Playing in the Kitchen: Savory Muffins for New Mamas and Papas

A little while back a couple from our prenatal class welcomed their second child.  I wanted to stop by their house with some food on my last trip to the city.   For new parents,  I was looking for a recipe that could be ready to eat, with one hand, right now, and would hit the spot too.  And then I found this recipe for Savory Breakfast Muffins.  I love a good sweet muffin, but these seemed like a great option for a quick breakfast or lunch, plus they relatively healthy and are supposed to freeze well. So Boodge, Peanut and I went shopping and Boodge and I whipped up a batch a few weeks ago.

It just so happened Sean walked into the kitchen as they were coming out of the oven.  "Those aren't ham and cheese, are they?" he said.
 "Yes, they are. But they're for J and G.  Sorry.  OK, you can have one." 
"'Cause I haven't had a chance to eat lunch." he was practically drooling.
"Ok, you can have two."

It's been a long time since I've heard Sean be so effusive in his praise of a food.  And I liked them too.  Boodge, well, he tried it. But he did love cooking them, because after he'd helped me put in the dry ingredients, he got to take some time making a "hole" in the middle of the flour.  Then, I let him help me pour in the wet ingredients to make a "lake" in the bowl.  We made these a second time a couple of weeks later and he remembered the lake, was so excited about making it that when I turned around for a second he had dumped all the wet ingredients in prematurely. He just couldn't wait.

But the recipe still worked out. Sean now has a Pavlovian salivation response whenever I take out the muffin pan.  And I'm thinking the possibilities are wide open for savory muffins. With the dry ingredients plus eggs, buttermilk (we used regular milk with some lemon juice that sat for a minute or so as a substitute), oil and butter you could add any combination of savory ingredients that sounds good to you. Here are some ideas I've thought of.

The Greek: 
1/2 cup onions
3/4 cup cooked, drained and chopped spinach
1/2 cup feta cheese
1/2 cup red or yellow pepper

The Goat:
1 cup scallions
3/4 cup crumbled goat cheese
3/4 cup cooked, drained and chopped spinach
1/2 cup diced artichoke hearts

The Mexican
1/2 cup leftover taco seasoned meat
1/2 cup cheddar cheese
1 cup chopped onions
1/3 cup chopped olives
diced jalepeno, to taste

Now, here's my disclaimer--I have not tried any of those ideas, just the original recipe. But I'm excited about experimenting with these muffins.  You can make a batch on Monday and have handy to go snacks or quick meals all week long.  Try them out, I don't think you'll be disappointed.  And let me know if you come up with any winning combinations.

Playing in the Kitchen: Pizza Dough

For this first installment of "Playing in the Kitchen", I have to talk about pizza.  We love making pizza over here, especially the part where you get to play with the dough.  Boodge and I have been making pizza together for a long time now and I've learned a thing or two.  It wasn't working to try to have him work on the "main" pizza with me--he pulled holes into the crust as I was spreading it and made "big pilo's" (piles) of cheese and pepperoni no matter how I explained sprinkling ("like snow falling from the sky").  Much better to give him a small piece of dough and let him have at 'er. He sometimes tries to roll it out, sometimes lets me do it, and then I take a portion of the prepared toppings and put it over within his reach, rather than letting him take whatever he wants.  But I do let him put on ridiculous amounts of some things he likes, like olives or cheese.  And I indulge the requests for bizarre ingredients like pretzels.  The last two pizza's he'd made, he's eaten in entirety over two days. He always asks me to make "pizza dough" with him.

Here's the recipe we use. It's for a 2 lb breadmaker, but maybe it would work without one.  I'm not sure what you would do with the yeast, though. Mom? Comments?  This recipe also looks good, if you don't have a breadmaker.

Pizza Dough

3/4 cup of fairly warm water
2 tbsp of olive oil
2 cups of flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 and 1/2 teaspoons yeast

Put the water and oil in the breadmaker first, then the dry ingredients with the yeast on top. Use your "dough" setting. 

You can double this recipe but if you do, only use 2 teaspoons of yeast.  This dough freezes well, just wrap it in plastic and stick it in, and it defrosts on the counter in a few hours.  Of course, you can also make pizza on pita breads, english muffins, and any kind of store-brought flatbread type thing and bypass the whole dough making thing.  But I think kids do really enjoy playing with the dough.  Mine sure does. 

After that I won't tell you what toppings to use....pizza should be creative, and we all have our favorites.  I'll say that I've been eating pizza with artichoke hearts and goat cheese lately, and loving it.  But you guys do your own thing.  Here are some pictures of Boodge's and my creations to inspire you.

 Pretzel Pizza

 Pilo Cheese Pizza

Pilo Cheese Pizza, After

 Sean and Katy Half and Half Special

Playing in the Kitchen

In the family I grew up in, food was a big deal.  Dinners were eaten together every day and were home-cooked about 95% of the time. On special occasions, loads of family and guests would gather together around a gluttonous feast of food and wine, often lingering at the table for hours over several courses with card games and long political debates in between.  I have so many memories that center around a dinner table; some mundane, some embarrassing, (like my cousin asking, "So, Katy, are you still a virgin?" at Christmas dinner...and I wasn't, as of a week before) others heart-warming or heart-wrenching.  And I have memories of cooking with my family, from making my own "bread" at my mother's feet as a preschooler (who didn't go to preschool), to bumping bums and arguing about who's in charge in the kitchen while preparing a holiday feast.  They are memories of connecting with my family, growing with them, and celebrating life with them.

Still today, when I visit my cousins or my brother and their children, food is a big part of the equation.  Most of us love to cook, all with our own styles.  Even with the chaos a new baby brings to our lives, I have pumped out a home cooked meal most nights since she has been born.  It's just ingrained in me, and I'm grateful for it.  Cooking is soothing (ok, not so much now that I usually do it while reining in the Boodge and bouncing Peanut), cooking is creative, cooking is nourishing.   Cooking my own food means I know what is going into my own body and my childrens'.  Cooking together is a way to teach my children and have fun with them.  And coming together for regular family meals can go a long way in creating the ties that bind. I believe in the power of food.

I hope my kids develop an appreciation for the art and science of spirit of food, too, just by being part of it like I was.  Since having Peanut, Boodge and I have bonded over lots of baking and cooking.  It's messy, but I have a high tolerance for that kind of thing.  In these early baby days, it is something I can do with him standing up while the baby naps in the wrap.  My little dude likes to pull up a chair and get into the action, and I let him attempt things like cracking eggs, dumping ingredients, mixing stuff, even flipping pancakes (under close supervision).   It's been not only a great way to bond but also a way to get him interested in what we're eating.  He almost never fails to at least try the foods we've cooked together, which is great because he can be very "two and a half" about eating and trying foods.  Who isn't looking for ways to get their toddlers try new foods? 

I thought I'd start sharing a bit more often the recipes of things we cook and what Boodge was able to do to "help".  Maybe I'll inspire some of you other food lovers out there to get cooking with your kids, and we can make some more foodies in the world.  I'll tag all my posts with "Playing in the Kitchen" so you can easily find them using my handy new Google search bar.