Zucchini Pumpkin Quinoa Muffins

What a fantastic long weekend we had!  Having spent it working and playing outside, as well as getting a few things done inside, I came out of the weekend on an absolute high.  We had so much good quality family time, were active all weekend, and got so much done!

One of my less fun indoor tasks for the weekend was cleaning out the cabinet I use to store serving dishes, wine glasses and recipe books.  As I was going through my clutter of assorted recipe books and cooking magazines, I realized how nice it is that my focus in cooking hasn't changed much over the years.  I'm as much about tasty, simple and healthy food today as I was ten years ago.  This makes it really interesting to go through all of my recipes, as I tend to find forgotten, delicious gems.

The recipe I'm sharing today literally fell into my lap.  As in I was sitting on the floor, pulling down recipe books, and a recipe that I'd printed out years ago but never tried fell from the stack and landed in my lap.  When I read it and realized that it incorporated zucchini and a very ripe banana (of which I had one of each that needed to be used up) as well as quinoa (which I love), I knew it was meant to be.

Thanks to the footer on my print out, I was able to trace where it came from.  The Healthy Foodie created this recipe, and when I browse around their website they seem to have created many more tasty creations in the years since! 

Naturally, I put my own tweaks to it, and the result is perfect for little ones.  I find these muffins hearty and moist, and both lightly sweetened and spiced.  Best of all, they have no added sugar, lots of veg, and all the goodness of quinoa.  Quinoa is a grain that I'd really like my kids to eat more of, but I haven't had much luck at incorporating it into finger foods until now.  No matter how well formed and sturdy my efforts seemed to be, they end up disintegrating into a mess of individual grains as soon as little fingers grasp them.  Happily this recipe bucked that trend so I know it's possible.  If you have an awesome recipe for quinoa based finger foods, comment below please!  I'm interested!

In terms of sweetness, I kept my batch plain and found the flavours to be subtle but pleasant.  If you like your muffins a little sweeter or your flavor profiles more complex, consider adding a bit of maple syrup, raisins or both to your batter. 

Zucchini Pumpkin Quinoa Muffins

Zucchini Pumpkin Quinoa Muffins - fresh out of the oven

2c whole wheat flour
1 tsp gluten flour (optional)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg 
1c zucchini, grated (about 1 medium zucchini)
1c pumpkin purée
1c cooked quinoa
1 large, very ripe banana
2 eggs
2/3c 2% milk

Optional:
1/3c raisins and/or 2tbsp maple syrup

1.  Preheat oven to 425F and line muffin tins.
2.  Blend first seven ingredients in a large bowl, set aside.
3.  Grate zucchini, and squeeze away excess water.*
4.  Combine zucchini, pumpkin and quinoa well.  Then, add well mashed banana, eggs and milk.  Include maple syrup in wet ingredients if desired.
5.  Pour zucchini mixture into bowl with dry ingredients and stir until just combined.  Add raisins if desired.
6.  Divide among muffin tins, and bake for five minutes at 425F.  Then, decrease temperature to 375F and bake another 17-20 minutes until lightly browned and an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
7.  Enjoy warm or cooled, they're lovely both ways!

Makes 16-18 muffins

* I've only recently come to appreciate the difference in final texture that squeezing moisture out of zucchini lends to my baked goods.  I simply transferred my grated zucchini to a clean tea towel, and squeezed it out over the sink.  It's amazing how much liquid a zucchini contains!

Little Smiling Man had one with dinner and his narrative was along the lines of "Harum, mum mum mum mum!", which I think means "Mmmm, mmm, mmmm"! 

Healthy "Chocolate Thick Shake"

I had a major mommy win last night. Since shortly before my return to work, Mini Muffin has been kicking the picky eating up a notch.  A lot of it, I think, is around the changes in our routine and that's leading to her retesting boundaries and trying to exert control over what she can - in this case whether or not she eats.  It's been a huge struggle as she's been rejecting foods she loves, and generally eating like a bird, which in turn makes her cranky, and well, you know the drill.

One of the significant challenges I've had are vegetables.  I've been struggling to get any form of veggie into her, and it's so frustrating!  Last night I tried something new, and was so happy that it worked!  I found a recipe in a smoothie cookbook I have, gave it some pretty significant tweaks, and the result was a "chocolate thick shake" that when served in a coloured straw cup to hide the green tinge, went down like a treat!  Mini Muffin of course has no idea what a thick shake is, so took to calling it her chocolate drink.

