Eating the Big Apple

Last week, I marked something off my bucket list: seeing the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade live and in-person. It. Was. Amazing. Since I was little, I love watching it. Mostly because of the Rockettes. I secretly aspired to be one, I think. I am the right height, but I don't think I can do those eye-level kicks anymore. At one time, like maybe when I was 14, I could though.

Every year for the past few years, I would tell my mom, "Next year, we're going." This year I decided to do something about it and make it happen. And US Air was having a fire sale or something, so I got airfare for crazy-cheap. Out of CRW even.

I think my mom likes travelling with me because I plan meticulously. Of course I researched all the places to eat. I poured over reviews from Yelp and recommendations from friends. In a city that has just under 19,000 restaurants, most of which are on par with the best in the world, I didn't want to be wandering around aimlessly looking for some where to eat and hope I stumbled on a good one.

The hard part was fitting everything that I wanted to see into three days. My mom and I have both been to New York City twice before, and with a limited span of time, I didn't want to duplicate sightseeing.

We arrived around lunchtime on Wednesday, and after checking into our room in Long Island City, and a short subway ride into Manhattan, we hit The Oyster Bar in Grand Central Terminal for lunch. Based on what I'd read, this establishment was a bit touristy and had some unfavorable reviews for food other than oysters. But, my mom wanted to try it, and I never turn down an opportunity to eat raw oysters, especially at a place with such a huge selection. We started with six raw oysters, and I chose local offerings: three Long Point and three Montauk. I couldn't believe the difference in taste. When you order two different kinds, you can really tell the differences. They were all DELICIOUS. The Montauks tasted saltier, but were still exquisite.

We also ordered seafood entrees, and I have to say that we were not disappointed with the food, like some Yelp reviews indicated. Mom had scallops and I had wild-caught salmon. I don't eat salmon very often anymore because the most widely available salmon (especially restaurant entrees) is Atlantic salmon. This is actually farmed salmon, which is NOT a sustainable source of seafood. I was happy that the menu proclaimed that it was wild-caught Alaskan salmon, so I jumped at the chance. I had a local beer, Bluepoint Toasted Lager, which was an amazing compliment to the seafood.

After lunch, we walked down Museum Mile and through Central Park. The weather was gorgeous--sunny, but brisk, and perfect for strolling through Central Park. We headed down to Columbus Circle and did a little shopping in the Time Warner Center. I drooled all over the only LK Bennett store in the United States (For those not in the know, LK Bennett is the beloved shoe brand fo Kate Middleton.). The other reason for the stop at the Time Warner Center was because I figured that location of Bouchon Bakery would be less crowded than the Rockefeller Center location. The man behind the bakery is Thomas Keller, who is also at the helm of the famous restaurant, The French Laundry in Yountville, California. Thomas Keller is also probably responsible for the recent elevation of the macaron in America. I had to see what all the fuss is about. Macarons are cookies, but they are not to be confused with macaroons, the heaps of toasted coconut, egg whites and sugar. Macarons, are French sandwich cookies made of ground almonds, egg whites and sugar, with a creamy filling. They are almost always a dazzling rainbow of pastel colors, and come in flavors like vanilla, mocha and pistachio.



The pastry case at Bouchon Bakery.



Mom and I split a pistachio macaron and a nutterbutter cookie. The macaron was way better. I wish I'd gotten two instead.

After getting a sugar and coffee fix, we marched on down to Rockefeller Center and to Times Square, taking in the eye candy that is Fifth Avenue along the way. We hopped back on the subway and travelled on down to Union Square, to see the largest farmers market in New York City, the Union Square Greenmarket. This place was unbelievable! If I lived here, I don't know how I could resist stopping here everyday and buying as much as I could carry away. The only thing that stopped me from buying it all was I didn't know what I'd do with it at the hotel or in my luggage.

 The smell of those carrots was amazing. So pretty! And neither mom or I have ever seen brussel sprouts sold on the stalk like this. The only way I've ever bought them fresh is in a bag at the grocery store, or from the farmer's market, already cut off the stalk. How interresting!

