Muffins!

Apple/Oatmeal/Almond on the left; Date & Cashew on the right

Today, I baked muffins for the freezer.  One of my friends had suggested muffins and fruit as a possible breakfast option for when I am undergoing chemotherapy.  She suggested baking and freezing them; then, it'll simply be a matter of warming them up in the microwave for a few seconds and breakfast (or a mid-afternoon snack) will be ready as needed.

I immediately thought of making some apple muffins, and then, I wondered if I had any dates left in the container.  I did, but they were a bit dried out, so I put them to soak overnight.  Then, this morning, I mixed up a batch of date muffins: 

Date & Cashew Muffin Batter

I added the water in which the dates soaked to the batter, as well, which turned the batter a nice golden color, and a handful of chopped raw cashews.

I use the basic muffin recipe in my old Better Homes and Gardens cookbook (not sure which edition, bought sometime in the early 1980s, but older than the 14th edition, which I also have!).  I amended the original recipe to reduce the amount of salt from 3/4 tsp. to 1/2 tsp.:

1 3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt (original recipe says 3/4 tsp. salt)
1 beaten egg
3/4 cup milk
1/3 cup oil

Mix the dry ingredients together; mix the wet ingredients together; add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture and combine; drop into greased or paper lined muffin cups; bake at 400F for 20-25 minutes (per recipe; my oven tends to run hot, so, the first batch was done in just under 15 minutes).

I use this basic muffin recipe and add whatever additional ingredients to it to vary the muffins.

Date Muffins Ready for Baking  (my muffin trays are as old as the proverbial hills!)

And then, since I already had all the basic ingredients out, I chopped up an apple and some almonds (as I didn't have any walnuts) and mixed up a batch of apple muffins, as well.  I added a dash of cinnamon powder to it and, because the batter looked a bit too wet, I added 1/4 cup of oatmeal, as well:

Apple-Oatmeal-Almond Muffin Batter

The date muffins were done baking by the time I mixed up the apple muffin batter.  So, removed the date muffins to cool on the rack, relined the muffin cups, filled them up with the apple muffin batter, and sprinkled a bit of sugar on the tops:

Apple Oatmeal Muffins Ready for the Oven

While they baked, I put away the washed dishes from last night (I usually leave the dishes to dry in the dish drainer over-night), washed the mixing bowls and measuring cups and spoons, etc. I used to make the muffins, and wiped down the kitchen counters.  Then, I checked the muffins and they weren't quite done yet, so, I sat down at the computer for what I thought was a minute and the next thing I know, I get an aroma of something on the verge of burning!  Oops!  So, the apple muffins are a bit, um, carbonized on the bottom!  LOL. 

Note to self:  Buy myself a kitchen timer! 

After the muffins were baked, of course I had to sample one of each to do some quality control!  We'll consider them as part of lunch!  The rest will be bagged up and frozen for later. 

Breakfast today was a cup of coffee (with milk), a banana, and a tablespoon (I measured!) of peanut butter for protein.  Lunch was two muffins!  It's 3:00 p.m., now, and I guess I should have a salad for a mid-afternoon snack, since breakfast and lunch were sadly lacking in veggies. Dinner will be some of the beef steak, again, with broccoli, carrots, and perhaps a baked yam.

Today, I am grateful for:

- A day off from work
- Freshly baked muffins
- A working oven
- A sunny, warm day
- Old cookbooks

Hope your Monday is the start of a blessed week.