Breakfast

Blueberry Muffins!

We actually had these yesterday, but for some reason, blogger wouldn't upload the picture last night, so this morning it is! 

My journey with blueberry muffins is long one.  I remember first making them when I was in middle school.  I used one of those Martha White muffin mixes-you know the ones that have the crunchy blueberries in them.  And, you have the option of adding milk or water.  At the time I thought they were super, but over time I've evolved.  In college I used the Betty Crocker "supreme" mix that had the can of blueberries.  The box touted "real blueberries" and I thought pretty highly of myself for paying the extra $.50 for "real."  Once I got married and had kids, I bought the store bakery "gourmet" muffins.  I figured that if I didn't have the time or energy to bake my own, then at least they were store made-that's close to homemade, right? Isn't rationalization a wonderful thing?

Six years ago, when I started my in-home daycare, I vowed to make good food a priority.  I was coming from a preschool that was part of a school district.  We were served the school lunches which were lacking to say the least.  It was then that I started making a lot of food from scratch (although I didn't cook near as much from scratch as I do now).  My original blueberry muffin recipe contained white flour, sugar and vegetable oil.  The muffins that we ate today are a far cry from my original recipe.

Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins

1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/3 cup softened butter (real-not margarine)

1/2 cup orange juice

1 egg

1 cup frozen blueberries (I buy the big bag of frozen blueberries at Sam's)

Combine the dry ingredients.  In a separate combine the wet ingredients.  Add wet to dry and combine.  Fold in blueberries and  fill each muffin tin about 2/3 full.  This recipe makes 12, so if you have leftover batter, disperse it among the muffin cups.  Bake at 350* for approximately 20-25 minutes.

These were super yummy, but by the end of the year, I hope to have made some more changes.  I will switch out the sugar to sucanat.  I would like to find a source for organic butter, or get raw milk and make my own butter.  This summer I want to find a local you-pick berry farm and freeze enough blueberries to last through the winter.  For eggs, right now I do get farm fresh eggs, but not enough to support our heavy use of eggs.  We usually end up buying at least a dozen a week-we use between 2-4 dozen/week.

But, this journey is all about baby steps.  I'm much further ahead than I was in middle school and in a few years, I hope to be much closer to a whole foods diet than I am now.

As for the "no soda" change, I'm doing well.  My 2 year old cried the other night though because we weren't getting any more.  I didn't realize how much/often he mooched a drink from my glass.  That's definitely a prize winning parenting moment!

Preview of things to come

As I read more about the benefits whole foods and the dangers of processed foods, I am committed to changing our diet.  OK, I've got commitment, now what?  It's so easy to get completely overwhelmed.  With artifical colors and flavors, genetically modified organisms (GMOs), high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), hydrolyzed whatevers, how do you ever begin? 

This past summer I started figuring out the dangers of industrialized foods and I've tried to cut things where I could, but this has led to a hodge-podge of incomplete changes.  Some things are HFCS free and others aren't, some have hydrolyzed soy protein b/c I didn't know that wasn't good until after I bought it.  Whatever the case, this year my goal is to pick one item or group each week and switch over to a real food alternative.  Now, please realize I still have to be budget conscious.  I cannot in good conscious throw things away that we've already purchased, so as I empty my gigantic Sam's-sized bottle of honey, I will replace it with local, raw honey. My HFCS laden ketchup will also get replaced.  You get the idea!

Also, this year, I plan to go through our house and get rid of (donate, repurpose or recycle) those items that we aren't using, don't need, etc.  And, if those things weren't enough, I want to revisit the things that I do that are green.  Are they still the best option?  Is what I'm doing cost effective?  Could I be accomplishing the same goal in a cheaper/greener way?

This whole process started because, as a two-income household, we lost income (about a fourth of it, and there wasn't that much to start with).  I cut back on the number of daycare children I have and my husband lost both of his part-time jobs, so we were forced to cut back.  But, I don't want our financial cuts to jeopardize the quality of life for ourselves or our children.  I am determined to provide better quality with less money.

Next month, we will make our final credit card payment, and we will never have credit cards again.  Over the course of 2011, we will also pay off my van and hopefully make a good dent in one of my student loans.  I would like to pay it off, but I'm not sure how realistic that is.  My grocery budget has been $500/month and I really am hoping to keep it under $400.  This will feed my family of 5, and my 7 daycare kids, breakfast, lunch and 2 snacks.

What are some of your goals for 2011?  Are diet changes among them?