It was getting dark, and being two country girls, we didn't want to be wandering around much in the big city after dark, so we headed on to Eataly for shopping and dinner. Eataly is a huge Italian market, with a handful of casual sit down restaurants inside, each with a specialty. There was a pizza place, a pasta place, a seafood place, a little more upscale restaurant, specializing in meats, and a wine bar with light snacks. We chose the vegetarian restaurant, and it was spectacular. I could have easily spent all afternoon wandeirng around Eataly. There were hundreds of kinds of olive oil, along with every shape of dried pasta you can imagine. They had a fresh pasta station, where skilled pasta makers were making orecchiette, my favorite. We bought a small loaf of bread studded with fennel seeds,  some pesto and a bottle of wine to take back to the hotel room to snack on during the rest of our trip.

The next morning, we got up at the crack of dawn to get to our spot for the big parade. We chose 66th and 7th Avenue, near the start of the parade route, hoping it would be less congested than Columbus Circle and south. We got to our spots around 6:50 am, and the crowd was already three people deep to the street. It didn't make any difference though, we could still see everything since the floats are so big and the balloons are a few stories high. And we're both pretty tall. It's hard to tell in this picture, but that's Chef Geoffrey Zakarian on the front of the Food Network float waving. Again, the weather was absolutely beautiful, and we got some great pictures.

We had a few hours to kill until our reservation for Thanksgiving Dinner at Pappardella at 3 pm, and not much was open on Thanksgiving Day. We took the four-minute tram over to Roosevelt Island and explored for a couple hours. It was so peaceful and quiet, compared to the crowds and chaos we had just left surrounding the parade route. Neither of us had heard of Roosevelt Island before this trip, but I would encourage anyone to check it out. You can spend a few minutes or a few hours there. The tram ride was free with a Metro Card, but otherwise, only costs $2.25. The southern tip of the island is the FDR Four Freedoms Park, inspired by a speech given by the late president.

We headed back to Manhattan and toward Pappardella, for our Thanksgiving Dinner reservations. I didn't want to miss out on a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, even though we were away from home, and I decided a prix fix dinner would be best. I did some research, and found prix fix Thanksgiving Dinners at every price point. I stumbled on this place from Yelp, and with a $35 price tag, $55 with wine pairings, I was sold. The restaurant is rustic Italian, and the dinner had a bit of that twist, but didn't stray too far from traditional Thanksgiving. It was free-range (bonus points) turkey, both light and dark meat, stuffing, mashed sweet potatoes, cranberry relish and sauteed brussel sprouts, for the main course. There was a choice of a soup, salad or pasta for the first course, and pecan pie or pumpkin bread pudding for dessert. I had the pasta, which was butternut squash ravioli with brown butter and sage, and Mom had the warm lentil salad with prosciutto. The wine was amazing, and just the right amount--about half a glass with each course. Actually, the wine pairing for the main course was from a winery we'd visited on our California trip, Black Stallion Winery! Our travels came full circle!

Dinner was amazing, and we were both full by the time the dessert and coffee were cleared. We headed down to the 9/11 Memorial, which we reached after dark. I would recommend anyone see it after dark, if possible. It was absolutely stunning. The waterfalls and the names of the lives lost are all lit from behind. It was truly beautiful.

The next morning, we slept in a little bit because after two days of getting up before 6 am and walking ourselves to death, we were exhausted. On the agenda for Friday, was the High Line, which is a wonderful park. It is a retired elevated railroad that has been converted into a walking trail with greenery and art along the way. It was quite crowded on Friday morning, but still preferrable to walking along the street for navigating Chelsea. I took the High Line right to Chelsea Market, another place I could spend all day in just browsing. Don't miss Artists and Fleas, if you have a fetish for unique jewelry, like I do. I also bought some flavored salts at The Filling Station, which specializes in olive oils. The variety of oils they have is dizzying. And if you buy a bottle, you can bring it back and refill it for a discount. I bought smoked salt for myself, and bacon salt for my brother, for giving me a ride to the airport.

I had lunch at one of the many eateries in Chelsea Market, The Green Table, which is a farm to table restaurant. It took me forever to decide what food to order for lunch, but I knew what beer I wanted right away: Mother's Milk Oatmeal Stout from Keegan Ales, a local brewery.

I finally decided on the beet and goat cheese stack and a side of macaroni and cheese. I think it was because goat cheese was mentioned in both the descriptions. I find it hard to resist. Both were very good, but the beet stack was amazing. There were watermelon radishes on bottom, and it was dressed with an orange reduction. I practically licked the plate.

