Saturday Morning Breakfast: Banana Nut Muffins

I hate wasting food, but I and my family are not big fans of eating brown bananas. The obvious thing to do with them was to make banana nut muffins, and they were delicious. Luckily I had a package of biscuit mix on hand (I just have to remember to replace it), and I always keep walnuts in the pantry. This recipe is super easy and adapted from my trusty Betty Crocker Cook Book:

Preheat oven to 400° F

2 large or 3 medium smashed bananas (you should have a cup to cup and a half)
3 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 large egg (have you noticed that "large" eggs are not nearly as large as they used to be?)
1/3 cup sugar
2 cups biscuit mix (I use a package of Weisenbergers biscuit mix, produced in Midway, KY.)
chopped walnuts or pecans (optional - but I use at least 3/4 cup of walnuts)

Mix well and place a couple Tbsp of batter in a 12-muffin pan (medium sized). Either grease the bottom of the cups with butter, spray, or oil, or use paper liners.

Cook about 15 minutes, or until golden brown on top. Check to see that they are cooked through by stabbing a large one with a toothpick. I shared this trick with my daughter this morning.

Remove from oven and let cool a few minutes.

Enjoy with milk and fresh fruit.

Wordless Wednesday: Our Foodie Summer

Our summer has been full of food milestones:

We were asked to take part in a sweet corn taste test. The corn is a genetically-modified hybrid developed by Seminis to protect the crop from insects. It was fabulous! I'm all for reducing pesticide use if possible. 

My first homemade banana nut muffins. It was a great use of too-brown bananas.

I hate throwing away food! While the bananas were obviously not local, I used a packet of Weinsenberger Mills Biscuit Mix instead of Bisquick (which my Betty Crocker cookbook called for). Weisenberger Mills is located in Midway, Kentucky and purchases grain from many of my farmers!

We put out our first official garden. I prepared the spot with my trusty garden claw and some of my horse manure. Then we just stuck in some seeds. We planted tomatoes, cucumbers, scallop squash, carrots, and beans. The beans emerged first, followed closely by the squash and cucumbers. The cucumber beetles have really enjoyed our garden, but they seem to be gone now. Keeping the weeds out is also daily work.

This mysterious plant cropped up about two feet behind the garden in the hard clay. We are still unsure what it is. Someone suggested it may be a gourd. We will see. It's getting bigger by the day.

Our first harvest. Not enough to feed a family of four, but I did cut up the squash and add it to some spaghetti sauce. I am about ready to harvest a few cucumbers.

The wild blackberries are thick at our house. There are about 50 or more bushes on our property. I loaded the kids up with Deep Woods Off and bowls and off we went. I am amazed they have grown so well without human intervention. It has been very dry here this spring and summer, but I guess we had just enough rain.

The first of many blackberry cobblers. It was so delicious. I'm also thinking about trying my hand at blackberry preserves. For breakfast the other morning, I added them on top of a whole wheat tortilla and peanut butter. Roll it up and you've got a great on-the-go meal.

I lost all of my original laying hens to coyotes and hawks.I purchased two new hens and they did not take to the coop. We have yet to catch them, but I recently found where they were laying their eggs... in my hayloft. They are half the size of what I was getting before. I sure do miss my girls. If I try chickens again, I will have to put up a fence. So much for free-range chickens. 

Do you have any good summer food stories? 

Share them here or on Twitter - use #summerfoodfun and tag me - @foodmommy. 

Singing the Busy Mom Blues - Dishes in the Sink

It’s been one of those weeks. I’ve been away from my home/office nearly every day this week for work, and as soon as I am home, my family and animals have warranted my full attention. This busy schedule has left little time for blogging, and as usual, the household chores. Toys are everywhere, beds are rarely made, dust dragons lurking in dark corners, and there are a new pile of dishes in the sink every night.

While this may put most OCD moms in a state of panic, I at least can be proud of one aspect of my out-of-order home; more dishes in the sink means less meals out. In fact, every dinner this week has been cooked from ingredients I had at home… no boxes and definitely no fast food cartons and wrappers.

It would be so easy to make the 15 minute trek into town to purchase a ready-made meal for my kids and husband, but I took the high road. This is in no disrespect to moms that choose that route, because I have been there, and still visit that option on occasion. But it has been so rewarding for my soul to cook for my family… and did I mention the fact that I have the “mother lode” of fruits and veggies in the fridge that I don’t want to throw out. It has become harder and harder these days for me to toss food (and money) into the trash.

And while home cooking takes quite a bit more time and gives me a pile of dishes that won’t fit in the dishwasher, this is one chore I have stopped groaning about. I am providing my family nutritious food made from my heart.