whole wheat blueberry muffin recipe

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for breakfast.

Or any other time of day for that matter.  I am not a breakfast lover, never have been. It’s not that I do not like to eat, just I am bored by the standard breakfast offerings.  I know, I’m the only one.  Trust me I know.  I would love to live somewhere, like in many Asian countries, where you can get interesting foods for breakfast like a spicy fish soup for instance. This is one of the reasons I make muffins on a regular basis, it certainly isn’t for my love of baking.  It is something else to eat that is also packable for the munchkins, both big and small. Fits perfectly in their lunches and makes a great school snack too.

This recipe is easy to pack along on a camping trip.  I packaged the dry ingredients into a zip-top bag and brought the remainder of the ingredients to mix on site.  I did not think through that completely.  I added the brown sugar to the flour mix and it turned into sugar rocks.  Unfortunately I did not realize this until I had already added the liquids.  Therefore the batter was well mixed before the majority of the sugar had dispersed throughout the batter.  The texture was tough because of this, I had to beat it more than is advisable, and there may have been pockets of sugar in some of the muffins.  [Note to self: package the brown sugar separately or use granulated sugar.]

Since that first experience I have had great success making these on camping or boating trips. The batter can be mixed inside a gallon ziplock bag easily.  Snipping the bottom corner off the bag for easy filling of the muffin tin. That said I usually make them right before bed Sunday night, it takes about 30 minutes and then I can sleep in a little on Monday morning. ;-)

Don’t go thinking that because these are whole wheat that they are heavy.  They have a bit more texture than those made with white flour, the whole wheat does make them a bit more filling, but the whole wheat pastry flour is light, lighter than you expect if you are new to it.  I suggest you give it a try, the folks at Joseph’s Grainery make a great one. I use it in many things, including Chocolate Chip Cookies and not one complaint yet!

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: whole wheat blueberry muffins
  • 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • pinch of salt
  • 2 ripe bananas, smooshed
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar, muscovado is my choice
  • 1 cup buttermilk, or your favorite milk + 1 tsp vinegar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1 pint fresh blueberries or 1-2 cups frozen, depending on the size of the berries and your prefence
  • coarse sugar for garnish
  1. Preheat your oven to 350F. Prepare a muffin pan by either using muffin papers or by greasing the pan.
  2. In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Blend with a whisk, set aside.
  3. In a large bowl smoosh the banana with the brown sugar and egg until combined. Add the buttermilk and olive oil stirring until well mixed.
  4. Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet with a wooden spoon. Mix until just combined, do not over beat the batter.
  5. Carefully mix in the blueberries.
  6. Fill the muffin cups 3/4 full until all the batter has been used.
  7. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 20 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean

Preparation time: 10 minute(s) Cooking time: 20 minute(s)

Number of servings (yield): 12

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kick-ass padrón pepper margarita recipe

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I’ve learned a few things about Tequila over the years. For Starters, no diving after imbibing.  There was once, in Mexico, that I had trouble deciphering which end of the pool was the shallow end until after I dove in.  I lost the skin off my nose, and now that I’m a responsible adult I realize just how lucky I was. I was young and supremely stupid back then, now I’m just stupid.  That was the trip that we were lucky to make it back from without any major catastrophes.  I’m really not that keen on visiting Mazatlán again after that fiasco.  It was fun, but we were too naive to know what we didn’t know.

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There was one night that we were dancing at some club or maybe it was just a bar.  We were dancing on the bar.  Well, all I’m going to say is that tequila poppers are a bad thing…

I was unable to drink or smell tequila for years after that week in Mazatlán.  No joke, years.

The most important tequila lesson I learned was to make sure that the bottle says 100% de Agave. Lesser tequilas will make themselves known come tomorrow morning with a bang, and you will require silence, that I can assure you.  The better and cleaner the tequila, the better chance you have of making it to your son’s soccer game the next morning. [click to continue…]

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spring gin cocktail

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bring on the weekend!

–> bring on the refreshments

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{what we ate} LudoBites Hawaii Nine-O

My parents were taking our kids to Hawaii for Spring Break.  The arrangements were made.  The only thing left open was whether or not my husband and I would join them.  With that part still up in the air, I inquired as to the details of their trip.  This is when we found out.  This is when we found out that the wrong week had been reserved.  It had been carved into stone months before and somehow we did not communicate thoroughly enough.

My husband, whom I thought would have been irritated said, “It doesn’t matter, the kids don’t learn anything at school”.  Regardless of whether I think he is correct or not, which I do, I was a little surprised by his response.  Long story short, we all went, two weeks before the real spring break, and we a most fabulous time!

I heard through Twitter that Ludo Lefebvre was having another installment of LudoBites, a LA pop-up restaurant phenomenon, this time in Hawaii.  I almost did not even check on it.  I assumed it was in Honolulu.  That’s where everyone goes, right? We were going to the Island of Hawaii, otherwise known as the Big Island.  This isle is not the most popular of the touristy destinations.

Then, there is was, on UrbanSpoon, LudoBites 9-0 at the Four Seasons Hualalai Resort near Kona, AND, they had reservations available.  I jumped on them.  I made two, one with just my mom the day I arrived, and one for later in the week for the whole family.  This post is a mishmash of the two evenings.

Smoked Mahi-Mahi Rillette on toasted bread

Oh my goodness, what a perfect first bite.  I would have been happy with a few plates of these for my whole meal. I could eat these everyday! Totally stretched what I though rillettes is or could be.  We ordered this both nights!

pele's mojito at Ludobites 9.0

Pele’s Mojito. Tequila, pineapple, cilantro, jalapeños.

You’ve got to see what we ate —>>>

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coconut water, green tea, whole fruit smoothie recipe

Smoothie #breakfast #done

This might be a great start to your Super Bowl Sunday. With all the overindulgence this day may bring, a good start might be in order. If not a today then Monday this is a sure bet. Because no matter which team you are rooting for, this is a no win day when it comes to your waistline and/or your heart. After this you can confidently say, bring on the HOT WINGS! [click to continue…]

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december 2011 :: favorite things

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