After an amazing lunch, I walked it off in Greenwich Village. I wandered down to Washington Square from Chelsea Market. I'd been there before, but it was a beautiful day and Greenwich Village is such a neat place to visit. I walked along Fourth Street, and even snapped a picture of Jones Avenue, because I'm a huge Bob Dylan Fan. He was walking down Jones Avenue on the cover of The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan album. Specifically, in Greenwich Village, I wanted to check out what's known as the North Village. The North Village is a little pocket of Italian culture in Greenwich Village, kinda like a mini Little Italy.

I went in both Murray's Cheese Shop and Faicco's Italian Specialties. Both were amazing. Murray's has an eye-popping variety of cheeses and other Italian staples such as olive oil, pasta, honey, pastries and sauces. Next door, I bought a rice ball at Faicco's to take back to the room. I wish Charleston had these kinds of places. The were just so steeped in history and had so many choices. If we did have shops like that, I'd either never be able to make up my mind, or I'd just buy it all.

Up the street from Murray's and Faicco's, is Pasticceria Rocco, a landmark Italian pastry shop that has a take out counter and table service. I wanted to relax a little, so I opted for a table. I had a classic canoli and a pumpkin cappuccino. The pastry display was amazing, and all the pies were half off. That's the problem with only being in New York City for three days and not checking any bags...

From the North Village, I wandered on down Bleeker Street, the heart of Greenwich Village, past several historical night spots such as Marie's Crisis and the Bitter End. Bleeker Street runs south and into NoLita, which then bleeds into Little Italy. I stumbled on a Tory Burch shop! And it was "Black Friday!" But I didn't buy anything, as tempted as I was. I shopped at a couple other small boutiques, working my way down to Mott and Mulberry Streets, the center of Little Italy.

I weaved my way up and down the streets of Little Italy until dark, browsing in boutiques and through a street market with jewelry and trinkets. I wanted to go to Lombardi's for dinner, but it was packed, and they don't sell pizza by the slice. Lombardi's claims to be the oldest pizzaria in the United States, dating back to 1905. Authentic New York style pizza was on my list for this trip, and it was my last night. Luckily, I was in Little Italy, and the are any number of good choices for pizza. The opposite corner from Lombardi's is Pomodoro Pizza, advertising that it was home of the famous vodka pizza. And it sells it by the slice. Sold.

The vodka pizza was the bomb. Just fresh mozzarella and vodka sauce. I need to try to make this at home. And the slice was massive. Like the size of a baby. The staff couldn't have been nicer either. I am fascinated by pizza dough tossing. Always have been since I saw that Visa commercial a few years ago. You know the one I'm talking about.

Anyway, this dude wasn't really throwing it in the air, but his technique of just stretching it over his knuckles was still quite impressive. I was trying to snap a good picture of him in action. I could watch pizza dough being made all day long. I'm not even kidding.

I came home exhausted, but at least well fed. We really had an amazing trip. New York City is one of those places where it's just impossible to see everything, even on your third trip. So many more things I'd like to see and do and eat there. Maybe next Thanksgiving...

Rice and Curry

There aren't many foods I don't like. Buffalo chicken wings are the only thing that really comes to mind, right now. But that's another blog entry.

A few years ago, I had a long-standing and unwavering dislike (or so I thought) of curry. I didn't want anything to do with any kind of curry. In any form. Gross.

I chalk it up to a bad experience at a local Middle Eastern restaurant when I was a freshman in college. It's a shame, too. When you're a college freshman, you don't really have the funds to go to a place to sit down and eat, unless you count fast food when you eat inside the restaurant. So, when you splurge on a $12 lunch at a Middle Eastern joint downtown, where you sit down and eat, and a waiter actually refills your drinks, it shouldn't be nasty. But it was.

I digress.

But in the past few years, I've warmed back up to curries. And now I make them at home.

I'll admit, I'm not the most well-versed person on ethnic food. But I like to challenge myself in the kitchen, so I'm trying to branch out of my comfort zone. I downloaded a Sri Lankan cookbook onto my Kindle. Probably because it was deeply discounted. Those are the only books I download. But this cookbook, called simply Rice and Curry, is awesome. There's a nice introduction about Sri Lanka with a brief history, geography and cultural tidbits. Since I know nothing about Sri Lanka, I was happy to have a little bit of a primer on this exotic country.

The cookbook has about half a dozen different curry recipes. There are recipes for making your own curry powder, which is actually a lot of fun. The cookbook says to grind the toasted spices in a spice grinder, which I don't have.

