Muffin Tin Meals

I know by now many of you may have seen or heard of muffin tin meals. If you have not let me introduce you! This is an EXCELLENT way to get kids to eat and try new things, plus it’s just FUN Check out this collage from Muffin Tin Mom. Go to this site to get the “how to” on muffin tin meals. You will love it! This is very similar to the Japanese bento box meal… except in what else but a muffin tin of course

There are literally millions of different ways to put together meals in this fashion! So give it a whirl if you have kiddos, they will most definitely enjoy the presentation.

The reason I bring this up (besides the fact that they are fun and cool) is that while cruising around on Pinterest I saw this pin…

and I thought what a GREAT gift idea! Then I realized I didn’t know anyone who is into making muffin tin meals so who could I gift one too? Well, maybe if I share this with you (I know some of my friends and family follow this blog, wink, wink) then someone will pick up a love for this and by Christmas time I can whip a Muffin Tin Meal Kit with your name on it, lol! OR …on the other hand if I give you more details… you could make one for me for Christmas ha ha ha!! Either way it’s a cool idea and very thoughtful gift… check it out!

This comes from Second Story Window… a little background… Heidi and Emily are sisters and this is what Heidi got Emily for Christmas, a DIY Muffin Tin Meal Kit!

Take a look at what Heidi included in the kit.

The majority of the supplies are in this box which has 3 interlocking levels. The bottom level has an organizer that I may or may not keep. I haven’t decided yet!

This drawer contains “everyday” supplies:
- silicone muffin liners
- small cookie cutters on a metal ring
- tiny cups for dips, etc.
- egg molds (I’m so excited about these!)
- fondant circle cutters
- food safe markers

She included one special event drawer too, focused on Halloween.
- Plastic cauldrons (so cute!)
- a BUNCH of really mini Halloween cookie cutters
- Pumpkin food picks

There are a few more included items (shown in the first photo) that didn’t fit into the box.
- the six opening muffin tin (of course!)
- Wonder Sandwich Sealer and Decruster
- alphabet  and number cookie cutters (I love these!)
- A folder with meal ideas and technique directions.

She also made me a muffin tin meal planner and we’re sharing the planning page with you today! You can download the page here and print out as many as you want for your own planning book, or just print them as you need them.

Here are a couple of meals I’ve thrown together recently for our color themed “Mommy School” (more on that later.) Having the tools on hand made it really easy to whip these up.

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After seeing that you can’t tell me you don’t want to run out and get all of that stuff right now just so you can have your own muffin tin meal kit right?!!! I know I do, but I have a tremendous amount of self control… ok who am I kidding I will be heading over to Michael’s tomorrow, lol! So just to recap, if I’m on your Christmas list I’d like one of these please! And don’t worry I give as good as I get, so if you have now fallen in love with muffin tin meals and are on MY Christmas list you might just get your wish For the rest of you out there, you now have the tools to share your Christmas gift wish! Share this information with your friends & family and you might be surprised!!

Happy Wednesday everyone and keep spreading the muffin tin love <3

 

Cookie Bowls

I’m on a bit of a sweet kick lately but this one was a great find! I have seen it on Pinterest SEVERAL times and of course I have it pinned to my MuffinTinMommy board But as I was surfing the Wilton website I came across it again so I figured that was a sign… it’s time to do the cookie bowl! So here ya go

How awesome are those?!! Now I know that these are shown on one of Wilton’s specialty pans, which I am going to go invest in immediately, lol! But I’m sure you could use a regular muffin tin as well it just won’t be as fancy. But come on it would still be pretty darn cool especially served with your favorite treat inside!  You can fill these with ice cream, pudding, berries, the options are endless! I was looking on Wilton’s website to get ideas for some upcoming birthday parties and thought these would be PERFECT! You could also serve them at an elegant dinner party, or just a cozy movie night at home and everything in between! Your guests and your family will think you’re a sweet genius, lol

*Speaking of birthdays, I have a cool ice cream tip for efficient serving, I’ll post it at the bottom!) But for now here’s a sugar cookie recipe from Wilton, (the chocolate chip recipe you see pictured comes on the back of the packaging when you buy the pan above). I have also heard that you can use a store bought refrigerated cookie dough and that works just as well though I have not tried it myself, I might go that route just to test it out I love shortcuts, lol!