Mini Muffin's Special Chocolate Drink

Large handful of baby spinach
1/2 med or 1/4 large ripe avocado
1 1/2 c coconut milk
1 banana
2 tsp cocoa powder
1 tsp honey
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Ice

1.  Add spinach, avocado and coconut milk to blender, and blend until smooth.
2.  Add banana, cocoa powder, honey and cinnamon.  Blend until smooth.
3.  Add ice, and blend.  Adjust consistency with extra avocado and/or ice to make thicker, or extra milk to make thinner if desired.

Makes two servings. 

I made and served this drink while Mini Muffin was out of the room, since it does have a bit of an odd colour to it.  However, once she tasted it, she was pretty intent that it was all hers!  She drank about half of the recipe (so a big glass full), and Little Smiling Man and I split the rest.

I totally did a happy dance behind her back as she slurped it back!

Simply Delicious - Fruity Oatmeal Bites

Little Smiling Man has seriously been enjoying raspberries this week.  It's the first time in a couple of months that we've had them on hand, and he will truly eat as many as I give him.  He just can't seem to get enough!

This morning, I decided to make a quick and easy breakfast I haven't made in ages and that Little Smiling Man has actually never had before (and would give him that raspberry taste he loves so much)!  I originally came across this recipe on an online forum focused on babies, as an idea for baby finger foods, and have made it many times since.  It's a fun way for babies and toddlers to enjoy their oatmeal, and makes a nice change from the usual cereal, bowl of oatmeal or toast.  It also makes an easy breakfast or snack on the go since it's a non-sticky finger food.  Enjoy!

Fruity Oatmeal Bites

Cooked bites, after being transferred from plate.

1/2 banana
5 raspberries (approx.)
1/4 cup quick cook oats

1.  Thoroughly mash banana and raspberries.  The banana should be mashed until the point that it's pretty much smooth.
2.  Mix in oats, making sure that they're thoroughly coated with banana.
3.  Transfer to a plate, forming the mixture into a square.
4.  Microwave on high, for approximately three minutes.  You're looking for the oatmeal to be held together enough to lift off the plate as a square, but still soft enough for little ones to enjoy.  If it's undercooked it will be too soft to transfer off the plate, and if it's over cooked it gets very chewy/hard as it cools.  It may take a few times to find the right time for your microwave.
5.  Cut into bite sized pieces and serve once cool enough.

Ready for little fingers!

The final verdict?  Little Smiling Man thought it was fantastic and gobbled the whole thing up.  I suppose it's not really surprising since bananas and raspberries are two of his favourite things!  I suspect that I'll be making this one for him many times in the future.  We may also start experimenting with a few variations, like adding some nut butter for protein, or using different berries.  So many possibilities.... 
     

Simpy Delicious - Special Banana Pancakes

I'm all about an easy dinner after a busy Friday!  So, yesterday I drew on one of my tried and true toddler dinners - "Special Banana Pancakes".

These pancakes came about when Mini Muffin was about nine months old.  I was desperately trying to find some form of protein that she would actually eat, aside from milk.  Eggs seemed like a reasonable alternative to the meat she refused, but she really didn't take to them.  So, I came up with her very own special banana pancakes - banana mashed with egg and cooked in a bit of butter like a pancake.  She LOVED them from the get go, and to this day she'll gobble down two eggs in one sitting!

Now, I thought I was being all novel and inventive coming up with these pancakes.  However, I soon came across a banana egg scramble variation on an online community.  Then, I received an email from Self magazine touting gluten free pancakes... which were essentially my recipe with a bit of baking soda!  So, I must concede, they are not what you would call novel, but they are what I would call a quick, easy and awesome way to get egg into a baby or toddler!

And, the 'recipe' -

Special Banana Pancakes

1 very ripe banana (well mashed)
2 eggs

1.  Scramble eggs and combine with banana.
2.  Melt a small amount of butter in a frying pan. 
3.  When butter is bubbly, drop batter into pan.  I suggest pancakes be on the small side (one spoonful per pancake) because they can be a bit tricky to turn.  Flip when reasonably set.

We serve these plain - the banana flavour comes through strongly and makes them sweet so they really don't need anything!  They also reheat fairly well, so I try to make a bit extra for a quick and easy snack the next day.  Enjoy!