So I go old school with a mortar and pestle. And you don't need to go to the gym to do an upperbody workout after you make this.

I decided on lamb curry because it was something different. I got the lamb steak from the Monroe Farm Market. I served this lamb curry over basmati rice. Basmati rice is often found in Indian and Pakistani dishes, but Sri Lankan cuisine is closely related to those. Sri Lanka is an island just off the southern tip of India, afterall, so the influence is naturally there. However, there are subtle differences. India food usually includes dairy like yogurt, where as Sri Lankan does not. And Sri Lankans tends to use coconut oil for cooking, where as Indian cooks use ghee (clarified butter).

Either way, it's delicious.

I also made chapati, an Indian flatbread similar to naan or roti (in Caribbean cuisine).

The recipes in this cookbook seem hopelessly complicated and overwhelming when I first got it, but they're surprisingly not once you dive in. I've also tried the shrimp and beef curry recipes.

It's nice to expand your horizons in the kitchen and challenge yourself a little bit. Especially when the results are this delicious. These recipes are ones that I'll definitely keep in my regular rotation.

I'm a Mixer!

Guess what!!! I'm going to meet Duff Goldman!

And you can, too!

At Mixed. It's a food blogger conference coming up right around the corner, November 30th through December 2nd. And, it's nearby, for me anyway--at the Mountain Lake Resort in Pembroke, Virginia. It's being hosted by two of the best food bloggers in the land, Susan at She's Becoming Doughmesstic and Paula at Bell'alimento.

But, hurry! There are only three tickets left! Tickets are $329, but that includes lots of fabulousness. I'm seriously blown away by everything these two lovelies have in store for Mixed. Did I mention you get to meet Duff? Yep. And there's a limited number of tickets, so it's not like there'll be throngs and throngs of Charm City Cake fans to compete with either.

Plus, when you've got sponsors like Kitchenaid, OXO, Boos, Stonyfield Organic, Le Creuset, and tons more, you know the swag is going to be crazy good.

In addition to the swag, there are a bunch of drawings for even better stuff like KITCHENAID APPLIANCES. Yes, you heard me right. Appliances!! Two lucky winners will bring home a fancy new stove from Kitchenaid... Or I should say myself and some other lucky person will, cause I'm gonna win, you know. And there are more prizes from Le Creuset, Dixie Crystals, Lucky Leaf, and many other sponsors.

What? You're not a food blogger, you say?

No worries. You don't have to be a food blogger or even a blogger to come to this conference. The conference is going to feature sessions led by photographers, videographers, stylists, and editors. Even though the prizes and everything sound awesome, I'm even more super-stoked to learn a lot about how to make my "hobby-when-I-have-free-time-and-remember-to-snap-pics-and-write" blog into something better. Something sleeker. Something that looks a little less "high school graduation project-ish" and more for realz. So, if you're curious about blogging. Or you like to bake. Or you just wanna hang with people that do those things, buy your ticket. Now.

I mean it.

My addiction.

...Aside from good cheese and "Sex And the City" reruns on the Style Network.

It's recipes that I print off the Internet. I have quite a hefty stack on top of my microwave waiting to be made. The problem is they've been waiting and waiting and waiting.

I just can't help myself. I read a lot of food blogs, and you food bloggers are talented photographers. Everything looks so darn tasty. And Pinterest has only added to my stacks. The worst is browsing pinterest right before lunch. I'd rather be waterboarded.

I'm kidding. I really don't want to be waterboarded.

I've tried to sort them every few months. I throw out ones that seemed like a good idea at the time, but I know I'll never make. The ones that make the cut, I've tried to organize into season, so I can buy the feature ingredients seasonally. And I have a stack of "baking" recipes. Aside from breakfast muffins, I really don't bake a lot.

I realized this week when I was cleaning my kitchen, that these stacks have gotten out of hand. I need to do something to thin them out. In the past, when I've made recipes that I've found online, if they are worth repeating, I put them in either a ring bound cookbook that has pages for filling in recipes or a binder that I keep recipes in that I've stumbled on over the years. If the recipe is just okay, and I can't see myself making it again, I just pitch it.

So what if I promise to make five of these recipes each month? Given the size of my stack, if I don't add any more to them, it'll only take me 11 and half years... I'll make them and blog about them and I shall call it ... "Project Recipe." Not very catchy, I know, but it's simple. I'll tell you which ones are keepers and which ones to not waste your time on.

