4 Week Menu Recipes- Breakfast: PART 2

MUFFINS!

In our family, we eat muffins quite often for breakfast. They go great with any breakfast meat, like sausages, bacon, or ham, and we also enjoy eating them with smoothies. Below are four easy recipes we regularly use.


Brown Sugar Muffins

2 c. brown sugar

4 c. flour

2 tsp. Baking soda

½ tsp. Salt

2 eggs, beaten

2 tsp. Vanilla

2 c. milk

1 c. melted butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix and then sift together the brown sugar, flour, soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, cream the remaining ingredients together. Add the wet mixture to the sifted dry ingredients and stir only until just mixed. Bake in greased muffin tins for 15-20 minutes. (I like to use cupcake papers for easy clean-up.) Makes 2 dozen regular-sized muffins.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

1 c. butter

1 c. sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. Vanilla

½ cup buttermilk (can substitute milk mixed with 1 tsp. Vinegar)

2 c. flour

1 ½ tsp. Baking soda

½ tsp. Baking powder

½ tsp. Salt

2 bananas, mashed

1 c. oats

1 c. chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream together the butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and buttermilk until well-incorporated. In a separate bowl mix the flour, baking soda and powder, and salt together. Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture. Then fold in the bananas, oats and chocolate chips. Bake in greased muffin tins for 15-20 minutes. (I like to use cupcake papers for easy clean-up.) Makes 1 dozen regular-sized muffins.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins

1 c. brown sugar

1 c. white sugar

4 c. flour

2 tsp. Baking soda

½ tsp. Salt

2 eggs, beaten

2 tsp. Vanilla

2 c. milk

1 c. peanut butter

1c. chocolate chips (mini work best)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix and then sift together the sugars, flour, soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, cream the remaining ingredients together. Add the wet mixture to the sifted dry ingredients, fold in the chocolate chips, and stir only until just mixed. Bake in greased muffin tins for 15-20 minutes. (I like to use cupcake papers for easy clean-up.) Makes 2 dozen regular-sized muffins.

French Breakfast Muffins

4 c. flour

1 1/3 c. sugar

5 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

½ tsp. nutmeg

2 eggs

2 c. plus 4 Tbl. milk

12 Tbl. melted and slightly cooled butter

2 tsp. vanilla

Topping:

1 c. sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

4 Tbl. melted and slightly cooled butter

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Butter the bottoms only of standard size muffin tins and set aside. (I like to use cupcake papers for easier clean-up.) Measure the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and nutmeg into a large mixing bowl and combine with a whisk. In another bowl, beat the eggs until frothy. Blend in the milk, melted butter, and vanilla. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the liquid mixture. Using a wooden spoon, mix the batter just until it's evenly blended, then spoon it into muffin tins. Bake on the center rack for 15 minutes. Then transfer the pan to a wire rack until muffins are cool enough to handle. Before muffins lose their warmth, prepare the topping.--> Mix the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Melt butter in a separate bowl. Dip the tops of the muffins in butter and then the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Serve immediately. Makes 2 dozen regular-sized muffins.

The Passing of a Fascinating Woman

A great lady, Helen Andelin, author of the impactful book "Fascinating Womanhood," has passed away. Read more about her and her passing here:

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_12548738

4 Week Menu Recipes- Breakfast: PART 1

Over the next couple days, I'll be posting the recipes I use in my 4 Week Menu. (Keep in mind that these recipes feed my family of 12, so you may need to do some reducing if your family is smaller.)

Let's start with Breakfast! (My favorite meal of the day!)


Rachel's Whole Wheat Pancakes/Waffles
4 cups whole wheat flour
6 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
4 beaten eggs
4 Tbl. oil
4 Tbl honey
2 cups milk
2 cups water

Heat griddle to 375 degrees. (For waffles, heat the waffle iron.)

Stir dry ingredients together until well incorporated. In another bowl, beat the wet ingredients together; add to the flour mixture. (Will be lumpy-- don't over-mix!)

Bake immediately on the hot griddle, turning once. (Makes LOTS!)



