C
2. Lightly oil muffin tins or line with paper cups
3. Using a large bowl, lightly whisk the egg
4. Add the oil, buttermilk and bananas, lemon zest and vanilla extract and stir well
5. Add the ginger to the muffin mix, and whisk until incorporated muffin mix
6. Add the muffin mix to the wet ingredients and stir until just mixed
7. Gently fold in the peach
8. Using an ice cream scoop, fill the muffins approx 2/3 full
9. Place the muffin tins in the oven for 7 minutes, turn, then bake a further 7 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
10. Cool on a wire rack just enough so they don't burn your mouth then enjoy with a cup of coffee!

Enjoy!

The triple whammy dinner...





 



By that I mean, it's super tasty, healthy and kid friendly!

It's been 5 weeks of visiting our families in Scotland and Ireland and then adjusting back to home life again. Since returning home, the distraction of a 2 year old struggling with jet lag (and simply being 2!!), a Mummy fighting a throat infection and an unfinished construction project in our bathroom made me wonder if my blogging mojo was gone forever. Now all three obstacles are removed my mind cleared and I was inspired. Don't get me wrong, I've made some tasty dinners since we got back but nothing I felt moved enough to share...until tonight that is.

I've visited 2 farmers markets since I got home. To be honest, I couldn't wait to get there. We had a great trip with our families but it was certainly nice to know we were returning to warmer weather, flowers in our garden, bountiful farmers markets and al fresco eating.

Our local farmers Market is on a Saturday but as that was when I was fighting the throat lurgy, I was forced further afield. No hardship, I headed to Nyack on Thursday and Warwick on Sunday. I had never been to the Warwick one before and what a treat! I could have dropped a serious amount of money as there were so many enticing stalls of produce and artisan products. My favorites were the rustic parmesan pepper bread and and keilbasa sausage. http://www.warwickinfo.net/farmersmarket/index.html
My girls vote was resoundingly won by a brownie they shared from Jean Claudes Artisan Bakery.

But I found myself thrown by the choice of produce; for the past 4 years we have been members of a farm co-op. I haven't had to decide which seasonal produce to select, it has been done for me. All I needed to do was decide what to do with the veg. I thought it would be nice to make my own choices so I opted out this year in favor of farmers markets, but the reality threw me. Probably not helped by having my small munchkins in tow, distracting me somewhat.

Anyway, that said, I looked at my meat choice in the freezer today and the ground turkey spoke to me. That, and the mini pita bread, reminded me of my "go to" turkey burger recipe. The recipe originates from Martha Stewart Everyday Food but is endlessly tweakable. It results in a burger that is tasty and moist; a tricky twosome with a turkey burger.
I call this a hit, as my 4 year old ate 2 mini burgers and asked for more and my 2 year old ate almost every bite of hers also.

Healthy Mini Turkey Burgers in Mini Pita Breads

adapted from http://www.marthastewart.com//337340/favorite-turkey-burger

laced with ketchup and mustard as requested by my 4 year old



Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs ground turkey

1/2 cup finely grated cheddar cheese

1 small bunch of chives finely chopped

1/4 cup breadcrumbs

1/4 cup dijon mustard

1 garlic clove minced

salt and pepper

Directions

1. preheat grill on high
2. In a medium bowl mix all the ingredients with your clean hands.
3. form into mini pita sized patties
4. oil the grill
5. place the patties on the grill and turn down to medium
6. cook for approx 4-5  minutes each side or until cooked thoroughly.
7. Warm the pita breads briefly on the grill
8. Slit open the pitas and serve "like clams" with some grilled vegetables or a salad

Freezable note:
I often make a double batch, form the patties, freeze on a cookie sheet covered in wax paper then place in a freezer bag when frozen.

Enjoy!

A leisurely Saturday morning...

Blueberry Banana Muffins

It's not often a Saturday morning in our house with 2 and 4 year old, active girls can be described as leisurely. Somehow, this morning seemed to hit the mark. So, I was inspired to bake. 

I should explain, my world begins and ends with muffins. I define life's big events by them and I just plain love them!!! I have toyed with the idea of opening a muffin shop, doing a purist muffin blog and everything in between.

Nothing pleases me better than getting a batch of muffins in the oven in 15 minutes flat. I love their versatility. They can be utterly butter filled and decadent or a healthy alternative to a bowl of cereal in the morning. Whatever I have in the house can always be made into a muffin at short notice and usually the butter doesn't need softened ahead of time. What could be better?

That smell that fills the house and the pleasure (sometimes through gritted teeth admittedly; new discovery of 2010; I'm a control freak) of making them with my small daughters just caps it off.

Anyway, I have many muffin recipes and options to share but today we needed a mid morning, somewhat healthy kid and adult friendly snack. I had some winter blueberries, being rejected by all as tasteless and I had a half banana leftover by my 2 year old. What better inspiration for a muffin?

I used Deb at smitten kitchen's perfect blueberry muffin as a jumping off point. Always a good start!! http://smittenkitchen.com/2010/08/perfect-blueberry-muffins/ . However, I really needed to take my muffin down a healthier route; it's January 15th and we still haven't yet toned down the excess of Christmas in this house. So I substituted canola oil for butter, 0% greek yogurt and a little milk for the sour cream, substituted whole wheat pastry flour for half of the all purpose and I added my little banana chunks too.

Blueberry Banana Muffins

Makes 12 standard muffins

5 tablespoons  canola oil
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
3/4 cup plain yogurt or greek yogurt with a dash of milk
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup  blueberries, fresh or frozen
1/2 banana chopped into small chunks

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. 
2. Spray a muffin tin with a nonstick spray.
3. Whisk together flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt in  a bowl
4. In another bowl whisk together oil and sugar, Add egg and beat well, then yogurt and zest.
5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix just until the flour disappears.
6. Gently fold in your blueberries.
7. Using an ice cream scoop, fill the muffin cups. Bake for 20 minutes, until the muffin tops are a golden color and a skewer comes out clean. Cool on a rack for the bare minimum time until you dig in.

Enjoy!