I was thinking that I needed a new challenge or something for this blog anyway. I really miss the Dark Days Challenge this year.

Ok. So Prop 37 did not pass. Now what?

Yeah. So. Prop 37 did not pass.

I've at least a dozen articles about what it means to the "food movement" since Prop 37 did not pass. Most say that the narrow defeat should certainly not discourage the proponents, and that the issue galvanized those that believe we have a right to know what is in our food.

But all that aside. What are we going to do since food containing GMOs will not be labeled?

I'll tell ya what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna continue trying to avoid those pesky GMOs on my own, just like I was before the election. And I can report that in the last few weeks, I overcame two of the hardest things to avoid in my diet. Coffee creamer and salad dressing.

This summer, I quit buying salad dressing. When you want a salad and you don't have salad dressing, you're forced to make your own. I'd been making balsamic vinaigrette at home from time to time for quite a while. Just equal parts balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil. But now it's all homemade, all the time. Even at my office. This is big time now, ladies and gentlemen.

Generally, vinaigrette dressings are easy to make. Like I said before, it could be equal parts vinegar and oil, mixed really well. But you can get fancy here. The variations are endless. When I got tired of balsamic and extra virgin olive oil, I tried cider vinegar and extra virgin olive oil, and added some dried tarragon, kosher salt and garlic. You can switch the vinegars and oils. Sesame oil would be fantastic since it has such a rich flavor on its own.

Now that local honey is available, I've switched it up to honey mustard. This one is also super easy.

I use about one fourth of a cup of honey, two big table spoons of spicy brown mustard, a splash of cider vinegar, and a pinch of kosher salt. Mix the honey up completely. The cider vinegar helps to thin the honey a bit, making it easier to get mixed up. I only had a little bit of honey left, so I mixed this batch up right in the honey jar. This will make about four to six servings, depending on how much you like to put on a salad. This dressing is so tasty, you might find that you don't need as much. And there are no nasty preservatives or high fructose corn syrup in it. The mustard has only a few ingredients but at least I can pronounce them all: mustard seeds, water, salt, spices, tumeric, and natural flavors (Natural flavors is a red flag since it could be anything, and we don't know exactly what it is. It's not the worst thing, though. At least there's no artificial dye in it.)

It is perfect on my seasonal salad, with greens from the Monroe Farm Market, toasted pumpkin seeds, blue cheese, radishes, carrots, dried cranberries and blue cheese crumbles.

I've even branched out and made some buttermilk ranch and blue cheese. I used recipes from my Betty Crocker Bridal Edition Cookbook. I need to refine those recipes a bit, because they call for mayonaise, and I'll bet I can figure out how to make them completely from scratch without mayonaise. These dressings are better if you make them ahead of time and let the flavors blend for a few hours.

The other thing I gave up, that always seemed impossible, was coffee creamer. I have tried and tried, and I just cannot enjoy my coffee black. I have, however, weened myself off of flavored creamer. I just take a little bit of half and half in it now. The half and half that I buy is from Homestead Creamery, and it's sold at my local Krogers. This dairy is a small family-owned operation that raises cows on green northwestern Virginia grass.

I like that their products come in glass bottles, that cuts down on plastic in landfills. You have to pay a deposit when you checkout for the glass bottles, but if you bring them back, you get your two dollars back. And if you save up several and return them all at once, you get quite a nice little wad of spending money... not that I've ever resorted to that or anything.

The second thing about giving up flavored coffee creamer is I started buying the "good" coffee. If you're going to really enjoy the taste of it without mysterious artificial flavors, then why not. I have a Keurig, and I buy Newman's Own Organic Fair Trade at Sam's Club. It's a dark roasted coffee, which is my favorite, and Sam's is the cheapest place I've found to buy k-cups. They have a few other brands, but the selection there is pretty limited.

We also have a coffee grinder and an espresso machine, and on the weekends, it's always nice to have a cappucino or latte with freshly ground coffee. I try to buy fair trade, but I really like Starbucks Italian Roast.

These are just a couple things I did recently to cut out GMOs, but sometimes in certain situations, they're just impossible to avoid. Salad dressing should be one of the most simple foods, as it can be just oil and vinegar. But I'm floored as to how many chemicals are in the stuff you buy at the grocery store. It's completely unnecessary. As a rule, any packaged food most likely contains GMOs. Food that is certified organic, even if it is packaged should be GMO free. And of course, shopping locally and for minimally processed food is a good way to avoid GMOs.