Rachel's Breakfast Egg Bakes (2 varieties)

1)Bacon and Cheese Egg Bake
2 Tbl. butter
1/2 cup finely chopped onions
1/3 cup milk or cream
12 large eggs, beaten
1/4 pound shredded cheddar cheese
4 slices crumbled cooked bacon (or diced ham slices)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and heat skillet on medium heat. Melt butter in hot skillet and sautee' onions until clear. Combine remaining ingredients, add onions and mix well. Pour into a greased 9X13 inch casserole dish. Bake for 30 minutes. (Sprinkle more cheese to melt on top after baking, if desired.)

2) Sausage Baked Egg Casserole
1 pound ground pork sausage
1 small finely chopped onion
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
12 large eggs
1/2 tsp. salt
dash of pepper
1 1/4 cup milk
1 1/2 tsp. dry mustard
1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook sausage, onion, and garlic powder in a large skillet over medium heat until the sausage browns. Drain well.

In a large bowl, combine milk, eggs, mustard and salt for one minute. Stir in cheese and sausage. Pour into an ungreased 9X13 pan and bake, uncovered in oven for 30 to 40 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. (Can be refrigerated overnight; just add 10 minutes to the baking time.)



Breakfast Cake (Grandma Nielsen's)

3 1/3 cup flour
1/2 tea. salt
3 tea. ground cinnamon
1 tea. ground nutmeg
1/2 tea. ground cloves
5 tea. baking powder
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 1/3 cup milk at room temperature
2/3 cup soft butter (or shortening)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix dry ingredients together. Add remaining ingredients. Beat for 2 minutes. Bake in greased 9X13 pan for 25 minutes. Remove from oven, and spread on frosting. (Recipe below.) Broil until frosting is brown and bubbly-- WATCH CAREFULLY! Eat cake hot. Yum!

Delectable Broiler Frosting
6 Tbl. melted butter
10 Tbl. brown sugar
6 Tbl. cream or milk
1 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)



(Part 2 Coming Soon!)

The Old-Fashioned Motherhood Manifesto

“To Preserve and Promote the Skills and Ideals
of the Traditional Homemaker-Mother”

Though I've been a mother since my first baby was born in 1993, I began my actual journey to becoming a more feminine woman about the time I had my 4th baby. I came upon a book at a thrift store (my favorite place to shop!) that made me take a good, long look at my feelings and beliefs about being a full-time mother/homemaker. At the time, my eldest child was 5, I had two boys ages 3 and 2, and just had a new baby girl.

In a word, I was overwhelmed.

I became determined to succeed in this career known as motherhood, and I voraciously read every book I could find on the subject. They included "A Joyful Mother of Children" and "I Didn't Plan to be a Witch" (both written by Linda Eyre), "Raising a Family to the Lord", "Sunshine for the LDS Mother's Soul," etc. And that brings me to the book I mentioned in the first paragraph, "Woman's Divine Destiny" by Mildred Chandler Austin. It was Mrs. Austin's master's thesis at BYU, published by Deseret Book in 1978 and is only 71 pages long, but it caused me to examine myself in a way I had never done before.

The year it was written, 1978, was one of upheaval and confusion for the traditional homemaker. That year could arguably be called the height of the "feminist movement." Women were leaving their home in droves, transporting their children to the babysitter or day care. Convenience foods like "Hamburger Helper" quickly became a staple in the new "Standard American Diet." Women who chose to stay at home and make an art of motherhood and homemaking were ridiculed or pitied as "unenlightened."

I was very young at the time, and luckily, my mother was one who decided to stay at home with my siblings and I. But, even for those who chose to be at home, the attitude toward homemaking was changed in society. Mothers who once found pride and satisfaction in preparing a lovely table and a delicious meal for their husband and children, now created their own brand of "fulfillment" in doing crafts, volunteering, hobbies, and other extraneous activities. They may have physically been at home, but sometimes their hearts were not in the duties of cooking, cleaning, and mothering. The derogatory phrase used for the job of stay-at-home mothers-- "dirty diapers and dishes"-- permeated homes everywhere.

These attitudes and catch-phrases of motherhood continued to grow and became ingrained in the girls and women of the next generation. As a young mother, I found myself