Mix And Match Muffins #Recipes #Muffins #TightwadGazette #Tsu

This is my favorite muffin recipe. Thing is, it isn't exactly A recipe. It's a guideline to make almost anything you have in your fridge or cabinet into a muffin. These are two examples. Raisin-applesauce, and chicken, rice and cheese. I'll give you these recipes and then explain how they are from the same starter.

Raisin Applesauce

In mixing bowl add

1c oatmeal (dry quick oats or cooked regular rolled oats)

1 1/2c flour 

2t baking powder

1/2t salt 

1t cinnamon

1/4t nutmeg

Give this a good stir.Then add

1c milk

1/4c peanut butter or cooking oil

1 egg

3/4c brown sugar or white

1c applesauce 

1/4c raisins (optional)

Everything goes into one mixing bowl. Stir well. It will be a slightly lumpy medium thick batter.

This will make about 12 regular size muffins. Oil muffin tins. You can use the papers but, these freeze really well and I find that after frozen the paper is hard to get off. Fill just below full.

Bake at 400' for 20 minutes. Let cool slightly and serve or let cool completely and freeze. Thaw in fridge.

Cheesy Rice and Chicken

1 1/2c flour

2t baking powder

1c left over cooked rice

2T chopped green onion

 1c milk

1 egg

1/4c vegetable oil

Stir these together then add

1c cooked, diced chicken or

1/2c chicken and 1/2c chopped broccoli

1c shredded cheddar cheese

1t salt

1/2t pepper

1/2t taragon (optional)

Mix well fill muffin tin, sprinkle a little extra cheese on top of batter if you like, and bake the same as above.

These are great as is, or like the picture at the top, I love them with a dollop of salsa on top.

Now here's the part. These are the same basic recipe! Really!

If you cook like I do, from my pantry, sometimes you run out of stuff. You can't always run to the store for 1 item. 

If you have a pie plate or muffin tins you can make something for breakfast, a snack, use up leftovers, send something to warm up and eat with someone going out...you get it.

Place a few in a plastic baggie and they can be warmed on the defrost vent in the dash of a vehicle. Wrap in foil and they can be warmed on any hot surface, motor, hood of truck...

Here's the secret mixture.

2 to 2 1/2 cups grain- at least 1c white flour, then you can mix with up to 1 1/2 c oatmeal, corn meal,                                       whole wheat, rye,cooked rice (white/brown) left over mashed potato or even                                         flake cereal.

1c milk- this can be butter milk, mixed dry milk or replace part with fruit juice

up to 1/4c fat- veggetable oil, 4T melted butter, peanut butter, yogurt, sour cream

1 egg- or 1 heaping T soy flour and 1T water

up to 1/2c sweetener- brown sugar, white sugar, honey, molasses...

2t baking powder (unless you use self-rising flour, then omit) If you use butter milk decrease to 1t                                    and add 1/2t baking soda

1/2t salt- this can be omitted if you choose

up to 1 1/2c additions-nuts, dried fruit, seeds, shredded zucchini, shredded carrot, strawberries,                                               apples, pumpkin puree, sweet potato, diced chicken, shredded cheese, broccoli

For savory muffins omit sweetener 

For special treat fill cups half full of batter and add 1t jam, top with 2T batter.

Add spices that fit your additions. Pumpkin pie spice with pumpkin, vanilla with strawberries, play with it. 

A few of the additions we like:

lemon juice, zest

cornmeal, leftover taco meat, black beans and a little cumin

strawberries, bananas and top batter with brown sugar cinnamon mixture

jalapeno and cheese with cornmeal and diced tomato

chocolate chips

peaches and condensed milk with cinnamon