Tag Archives: zucchini granola muffins

MEAL PLANNING – WEEK 2

Here is my suggested meal plan for the upcoming week. This is the Week 2 menu.  You can access the meal plans for Week 1 by clicking here, Week 3 here,  Week 4 here, Week 5 here, and Week 6 here.

I am a big fan of meal planning – it takes some coordination and effort upfront but the payoff is great. Find tested and reliable recipes with ingredients you know your family will like, read through the recipes to see what’s involved in their preparation and how long it will take to prepare them, make the shopping list, shop for the ingredients, and set aside the time to make the recipes. If you have helpers in the household, assign them tasks to help with the preparation.

Rather than spend time aimlessly perusing recipes in books or magazines or searching through the internet for a recipe that might pique your interest, I recommend first thinking about what main ingredient might appeal to you – is it ham, beef, poultry, fish, pasta, vegetables, etc. Are you looking for a casserole, a pot pie, or a main entrée, a one-time meal recipe or one that leftovers could be frozen for another meal or transformed into another dish altogether? Once you narrow down what you are aiming for, your search for the recipe will be more focused and concentrated and you will spend less time on the recipe search and more time productively spent actually making the dish.

To help you with that search, I hope you find some, or all, of the following recipes of interest and ones you will add to your weekly meal plan.

I’ve provided a list of the main ingredients that, for the most part, would probably involve a shopping trip to the supermarket for most. However, as always, read each recipe thoroughly and carefully to create your own personalized list as I have not listed what I consider to be “staple” items like regular milk, butter, eggs, flour, sugar, butter/shortening, oil, spices, etc.

Make sure you read through the menu suggestions for the entire week as some require some leftover meat or gravy, etc., from a previous day’s dinner so you will need to know what amounts of ingredients need to be set aside for a subsequent day’s meal.

Click on the green hotlinks to access the recipes.

MONDAY

GranolaMy recipe for granola is nut free.  So tasty, it’s actually yummy eaten as a trail mix treat, too! 

Granola
The Bistro’s Great Nut-Free Granola

Best Zucchini Granola Muffins – These are great breakfast or coffee break muffins and they freeze very well.  Great treat to start off the week!

Shopping List: Granola (click here for my recipe), zucchini, applesauce

Zucchini Granola Muffins
Zucchini Granola Muffins

Dinner:  Roast Beef, Potato Patties, Turnip Puff Casserole

A roast beef dinner is so tasty (and the house smells so great when the beef is roasting).  Be sure to save some of the beef and make some gravy for the beef pot pies for Tuesday night’s dinner!

The potato patties are a change from traditional mashed or boiled potatoes and these are super tasty.  Turnip goes particularly well with beef and is transformed into a lovely flavorful casserole to serve as a side dish. Jazzes up a roast beef dinner for sure!

Shopping List: Roast of beef, cut of choice. For Potato Patties – Potatoes, sour cream chicken bouillon, breadcrumbs. For Turnip Puff Casserole – Rutabaga, applesauce, onion, parmesan and cheddar cheeses.

PEI Bistro-style Potato Patties
PEI Bistro-style Potato Patties

  Turnip Puff Casserole

Turnip Puff Casserole

Dessert: Rustic Apple Pie

Who can say no to a homemade apple pie!  Add a scoop of your favorite vanilla ice cream to make this an even more special treat!

Shopping List: Apples, pie pastry for double-crust pie + enough for a single crust pie (needed for tomorrow’s Beef Pot Pie)

Apple Pie
Rustic Apple Pie

TUESDAY

Dinner:  Beef Pot Pie – This is a great way to use up leftover roast beef and gravy from Monday night’s dinner.

Sometimes, depending on the size of roast, after a couple of days of leftover sliced cold roast beef, it can be a little boring, shall we say.  That’s why it’s important to find other uses for the leftover roast beef, like this Beef Pot Pie, so it seems like a brand new idea for dinner!

Shopping List: Rutabaga, carrots, potatoes, onion, mushrooms, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, red wine summer savory, frozen peas and corn, fresh parsley, pastry for single crust pie

Beef Pot Pie
Beef Pot Pie

Dessert:  Leftover Apple Pie

Apple Pie
Apple Pie

WEDNESDAY

Dinner:  Potato Leek Soup with Whole Wheat Biscuits

Sometimes you just need a plain old-fashioned silky smooth cream soup and this Potato Leek Soup fits that bill nicely.  Serve it with some warm homemade whole wheat biscuits, with a slather of butter, of course!

