Sour Cream Muffins

September 24th, 2007

I recently checked out a great book from the library called, “The Ultimate Muffin Book” that was chock full of awesome muffin recipes. The book contains 100 base recipes for muffins and then includes tons of variations on each recipe, boasting over 600 recipes in all. The book also had tons of great tips for good baking and how you could make your own ultimate muffin.

Last week I baked a batch of Sour Cream Muffins, from the cookbook, that were so delicious. The sour cream added a yummy tang to the muffin and I loved that the recipe didn’t require any butter or oil. The muffins were moist and chewy and I added a cup of chocolate chips to sweeten them up.

The only disappointment was that the muffins really stuck to the muffin liners and made it difficult to remove them. I think next time that I will just spray the pan really well instead of using the liners on these. My husband didn’t like the chocolate chip addition, but everyone else in the house did, so next time I will do some plain ones for him.

The biggest fan of the muffins had to be Emily. Judging by her plate, she had no problems with the chocolate chips at all!

Sour Cream Muffins

2 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs, room temperature

1 cup sour cream (regular, low-fat, or nonfat)

2/3 cup milk (whole, low-fat, or nonfat)

1 teaspoon vanilla

Position the rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees. To prepare the muffin tins, spray the indentations and the rims around them with nonstick spray, or line the indentations with paper muffin cups. If using silicon muffin tins,, spray as directed, then place the tins on a baking sheet. Whisk the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl until uniform. Set aside. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and sour cream until smooth then whisk in the milk and vanilla extract. Stir int he flour mixture with a wooden spoon until incorporated. Fill the prepared tins three-quarters full. Bake for 18 minutes, or until the tops are lightly browned but smooth. Set the pan on a wire rack to cool for ten minutes. Release muffins from the tin. If storing or freezing them, cool them completely before sealing in an airtight container or in freezer-safe plastic bags. The muffins will stay fresh for up to 24 hours at room temperature or up to one month in the freezer.

Variations:

Banana Walnut Sour Cream Muffins– add 1/2 cup chopped dried banana & 1/2 cup chopped walnuts with the flour.

Blueberry Sour Cream Muffins– Add 1 cup dried blueberries with flour.

Cherry Sour Cream Muffins– Add 1 cup dried cherries with the flour.

Chocolate Chip Sour Cream Muffins– Add 1 cup semisweet or milk chocolate chips with the flour.

Cranberry Sour Cream Muffins– Add 1 cup dried cranberries with the flour.

Raisin Sour Cream Muffins– Add 1 cup raisins with the flour.

Coconut Sour Cream Muffins– Add 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut with the flour.

Enjoying the Last Days of Summer

September 21st, 2007

We are coming to the end of the summer and it is that weird time in the season where I find myself preparing for the seasons ahead while sitting in my bathing suit in hot & humid weather.

Yesterday we enjoyed a day outside. The kids played in the sprinklers while I worked on our laundry and flipped through recipe books for the Christmas season.

I have been working on planning my Christmas treat boxes and have been hitting the thrift store often for pretty tins to put my cookies in. We had so much fun delivering to the firefighters and other people in our family, that I find myself really looking forward to our next delivery. It was a lot of work, but so neat to surprise everyone with treats from our kitchen.

Today I washed all of our fall linens for the beds and they are hanging out in the sunshine. I have a fall quilt in burgundy & navy flapping in the hot sun. My space heater, flannel sheets, and electric blanket will have to wait until it gets nice and cool.

I bought my mums to plant and a pot to put some of them on our step. Next I will be working on my fall decorating around the house. I don’t have a ton of decorations, but just a few pieces to add to the fall spirit around here.

Finding acorns lying next to my beach chair reminded me how close we are to being able to enjoy some crisp fall weather. Until then, we will be soaking up the sunshine and enjoying as much time outdoors as we can.

Have you been doing any fall preparations in your house? Are you enjoying these last dog days of summer?

Freebie Friday: September 21, 2007

September 21st, 2007

Don’t forget to mark your calendars for next Saturday- it is National Museum Day! Check the Smithsonian Website for additional information.

All Around Our House: 09.19.07

September 19th, 2007

I thought I would share what we are up to over here in our little corner of the internet. Linking will be provided through Amazon, but what I am reading/doing is usually loaned through our library and not purchased. The links will provide specific information though on what we are doing!

