Strawberry Pecan Bread

I was recently visiting my mom’s house and stumbled across this recipe, written down perfectly on a recipe card. I mentioned it to my oldest boy who helps me with my columns for San Tan Valley Parenting and he thought it sounded perfect!  This was a Betty Crocker recipe that my mom had saved and it is a good one.  

This is a great recipe to involve your kids - getting them to help you in the kitchen will be a cinch!  They can certainly assist with measuring the ingredients, add them to the bowls, and – if you dare – using the hand mixer.  Have fun making this and eating this with your children!

Strawberry Pecan Bread

Makes one 9 ½ x 5-inch loaf

Original recipe from Betty Crocker

1 package (10 oz.) frozen sliced strawberries – I bought whole and sliced. 

2 eggs

½ cup vegetable oil

1 cup sugar

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

½ teaspoon salt

¾ cup chopped pecans (or walnuts)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Allow strawberries to thaw slightly.  Beat eggs until fluffy.  Add oil sugar, and berries – beating until combined.  In a separate bowl, mix flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, and salt.  Blend flour mixture into strawberry mixture just until the flour is moistened.  Do not over mix.  Stir in nuts. 

Pour into greased 9 ½ by 5 inch loaf pan and bake for 50-60 minutes or until tester inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool 5 minutes.  Remove from pan and finish cooling on rack. 

Also noted in the recipe: This is good served with scrambled eggs, bacon, and a fruit compote.  Or serve for lunch or brunch with a fruit platter and cream cheese. 

Tips:  This bread makes a nice gift.  Wrap in clear plastic film and decorate with a bow.  Or, make ahead and freeze to give away or to use.  

Breakfast Cups - Perfect for Back To School Mornings!

It's that time of the year again....Back To School!  Hurray!  My son and I decided to come up with a recipe that would be great for back to school mornings.  This recipe will be featured in the Fall Edition of San Tan Valley Parenting Magazine as well!

I have a crustless quiche recipe that I thought would work perfectly as the base.  I made a few modifications to the ingredients and used muffin cups instead of a pie plate.  These can be made ahead, stored in sealed container in the refrigerator, and the popped in the microwave to heat on busy school mornings!

How do you make your school mornings go smoothly?  What do you serve your kids for breakfast?  I'd love to hear your feedback!

Breakfast Cups
Makes 12 cups
Adapted from True Grits from the Junior League of Atlanta

4 slices of deli ham, chopped (I used Black Forest ham)
2 green onions, sliced
1/2 cup baking mix (I used Whole Wheat Pancake Mix from Eating Right from Safeway)
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup milk
3 tablespoons melted butter/margarine
Pepper to taste
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese mix
Dash Paprika
Cooking Spray

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

This is where engaging your kids comes in - they can certainly help dump ingredients into the bowl and stir!

Combine the baking mix, eggs, milk, melted butter, and pepper in a bowl; mix well.  Stir in the ham, green onions, shredded cheese, and paprika.

Spray a 12 cup muffin tin with non-stick spray.  Fill each cup about 2/3 of the way full.  Bake for about 20-25 minutes until light brown.

Either serve immediately, or let cool and store in a sealed container in the refrigerator.  These can be heated in the microwave when ready to eat.

Chocolate Blueberry Muffins - Kids in the Kitchen!

When I was asked to share a recipe for San Tan Valley Parenting that would promote families to get in the kitchen together, my mind filled with ideas!  I asked my boys if they would be willing to help me each time to test out the recipe and to, of course, taste test the results.  My older son was actually pretty excited about this – he started thinking about all kinds of fun and delicious treats we could make together.

We decided to run with his first idea of chocolate-blueberry muffins.  Once he started explaining this to me, I was a little concerned because I thought he was expected a blueberry muffin covered in chocolate.  Not so – this guy wanted the healthiness of blueberries packed into a chocolate muffin.  Great idea! 

I, like many of you I’m sure, wanted to make this easy on myself – but still be able to let the little ones get involved.  Instead of trying to come up with a chocolate muffin recipe, I purchased……what all good moms would……a box of chocolate cake mix. Muffins are just cupcakes without the frosting, right?  That’s what I decided.  Any chocolate cake mix will do, my boys and I chose Betty Crocker’s Super Moist Milk Chocolate cake.

The recipe is below and gives suggestions on where the kiddos can help.  Get your family in the kitchen this summer and let them eat chocolate cake chocolate muffins, for breakfast!  What else you are making in the kitchen with your kids?

Chocolate-Blueberry Muffins

Makes about 2 dozen muffins

6 oz. of fresh blueberries, washed and dried
Baking spray (I use Pillsbury’s Baking Spray with Flour)
Plus ingredients listed on back of cake mix (typically water, eggs, vegetable oil)

One 15.25 oz. chocolate cake mix

Combine the cake mix along with the required ingredients in a large bowl.  The kids can help by pouring everything in.  Depending on the age, throw in some math and have them use a measuring cup to determine the correct amounts.  They can also use the mixer to blend and make the batter.  My older son typically loses interest while doing this so I almost always end up finishing the process.  I am secretly OK with this because I always fear that he is going to remove the mixer from the bowl while it is still running.

Spray a regular sized muffin tin with the baking spray and fill about each muffin cavity about 2/3 of the way full.  The kids can then plop a few blueberries into each spot once you have added the batter.  It goes pretty fast with helping hands!

Follow the directions on the cake mix box for the baking temperature and time.  Once a toothpick comes out clean, they are done!  Let cool slightly and remove each muffin from the pan to a wire rack to cool completely.