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Toddlers love to open and shut things repeatedly. Doors, cabinets, etc. But especially doors. If you find yourself simply taking the dog outside, be sure to turn that tiny lock on the door knob so that it doesn’t automatically lock once shut by said toddler. Think about making a fashion statement by wearing a house key around your neck. I’m kidding. Kinda. Or, make sure you have lightening fast reflexes that allow you to run at warp speed towards the door as you see it swinging shut in slow motion yelling “nooooooo!” like a bad action flick. Your toddler thinks this is hilarious. I learned I have those reflexes today. Thank goodness. Also make sure your sister who lives 4 blocks away has your house key and carry your cell phone at all times.

I think we can all agree that the majority of muffins are essentially just cupcakes that are acceptable to eat in the morning. Although I don’t see what’s wrong with eating a cupcake in the morning…? 🙂 There is the same amount of sugar in a muffin as as most cupcakes, minus the frosting. Although I’m fine feeding these to myself, I would rather my daughter not ingest that much sugar. Toddler muffins are made with limited ingredients and usually include lots of fruit as the sweetener. I have made a few recipes that Marielle has loved and my most recent one features strawberries. Now, if your toddler can’t eat strawberries, you can certainly use any berry you like! I just happen to have a whole container of strawberries that were pretty much out of season, so baking them brought out their juicy flavor. Most recipes for toddler muffins call for no sugar, or very little. The cinnamon banana muffins I call for 2 Tablespoons total and make 24 mini muffins and my berry oat buttermilk muffins call for 1/4 of a cup of sugar and make 48 mini muffins. You can alter this amount as much as you like. If the berries are already sweet, or you throw in a little banana to the mix, you may not need much at all. Here’s the thing…my daughter eats these “cookies” made with buckwheat and practically no sugar and you’d think they were Oreos with the way she puts them down! Most kids, especially toddlers, don’t notice the lack of sugar.

Oats are always a great way to add texture and nutrition. The make the muffin chewy and hearty. I recommend using buttermilk as a substitution for regular milk, but if you don’t have buttermilk, whole milk works great as well. If you really want to pack these full of nutrients, use whole wheat flour.
Berry Oat Buttermilk Toddler Muffins

Makes 48 mini muffins

Ingredients

• 2 eggs, room temperature (quick tip: crack the eggs into a bowl while you prep the strawberries, they will warm up quicker)
  
• 1/4 cup sugar
• ¼ cup of vegetable oil
• ¾ cup of buttermilk or whole milk
• 2 cups of old fashioned oats (don’t use instant)
• 1 cup of all purpose or whole wheat
  
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 cup of finely chopped strawberries or other berry of your choice. Raspberries and blueberries don’t need to be chopped.

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray mini muffin tins with cooking spray or use mini muffin liners
2. In a medium bowl, combine eggs, sugar, oil and buttermilk and mix well to combine
3. Add in the oats and mix
4. Add in the flour, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon (optional)
5. Carefully fold in the chopped strawberries until just combined
6. Fill each mini muffin well 3/4 of the way full
7. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until the muffin bounces back up when pressed

You can freeze these muffins in an airtight container or freezer zip lock and take them out as you need. Perfect for breakfasts, snacks and play date treats!

Well, it’s official. The holidays are over and January has arrived. As we wrapped up a fantastic New Year’s weekend at the cabin, sitting by a big fire, soaking in the hot tub and sipping Prosecco and over indulging on cheese and crab cakes (a recipe I will obviously be posting later), I was dreading the fact that I was going to come home and take down all the holiday decor, and put our tree out on the curb to be taken away. I can definitely see why people fall into a post holiday slump. It really is sad…especially for me when our house looks so much better all decorated for the holidays. I think I need to keep the holiday scented candles out for a couple more weeks to get me through January 🙂

I decided that while the holidays are over…that just means I have even more time to devote to the Elements. What does that mean for you? A recap of all the holiday goodies that I made this season as well as other little tidbits about how to keep busy during the worst months in Minnesota. My yoga studio just added a 9:30am Vinyasa Flow class which I would normally take on Tuesday evenings…I can’t think of a better New Year’s resolution than to get up on Saturdays to start my weekend out right. Yes, 9:30 on the weekend is early for me, ok?
It’s going to be a wonderful year. I have friends & family getting married, having babies, traveling the world and doing new and exciting things with their lives. Can’t wait to see what else 2012 brings!

Happy New Year!