Recipe: Peanut Butter Cups

Halloween is upon us and so is the relentless marketing of packaged candy. Luckily, my four year old (that has a wicked sweet tooth), knows the stuff in the bags have nothing on the treats we make ourselves. I reference Michael Pollan's rule "Eat all the junk food you want as long as you cook it yourself" all the time when shopping with my kids. They're not only accepting of this, they get excited about getting to make treats at home. The time, effort and ingredients we put into making our treats not only nurtures a healthy relationship for the boys with sweets but creates positive memories they are sure to appreciate for years to come. 

One of my favorite items to receive while trick-or-treating was Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. I was also a sucker (through my 20's and early 30's) for the holiday versions of this candy, you know, the pumpkins, Easter eggs, etc. I still have to resist the urge this time of year not to throw a few Reese's pumpkins in my cart while the boys aren't looking. Well until yesterday that is. When I finally made my own peanut butter cups.

I was originally inspired by my mom earlier this week to make my own. She was looking at all the candy on sale in an ad and mentioned wanting some Reese's Peanut Butter Cups or Kit Kat bars. In an effort to curb her craving and show her homemade treats are far better than store bought ones, I researched recipes and got to work. The results were fantastic. My mom, my boys and my hubby loved these little guys. Oh, and I did too! If you haven't made homemade peanut butter cups yet, I suggest you do. I'm pretty certain you'll love them as much as we do.

Pick of the Week App

I don't pay much attention to the pick of the week cards at Starbucks but a fave mama blogger of mine mentioned the latest pick of the week (app) was The Monster at the End of this Book. I immediately wanted to track down a card and download onto our iPad for the boys. Luckily, I found one!

What a great freebie. My boys LOVE it. Hey, I love it! It's that cute. I'm not sure if the cards are still available but if you get a chance, take a look next time you're at Starbucks. It's worth the effort. You'll save yourself $3.99 and give the kiddos something they'll truly enjoy.

In the event you can't find one and want one, I do have a few extras. Leave a comment with your email address and I'll send you a code*. *I have a limited amount of extras. First come, first served.

Coffee creamer

If you read my blog, you may already know I'm not much of a flavored coffee or flavored creamer fan. Occasionally I get a craving for a vanilla latte but when I give into the craving I'm always disappointed. The flavor always tastes fake to me. The only time I actually liked something flavored was when I was served a latte made with vanilla flavored soy milk.

Anyhow, I like to research every day products that claim to be natural or more natural than other items within the same brand. While strolling Target with the boys, I noticed "natural bliss" from Nestle's Coffee-Mate line. The ingredients were decent as far as flavored creamer goes and it was about $2.00 so I figured I'd give it a try.

Here's the ingredients (Vanilla Flavor): Nonfat Milk, Heavy Cream, Sugar, Natural Flavor.

Maybe it's because I don't like flavored creamer but this stuff was yucky. Just as fake tasting as the rest of them. The ingredients are definitely better than the other creamers from Coffee-Mate. For example:

Coffee-Mate Original ingredients: WATER, CORN SYRUP SOLIDS, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN AND/OR COTTONSEED OIL**, AND LESS THAN 2% OF SUGAR, MODIFIED CORN STARCH, MONO- AND DIGLYCERIDES, DIPOTASSIUM PHOSPHATE, SODIUM CASEINATE (A MILK DERIVATIVE)***, COLOR ADDED.

Coffee-Mate Fat Free French Vanilla ingredients: WATER, SUGAR, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN AND/OR COTTONSEED OIL, AND LESS THAN 2% OF SODIUM CASEINATE (A MILK DERIVATIVE)**, DIPOTASSIUM PHOSPHATE, DISODIUM PHOSPHATE, MONO- AND DIGLYCERIDES, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVORS, CELLULOSE GEL, CELLULOSE GUM, COLOR ADDED, CARRAGEENAN.

So even though I used the word "yucky" to describe the natural bliss creamer from Nestle, if you like flavored creamer, it is the way to go (other than making your own). It doesn't seem to cost any more than the others and has way less ingredients.

Recipe: Super Blueberry Muffins

These gems (picture coming soon) came from a Weelicious recipe. I'm obviously a fan of Catherine's site and recipes. Although I will never be nor appear as organized and successful as she is at making perfect food for the kids, I am always inspired by what she does.

The recipe for Very Berry Muffins was exactly the kind of recipe I was looking for this week. Over the weekend, my boys asked for blueberry muffins so I didn't want to disappoint. And, I didn't. They loved these. The muffins are easy to make and are bursting with blueberries. It's almost blueberries with a little muffin in between rather than a muffin with blueberries. They were great still warm but even better the next day.

If you're looking for an easy to make, nutritious and portable snack or breakfast, you should add these to your rotation. I absolutely love snacks like this!

Super Blueberry Muffins
Makes 12 muffins

1 1/4 Cup Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
3/4 Cup Old Fashioned Oats
2 Tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp Salt
1/3 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Large Egg, whisked
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
3/4 Cup 1% Milk
1/3 Cup Canola or Vegetable Oil
2 Cups Frozen Organic Blueberries (I used a 10 oz. bag)

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Place the first 6 ingredients in a medium bowl and combine. Combine the egg, vanilla extract, milk and oil in a large bowl.

Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Gently mix the frozen blueberries into the batter, do not over mix or the berries will bleed. Pour batter into greased or muffin lined regular sized tins.

Bake for 20-22 minutes (Mine took 22 minutes). Allow muffins to cool for 5 minutes then remove to a cooling rack. Enjoy!

Good intentions

I have good intentions, I have for the better part of my life. But the problem is, I have a hard time seeing them through. Some days I feel like a complete failure because of this. I honestly feel like when I die, I will be known as the girl (okay, woman) with the best of intentions BUT... fill in the blanks.

I have to change my success to failure ratio. But from where I'm sitting (imagine a small apartment with crumbs, toys, dishes, other misc clutter and a decent supply of convenience snacks in the cabinet), it seems close to impossible. Do I get stuck because it's truly overwhelming or is it because making homemade mac and cheese instead of grabbing a box (albeit a well researched better than big brand box) half the time or keeping the sink empty and the laundry kept up is just not me? I ponder this every day. One of the few things that keeps me from losing all hope is I know I can't be alone on this.

As mothers, we strive for perfection where there really can't be any. I read a good amount of parenting blogs and food blogs that make it appear that perfection IS a possibility. Come on people, give me a break. But I guess that's why I started Medium Food Mama to begin with. And I suppose this is where I need to focus and continue to help myself and others be okay with giving the kids a Trader Joe's trail mix bar instead of a homemade one every now and then because it was cheaper and less time consuming and occasionally letting the house get to the point it looks like robbers ransacked it (this will be my excuse if someone shows up unexpectedly today by the way). But sometimes I still ask, are these things a reflection of who I really am and are my good intentions worthless? Ugh.

Well now that I've gotten that off my chest, I think I can move forward. My good intentions this week are to make a yummy meatloaf that will make me smile when the kiddos gobble it up, this fennel side dish, a couple quick breads and homemade graham crackers to hand the kids for snack in place of that convenience bar I mentioned earlier, keep the dishes under control, do some laundry and maybe get to the much needed shampooing of the rug. And a few other things of course but you get the picture. Here's to a good week. Deep breath. Fingers crossed.

A better "Rice Krispies Treat"

Rice Krispies Treats, a staple of childhood. At least mine. Sugary and sweet, sticky and chewy, what's not to love? Well, some of the ingredients I suppose, specifically the packaged marshmallows. Here is a sample ingredients list from a popular brand:

CORN SYRUP, SUGAR, DEXTROSE, MODIFIED CORN STARCH, WATER, GELATIN, TETRA SODIUM PYROPHOSPHATE (WHIPPING AID), ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, ARTIFICIAL COLOR (BLUE 1).

The "Blue 1" is my least favorite. Making homemade marshmallows is on my to-do list which would make the traditional Rice Krispies Treats recipe better. But for now, I gave Catherine's (Weelicious) version of these childhood treats a go and was very happy with the results. And more importantly, my boys loved them. 

These were super easy and gave me an opportunity to try rice syrup for the first time. You can make variations using other nut butters or seed butters as well as adding dried fruit or chocolate chips. They don't taste like the original rice treats but they have the same consistency and texture. They also look the same with the exception of being a little darker due to the peanut butter. These will definitely be in the treat rotation at my house!

Click here for the recipe.

Recipe: Pumpkin Bread

I am more than excited that Fall is almost here. Although I don't hesitate to make Fall-esque recipes all year around, when Fall officially arrives, I definitely step it up! Pumpkin is my favorite. Pumpkin bread, pancakes, pie, muffins, scones and so on. There's even a Pumpkin Spice coffee that Gloria Jeans offers only this time of year. For the record, I am not a flavored coffee gal but this is the one exception.

I've been looking at the three cans of pumpkin left over from last year's stockpile for a few weeks now. I'm going to use one to make Pumpkin Pie Popsicles from Marla at Family Fresh Cooking, one for a pie and the other I used yesterday for this wonderful pumpkin bread. Pumpkin bread recipes are everywhere. So many variations. Some spicy, some not. Some with nuts, lots without. Some with butter, others with oil, etc. You get the picture. I have a go to Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread from Cooking Light that I adore but had yet to find/create a recipe for regular pumpkin bread. Until now that is. I think I've come up with a pumpkin bread that is worthy of making on a regular basis. And even worthy enough to give to friends and family. My recipe is based on a recipe I found at Allrecipes.com. I reduced the sugar a bit and used a combination of brown and white sugar, replaced one cup of AP flour with white whole wheat flour, replaced half the butter with organic cinnamon applesauce and adjusted the spices a bit.

This bread came out moist and flavorful. Distinctly pumpkin spice. It was a hit with my boys, including the hubby. Now that I have a basic recipe to make, and even though it's great just the way it is, I'll certainly be experimenting with it throughout the season. Maybe a little ginger and maybe some walnuts? It will be fun to taste it evolve. I'll definitely post any adjustments that I think are worth sharing. For now though, here is a pretty darn good start to a wonderful Fall!