Zucchini Muffins, Strawberry Banana Muffins, and Uh-oh Charlie Got Carried Away Muffins

Back to School means back to looking for quick, healthy breakfasts for the kids. It needs to be appealing. It needs to be easy. It needs to be more tempting than a Toaster Strudel.

With my kids, if it is baked in the oven, it is a crowd pleaser. So last night I hunkered down with some past their prime bananas and went to work creating some muffins!

Recipe 1:

 

Zucchini Banana Muffins
(This recipe is adapted from Taste of Home. You can find their recipe for Zucchini Banana Bread here)

Ingredients:
1.5 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 mashed, ripe bananas
1 tsp vanilla
2 small zucchinis shredded

Preheat oven to 325. Spray a muffin tin with Pam.

In a large bowl combine your dry ingredients. In a small bowl whisk together egg, oil, bananas, vanilla, and zucchinis. Stir into your dry ingredients. Spoon into your prepared muffin pan.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden and spring back when touched.

Note: I shredded my zucchini on my microplaner as I seem to have misplaced my grater. This created more of a puree rather than a shredded effect. The end result was a very moist muffin with the consistency of banana bread!

Recipe 2:

Strawberry Banana Bread Muffins
(This is adapted from an earlier post of mine. You can find it here.)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2/3 cup strawberry yogurt
1 tsp vanilla
1 medium banana, mashed

1 3/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup strawberries1/2 cup walnuts (I left these out as Tim doesn't like walnuts)

Preheat oven to 325 and spray a muffin pan with Pam.


Beat together first 6 ingredients until blended. Combine and add the next 3 ingredients and stir until dry ingredients are just moistened. Stir in the strawberries and walnuts. Do not overmix.



Spoon into prepared muffin pan and bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and spring back when touched.


Recipe 3:

Uh-Oh Charlie Got Carried Away Muffins

I'm not sure exactly what got into me, but as I was looking at those Strawberry Banana Bread Muffins, I started thinking... wouldn't these be good with coconut on top? Oh! and slivered almonds?? Oh, Oh, OH! and a light dusting of brown sugar to caramelize the topping together???

And you know what? I was right! If you make these muffins, be brave, be daring, ADD THE TOPPING!

Topping:
1/3 cup sweetened coconut
1/3 cup slivered almonds
1/4 light brown sugar

After spooning the muffin batter into the muffin pans, top the muffins with coconut and almonds and then lightly sprinkle with brown sugar. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Holy cannolis these are scrumptious! 

Note: Be sure your children get a few before you find yourself licking the crumbs off the counter!

"Oh There You Are Peter!"

Have you ever seen the movie Hook? Robin Williams plays a grown up Peter Pan who has lost sight of what is most important in life... family. All of that changes when his kids are kidnapped by Captain Hook. Peter goes to NeverLand to rescue his kids. Before he can do that he has to find himself.

My favorite scene is Peter trying to convince the Lost Boys to help him save his kids. Why would they help this grown man? A man who bore no visible resemblance to the boy they knew. A boy who had sworn to never grow up.

And then, in that moment, that moment when everything seems hopeless, the smallest of the Lost Boys walks up to Peter...

And that my friends is how I spent my summer vacation.

 For the month of August I made time for friends, activities, and most importantly, my family. I savored experiences and made memories to carry me through the return to school and schedules.

After a whirlwind romance, I fell in love with Summer.

And now September walks among us, and two weeks in I have realized I love it too. I love the crisp evenings, perfect for a sweatshirt and jeans. I love the return of schedules, activities, and routines. I love balance after a Summer of freedom.

And I love my blog!

This week I will be posting an end of summer salad, a delicious and healthy muffin recipe for Back to School mornings, and a refreshing end of summer white wine with a glass cork!

Welcome home my blog friends. I've missed you!

ps. If you've never seen the movie Hook, I highly recommend it. You can get it through Amazon, or pick it up at Target for $5. Family movie night anyone?