Muffin Tin Monday: Happy Memorial Day!

Today is Muffin Tin Monday and today I made Alexandra a lunch with red, white, and blue and I also added in a special biscuit that her daddy brought back from his trip to Asia. For the last two weeks my husband has been in Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Singapore for business so he brought back some souvenirs. He got Alex some small chopsticks and spoon, the PJ's she is wearing in the picture (yes, it's 11:30 and we are still in our PJ's!), and a colleague gave him some biscuits, which I included in her lunch.

She tried the chopsticks...but  hands were easier! 

In her lunch was: a biscuit from Hong Kong  - it was a cookie with pineapple paste inside, blueberry yogurt, tomatoes that I cut up for her to try to use the chopsticks with, strawberries, and American cheese star cutouts.

Looking for other neat ideas for Muffin Tin Lunches? There are many more ideas at Muffin Tin Mom

Homemade Soft Pretzels

Auntie Ann better watch out! Alexandra and I made some soft pretzels yesterday and they came pretty darn close to tasting just as good as good as the pretzels you get at the mall! I found a recipe where I could use my bread machine to make the dough and I found one via Taste of Home. The dough takes about an hour and a half in the bread machine but the baking time is only 8-10 minutes. (See recipe under pictures). I did most of the work but Alexandra helped dump the ingredients into the bread machine and helped to butter the pretzels before they went into the oven. And her favorite part...eating them! They were SO good fresh out of the oven. My husband loved them!!! (And I did too as it's only the day after we made them and there are none left!)

 This is one of the better looking ones. I started making sticks at the end because it was just easier! 

The recipe is taken from the Taste of Home site

Ingredients: 

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons water (70° to 80°)

3 cups all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons brown sugar

1-1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

2 quarts water

1/2 cup baking soda

Coarse salt

Directions:

In bread machine pan, place the first four ingredients in order suggested by manufacturer. Select dough setting (check dough after 5 minutes of mixing; add 1 to 2 tablespoons water or flour if needed).

When cycle is completed, turn dough onto a lightly floured surface. Divide dough into eight balls. Roll each into a 20-in. rope; form into pretzel shape (I also did pretzel sticks - they are easier to stay together!)

In a large saucepan, bring water and baking soda to a boil. Drop pretzels into boiling water, two at a time; boil for 10-15 seconds. Remove with a slotted spoon; drain on paper towels.

Place pretzels on greased baking sheets. Bake at 425° for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Spritz or lightly brush with water. Sprinkle with salt. 

Muffin Tin Monday: The Water Cycle

It's Muffin Tin Monday! Last week Alexandra and I were talking about the water cycle and so I made her a water cycle muffin tin lunch (the best I could anyways!). 

In the lunch from top left going around in a circle are:

Clouds: mini marshmallows

Precipitation: grapes for raindrops (I was out of blueberries)

Body of water: Yogurt with blue sprinkles 

The sun: Mandarin oranges

Evaporation: fruit snacks (supposed to represent water droplets - again - no blueberries

Clouds: American cheese 

For more inspiration for Muffin Tin Meals go to Muffin Tin Mom