The data regarding GMOs is mixed. Of course, the food industry cites studies that show there is no harm in having GMOs be a part of our diet. Proponents of labeling have highlighted studies that raise concerns about the long-term exposure to GMOs in our food. Whatever side you fall on, it's a choice that consumers can make and vote with our forks. I am going to err on the side of caution, and avoid them as much as I can.

Sunday Nights

For the last several months, there's been a routine on Sundays at my house.

Sunday evening, I make food for the week. Something to carry out the door for breakfast, something to pack for lunch, and maybe something to stick in the oven for dinner when we get home from work.

The week goes so much more smoothly when I take a couple hours to do this.

 

This Sunday, I was putting together beef venison noodle soup, apple pumpkin muffins, and salad.

I take my lunch to work almost every day. It's just easier if you count calories. And way cheaper. And I love soup. So I make a pot of soup almost every week. If I don't take soup for lunch, I like to take leftovers from dinner. In the picture on the top left, I was filling up the containers I take soup to lunch in. They're from CorningWare and they are so handy. Here's the Amazon link to buy them. I have a carrier and a hot plate on my desk made to set them on. If I set them on when I get to work, they are hot by lunchtime.

I like soups that I just throw everything in a pot with a lid and simmer it for a couple hours. Last week, I made the best vegetable venison soup I've ever made. We still have several jars of deer meat that Jeremy's mom canned last year, so I've been trying to use it up. Putting it in soup in place of beef is a great way to use it. I used two quarts of chicken stock that I had frozen from this summer, an onion, two carrots, one quart of deer meat, spices, and half a bag of whole wheat egg noodles. If Jeremy is going to be in his office, he likes to take soup as well. But if he's working out in the field, then I have to pack something that travels a little easier like peanut butter sandwiches and a piece of fruit.

While the soup was cooking, I put together a salad from lettuces and radishes I bought from the Monroe Farm Market, and some radishes I pulled out of my garden yesterday evening. I swear by my OXO Softworks salad spinner. It will keep delicate fresh lettuce good for around two weeks.

With my lunches covered for the next few days, I needed to make something for breakfast. I had some pumpkin left in the fridge from the pumpkins I roasted last weekend. I needed to be used soon before it went bad. I also have some apples in the fridge leftover from the half bushel I bought to make into applesauce and can. Muffins are easy and the flavors are interchangeable depending on what's in season. I used a blueberry muffin recipe in my Betty Crocker Bridal cookbook, but subsituted chopped apple for the blueberries and pumpkin puree for the vegetable oil in the recipe, which cuts calories.

For the past few years, I have always tried to make soup to take to lunch, but it was last spring when I started making something for breakfast, too. Jeremy is a notoriously picky eater when it comes to breakfast. I was always happy with a bowl of Cheerios--my "go to" breakfast for years. I used to buy him frozen things like Hot Pockets or Jimmy Dean sausage biscuits, but a few years ago I decided they were too unhealthy and expensive. He likes baked goods, so I started trying to make something like muffins or scones or quick bread for breakfast. I began eating those things too when I realized how much time I was saving in the morning, just grabbing something on my way out the door. Now on Sundays I try to bake for breakfast for weekdays, and I'll boil a  few eggs. He won't touch hard boiled eggs, but I like them with a muffin, or whatever it is I've made. The hardest part has been staying out of the baked goodies when they come out of the oven Sunday night, all warm and smelling delicious. Sometimes I just can't.

When I hear people say they don't have time to eat breakfast in the morning, I always think that I don't either, but I still make it happen. Health experts tout the importance of eating breakfast to help regulate your blood sugar throughout the day. It's so easy to grab my breakfast on the way out the door. It took me less than 20 minutes to mix everything together, and these muffins bake for less than 30 minutes. If something happens and I can't bake on Sunday night, I always have old-fashioned oatmeal on hand, although it's not as convenient as a muffin, and I have waffles and pancakes in the freezer for Jeremy. When I make a batch of either on the weekends, I always freeze what's left after we eat. They are super easy to heat up in the mornings, even when they're frozen.

Everyone is busy these days. I'll take spending an hour or two in the kitchen on Sunday afternoon to make my life easier on weekday mornings anytime.