Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffin Recipe

This past weekend after we all went out to dinner as a family I grabbed the boys and ran across the parking lot away from our truck and over to Barnes & Noble. My husband thoroughly confused got in the truck and pulled up along side me asking what the heck I was doing. I am very random like this, you'd think he's be used to it by now LOL and I had been stuck inside all day and wasn't ready to go home so I wanted to browse some books. Hence running like a maniac over there. Makes perfect sense right? Why am I telling you all of this useless knowledge? Because it led to me buying two recipe books. They were on sale so I couldn't pass them up. One of the books I picked up was Veggie Kids, a book specifically for vegetarian children. I love veggies and so do the kids so it's as if the book was calling my name. One of the first recipes I came across was for Blueberry Muffins and I knew I had to make them. But trying to stear away from white flour and trying to go for overall healthier options I changed it up a wee bit to call it my own.

Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins

Servings:
16 muffins

Ingredients:
3 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 tablespoon baking powder
1 1/2 sticks of country crock butter
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2/3 1% milk
Grated rind from one Lemon
1 1/2 cups FRESH blueberries (none of this canned stuff here people)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line your muffin tins with paper liners
In a large mixing bowl combine your flour, sugar and baking powder
Rub the butter into your dry ingredients (don't laugh but you want to kind rub/roll it in as opposed to mixing/squishing it in so it looks still clumpy)
In a small bowl mix the egg, yolk, milk and lemon rind
Pour the egg mixture in to the large bowl of dry ingredients along with your fresh blueberries and GENTLY mix the ingredients together until everything is combined into a nice dough
Take a semi heaping tablespoonful of dough and fill each cup.

Bake the muffins for approximately 30 minutes. Mine cooked for exactly 30 minutes and were cooked to a perfection but different altitudes may require different cooking times.

*Note...If you are looking for those super sweet muffins like the one's you would buy in the store prepackaged and full of crap these are not them. These are fresh homemade muffins where most of the sweetness you will get is from the blueberries since it's not drowning in sugar. I personally enjoy these much more then store bought one's. And seeing as my kids already devoured six of them I am going to say they agree with me.

*Tip for the lemon rind...we all know how annoying it is to go through all that work only to find a pea sized amount of rind on the grater. Take a fork or knife and slide it in between the grooves to get out some of the rind that is stuck. You can also lightly tap it on a cutting board or on a paper towel on the counter to get more of the rind loose.

Wordless Wednesday-This kid

This kid, I LOVE him. I could just leave it simply at that, but I just have to add that this kid is my world. He's one of the most amazing little dudes I know. He has the personality like no other, a laugh that is contagious to all, a smile that is all trouble, and he gives the best cuddles. I love this kid!

Quick explanation....I woke up to find both the kid and the dog had snuck into my bed some time during the night. The first pic you can only see his bum sticking out from under the pillow. This adorable swollen eyed smiley face, I get to see it every morning. It hasn't changed in five years, he always waked up just like this.

See's Candies now open in Penn Square Mall, OKC

The other week my daughter and I had the honor of attending a pre Grand Opening event at the See's Candy in the Penn Square Mall.  As soon as I stepped foot into the store I may or may not have done an inner squee. The saying "just like a kid in a candy store" stands true for adults too you know. There's something about stepping into a See's Candies store and smelling the chocolate (oh my gosh the chocolate) and seeing the classic black and white tiled floors that brings out the inner child in every one. As if they knew what we were all thinking we were given a chance to take a peek behind the counter, and get this, we did packing races! Lets just say I now know how to efficiently (not speedily) pack a 12 count chocolate caramel marshmallow box of candies.   It was a lot of fun watching everyone try to figure out how exactly to get the little papers that the candies sit in separated with one hand AND not touch any of the candy with your hands, it was a fun process but also educational in learning that they don't actually touch the candies and that they actually inspect each box to make sure it is up to their standards before it can be sent out to be sold.

While there we got the opportunity to learn more about the company and let me tell you they are a company deep with history. I knew See's was a company with many years behind them but knowing there was a story to those years makes it makes it all that much more special. Here are a few interesting tidbits I learned during our visit:

1. See's sells over 26 million pounds of candy every year!
2. In addition to the 26 million that they sell they give away approximately 1 million pounds in samples.
3. Every single person who walks through the door has the option to receive one sample of candy.
4. The first See's Candies shop was opened in 1921 in Southern California.
5. They have two factories in California. One in Burbank (which I have driven by so neat) and one in San Francisco.
6. See's Candies was started by Charles See the son of Mary See who's picture hangs in every See's Candies store.
7. They still make a few of Mary See's original recipes from when she first started baking such as the fudge.
8. See's uses no added preservatives in their candies.
9. They now offer Gluten Free options.
10. The LollyPops are made in a different factory then the chocolate candies so that along with the chocolate drops are the only candies that they can guarantee are allergy friendly.
11. The chocolate drops is the same chocolate that they cover their candies with.
12. See's employees are AWESOME! Seriously they pour their heart and soul into their job and love not only what they do but the company they work for.
13. And my favorite little tidbit they shared was that the scene in I Love Lucy, you all know which one I'm talking about right? The one where she's in the candy shop trying to keep up with packaging the candy along the assembly line and she get's so overwhelmed in the classic Lucy fashion that she starts shoving her face with chocolates? Yeah that one! It was filmed in the Southern California facility.