Sugar Cookie Recipe for Cookie Bowls from Wilton

• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray the outside of each bowl cavity of Ice Cream Cookie Bowl Pan with vegetable pan spray.

In medium bowl, combine flour and salt. In large bowl, beat butter and sugar with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and extracts. Add flour mixture to butter mixture, 1 cup at a time, mixing after each addition.

Roll out dough on generously-floured surface to 1/8 in. thickness. Cut 4-1/2 in. circles from dough.. Drape one circle over each bowl cavity of pan, pressing to form smooth surface.

Bake 11-13 minutes or until cookie cups are firm and golden brown. Cool on pan on cooling rack 10 minutes. Loosen bottom edges of cookies from pan using small spatula. Carefully remove cups from pan and cool completely. Wash, dry and spray pan; repeat with remaining dough. Makes 12 bowls.

Now of course you can alter this recipe, as with any recipe, add mini chocolate chips or what have you. You could also use your own roll out dough recipe!

Here’s another pic from the website showing examples of how to fill them…

Now don’t those just look yummy?!

As promised here is the ice cream trick! (also found on Pinterest btw) I bought the Wilton Pink Petal Baking Cups but you could always use regular liners as well It’s such a time saver and keeps me from buying those individual cups of ice cream to pass out at the party, which are sometimes impossible to find and you end up buying the expensive brand name minis …like my husband did for the last party, lol, he got tiny Haagen-Dazs and it was NOT cheap! So here ya go, save some time and $$ by pre scooping ice cream into cupcake liners! Store them in the freezer in a muffin tin until time to serve

If you like the petals they come in different colors, here’s a link, Petal baking cups by Wilton. You can also find them at certain stores around town that carry Wilton supplies, my 14 year old daughter even saw them at Kmart while checking out the latest Selena Gomez clothing line and my husband saw them at Le Gourmet Chef in the mall! I know that Michael’s and Walmart carry Wilton supplies as well. My almost 3 year old little girl is going to LOVE these at her birthday party <3 I can’t wait to see her little face Happy Tuesday everyone and need I remind you… today is a good day to use your muffin tin!!

Calling all Dog Lovers!

Okay, this one is a little outside of the norm for MuffinTinMommy, but I just could not resist! I was simply looking for interesting muffin tins (for a later piece, shhh) and stumbled across this cute dog bone muffin tin

I wondered what on earth would you use a dog bone shaped muffin tin for except maybe to make dog treats, so I clicked on the link and low and behold that’s exactly what I found, lol! Cake Mix For Dogs from Puppy Cake.com! The website I found it on is called Inventor Spot.com and this was posted by Lady Bee, a pet blogger at Inventor Spot.

She writes this about the cake mixes… “I checked out the ingredients, and there’s nothing artificial in the Puppy Cakes, no preservatives, nothing you can’t pronounce. In fact, Buddy’s Best Banana Cake and Fifi’s Favorite Carob Cake look like they’d be pretty healthy for your dog.”

She also goes on to list the ingredients… “The banana and carob cakes have most ingredients in common: whole wheat flour, honey powder for sweetening, baking powder and salt. Fifi’s Favorite Carob Cake contains carob powder and Buddy’s Best Banana Cake has banana powder… so there are no artificial flavors, or coloring. And you add one egg, a little oil, and some water to the boxed ingredients to complete the batter. The cake frosting for both cakes is made from unflavored yogurt powder and requires a little water to make nice and creamy.”

I must say I have never made a cupcake for my dog, but after seeing this I am SERIOUSLY considering it! How stinking cute and since it’s not unhealthy for them why not? They are after all a member of the family, and in my house they get Christmas present’s and we celebrate their birthdays… not with a party or anything but they get a special treat and some extra lovin okay and maybe even a chew toy, lol! The kids wouldn’t dream of leaving the pets out and I must say I do enjoy giving them the extra splurge every now and then

I tracked down the Puppy Cake website for you in case you’d like to get a box or two for your dog, and keep in mind that you can do these in a regular muffin tin as well… I mean who has a dog bone shaped muffin tin laying around? But if you MUST have one you can find it under Puppy Cake Products along with the cake mixes and a dog bone shaped cake pan too, lol!

