Feed' Em Fridays.

Fellow twin mom (who is also expecting another, phew!) AP started a What to Feed 'Em Friday blogging thing. I would explain it, but I think the title sums it up pretty well, no? If you need more clarification, go to this blog entry of hers for the criteria, and then you can see what she made this week here. This Friday she made quiche, which we adore in this house. I make little quiches in the mini muffin pan to put in the boys' lunches when we sense they are getting tired of PB&J sammiches cut into little shapes with cookie cutters. As a sidenote, Nana makes the best, BEST ham and gruyere cheese quiche. I've used her recipe and made it, and it just doesn't taste right. Nana, make us some quiche, why don't you. We'll be home around 5pm. And GG, if you could come over and do the pile of ironing that is glaring at me every night, that'd be great. 

Heh. If only life could be that easy. 

But, easy is making muffins. Or, mussins, if you're not ready to pronounce the "f" sound and it sounds like "s".  Muffins are a weekend morning favorite here, so my Feed 'Em Friday contribution is muffins. The boys really love helping in the kitchen, so I'll get most of the ingredients lined up, and I'll get to help stir or mix. And Grady can even crack an egg neatly, I was really surprised, to be quite honest. Yes, we did was the raw egg off his hands. Anyways, Grady can be a strong willed little child, but put him in the kitchen and he mellows out and becomes a very helpful little man. And Cole loves just being around Momma, so he's eager to help, too. 

This particular day we made this Banana muffin recipe.  AP's #3 criteria was Health (or at least not bad for you), and I'm sure there are healthier options for banana muffins out there, like this recipe, but for now let's all pretend the muffins don't have butter and white sugar, k? 

I've long thought the key to making a good meal is a messy kitchen, so that's why you see the onions from the grocery store trip 3 days prior to this picture being taken on the counter in the background, and if you look close enough there are a smattering of dirty dishes and other random items. I can't wait for my sous chefs to take on dish duty.

But back to the muffins. The boys both helped with the mixing part, then I split the batter and let them eat pour the muffins into the cups. I used little liners here, which is not necessary, but they asked for the liners. So I let them have it. Sticking our your tongue aids in concentration. 

So does goofing for the camera.

There was only one meltdown each during this process, which is not too bad, given the boys' meltdown potential. Cole was really intent on getting his cups filled perfectly.

Grady, less so. He was going for a  more artistic look to his muffins and really was not open to guidance, which is why he had his meltdown. But he rallied and we filled the cups and Momma put them in the oven.

And they were pretty darn good. It's hard to go wrong with a banana muffin recipe. I have learned not to bother with nuts in these muffins, the boys just don't like the texture, and I spend my time walking over to them so they can spit nuts into my hand.

Another muffin staple in our house is the Oatmeal Muffin recipe from one of my favorite baking books. I was prepared to type the recipe out here, but thankfully someone already did that for me! Phew. I'm too lazy for all that. Here is the recipe, but note this person added blueberries. I've also tweaked the recipe a bit-I toast the oatmeal in the oven for a few minutes before I soak it in milk, it just adds a little extra nuttiness to the muffins, and I also add more cinnamon than the recipe calls for, too. 

There. My Feed 'Em contribution. Go make yourselves some mussins.