Raspberry Muffins

This is BY FAR my favorite muffin of all time! In my opinion, they are perfection!!! This has been a long time recipe of my mom's, so I have been enjoying these delicious babies my whole life. When my mom makes them, she uses three different kinds of berries- blueberries, raspberries and blackberries- but I was always looking for the ones with the most raspberries so I thought why not make them all with just raspberries, I like the tartness, but they are good as triples too!

I have also made it in a pan, like a coffee cake...just can't go wrong!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

2 cup flour

1/2 cup milk

1 - 12 oz bag frozen raspberries. Don’t thaw or the batter will turn pink. (My mom makes these as triple berry muffins with blueberries, raspberries and blackberries- but I was always looking for the ones with the most raspberries so I thought why not make them all with just raspberries, I like the tartness, but they are good as triples too!)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Beat the butter until creamy, then add the sugar and beat till fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Beat in vanilla, baking powder, and salt. Fold in half the flour and then half the milk then repeat with remaining flour and milk. Fold in all the frozen berries. Spoon the batter into muffin cups and sprinkle with the streusel topping.

Bake about 25 minutes or until done.

Streusel Topping Mixture:

1/4 cups flour

1/4 cups sugar

2 Tbsp butter, cut in

Mixture should be crumbly.

Just having a little muffin picnic in the front yard

My Favorite French Toast

One of my favorite breakfasts of all time has got to be French Toast, but not just any french toast, this french toast. It is a recipe that my mom always uses that she got from her best friend, who we call Aunt Shelly. It is freaking amazing! You've got to try it! I think it is the added flour and baking powder that gives it a better texture and creates that extra goodness!!!

Ingredients:

4 eggs in a blender

1 cup flour

1 cup milk

1/4 cup sugar

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp vanilla

2 Tbsp cinnamon, shake more on while cooking.

Dip sourdough or sheepherder's bread in the egg mixture and fry in a pan on medium with plenty of butter.

We love eating it again...

...And again!

The Green Smoothie: My New Obsession!

This Smoothie is the best thing that has ever happened to me (food-wise)! We bought a

vita-mix a few months ago and have been doing lots of fruit smoothies since. We would always add spinach to the smoothies and they were good. But my sister Kim made a full on Green Smoothie for me over Christmas break and I completely fell in love and we've been drinking them pretty much every day since! I simply cannot get enough of it! I crave it all day long! On days when we run out of ingredients and I can't make it, I totally miss it! Yes, I'm aware...I am completely obsessed, but I'm ok with that! Here is why I love it so much, it tastes amazing and it is also nice to know that I am giving myself a lot of really important nutrients and vitamins, but most of all it is because I love how it makes me feel. I feel so clean, refreshed and energized! You just have to try it to believe it. Also, I LOVE that my family is obsessed with it as well!

At first my kiddos were reluctant to drink but we told them that we wanted to see who could do the best green mustache...it worked and they've been hooked ever since! Now they ask for it all the time.

INGREDIENTS:

(These are all approximations, I kind of just throw things in there.)

For a Giant smoothie, filling the whole vita-mix:

~About 1/2 to 3/4 cup of Apple juice

~2 or more large Kale leaves

~4 to 6 inches of an english cucumber

~1/3 to 1/2 of a bunch of Flat-leaf Parsley (Gotta be flat-leaf)

~About 3/4 cup green cabbage

~1/2 to 1 cup Pineapple

~1 large banana

~A squeeze of lime

~Some Ice

~Also, a teaspoon or two of aloe juice, if you have it.

~I also add whatever I have that I pick up at the store, like radishes, also bok choy is a superfood so I'm gonna give that a shot next time.

Blend it all until it is completely smooth. No little kale bits. (I think this is all about right, I've never really measured, so kind of just throw it all in!) ENJOY!!!

Micah was showing us how strong he already grew from just a few sips.

I just love Jade's little pony-tail in this one!

And Mitch pounds two huge glasses pretty much every day!

Açaí Bowls= HEAVEN

This is easily one of the best breakfasts of all time. It is so refreshing and energizing. And it really is unbelievably delicious! It is a fruit smoothie poured over granola, topped with fresh fruit and coconut. The truth is, you don't need to have açaí. If I don't have açaí, I just use other fruits to make the smoothie, anything will do. I could eat this everyday- breakfast, lunch and dinner!

P.S. Yes, that bazaar looking mess in the center of the bowl is my most favorite fruit on the planet, passion fruit! Love!!!!

Also, I just had to add a few new pictures of my newest little munchkin LOVING these açaí bowls!! Obsessed with him!

FRUIT SMOOTHIE:

Anything goes really. Any combination of frozen fruits, juice and ice. My personal favorites are berries, peaches and always a frozen banana. And I love it with orange juice, but apple juice is good too.

I have my favorite granola recipe below, or you can just use store-bought. Either way it is a perfectly beautiful treat! Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS FOR THE GRANOLA:

1/2 cup butter

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp almond extract

1 tsp cinnamon

2 cups Rice Krispie cereal

2 cups oats

1 cup shredded coconut

1 cup Craisins

1/2 cup chopped nuts

INSTRUCTIONS:

Heat oven to 325 degrees.

Melt butter in a large pot over low heat. When the butter is melted whisk in sugar, honey, flour, vanilla, almond extract & cinnamon. Remove from heat and add the remaining ingredients, (except the coconut, nuts and craisins). Mix well.

