Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Strawberry Goji Muffins

Well!  After all the kerfuffle on my last t/s post, I'm in the mood for a light 'n easy post today. (if you don't know what I'm talking about, click to read the comments).

So, thought I'd show you another muffin recipe I've just finished.  I feel like I'm making more new muffin recipes than is necessary.  But, since they are terrific snacks for the kids, double-whammy reason to keep creating.  Most people like muffins anyhow, right? 

With these Strawberry Goji Muffins, the wet mixture for the muffins is all pureed in a blender (that's my Blendtec you see in the corner of the photo), and then worked into the dry mix.  Every time I've made these, I have a moment of awe at the sheer beauty of the color of the blended mixture.  With frozen strawberries and whole goji berries, the color is vibrant and stunning! 

And then the batter turns a beautiful shade of pink... isn't that lovely?  I try to get every last drop of that blended glory, as you can see to the right. 

So, here's the thing with these muffins.  One of our daughters likes strawberries but not gojis.  And the other daughter... can you guess?  Yep, she likes gojis but not strawberries.  So, I've gotten to telling one daughter that they are goji muffins and the other daughter that they are strawberry muffins. 

One day we were driving and they had the muffins as a snack.  Our middle daughter said "mom, which muffin do we have, strawberry or goji?"   I realized I was in trouble, and thought quickly after a brief moment of "oops" panic.  I replied "Let me see the bottoms.  Turn them so I can see the wrapper on the bottom.  Oh, yes, that one is the goji you have.  Your wrapper had more wrinkles on the bottom.  Yep, you each have the right muffins."   Worked like a charm.  I accept that I won't be able to pull these tricks off for too much longer.  I'll do it while I can... and of course, there's always the baby to work on.  Plenty more opportunities for me to be a crafty lil' bugger.  Self-preservation as a momma!  ;)
From 1935 to 1995, the average weight of "broilers" [chickens] increased by 65 percent, while their time-to-market dropped 60 percent and their feed requirements dropped 57 percent.  To gain a sense of the radicalness of this change, imagine human children growing to be three hundred pounds in ten years, while eating only granola bars and Flintstones vitamins.  (Source: Eating Animals, Jonathan Safran Foer)

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love the idea of blending goji berries - and with strawberries? yum! The comments on your (very cute + light hearted!) t/s post were um, interesting. (kudos to you!) And since we could all use a little more anecdotal evidence (ha), I'm definitely referring to myself as a 'recovering omnivore' from here on out! :) -Eve

Ellen said...

Oh, the naivety of children! I love it, and you handled it so well! I've never eaten goji so I don't know which one I'd prefer. So the combo will be fine, thank you! I will put goji berries on this week's shopping list.

Becky said...

Oh, I just laughed out loud at the way you handled telling your kids what muffins they had! Sounds like something I might say.

Angie said...

The muffins look delicious. I have never used goji berries. Do you use them the same as you would dried cranberries or raisins? Love the kids story. Us moms can improvise on the spot. Thank goodness they still believe everything we say. I always find it a challenge to pack food and snacks for outtings with the kids. What kinds of things would you pack for a day out?

Angie

Jennifer said...

I will certainly have to try this. Muffins are the best on-the-go snack for the kiddos and I love the idea of using goji berries...

Crystal said...

I had to smile when you talked about your awe over the color of the mixture. There are so many times when I'm baking or cooking and just feel so inspired by the beautiful colors nature has provided us with. These muffins look delicious. p.s. I love the little quotes you've been putting at the bottom of your posts!

Dreena said...

Angie, goji berries have a different texture than raisins or cranberries in that they aren't as soft or plump. Also, they aren't as sweet. They can be reconstituted (soak in hot water) to plump more, and I do this sometimes for our babe. For the muffins, I puree the gojis with the wet mixture, but you can certainly use them whole to mix in batters for muffins or even cookies. For eating straight, you can munch as is, or throw into a trail mix, or into dry cereal, mix into yogurts if that's your thing. As for snacks for the kiddos, it very much depends on the kid! Our two older girls are quite different in their fave foods, so one loves to eat berries (fresh and even frozen) and mangoes, while the other likes pears and oranges, for instance. So, when we go out, I usually try to pack some fresh fruit they like, or dried fruit, or things like larabars, muffins, tamari almonds, pistachios, healthy granola bars or homemade cookies/snack bars, whole-grain crackers... those kind of things. Often I have something baked in the house like muffins, but if not, I opt for things like larabars (one daughter) or tamari almonds (other daughter)! Depends on their age too, and what's easy for them to eat/handle in the car or out and about. Does that help?

Crystal, thanks... and, yes, it's pretty inspiring at times to see all the variety in colors and textures in whole foods - a very awesome thing indeed! Glad you like the quotes, sometimes I read things in books and think "I want others to read that", so, now I blog them!

Thanks everyone for sharing your comments!

cjtoscano said...

Hi Dreena,

I am huge fan from Raleigh NC! I have had all your cookbooks. All these new recipes sound delish. When is the new book coming out. I have four carnivore boys who love your recipes!! I have some maple banana loaf in the oven right now! Many thanks!

n/a said...

I appreciate your posts, Dreena, and you conducted yourself graciously.