A Little Love for the all important Snack

Snacks are a lifeline with the little ones in tow.  Cheerios, fruit, apple squeezies and so on.  I don’t walk out the door without a snack sack in the diaper bag.  However, I was getting tired of offering the same old thing so I went searching for a little inspiration.

One of my all time favorite recipes to make is Pumpkin Muffins from Kitchen Stewardship.  I have made them probably 30 times in the past two years since I first found the recipe.  I’ve also been reading Katie’s blog since then and found loads more “green” stories that were new to my world.  I had my eye on her Healthy Snacks to Go e-book for awhile and when the updated version came out, I finally ordered it.

I am a fan of the e-book now as they are easy to download to my Ipad and it allows me to browse through recipes before bed. Yes, that’s right.  I read cookbooks before I go to sleep.  Helps me slow down I guess.  I also have wireless printing so I can print a recipe to try in the morning Since I usually let Madison bake with me, I don’t want the Ipad  anywhere in the vicinity of the kitchen when we get started.

The pumpkin muffin recipe is in there with four different variations I’m excited to test out, including Banana Nut, Banana-Cran, Applesauce Spice and Blueberry.  I do love muffins so expect to see these at a future playgroup date. (You can also follow my Muffin Pinterest board too).  The Honey Whole Wheat Pumpkin Muffin recipe is listed below.

Last week we tested out the Butternut Spice Bars.  I wanted something with protein in it as my little guy doesn’t always feel like eating dinner.  A protein rich snack at 4:00 though will rarely be turned down.  The spice bars didn’t disappoint as everyone is giving them a thumbs up.  They don’t crumble so it’s also portable as they passed the church and playground snack bags this week.  Again, there are notes about variations and substitutions so you can use canned pumpkin if you don’t have butternut squash on hand.

The next challenge is to make the power bars, though I may never make them all.  There are 15 variations in this cookbook.  No more spending a $1/bar.  One batch probably costs around a $1 to make and will give you 5-6 bars, or a dozen 1/2-inch balls which I’m curious to serve to the kids.

To order the book, click here to access the Kitchen Stewardship ebook collection. (Full disclosure, I am an affiliate of the book and get a small percentage of the sale if you purchase the book. Thanks!)  The book is currently $8.95 and includes 45 recipes.  Add the book to your cart and you can check out easily with paypal.  You will get an email with the link to download your book.  I download my link to both my laptop and Ipad so I can access it whenever I want it.  You never know when you will need a little snack inspiration for a long road trip.

Happy Snacking!

Honey Whole Wheat Pumpkin Muffins
from Healthy Snacks to Go


Ingredients
3/4 cup honey
2 eggs
1 tablespoon molasses (optional)
1/2 cup melted butter or coconut oil (I’ve tried both and they are equally good)
1/4 cup cold water
1 cup can pumpkin (1/2 a can)
1 2/3 cups whole wheat flour  (100% w.w. flour or white whole wheat flour both work)
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Method
Mix all dry ingredients together, whisk to combine.  Add balance of wet ingredients to large bowl and mix completely.
Pour in greased loaf pan or muffin tin. Bake at 325 degrees:

• Bread = 75-90 minutes
• 12 Muffins = 35 minutes
• 24-30 Mini muffins = 25 minutes
• 24 Muffin Tops = 20 minutes (my own personal add on, they came out great!)

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this recipe is shared with Real Food Forager, Cultured Mama and Frugally Sustainable.