Transfer the mixture onto a baking pan with wax paper on it. Bake for 15 minutes until golden brown. Allow the granola to cool for 1 hour in the pan.

*I add the coconut, nuts and dried fruit the last 5 minutes of baking so they don’t get too brown.

Crepes

Crepes are the quintessential celebration food in the Devine household. We love to do them on any occasion that we can think of, even just a family breakfast on saturday morning! And now Micah loves to make them with my mom just about every weekend! And they never get old! They really are to die for!

Ingredients:

5 eggs

2 cups milk

1 tsp vanilla

1 3/4 cups flour

1 tsp salt

4 Tbsp sugar

1 Tbsp melted butter

Instructions:

Put the wet ingredients into the blender and blend for 10 seconds. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and blend until smooth. Fry in a pan using about a 1/3 cup of batter for each crepe, depending on the desired size. Pour the batter into a buttered pan that has been heated over medium high heat and swirl the pan until the batter spreads to fill the bottom of the pan. These cook very quickly and you don’t want them to brown. Watch closely and in a few seconds flip the crepe and let cook another 5 seconds. Transfer to a plate and repeat this process until all your crepes are made. Place the desired filling down the crepe and roll it.

I like to serve these with fresh fruit and homemade maple syrup (recipe below). But you can also do nutella and bananas or strawberries! Basically, you just can't go wrong with crepes!

MAPLE SYRUP:

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

1 1/4 cup water

2 tsp Mapeleine (you can usually find this in any store- it is in a little bottle near the vanilla)

1 Tbsp butter, optional

Boil sugars and water for 5 minutes, make sure the sugar is dissolved and not grainy, and then add the Mapeleine and butter.

Baked Eggs

This is a very simple recipe that my mom learned from her mom, my Grandma Gail. They are surprisingly rich and flavorful. They couldn't be easier to make and they are the perfect little breakfast or side dish at breakfast. I promise that you will be very pleasantly surprised if you try these out.

Ingredients:

1 Egg for each muffin cup

1 Tbsp milk for each muffin cup

Salt and Pepper

Herbs de Provence

Top with a square slice of cheese for each cup.

Instructions: Lightly butter muffin tins. Crack an egg into each cup. Add 1 Tbsp milk, salt, pepper, herbs and cheese to each cup.

Bake for 15-20 minutes at 350 degrees.

I am not the biggest fan of yolks- so you can do just the whites on some or you can bake them the full 20 minutes and the yolk should be fully cooked (just like a hard boiled egg yolk) and you can remove it or eat it like that. If you like a runnier yolk then bake them a little less.

And my kiddos love them! Actually we all do!

I know that pictures of eggs are never attractive, but this is what they look like before you cook them.

And after they are done cooking. They are usually done when they turn a little golden on top. And I just take a butter knife and loosen the sides and they just lift right out. They are surprisingly delicious. Enjoy!

Puffy Pancakes, also known as German Pancakes

Puffy Pancakes as my family calls them are also known by most as German Pancakes...but whatever they are called, they are DELICIOUS! This is one of the easiest breakfasts to make and it is one of my absolute favorites! I am kind of obsessed with them! We make them for birthdays and Valentine's Day and just whenever. And they are always a hit! We can't get enough!

6 eggs

1 cup flour

1 cup milk

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

3/4 of a cube of butter

Melt the butter in a 375 degree oven in a 9x13 glass pan. Put all of the ingredients except the butter in a blender and blend until smooth. When the butter is melted pour the batter into the hot pan and bake for 20-25 minutes until it is puffy and golden in color. Serve with homemade maple syrup and strawberries.

MAPLE SYRUP:

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

1 1/4 cup water

2 tsp Mapeleine (you can usually find this in any store- it is in a little bottle near the vanilla)

1 Tbsp butter, optional

Boil sugars and water for 5 minutes, make sure the sugar is dissolved and not grainy, and then add the Mapeleine and butter.

"Waffles of Insane Greatness"

This is another one of my mom's recipe's. She jokingly nicknamed them Waffles of Insane Greatness and they truly are INSANELY GREAT! No joke, I can guarantee that you will never taste waffles this good in your whole life! If you take the time to make this recipe once, you will adopt it as your own and never be able to stray!!! So, please, try them, once again...insanely great! Oh, and don't forget the Homemade Maple Syrup!

INSTRUCTIONS:

6 eggs, separated (Make sure you follow this important step- separating the eggs- so read carefully!)

Beat:

3 1/2 - 4 cups buttermilk

8 Tbsp melted butter

6 egg yolks

1 Tbsp vanilla

Add:

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup cornstarch

1 Tbsp baking powder

2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

6 Tbsp sugar

Use the separated 6 egg whites- beat them into a meringue and fold them into the batter last. (A meringue is when the eggs form thick, puffy, white peaks.)

Then, just cook them in your buttered waffle iron. And ENJOY your heavenly breakfast!

I have been completely spoiled my entire life because my mom has never bought syrup from the store, she has only ever made it from scratch, and so I cannot stand the store bought kind, they are all so thick and you can taste the preservatives. Anyway, give this recipe a try and you will be converted for life, and it is so easy. Plus, you can keep it in the fridge and warm it up for next time too!

MAPLE SYRUP:

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

1 1/4 cup water

2 tsp Mapeleine (you can usually find this in any store- it is in a little bottle near the vanilla)

3 Tbsp butter

Boil sugars and water for 5 minutes, make sure the sugar is dissolved and not grainy, and then add the Mapeleine and butter.