Okay so I learned a little bit more then just a couple of things but it was all so fascinating to me I just soaked it all in. I've always been a See's fan. I still remember going into a See's store as a little girl and walking out with a chocolate LollyPop in hand. I want to personally thank Adam, Jermaine, Diana and See's for allowing my daughter and I to take a peek inside the magic behind your wonderful company. 

Weekly Meal Plan 07/28

I am attempting to jump back into this (again) and what better way then at full speed? Might not work for some but unless I jump in like this I will fall right back off the wagon. So fingers crossed I last longer then a month this time!

I am still piecing together which meal we should have on which day but this is the menu I've come up with so far.

Lemon Blueberry Muffins
Onion Mushroom & Leek Fritatta 
Veggie Paella
Mushroom Pasta
Fish Tacos 
Some type of chicken dish that I haven't decided on yet
Chicken Tortilla Soup

My grocery list is pretty long for these meals because my fridge is pretty bare right now so I don't have anything on hand. I've been sick and cooking has been the last thing on my mind, same with shopping. So tomorrow will also be a restock shopping kind of day, yippee.

Grocery List:
Eggs
Cheese (I only buy reduced fat sharp cheddar. Still the great taste with half the fat. I should be in commercials.)
Cream Cheese
Onions
Zucchinis
Red Bell Pepper
Leeks
Tomatoes
Lemons 
Blueberries
Mushrooms (a bunch!)
Spinach
Cannellini Beans
Cabbage
Lime 
Avocado
Sugar
Whole Wheat Flour
Penne Pasta (I get the veggie kind, gotta sneak as many veggies in as I can)
Milk
Salt Free Chips
Sour Cream
Salsa
Soft Corn Tortillas
Whole Roasted Chicken
Lettuce

I think that's about it plus a few odds and ends like bread, salad dressing, beets, hearts of palm, coffee creamer and fruit, can't forget the fruit!

The nice thing about the fish tacos and the soup is that they share a lot of the same ingredients so that cuts down on the cost a bit and my husband already purchased fish so I wont need to purchase any more of that. FYI fish out here is 1) very expensive and 2) the selection sucks. If you are lucky enough to have a Trader Joe's near you I highly recommend checking their fish selection out. They are very reasonably priced and have a very decent selection.
Do you plan out your weekly meals? Tell me, what does your weekly menu look like?


 

Disney's PLANES new clips released

Disney just released three brand new short clips for the movie PLANES which is set to hit theaters on August 9th! These clips are a lifesaver for my kiddos since every time we see the commercial my youngest says to me "Hey Mama that's the movie you talk about, can we watch again"? THe replay button is an awesome feature LOL

Bulldog Shamed

Dusty Meets El Chupacabra 

Strut Jetstream 

You can also check out their YouTube page for all types of videos related to the movie! They even have tutorials for making paper airplanes http://www.youtube.com/RacingSportsNetwork

Disney’s PLANES on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/DisneyPlanes

Disney’s PLANES on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DisneyPictures

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire new posters & Trailer

The 75th Hunger Games Quarter Quell has been declared!

 

On the 16th of July it was officially announced on Lionsgates Facebook page that every quarter century, the Capitol honors the anniversary of its victors over the districts with a special edition of The Games. For the first time in history the favorite Victors, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark will return as this years Tributes.

 

In honor of Lionsgates big announcement they released new Quarter Quell character posters for the wildly anticipated sequel, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire! Here is a sneak peak of a few of the posters that were released.

 

 




And because I know you've been waiting for it, here is a brand spanking new trailer for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.

 

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire opens in theaters nationwide November 22, 2013! I know I was late the the Hunger Games club but I am making up for lost time here. I cannot wait to see this movie. I especially love seeing Donald Sutherland as such an evil conniving man which is not his usual forte. 

You can also keep up with all the recent information for the movie on these social sites.

Official Facebook Page: facebook.com/thehungergamesmovie & https://www.facebook.com/TheCapitolPN

Official Twitter Page: https://twitter.com/TheHungerGames & www.twitter.com/thecapitolPN 

Official Google+ Page: https://plus.google.com/+TheHungerGamesM...

Official Pinterest Page:http://pinterest.com/hungergamesfilm/

Official Hunger Games Explorer Site: http://www.thehungergamesexplorer.com/us/

Disney Planes Printable's

If your kids are as obsessed with PLANES as mine are you'll want to follow on Facebook to keep up on all the happenings and the website has a lot of fun things for the little's to do. But in the mean time here are a few printable for you to keep your kiddos busy until the movie comes out. 

If you can't get them to print directly from the images below you can download them from here. I also have a PLANES Paper Airplane pdf if you'd like to print that out for your kiddos as well.

All materials featured above were provided by Disney.