So this one’s for them! Go do something special for your pet today And now you can use your muffin tin to do it, how cool is that?!!!

A Couple of Tips

Occasionally I come across some nifty tricks for using your muffin tins and today I have two to share with you! Because I know we all still use our muffin tins for the standard stuff too Muffins and Cupcakes!!

This first one is pretty cool and a great way to keep your muffin tin from getting crusty baked on gunk while cooking in them

Line them with aluminum foil!

1. Before baking, cover your muffin tin tightly with aluminum foil

2. Cut slits in each hole by snipping an X into the foil over each hole

3. Place a paper or foil liner into each hole (pressing the foil down with each liner)

4. Fill with your favorite muffin batter and then after removing your muffins, just peel off the dirty foil and voila a clean muffin tin!!

This photo came from RealSimple.com and was taken by James Baigrie.

Now isn’t that just so smart?!! I do this all the time with my other baking pans, why not the muffin tin? I can’t believe this never occurred to me before! Hopefully you will find this as enlightening as I did

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Now the next tip is a simple fix to not having a heart shaped muffin tin when you need one… a frugal way to get what you want without having to spend $$ on a new muffin tin! Pretty smart and very inventive, I must say

This was found on Muses of Megret. It’s a great one for Valentine’s Day or any occasion that calls for heart shaped cupcakes!

Simply line a tin with paper liners, then drop a marble in between the tin and liner. (Balls of aluminum foil will also work.)

Carefully fill the liners to a little over 1/2 full (overfilling will cover the heart shape effect). Bake, remove from pan, remove marbles, cool, and frost.

How about that?!!! Now we can all say that we’ve learned something new today right? So what are you going to go make in your muffin tins?

Hard Boiled Eggs… IN A MUFFIN TIN!!!

Ok so we’re definitely done with the frozen series! Yesterday one of my friends sent me a GREAT find and so I did some research and WOW, very cool tip!! Thank you Nikki!

I can’t believe that in all my muffin tin exploration I had never come across this one,  so I googled the heck out of it and apparently it’s one of those well kept secrets that everyone else is also saying “Why haven’t I ever heard about this before?” Well I am going to help spread the word today because this is just too cool!

Photo courtesy of Alaska from Scratch.com I like their use of the standard muffin tin. The directions are basically the same on both sites as are the results but feel free to check out both or google hard boiled eggs in a muffin tin and check out everybody’s take on it

This is an excellent tip with the following benefits… It’s super simple, eggs are easier to peel, perfectly cooked (not rubbery, softer texture, no green yolks), you can do them in bulk (more than in a standard pot) and you have 30 minutes of free time to do what ever you want while your eggs take care of themselves! No babysitting required! How many of you have  experienced the “perfect hard boiled egg” tutorials? Lauren from The Burlap Bag.com says this about them… “They are too time consuming/attention needy for me! “get the water boiling with salt and baking soda and random other ingredient that supposedly helps with peeling. put in the eggs for 96 seconds. then remove it from heat and add the lid for exactly 8.2 minutes.” Why baking them is awesome: Stick them in the oven for 30 minutes. “ 

She cracked me up so I decided to share her version of the tip with you today So here ya go… this is from Lauren @ The Burlap Bag.com

Bake them in the oven at 325-350 degrees for 30 minutes. (depending on your oven. Try one egg at 325 and see how it does!) I put them in mini muffin pans so they don’t wiggle around! (I thought I was super smart for that idea. No, I’m not humble. It was a great idea!)
Then go do something else for 30 minutes. Go get a snow cone, shave your legs, spend way too much time on pinterest (that IS how you found our blog… isn’t it? ha!), nag your husband about ____, make yourself a drink, or whatever it is you do in your free time.

