Using up cranberry sauce

We ended up with a TON of cranberry sauce this year! My step MIL wanted to make cranberry orange relish, which was fine, but I wasn't sure if the boys would eat that, so I made a batch of cooked cranberry blueberry sauce as a fall back. Which means we've had lots of leftovers. I find the easiest way to use up cranberry sauce is in baked goods. The leftover cranberry blueberry sauce is now baked into a batch of yummy muffins for the boys' breakfasts. Just use your favorite muffin recipe or baking mix.
That relish is going to be combined with a box of orange cake mix I've been wanting to use up. I'll probably bake it in loaf pans.

Birthday Blueberry Muffins

My lil guy, Big K, is 4 today. His favorite fruit is blueberries. So in his honor today, I made Big K's Birthday Blueberry Muffins.

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 cup fresh blueberries
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup sour cream
  
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
• 1 teaspoon grated orange rind
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 400°. Combine first 6 ingredients in a medium bowl. Make a well in center of flour mixture. Combine milk and next 5 ingredients; add to flour mixture, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Add blueberries and stir just until blueberries are mixed in. Use a 1/4 cup measure to pour batter into muffin tin coated with cooking spray. Fill each muffin cup 2/3 full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until golden. Remove muffins to wire racks to cool. Makes 12 muffins.

Very versatile and yummy muffin recipe

As we gear up for a road trip, I am preparing by making lots of foods that will travel well to help cut down any unnecessary spending. An essential is the handy, grab -n- go muffin. I love this recipe on the Food Network site for Mix-In Muffins. You can adjust what kind of muffins they are by the add-ins, but the basic mix is the same. I added banana and chocolate chips, and I swapped out 1/2 cup of the white flour for whole wheat flour. The rest I kept the same. Great recipe!

(Yes, there's only 11 there, not 12. Someone had to be brave and test them before they were shared with the rest of the family. This is me--looking out for everyone's safety lol)

Orange Muffins

Okay, I played with a recipe I found online, made some tweaks and adjustments, and voila! Came up with these little gems. My 3yo K gave his stamp of approval! Here's the recipe as I made them. I did make a glaze with orange juice and powdered sugar for the tops, you'll need to play to come up with the consistency you want.

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup orange juice (if batter is thick you can add a little more)
1T vegetable oil
1 egg
1 tablespoon orange zest

1 8oz container of vanilla yogurt

1t cinnamon

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Grease 12 muffin cups or line with baking cups.
In a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, orange peel, cinnamon and salt; mix well. In a small bowl, combine orange juice, oil, yogurt and egg; blend well. Add dry ingredients all at once; stir just until dry ingredients are moistened (batter will be lumpy.)
Fill cups 2/3 full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 1 minute before removing from pan. Let cool on rack, and drizzle with glaze, if desired.