Sneaky Attempt #1: Pumpkin & Spelt

The picky eater—he loves banana muffins. And I happened to have canned pumpkin in my pantry. And some spelt flour in my fridge. So, I gave pumpkin bread, in the form of muffins of course, a go.

Problem was I had never made pumpkin bread in my life. Crazy I know. What’s a girl to do when she wants to make something she has no recipe for? Why go to allrecipes.com for sure. I do love that site as you will soon see. Here’s the recipe I used:

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/downeast-maine-pumpkin-bread/detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=pumpkin%20bread&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Home%20Page

Here’s the part I always love about the comments in recipes on this site (and I’m sure on other recipe sites). The people NEVER make the recipe as is and you end up with this laundry list of changes. Well, folks, I am not exception. Here’s what I did a little differently:

• Used 3 eggs because all I had were jumbo eggs and I thought 3 would be plenty
• Cut the oil in half and added 1/2 cup of natural applesauce to make them a little healthier
• Only used 2 cups of sugar because oh my goodness 3 cups freaked me out
• Cut the flour to 2 cups and added 1 1/2 cups of spelt flour to add some protein and fiber
• Added 1 teaspoon of vanilla because that’s how I roll
• Omitted the ground cloves only because I didn’t have any and I wasn’t making a trip to the store to get it
• Baked them for 20 minutes because I made muffins instead of loaves of bread

I know, I know the sugar. It’s a lot even cutting it by a cup, but in my mind I balance it out with the extra fiber, protein, and vitamin A he is getting. Maybe I’m delusional but whatever.

The verdict? Both boys loved them and so did hubby and I. I froze several of them too. I’m a big fan of freezing bread. Definitely making this again. I think I’ll try to sneak in some pureed sweet potato next time too. Think I could get away with that?

Tea Time

I have a running joke with a couple of ladies I used to teach with. You see during the time we taught together, we had many a TGIFs & during one of these, we were introduced to one of my favorite margarita recipes. When we wanted to have a TGIF (which were not necessarily on just Fridays. Go teach. You’ll understand.), we’d email each other to see if we’d like to go have tea.

Tea being code for margarita. Just in case you missed it.

All I remember is this recipe came from a book on of the ladies happen to be reading. Sorry I don’t remember more or I would credit the book; it’s been 7 years & several of these margaritas later.

Ready?

You need FOUR—yes that is all—ingredients. (You can of course add salt & lime to the list but those are just bonus. These are the cast of stars.)

1. Frozen limeaid (12 fl. oz.)
2. 7 Up (Never, Ever, Ever, Sprite. And I have no idea why. I just put that here because I remember the book saying it. .)
3. Corona (Regular or Light)
4. Tequila (But of course)

Dump the frozen limeaid into a pitcher. Using the now empty can of limeaid, fill it with 7 Up. Add it to the pitcher. Use the limeaid can again, fill it with Corona. Add it to the pitcher. (You will have a little beer left in the can or bottle. Just go ahead and drink that yourself.  You have my permission.)

And, finally, using the empty limeaid can one more time, add the tequila. You can add anywhere from a half a can to a full can depending on what you like. (aka how strong you want them.) I generally add about 3/4 of a can. Mix it up. Serve on the rocks in salt rimmed glasses with a slice of  lime. This recipe usually makes about 4 margaritas.

Cheers! Now go invite some friends over for tea.

*I do not condone excessive drinking of alcohol. This is simply for fun and for my blog.