Skip to main content

Pumpkin-Ginger-Chocolate Muffins....or Oh, The Hypocrisy!

SUBTITLE: I HAVE NEW TECHNOLOGY.  SEE THE BOTTOM OF THIS ENTRY!

Remember this post?  In which I complain about eating too much and feeling crummy?  In which I resolve to keep foods simple and close to the source?

Yeah.  That lasted three days.  Less than that, actually.  But that's neither here nor there.

I'm a hypocritical idealist.  Sue me.  I see the world in a certain, simple way...and figure that it's a matter of a practical course of action that will get me there.  But reality has its own ways and means as well.

Aaah well, there's always tomorrow to get on board with the right kind of eating.  Whatever that means, really.

So.  The husband took down the Christmas tree today and my kids began to clear out the holiday detritus.  And what's good for the (Ryan) goslings is good for the goose.  My kitchen pantries are in need of the same.

Hence, these muffins I made today.


With the holidays come holiday baking and cooking.  With all that come extra ingredients...chocolate chips, nuts and other sundry odds and ends.

When Kirby planned the meal for today, and put regular ol' Pumpkin Muffins on the menu...I saw a golden opportunity.  As luck/fate/my own damned inefficiency would have it, I had no ground ginger in the pantry.  But...I did have a three-inch leftover knob of fresh ginger left over from the beef pho I'd made the night before.  Ha!

And, I also had a half-bag of mini chocolate chips.  Double ha!

I also have various nuts in my freezer and I was two seconds away from adding a handful when I remembered that my husband "prefers not to have nuts added to baked goods".  So I left them out (this time...I found out later, to my chagrin, that he would have been fine had I added some pecans - jerk).

I used the last bag of pumpkin purée in the freezer (seems like just yesterday...or September...when I was baking all those pumpkin pieces for processing).  It also occurs to me as I type this RIGHT NOW that any kind of puréed vegetable might work here.  Squash, definitely.  Carrot, maybe.  Rutabaga?  Hmmm.  And the extras?  You are only limited by what pantry items you need to get rid of...except for pinto beans or similar.  That, I'm afraid, I cannot condone.  Shredded coconut?  Wheat germ?  Flax seed?  Raisins?  Canned pineapple, drained?  Get crazy!

I know I was all on my high horse a couple of days ago about eating right and eating simple...and I know, I know.  You're right.  Baked sweets does not constitute eating right.

Fine.  I eat my words.  And my muffin.

NEW FEATURE: Printable Recipe Here

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

(She) Blinded Me With...Citrus

Excuse my attempt at tying today's blog entry with an iconic Thomas Dolby song.  What a terrible pun-ishment. Har har har. So, we're on the backside of Winter Vacation/Christmas Break/Holiday Hiatus here.  The kids return to school tomorrow, the freshman and I start back to our respective colleges next Monday. The clock is ticking and suddenly, I am whipped into frenzy to Get Work Done.  I suspect this phenomenon happens to many, many educators who try to avoid that panic-stricken night before they go back to work. And believe me when I say, I had the deepest, most earnest of intentions to write lesson plans, write quizzes, and generally prepare for the restart of my classes next week.  Like, really. And then...I was distracted by...citrus.  This happened. Okay, so....the lemons on the far right are no big deal.  They're available year-round.  But Meyer lemons...MEYER...I only find around here in the winter.  I first read about them i...

Girl Friends Are Great!

About a year and a half-ish ago, I stumbled into a parent organization called Choir Boosters.  Just about every learning institution in America has one (or several).  If there's a sport or activity, there are parents who want to be involved because their kid's in it. My daughter, who was a freshman at the time, joined her high school's choir.  Actually, she was asked to join the elite Chamber Choir, and for the first time in my parenting history, I had a child in an organization with a booster club I wanted to join.  My oldest son, who is two years older, participates in minimal activities, and not any with booster clubs, so no chances there.  Until now... A very pleasant side benefit of doing this "stuff for my kids" is that I've grown close with a few of the other women, so much so that when our big fundraiser was done in December, we wanted to keep getting together. Thus, the Mad Moms (our big fundraiser is called a Madrigal Dinner..."Mad...

In Which I Suspect I Have Latent Tendencies...Much Like The Hulk, Or Similar

I find in most normally functioning families, the members have a distinguishing role or legacy or skill of some kind. Like, he's the smart one.  Or, he's the religious one.  Or...she's the glue that helps the fam together.  Or, she's the savvy one, so she's the Power of Attorney. In my family, that system went something like this: My dad was The Dad.  Cantankerous, crotchety, and especially tight with daughters' curfew times.  Also, not a fan of driving in Big Cities. My mom was the long-suffering, patient, reserved one. My brother was the baby, the one who got away with murder, the namesake, and also, Frosty Hoarder. Me?  My legacy?  The Ruiner of Remote Controls.  No lie.  Although I've repressed the memories, my parents claim I destroyed at least two remotes in my tenure as Child Under The Roof.  Remote #1: milk spillage; Remote #2: applesauce spillage. So, now you see why my younger brother was the favorite. Anyway, t...