Healthy Muffins for Children?

[Lillylolly]

I am looking for some "healthy" muffin recipes suitable for children. Can anyone recommend one? I recently tried a carrot/pineapple/raisin recipe and it went down a hit. I replaced the white flour with wholemeal and halved the sugar. I was thinking about trying some type of veggie/cheese muffin next.... Hmmm

[Orchid]

http://weelicious.com/2010/09/20/ham-cheese-muffins/

http://weelicious.com/2010/09/27/oaty-muffins/

Her website is awesome. I substitute the white flour with whole wheat pastry flour (http://www.iherb.com/Bob-s-Red-Mill-Organic-100-Stone-Ground-Whole-Wheat-Pastry-Flour-5-lbs-2-26-kg/13333?at=0) and it comes out great. It wont be as soft as white flour but I dont really care. She substitues agave for sugar.

[nuthinbutpink]

Orchid- I just looked at that site and now I feel like a horrible mom. How do you go from what I have now in my refrigerator/pantry to a more healthful approach?

Really, any advice on what meals to begin with, where to start with what foods to buy...it is very overwhelming for me. I really try to eat healthy but my kids are full of 100 calorie snack bags. Our lives are very hectic, constant movement, and I am not super mom. I just don't know where to begin. And then, if I went shopping for a recipe and made it, I bet they would tell me it was gross.

How did any of you start to move to more healthy food choices?

[Orchid]

Pshhh.... you dont have to feel bad. I have only one child, I have time to look into all these websites and try stuff :-)

It is just not about working hard for one meal, it is about planning the whole week. For example :

I buy a Rotisseri chicken and use the meat for sandwiches/wraps, quesadillas, pasta for the whole week. Weelicious lady uses her crockpot to cook a whole chicken she buys from farmers market and uses the meat the whole week (healthier option).

Cook pasta in bulk and say on Monday make pasta with red sauce(you can make your own with a lot of veggies in it) and Wednesday make the same pasta with white sauce using the above chicken and throw some different veggies in it different days? Crockpot chilli/soup with garlic bread on Tuesday. Start the crockpot the night before. Thursday egg and cheese quesadillas. Friday - TAKE OUT!!!

Homemade Breakfast bars made with all good stuff are a great on the go snack for both kids and parents.

Panini grills are to throw stuff in and make sandwiches for snack or lunch box and kids really can see what is inside :-) { DS is just 2 , I can still trick him easily }

We have a rule of not eating out from Sunday-Thursday.

[nuthinbutpink]

So this is what I am going to make tonight. For dinner, we are doing spaghetti BUT I bought a bag of steamfresh already cut veggies that have zucchini, roma tomatoes, yellow peppers, carrots, etc with nothing added and I pureed them and put them is a store-bought marinara sauce!

I am going to try those asparagus and green bean sticks too and I bought the stuff to make those ham and cheese biscuits! I have to watch Grey's Anatomy though so I hope the biscuits don't take too long to throw together...seems like a simple recipe! Great site!

We'll see if they turn their noses up!

[Lilian78]

LL, I'm not sure if you give your little one nuts, but one thing that works great is to substitute almond meal/flour for part of the flour in any muffin recipe (adds protein and good fat). Also substituting some kind of fruit (banana, applesauce, prunes, pumpkin, even baby food) for part of the oil will make any muffin recipe healthier. DD is a super picky eater, and I made a pumpkin bread this way--thought ir was pretty good for her and she loved it.

p.s. NBP DD just finished some 100 calorie mini cupcakes . . . my kids unfortunately eat a lot of convenience food I buy for myself :D

[nuthinbutpink]

Muffins are in the oven now! This is what I did. The only place I had time to make it to was Target before getting the kids so of course, they do not have whole wheat flour. So, I found the Krusteaz wheat and honey pancake mix LOL. First ingredient in it is whole wheat flour so figured what the heck! The sodium content is too high so not sure if that will make it gross but we'll see!

[nuthinbutpink]

Oh, and only my eldest DD said the spaghetti sauce was "different" but that is typical of her and DH is not a veggie fan...didn't tell him what I did but they ate it! Even used the left over veggie puree for baby food for DS!

[skrimpy]

I make my children these egg muffins on the weekends and they love them! They are really easy, too. I am thinking to teach my 9yo and 7yo to make them so they can do it for me, lol!

I like to add a little grated cheese to the recipe :)

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/omelet-muffins/

[Lillylolly]

Great ideas, ladies!

Here is the recipe I use for Carrot & Pineapple muffins. It is an Annabel Karmel recipe:

100g (4oz) plain flour
100g (4oz) wholemeal flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
11/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
200ml/7fl oz vegetable (or rapeseed) oil
100g (4oz) caster sugar
2 eggs
125g (4fl oz) finely grated carrots
225g/8oz tinned crushed pineapple, semi drained
100g (4oz) raisins

pre-heat oven to 180 c/ gas mark 4
sift together flours, baking powder, bicarb of soda, cinnamon and salt and mix well
beat oil, sugar and eggs until well blended
add grated carrots, pineapple and raisins
gradually add flour mixture, beating just enough to combine all the ingredients
pour batter in to muffin cases and bake for 25 minutes.

[Lillylolly]

NBP, I love that you added vegetable puree to the sauce. When I make bolognaise I always add 2 x grated carrots and a large zucchini. You can then get away with less meat as the zucchini/carrots add bulk. I much prefer this combination and have grown to find regular bolognaise too meaty.

[grits]

NBP, my first step was to start buying most of my groceries at Whole Foods. That is an easy way to clean your fridge and pantry if it's worth it to spend the time/money/effort to get there. We only have one and it's not close to home so it takes a lot of all three to shop there but I leave knowing all my food choices are good. Like "healthy eating for dummies". I've also invested in lots of green/organic cookbooks.

With my diet, we cut out carbs and sugar and so far DS hasn't missed it. I will still make him delicious treats occasionally but not a homemade cookie in every lunch anymore.

[nuthinbutpink]

Those muffins are D.R.Y. The comments said so but I served them with syrup for dipping and that seemed to help!

[Lillylolly]

Which recipe did you try, NBP?

[december]

How do you go from what I have now in my refrigerator/pantry to a more healthful approach?

Really, any advice on what meals to begin with, where to start with what foods to buy...it is very overwhelming for me. I really try to eat healthy but my kids are full of 100 calorie snack bags.

Start small and do something like make your own healthier 100 calorie snack bags! We buy a bunch of healthy snacks like fruits, veggies, cheese sticks, greek yogurt, hummus, etc. and take them home and immediately wash/clean/prep and divide them up into small snack size ziploc bags. I put them all in a clear plastic bin on the bottom shelf and call it our 'snack bin'. It's super handy to grab a baggie of premeasured and prepped fruits when I want a snack. It keeps me away from grabbing the chips or something. I also love it for packing lunches!

When Liam is older I plan to have him help me with it! Sit down at the kitchen table and make a game out of it or something. Let's count 6 baby carrots and put them in the bag... 1, 2, 3... It could be a good learning tool and just some time to spend together. That's what I picture anyway. I'm sure it will be WAAAY different if we have more kids. But, hey, a girl can dream :D

[december]

Here is a picture of what I mean. I love Real Simple!!

http://img4.realsimple.com/images/0810/snack-container_300.jpg

[Lillylolly]

That is such a good idea, DB. You sound so organised.

[december]

For muffins I just use a standard muffin recipe and substitute wheat flour. Sometimes I add a bit of wheat germ or flax or something. L seems to be a fan of broccoli and cheese mixed in. I thought the texture was god awful, but he really liked ones with scrambled egg, cheese and ham. DH dipped them in syrup. I thought they were nasty, but DH and L seem to like them.

Zucchini and carrot grated in go well too - I usually add cinnamon. Or I take whatever chopped veggies I have (broccoli, red pepper, carrots, cauliflower) and add that in. L's only a year and I can trick him a LOT at this age. I don't know how that would go over as he gets older....

[december]

That is such a good idea, DB. You sound so organised.

Haha, not really! That is really the -only- part of my fridge and cupboards that aren't a complete disaster. I just cleaned out the fridge last night and the stuff that had expired was pretty darn shameful. LOL

[nuthinbutpink]

That's awesome DB. Thanks. LL the ham and cheese muffins from Weelicious.

[Lillylolly]

You check out Annabel Karmel for other great child friendly meals.

[Orchid]

That is such a good idea, DB. You sound so organised.

Wow december, I hardly have the patience to put away my grocery let alone organize them in ziplocs. But it is a great idea.

[december]

Wow december, I hardly have the patience to put away my grocery let alone organize them in ziplocs. But it is a great idea.

It's not so bad, I swear. DH clear the table and do it all in 20 minutes. We only have to do it once every few grocery trips... or a little bit here and there (like, we bought grapes and it took 5 minutes to rinse them and put them in a few snack bags. That was it.) It sounds like more work than it actually is!!

[Orchid]

Those muffins are D.R.Y. The comments said so but I served them with syrup for dipping and that seemed to help!

Yikes, bummer! Yeah looking into the comments are helpful, people suggest what they did to improve the recipe and stuff.

[atomic sagebrush]

When I have leftover oatmeal or Malt O Meal, I add it to muffins and they're really good. I just use the regular blueberry muffin recipe but replace the blueberries with the leftover oatmeal. I bet they would be good WITH blueberries in the muffins too!

[Lillylolly]

Great idea, Atomic. I love blueberry muffins made with fresh blueberries.

[Tweens&aBaby]

For muffins I just use a standard muffin recipe and substitute wheat flour. Sometimes I add a bit of wheat germ or flax or something. L seems to be a fan of broccoli and cheese mixed in. I thought the texture was god awful, but he really liked ones with scrambled egg, cheese and ham. DH dipped them in syrup. I thought they were nasty, but DH and L seem to like them.

Zucchini and carrot grated in go well too - I usually add cinnamon. Or I take whatever chopped veggies I have (broccoli, red pepper, carrots, cauliflower) and add that in. L's only a year and I can trick him a LOT at this age. I don't know how that would go over as he gets older....
I need to spend a day with you, so know so much stuff!!! Totally stalking you and taking notes. (not creepy stalking though BTW)

[Daisy Mae]

When I was doing Weight Watchers, I would make these easy WW muffins. Now mind you, these are not sugar free or probably even particularly healthy... but they taste really good and low in points. Even my boys would eat them. All you have to do is get a box of Spice cake mix and add a can of pumpkin. Then you add a little water to get the normal muffin consistency. I think I normally use the blender to help get all the chunks out and make it smooth. Then you bake the muffins in the oven on 350 (isn't that cake mix boxes suggest? sorry, I can't check right now as I am sitting in my kids' room so they will go to sleep.) YUMMY!