The Perfect Blueberry Muffin

I have no idea how I had the good fortune to stumble across this recipe. All I have of it is a food splattered print-out in Toa of Boy's recipe binder. The corner of the print out has a url for tastykitchen.com....so I have to credit that site with the recipe.

Here it is. Truly and without exageration,

 The Perfect BlueBerry Muffin.

Muffin Ingredients:

•  1 1/2 cup flour
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 egg, room temp, beaten (yeah, I'm not sure how well I follow the room temp part)
• 1 1/2 cup fresh blueberries, rinsed and patted dry

 Topping Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/4 chilled unsalted butter, cubed
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1  1/2 tsp cinnamon

Instructions: 

1. Preheat oven to 400 and line muffin tin with liners.
2. Mix dry muffin ingredients together in a bowl. (I always wonder why recipes specify 'in a bowl'. Do they think I might get confused and mix up my flour in a hat?)
3. In a small bowl (not a hat), whisk milk and egg together. Add oil and whisk.
4. Add milk and egg to flour mixture and blend with a wooden spoon until all the lumps are out. The batter will be thick. Like, playdough, what have I done wrong, type thick. Don't panic.
5. Gently fold in blueberries. (This is really tough to do in playdough, but you don't want the blueberries to bust open.)
6. In another bowl, because hats are for heads, combine topping ingredients and cut in the butter.
7. Spoon batter into liners. Do not fill to top.
8. Generously sprinkle topping crumble unto muffins. Generously = pack it on, baby.
9. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. 
10. Let them cool for 10 minutes or so before trying to remove them from the pan.
11. Be amazed at their perfection.

Menu Plan

Absolutely no pictures or cute explanations. Just the bare bones list. I should have left to jog with dog an hour ago. I got to bed a a good time last night AND the night before, and yet both mornings I feel exhausted. The moral of the story is that I should have stayed up playing Minecraft. 

Wednesday: Pork Chops

Thursday: Baked Sloppy Joe Tacos


Friday: Mozzarella Pepperoni Chicken Roll-ups


Saturday: leftovers
Saturday gaming snack: Buffalo Chicken Pull-Apart Bread

Sunday: Thai Coconut Curry


Monday: Apple Ham Hotcakes

Tuesday: Leftovers

This Week's Menu

I've been just writing our weekly menu on the kitchen whiteboard, but this week I have a lot of new recipes I want to try....so I'm making a blog list with links. This helps me find the recipes quickly and easily when it's time to cook.

Wednesday:  I'm going to the grocery store in the morning, and then I'll be at Christopher Robin's house during dinner. Family will have to fend for themselves, so I'm thinking something easy like Italian Sausage Subs.

Thursday:   Sweet Hawaiian Crock Pot Chicken. I'm skeptical of this one. The photo definitely looks like the meat has been browned, yet the recipe doesn't include that as a step. Here's the recipe. Judge for yourselves. (I'll serve it over jasmine rice, however it turns out. Maybe sugar snap peas too.)

2lb. Chicken tenderloin chunks
1 cup pineapple juice
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup soy sauce
Combine all together, cook in Crock-pot 6-8 hours...that's it!

***Edit to add: I was right. The recipe produced nothing remotely resembling the photo. I won't be making this again. The flavor combo was nice, I just need a different set of cooking directions. This is not a dish that cooks well in the crock pot. 

Friday: Phineas and Ferb and Avengers! Woo hoo! Pizza oven pizza?


Saturday:  Slow Cooked Steak Fajitas. These just looked too good. I'll have to substitute something else for the salsa. (or make my own, tomato free salsa, which is so not happening the day before grocery day.) And I'll have to pull out half the meat before I add bell peppers. Otherwise the Jedi will be a sad, sad man. 





Sunday: I'm going to a Thai cooking class with Christopher Robin. This means the family is on their own again. Hmmmm..... maybe just some grilled ham sandwiches.

Monday:  Chicken Crescent Bake. Another Facebook find. This recipe violates my goal of cooking from scratch. Too bad. (Serve with baked potato? It needs something green to go with it. Wish my family would eat green beans.)

 2 cans of low fat refrigerator crescents
1 can of healthy low sodium cream of chicken soup(26oz)
1 cup cheddar cheese
2 boneless skinless chicken breast

I boil my chicken breast then shred, roll out each individual crescent, place about a Tbsp of shredded chicken in center and roll it up.

Bake on 350 for about 5 minutes until just starting to turn golden. Pour Cream of chicken over the top bake an additional 10 min top with cheddar cheese and bake for 10 more minutes.

Tuesday:  Night before grocery shopping. I should be very responsible and make it a leftover night. But, in case I'm not feeling responsible, we'll have Bacon omelets and buttermilk biscuits

Lunch Options:

Stuffed Zucchini. I have three zucchini, some leftover rotisserie chicken, and some stuffing. (And some shredded cheddar cheese.) I shall stuff the zucchini with the hodge podge of other stuff and bake it. It shall be delicious. Behold, I have declared it so.