Muffins, Part Two

I've been on a muffin kick lately, though I will confess that many of the muffins haven't been very successful - hence the lack of posts.  Muffins are so easy to make and excellent finger food for Robert, especially as he becomes more and more determined to feed himself.  After many failed attempts at a wide variety of muffins (including these delicious but way-too-sugary blueberry and orange ones) I've worked out a recipe that is delicious and doesn't include lots of extra sugar.

Banana Mango Muffins

By the time I was able to take a photo,
half of my muffins were gone.  I think
Dad helped.

• 3 ripe bananas (you know, the ones that are too brown to eat, but you can't quite get yourself to throw away)
• 1/2 cup oil (I used Safflower oil)
• 2 eggs
• 1.5 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 cup spelt flour
• 2 ripe Ataulfo (Champagne) mangos

Directions

• Heat the oven to 350
• Break out the KitchenAid and mix the bananas, oil, eggs, and vanilla.  Blend thoroughly.
• Add in the baking powder, soda, and flour.  Mix until the batter is smooth.
• As the batter is mixing, Peel and dice the mangos into small pieces.  Put the mango pieces in with the mixing batter.
• Line a muffin pan with cases.  
• Fill up each case to the very top.  This should make 12 muffins.
• Bake for about 55-60 minutes.  The muffins will look dark but may still be soft inside.

17 Basic Purees

After several months of feeding my first baby, I feel like I've got a pretty good list of basic purees that helped introduce different foods and flavors.  In a desperate attempt to not get bored - because let's face it, there are a lot of meals when you have to feed this little person something but I certainly don't have the brainpower, time, or ingredients to do something fancy - I've created a go-to list of purees that are simple.  These basics will most likely be the keystones for many more meals.  Just appropriate prep the food by peeling (if necessary) and cutting into chunks.  Steam, puree by adding enough reserved cooking liquid as needed, and you're ready to go: