Mini-Wuffins

Happy Fatherhood Friday!

The other evening, out of the blue, Big Brother decided to help me make dinner.

Little Brother is often Mom-E's helper in the kitchen (particularly if it involves anything chocolate).

But this was the first time Big Brother extensively assisted with dinner.

His first request was that we make corn muffins.  Fine.

But as we put them in the oven, he made a special request for Wuffins, too.

And since he was extensively helping and doing an excellent job, the answer was an easy "Yes."

Only problem was that the muffin pan was "occupied" by the corn muffins.

So, being the resourceful soul that he is, he quickly suggested that we make "Mini-Wuffins", and we did.

As was the case with regular wuffins, they turned out quite well.  In fact, maybe even a tad better.

But I can't help thing that this would be a great item for a fast-food breakfast menu:

A 6-piece mini-wuffins with a side of maple syrup.

That was a definite advantage of the mini-wuffins - they were quite easily dunked in syrup, and less messy, because you can eat them in one bite.

The boys have always liked french toast sticks, so I figure if my kids will eat them, there's definitely a market for them.

So if anyone knows any big-wigs at any fast-food places, let me know, and we can make our case.

I'm already thinking of slogans like, "We Ain't Bluffin', We Got Mini-Wuffins".

Okay, I better stop now.

Have a good weekend,

Busy-Dad-E

Deceptively Delicious Smoothie

A big thanks to my sister-in-law, Aunt-E, for the following "green" smoothie (but it actually comes out dark purple.)


1 cup of fresh or frozen blueberries
1 cup of fresh or frozen strawberries
1 banana
4 cups of fresh spinach
1 cup of water


Blend in a blender or food processor. Enjoy!
Serves 2


I "borrowed" this recipe from her great nutrition and fitness blog, "the woRD on fitness"
(March 22nd entry). Be sure to check it out!


The recipe is truly "deceptively delicious". I can attest to this because both Big Brother and Little Brother willingly and enthusistically drank it (Big Brother had seconds.)


Trust me, if my boys will drink a smoothie with spinach in it, then your kids will drink it, too (they have ultra-high-tech radar for that kind of thing.)


Have a good week,
Drink up!
Busy-Dad-E

Rare Wild Turkey

I'm not sure if he was inspired by my beer turkey recipe post, but Big Brother has created his own recipe for Thanksgiving.

Yesterday, I took Big Brother to school. Since it was his day to bring snacks, I got to carry the heavy bag with 20 water bottles and bags of cheez-its escort him to his classroom.

Outside the classroom, each student had written instructions for how to prepare a Thanksgiving turkey. They were learning about "steps": First, Next, Last, etc.

I noticed most of the children wrote, "First, you buy a turkey at Store X".

Big Brother's "essay" started a little differently, and I share his recipe with you now.

***
First, you catch a turkey outside.

Next, you put salt on it and cook it in a frying pot for 1 minute.

Last, you eat it with your mom.
***

Hmm...sounds like a very interesting recipe for "Rare Wild Turkey".

A number of questions follow, including: 1) Do you kill the turkey first or cook it alive?, 2) Does it still have feathers?, 3) Can I get an antibiotic prescription for Salmonella since it only cooks for a minute?

I'm relieved glad that Mom-E was selected for the "taste test".

That's okay, honey. You can have the neck.

See you on Fatherhood Friday,
Busy-Dad-E

Beer Turkey

So we celebrated Little Brother's 3rd birthday this past weekend (more details to follow in a future post).

On the lunch menu, we had turkey sandwiches, using a crockpot-style beer turkey recipe (courtesy of Aunt-E and family, I believe).

We've had this turkey recipe before, but I'd forgotten just how good it is. If you've ever had fried turkey, it's similar--tender and juicy, and the leftovers stay moist--but easier to make (less time, no need to buy oil).

And so in a break from the usual (hey, variety is the spice of life), I've decided to share this recipe

Ingredients:
1 (or 2) boneless turkey breasts
1 24 ounces of (your choice of) beer
2 14.5 ounce cans of (low sodium) chicken broth
Garlic salt, (dried) rosemary, and fresh cilantro to taste

Directions:
1. Put turkey in the crockpot (we like to use those plastic liners, which make clean-up a cinch)
2. Pour in beer and chicken broth
3. Add seasonings to taste
4. Cook on low for 8 hours.

That's it. It only takes about 15 minutes. We put the turkey in to cook before bed, and it was done by breakfast.

Enjoy!

Have a good week,
Busy-Dad-E