NOTE: When you bake eggs, the shells will get little brown dots. (I don’t have photos. I forgot, sue me, yeah yeah) Totally fine! When you soak them in water (read below) the brown spots will all disappear!

After 30 Minutes: Get a huge bowl of ice water. Use tongs and put the eggs in the water. This stops the eggs from cooking more and getting yucky green. After they are cooled, 10ish minutes, you can peel them. Josiah HATES peeling eggs and always cries like a baby about doing it. But HE commented “Lauren this is so easy! Look!” So there. Maybe this way makes them more peelable. No more crying husband. Also, people have said that the yolks are creamier when you bake them and the egg white isn’t as rubbery! Another also, this is perfect for doing lots and lots of bulk egg cooking! My mini muffin tin would fit 24 eggs. No waiting for a HUGE pot of water to boil. Take that, you pot of boiling water.

NOTE. All ovens are different, eggs are different sizes, etc. You might need to go shorter or longer than 30 minutes. Mine were perfect at 30 but do them as YOU like them! I cooked mine at 350 but some people said there’s were too done with that.

And this little tidbit at the end just really made me giggle!!! She added this… *edit. I’ve had some people tell me “lauren you’re dumb. this takes longer than boiling them!” YES I KNOW THAT! But… this way is easier for me. Just stick them in for 30 minutes and go do something.

Go to her page to see the post in it’s entirety if you like, I just posted basically the instructions, she’s a trip, lol! I will be visiting her again

Now I need just another excuse to hard boil eggs so I can test this one for my self!  Maybe I’ll whip up some egg salad for lunch Will you be breaking out your muffin tin today?

 

Fruity Ice Cubes

Continuing our frozen series today will be Fruity Ice Cubes! I saw these on Pinterest and can’t wait for summer or at least some warmer weather! What happened to those 80 & 90 degree temps we had last week? I was freezing all day today in this cold rainy weather we’ve been having… maybe I should wrap up this series and that would bring the warm weather back, lol! Anyway these are just so darn cute you will want to make them all the time! You will be thinking of excuses to have people over just so you can serve them a pitcher of cold liquid with fruity ice cubes in it

This Lemon & Lime Ice Cube How to comes from  a blog called Industrious Justice by a gal named Emily. She has great pictures on the step by step process. I also found this on Martha Stewart’s site under 60 Outdoor Party Ideas. The only real difference is that Martha suggests filling each cup halfway with water or nonalcoholic punch, and freezing. I would like to add that you don’t have to limit yourself to lemons and limes. Try adding blueberries and strawberries (sliced or whole), or raspberries and black berries. Freeze them in lemonade or pink lemonade, or any other beverage of choice…the options are endless! Can you imagine how awesome your drinks will look?!! And don’t forget the flavor when the cubes start to melt! Yum Thanks for pinning this Emily!

Instructions:

1. Make sure that there is a big, level space in your freezer for the muffin pan.
2. Thinly slice up lemons and limes.
3. Place two or three slices of lemon and/or lime in each section of the muffin tin.
4. Carefully fill the muffin pan with water.
5. Freeze overnight.
6. Pop out a few of the ice cubes and place in a large pitcher.  Add water or iced tea.

Notes:
You could also make these ice cubes with iced tea so that they don’t dilute your beverage as they melt. (If you are putting them in tea that is)

These also work GREAT in a punch bowl not just pitchers…

Don’t they look awesome?! Now if the warm weather would just come back we could all have a party with our fruity ice cubes!

Freezing Stock Tip

Here is a quickie for you today

Yesterday’s muffin tin soup post, made me think about this great tip from Martha Stewart, Freezing Stock! Very useful and very thrifty too I LOVE to save all left overs and reuse them in new ways whenever I can, so when I can do it in a muffin tin that’s extra special, lol!

Some recipes require just a little stock, and the leftovers from a whole can won’t keep forever in the refrigerator. Freezing unused stock or a homemade batch in 1-cup muffin tins makes it easy to store in small amounts. Pop frozen portions out of tin; store them in resealable plastic bags labeled with the date (frozen stock keeps for about two months).

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Now your standard muffin tin cup only holds about 3 and 1/2 ounces, it is the larger ones referred to above that will hold the bigger quantities like 1/2 to 1 cup of liquid. Just use what you have unless you want to buy a tin specifically for this type of thing But it is a good idea to test fill with water to measure and know exactly how much your muffin tins hold Depending on how much each one of your cups hold just just pop out multiple cups when the time comes to equal the amount of stock you need.

So many cool little tips, tricks and different ways to use those muffin tins! Don’t worry I have plenty more for ya See you all back here tomorrow! Have a good one folks!

Muffin Tin Soup

It’s a rainy day here in Fredericksburg and quite chilly too! As I pondered what to post for you all this morning I peeked out our back door and noticed that my toddler and I had left the bubbles out on the back deck yesterday… So I ran out on tip toes, bare footed and in my jammies just as it started sprinkling. After rescuing 4 bubble swords and a bucket full of bubble juice and wands I stood there on the mat by the back door quite damp and chilly with the air from the vent blowing directly on me thinking… it is definitely a soup for lunch kind of day, lol!  Aha!!

Now let me just start by saying that I  found a toddler friendly chicken soup recipe on Pinterest and I will share that one with you today but keep in mind that this will work for ANY soup!! That is really my point here… make your soup as usual… pour it into a muffin tin or several, freeze it and now you have ready made single serve portions whenever you need them! Once they are completely frozen remove them from your muffin tins and store them in a large zip lock bag. Just pop out 1 or 2 or how ever many your serving size equals depending on who you’re feeding, in to a microwave safe bowl and voila! Homemade soup in minutes!

This recipe comes from the mommy in charge.com to read her story behind why she came up with this recipe go to her site, it’s kinda cute It’s titled Beating the Macaroni Blues.

Toddler Friendly Easy Chicken Soup

Chicken breasts or pieces (raw or cooked)
1/2 cup chopped onion (optional)
1 clove of garlic mined (optional)
1 litre chicken broth
1 cup of diced carrots (or whatever veggie your little one eats)
1/2 cup of diced celery
1 cup of egg noodles

What to do:

If using raw chicken, place diced chicken in your saucepan with onion, garlic and a couple tablespoons of water. Cover and cook.

Once the chicken is cooked, I removed the chicken, rinsed and put back in the pan minus the onion. You know, doing everything one can to keep the toddler happy.

Add broth, carrots and celery and bring to boil. Simmer until vegetables and cooked, but still crunchy. Add noodles, cook for 5 minutes and serve.

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I personally like my veggies in my chicken noodle soup a little smooshey so as always get creative and change things up a bit, make adjustments and make it fit you and your little one. I  like to play around with recipes and tailor them to my liking, maybe that’s the princess in me coming out, lol but why shouldn’t I right? I mean I’m the one eating it! I do it for my family too so I’m not a total princess, I do take them into consideration I hope you find this useful and look forward to enjoying some muffin tin soup in the future!

Clean up those Muffin Tins!

Okay so today’s post is driven by necessity, lol. Last night I made awesome Muffin Tin Tacos, yay me! But as I was posting pics on my facebook page to show off the yummy goodness of those perfectly browned little darlings I was horrified at the state of my muffin tin! The poor thing… lately I have kept it busier than a one eyed cat watchin 9 mouse holes! It was lookin pretty rough folks, so today I give you a couple different ways to clean up your muffin tins and bring them back to life just in case yours are as bad off as mine. The first one is kind of like a recipe you’ll even get to bake! Choose this one if you like instant gratification. Now the second option is a more laid back approach and requires and overnight soak, so if you want it done but it can wait till morning you’ll want to go with option number two, lol

#1)How to Clean Baked on Grease on Muffin Tins

Instructions

Things You’ll Need

• 2 tbsp. baking soda
• Pitcher
• Dish soap
• Sponge
• Nylon bristle brush

1.Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

2.Mix 2 tbsp. of baking soda with 1 qt. of warm water. Stir or shake (if pitcher is watertight) until baking soda is dissolved.

3.Pour baking soda mixture into muffin pan. Do not worry if grease is all over the pan and not just in the muffin cups themselves.