The kids are listening to: Justin Roberts, “Meltdown”

I am listening to: Dashboard Confessionals, “Dusk & Summer”

On my nightstand you would find, “Queen of Babble in the Big City” by Meg Cabot

I found this when I was thrifting yesterday, “How to Cook Everything” by Mark Bittman. I paid $4 for it- a little more than normal, but it was too cool to pass up!

My children’s latest fascination is “Yo Gabba Gabba”

Fall is coming so I need to start whipping up my cocoa mix– yummy!

I am adding some of the items from the new Martha Stewart Collection (from Macys Department Store) to my Christmas list this year. I love these cake stands! I wonder if Macy’s will let me use my coupons since Michael’s would not!

Let me know what you think and if you would like to see this regularly!

WSBT-TV: Family Nights On A Budget

September 18th, 2007

Here is today’s segment from WSBT! We talked about family nights on a budget and discussed all of the great things you can do with your family without spending a ton of money in the process. Above the video is an email that you can use to send in suggestions for the next show. Even if you don’t live in our area, I am sure they would love the story ideas!

On a personal note, I just wanted to thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. My mom got to come home yesterday from the hospital and is on the mend. Thank you for thinking of her.

On a lighter note, you should watch the clip so you can see my new hair cut. FINALLY got to go to the hair dresser after four months without a good cut. Only a mom could appreciate what a luxury that was! Maybe next time I will do what Meredith did and just have Ethan chop it for me…That would be a lot cheaper! Of course there is always opening my own beauty salon!

Back to the family night topic, what is your favorite thing to do as a family? Any suggestions for my next family night together?

Day 29: Get Rewarded For Your Shopping

September 18th, 2007

I love shopper rewards, but not the kind that require me to take out a credit card. Yes, I know there are tons of personal finance gurus that would disagree with me on this, but I do not feel comfortable using a credit card. Call it lack of discipline, call it sheer fear…heck, you could call it pure laziness, but I am trying to avoid using credit cards for any reason.

No, the rewards that I like come from shopping that I am already doing. You can find great shopper rewards from places you are probably already visiting- your grocery store, the gas station, or doing your online shopping for the holiday season.

As someone who is frugal, I tend to overlook signs that advertise reward cards because I automatically associate them with credit cards. For example, our local Speedway had advertisements that were hanging over their pumps, advertising gas savings and I immediately got that glazed over look and would ignore them. There was no way I would sign up for a gas card, nope, not me!

Fast forward to a day trip with my sister and she whips out her Speedy Rewards Card, which credits her three cents per gallon and then gives her an additional savings on other items in their store. She explained that you could get points for buying your gas there and then you could credit those towards gift cards. This was an opportunity that I would have lost out on if she had not explained that this was not a credit card, but just a reward card. Now I happily swipe my free card and get my three cents back on each gallon. Yes, it is a drop in the bucket, but why not take advantage of it? Many of my frugal endeavors might only save me pennies, but pennies do eventually add up to dollars, and I am looking forward to putting some of that money in my secret account.

There are also rewards at grocery stores. Many grocery stores offer gas savings or savings on your groceries, just for using their free card. There could also be rewards available for your child’s school, as many grocery stores offer a percentage back on your spending for non-profit organizations and schools.

Finally, there are great rewards programs for doing your online shopping. I have always been a fan of MyPoints because I could do my shopping and use my points on gift cards for myself. I also love Ebates and enjoy getting my big fat check every now and then. I won’t go into detail, but these are two shopper programs that have some great benefits IF you are already planning to shop online, not shopping just to get points & rewards.

Since I often have that glazed over look when it comes to reward cards, what are some of the cards in your wallet that you find have been beneficial to your family? What rewards do you cash in on?

Frugal Hacks: Hosting a Game Day Party

September 18th, 2007

Today at Frugal Hacks, I am discussing some great ways to host a game day get together without spending a lot of money.

I will be doing a piece each Tuesday and discussing creative and frugal ways to entertain and be entertained!

Is there anything you have in mind for discussion? What is not budget-friendly in your house, when it comes to the subject of entertainment?

Perfectly Pantry: Cinnamon Muffins

September 17th, 2007

Tomorrow is grocery day so this means we are down to the bare minimum in our pantry. I did a search for muffin recipes and found a great one for Cinnamon Muffins to try. All of the ingredients were in my pantry and it would make a great treat to start the week.

