In The Kitchen

In my quest to add more plants to our menus, I bought (nearly) everything that looked good and fresh at our local grocery store the first part of the week. And then last night I realized we were almost to the end of the week and I still had some of those veggies untouched in the refrigerator.

We love the green drinks in the morning where I throw an assortment of fruits and vegetables in the blender. But I'm trying to get those veggies into our other meals, too. Last night I cooked fresh green beans with baby red potatoes and I roasted the rest of the brussel sprouts along with some fresh okra pods. That doesn't sound like much, does it?

But I ran up against one of the reasons busy moms (or dads) turn to more convenient ways to feed the family. It took quite some time to snap the beans, scrub the potatoes, cut the brussel sprouts and trim the okra. Then cooking time was just over 30 minutes. And there were all those pans and knives to clean afterward. An hour so to get supper ready—five minutes to eat it. That can be discouraging. But even one or two meals a week cooked at home is better than none at all. We just all do the best we can.

While the vegetables were cooking, I stirred up a quick treat. I made the recipe that was the very first one I posted here. Big Sister used to make these often when she was avoiding eggs and soy. (Thankfully, she's outgrown that problem.) We made them just because they taste good.

My butter wasn't cold enough last night so the topping didn't turn out as crumbly as usual. It looks a little blob-like. But they were good enough that Daddy-O—who is not a muffin OR a pumpkin lover—ate several before they had time to cool. Could be changing the cake mix flavor was a good thing.

PUMPKIN MUFFINS

1 box butter pecan cake mix (or any flavor you like)
1 15-oz. can pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
1/2 cup water

Topping:
1/2 cup plain flour
1/2 brown sugar
1/2 cup butter

Mix sugar and flour and cut butter into the flour mix until crumbly.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease muffin pans, or use paper liners.
Mix all ingredients throughly (I used an electric hand mixer) and fill muffin cups 3/4 full.
Sprinkle with topping. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until done.

Makes 18 muffins. (For a healthier version, you can leave the topping off.)


We have made this recipe with yellow cake mix, chocolate cake mix and spice cake mix. They are all good, but the spice mix was our favorite. Until last night. The butter pecan flavor works really well here. Daddy-O liked them better than the other times I've made them. Or, it could be that they really WERE a treat after eating brussel sprouts and okra!

I have my ticket to go visit the grandchildren in a couple of weeks! Sister pictures coming soon.

Friday morning view