yeehaw for muffins (two recipes)

Since we've been on a super tight budget over the last month I've learned to really stretch a dollar and when it comes to the food front, it's easy to do when you're not eating out. I love to cook - it's one of my favorite things to do, so making things from scratch, while extremely economical, is always pleasurable.

I have this "Essential Vegetarian" cook book by Diana Shaw (http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Vegetarian-Cookbook-Guide-Foods/dp/051788268X) that I use from time to time. It has an excellent reference for use in cooking of the basic staples of the vegetarian diet (grains, beans, etc) as well as a guide to the many types of grains and vegetables and how to cook them. I love how hearty each dish is - so pure and simple but so good and warming to the soul. Anyway, she has a great muffin recipe in there that I've modified a little bit. I've been making these muffins each week, changing them up each time to keep it interesting. Of course, a hot muffin with butter and a cup of coffee (decaf in my case, since I'm nursing) is hard to beat, especially with the cooler morning temps rolling in with the change of the seasons (come on, Fall!).

So here it is... with my modifications:

Heat oven to 500 degrees... grease a muffin tin. I prefer not to use paper cups because I like how the muffins look when they come out without the paper.

2 cups whole wheat flour (Bob's Red Mill is the best) or 1 cup whole wheat + 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 eggs
1/3 cup flaxseed oil
1 cup buttermilk or whole milk or even plain yogurt
1/3 cup raw sugar, honey or agave nectar (you don't have to use as much honey)
fruit and/or nuts or your choosing (I've used fresh peaches, frozen blueberries, and dried fruit as well as pecans and walnuts - I like roasted nuts best and frozen fruit best)

As simple as it gets: mix the dry ingredients, then mix the wet ingredients including the fruit if you choose to add fruit. DO NOT OVER-MIX... you only want the wet and dry to be barely moistened.

Fill muffin cups almost to full. Pop in the oven and after closing the door, drop oven temp to 400 degrees - this gives the muffins a nice lofty top. Cook for 28 - 30 minutes. Allow to cool in tins for about 5 - 10 minutes before removing from tins. Makes about 9 muffins or so.

Today I tried a new recipe because I just went grocery shopping and bought mixed berries (blackberries, raspberries and blueberries) and wanted to just try some oats and yogurt in a recipe. So I found one online and modified it again to see how it would taste. They turned out pretty good - didn't get the nice muffin top but still delish.

Again, oven @ 500... grease muffin tin...

1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups WHOLE oats
1/2 cup raw sugar, agave nectar or honey
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp sea salt
1 cup yogurt - I used full fat organic yogurt from Stonyfield Farms
4 TBSP flaxseed oil
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1+ cups frozen berries

Mix wet, mix dry... put em in your muffin tins and in oven. Drop oven temp to 400 after putting the muffins in the oven. Bake for 28 minutes. Makes 12 muffins.

Yummy!