These muffins are delicious. The only changes that I made to the recipe were to add one teaspoon of cinnamon to the batter and to decrease the melted butter, to be brushed on top, to two tablespoons. Making cinnamon muffins with no cinnamon actually in them didn’t seem to make sense to me so that was why I made the addition. Even with only melting two tablespoons of butter, I still had some leftover and I didn’t want to make these muffins too heavy.

I was a little scared by how thick the batter was, but the muffins were nice and light when baked. I was able to get nine muffins out of this batter.

These were enjoyed by everyone in our family and I will definitely make these again!

While I am on the subject of our pantry, I just wanted to direct you over to Frugal Hacks and Meredith’s thoughtful piece on how to stay within your grocery budget,while practicing her theme of cheerful frugality. I loved this!

Since I am in the test kitchen mode, do you guys have a favorite recipe for muffins that you could share? I would love to try them!

Sister Swap Shoe Box

September 17th, 2007

I got the opportunity to participate in a shoe box swap with the theme being sisters and refresh. This is my first swap ever and I was running so behind on this. I feel very badly about that so I apologize to my “sister” in this swap for not getting my box out on time. When I received her box though, I was so glad that I had not yet sent mine. When I was thinking “shoe box” swap, I actually was planning to send mine in a shoe box, until I received her gift and about fell over at how beautiful it was. No matter what I could have done, nothing could top this gift!

This had to have been the most thoughtful and sweetest gift EVER! In my beautiful floral printed luggage case, was everything a girl could ever want. I had told her that my favorite colors were blue and pink, and she found everything she could in those shades.

In my box was the best coffee mug ever, a beautiful pleated half apron with cupcakes all over it, a cupcake dishtowel, a cupcake oven mitt (with the rubber inside to protect my hands), a beautiful notepad with matching pen, tons of rubber stamps to add to my collection, a measuring spoon set, and a beautiful HANDMADE purse-size memory album to carry with me.

My month has been so bad and this was just the pick-me-up that I needed to feel better. A gift just for me? Unheard of! Thank you to my “sister”Amy (what a great name!) for sending me such a lovely gift. Many thanks to Monica & Carrie for doing such a wonderful job arranging this for all of us!

Since this swap was in honor of (and hosted by) sisters, I also wanted to include a picture of my real life sister, who is my absolute best friend. She means the world to me and I am lucky to have her! I don’t know what I would do without her friendship and I am so thankful that I can call her my friend and my sister!

Isn’t she so cute? This picture was taken at our friend’s bridal party- thus the fabulous hot pink feather boas!

Product Review: “Rockstar Princess” from Aunty E

September 14th, 2007

Music has always been very important to me and I am trying to make it important to my children too. On Sundays, I have made a jazz playlist of music to listen to, on Fridays we listen to music that you would hear in coffee shops, and when I am cleaning I have fun & fast paced music on. Wherever we go, I try to always have good music on in our car and we often use the music stations that are available through our satellite television station.

My children also have some musical heroes of their own which include Laurie Berkner, anything from the Disney films, and Raffi. We often listen to the Kid Tunes available through Yahoo Launch (commercial free for folks that use their internet service and with commercials for those who don’t).

My children’s favorite shows right now are Yo Gabba Gabba (Nick Jr) and Jack’s Big Music Show (Noggin Network), two shows that teach children about musics (although they are each very different). These shows focus on all types of musical appreciation and my kids sing right along with the words. It brings me a lot of joy to hear their sweet voices.

We recently were sent a new CD to review entitled, “Rockstar Princess” from a band called Aunty E. This group has earned great notoriety in their native Texas and they are now gaining a fan base in other areas of the country.

If your children love the more recent styles of children’s music that have come out, they will really love this disc. The tracks incorporate many different variations of music including pop, soul, country, and blues. The music is targeted to the age group of four through eight, but even my (almost) two year old was dancing right along.

Despite the name containing princess (and the pretty pink cover!) the disc is not mean to aim at just girls, it is meant for all children. Aunty E sings along with Grammy award wining artists like Joe Blondell & Floyd Domino, encouraging children through her lyrical stories.

Her music can be found on Apple iTunes, Napster, MSN Music and more information can be found on their website.

And since everyone loves a freebie, they offer free ringtones for wireless carriers.

What are your children’s favorite artists? Any music that you can recommend to us?