4.Bake muffin pan with baking soda mixture for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.

5.Scrub muffin pan in your sink with warm, soapy water and a dish sponge. Use a nylon bristle brush for any particularly stubborn grime. If necessary, apply a little undiluted dish soap to the affected area and allow to sit undisturbed for five to 10 minutes, and then scrub again.

6.Rinse muffin pan thoroughly, dry, and put away.

Tips & Warnings

• A nylon bristle brush has scrubbing power, but will not scratch your muffin pan. Avoid using other types of bristle brushes, as they may damage the finish of your muffin pan. Be particularly careful with other types of scrub brushes if your muffin pan is non-stick.
• Baking soda can also remove baked-on food that is stuck to your muffin tin, not just grease. This solution also works for other oven-safe pans in addition to muffin tins.

#2) Clean Baked-On Gunk from Pans with Dryer Sheets

Simply put a couple of used dryer sheets or an unused dryer sheet into a sink full of warm water with your muffin tin. (lay dryer sheets flat on the water) You can wash the pan if you want or just let it soak overnight. By morning all the baked on gunk should have come off or be pretty easily removed.

     

I found both of these on Pinterest and followed the link maze to these sites… after all we must give credit where credit is due Thanks for saving our Muffin Tins!!

eHow.com for How to Clean Baked on Grease on Muffin Tins

apartment therapy.com for Clean Baked-On Gunk from Pans with Dryer Sheets

Photos courtesy of  The Autocrat via Pinterest

Condiment Caddy

So in light of the beautiful weather we’ve been having lately I thought I’d start you all thinking about  those picnics, barbecues and summer parties that will be here before you know it. In fact I bought hot dogs to throw on the grill while I was at the store yesterday and my husband’s super cool new handy dandy burger press from Williams- Sonoma (that he just had to have, lol) arrived in the mail yesterday as well so guess what we will be doing one day this week! And guess what we will be using… A Muffin Tin Condiment Caddy! Yep you heard me right. I found this on Pinterest a few weeks ago, when it was snowing outside and here we are March 15th and it’s in the 80′s who knew? Anyway lets get back on topic, so a muffin tin as a condiment caddy… instead of using several different dishes (like I ALWAYS do, now you only have one to clean!) for your onions and tomatoes, pickles or relish, lettuce, whatever you put on your burgers and dogs put them in your muffin tin! If it’s a 6 cup tin and you only have 3 toppings lets say… tomato, onion, pickles fill the other 3 with some ketchup, mayo and mustard! Stick a plastic spoon in them for spreading and voila! Cool huh? You can mix and match. Or if you like EVERYTHING or have guests and are not sure what they like break out the 12 cup tin and put it all in there. If you still have cups to fill add fancy toppings like Gulden’s Spicy brown mustard, ( just make sure to label) you can add chilli for hot dogs or those cute little midget pickles the options are endless Hold on let me make a list… it’s one of my other favorite things to do If you know me you are grinning right now! Ok so we have…

1. Lettuce
2. Tomatoes
3. Pickles (slices)
4. Onions (slices for burgers or diced for dogs)
5. Relish (for hot dogs or burgers)
6. Chilli (for hot dogs)
7. Shredded Cheese (for hot dog or burgers) if you need to fill holes add more than 1 type
8. Midget Pickles (dill, sweet, bread & butter)
9. Ketchup
10. Mustard (plain and or flavored)
11. Mayo
12. BBQ sauce (for burgers, some people like it!)
13. Salsa (same as the BBQ sauce depending on the burgers you are serving it fits!)

There ya go! Lots of options get creative with it and let me know how it turns out. Here’s a picture of the one I saw on Pinterest to give you some more inspiration

Perfectly Measured Ingredients

Use Your Muffin Tin To Hold Ingredients While Cooking!! Instead of using a bunch of tiny dishes or ramekins like you see on the cooking shows to store perfectly measured ingredients you’ll need for your recipes, just grab a muffin tin And to make it even easier… use liners to easily transfer ingredients from the tin to your dish! Stroke of genius!! And now you have one thing to clean up instead of a dozen tiny little dishes