Shopping List: For Soup – Potatoes, leek, celery, onion, garlic, chicken/turkey stock, milk, white cheese blend (e.g., mozzarella, provolone, parmesan) For Biscuits – All purpose and whole wheat flours, buttermilk

Potato Leek Soup
Potato Leek Soup

 

Whole Wheat Biscuits
Whole Wheat Biscuits

Dessert: Chocolate Drop Cookies

These are a great chocolate cookie and sure to find their way into the heart of any chocolate lover.

Shopping List: General baking supplies + cocoa

  Chocolate Drop Cookies

Chocolate Drop Cookies

THURSDAY

Dinner:  Chili Con Carne served with Pan Rolls

This chili is packed full of flavorful ingredients.  While I think it’s perfect any time of the year, it’s especially inviting on cold winter days!  Make a batch of homemade pan rolls to accompany this chili.

Shopping List: For Chili – Ground beef, onion, green pepper, celery, garlic, 1 – 28oz can diced tomatoes, 2 – 14oz cans red kidney beans, 1 – 10oz can tomato soup, 1 – 5.5oz can tomato paste, chili powder, balsamic vinegar, liquid beef bouillon, mushrooms. For Pan Rolls – Yeast + standard baking supplies

Chili
Homemade Chili

 

Pan Rolls
Pan Rolls

Dessert: Creamy Coconut Rice Pudding

Baked rice pudding is a comfort food and many will remember their mothers and grandmothers making this treat. I’ve jazzed up my recipe with coconut milk and raisins that have had a little “nip” of amaretto!

Shopping List: Arborio rice, amaretto, raisins, coconut milk, maple syrup, shredded coconut

Rice Pudding
Creamy Coconut Rice Pudding

FRIDAY

 Dinner:  Honey Garlic Spare Ribs, Twice-baked Potatoes, favorite side vegetable

Nothing beats honey and garlic to add some life to spare ribs!  These ribs can be served with rice or choice of potato but my favorite is to add a twice-baked potato to the plate. Super yummy.

Shopping List: For Spare Ribs – Ribs, apple juice, honey, soya sauce, garlic, onion. For Twice-baked Potatoes – Baking potatoes such as Russet variety, sour cream, whole milk or cream, liquid chicken bouillon, garlic, cheddar and parmesan cheeses

Garlic Spareribs
Garlic Spareribs served with Turnip Casserole and Baked Potato

 

Stuffed Baked Potato
Twice-baked Potato

Dessert: Jelly Roll

Lovely sponge cake rolled with red jam or jelly. Yes, this is indeed an old favorite with many.

Shopping List:  Cake and pastry flour, favorite red jam or jelly

Jelly Roll

SATURDAY

 Dinner: Moussaka with green salad

While I have made Moussaka for years, recent visits to Greek islands reignited my love for this dish.  As a nod to my Prince Edward Island heritage, my version uses potatoes instead of the traditional eggplant. A little time-consuming to make but the end result is so worth it!

Shopping List: For Moussaka – Ground beef, onion, celery, garlic, 14-oz can crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, red wine, beef broth, russet potatoes, milk, Gouda cheese, breadcrumbs. For green salad – favorite lettuce and salad fixings of choice, dressing.

Moussaka
Moussaka

Dessert: Vintage Tomato Soup Cake

I grew up with this cake being frequently made.  Bet you can’t tell there is a can of tomato soup in it!

Shopping List:  Tomato soup, molasses

Tomato Soup Cake
Tomato Soup Cake

SUNDAY

 Sunday Breakfast: Special Treat – Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes

Sunday mornings call for something just a little more special than you might make on busy weekday mornings.  Try these Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes with maple syrup or a rich blueberry sauce for double the blueberry flavor.

Shopping List:  Buttermilk, blueberries (fresh or frozen)

Blueberry Pancakes

DinnerLeftover Moussaka

Moussaka
Moussaka

Dessert: Leftover Vintage Tomato Soup Cake

Tomato Soup Cake
Tomato Soup Cake

So, there you have it – the Week 2 Meal Planning Menu from My Island Bistro Kitchen.

For other meal plans from My Island Bistro Kitchen, click on the links below:

Week 1 Meal Plan

Week 3 Meal Plan

Week 4 Meal Plan

Week 2 Meal Plan
Week 2 Meal Plan from My Island Bistro Kitchen

Pin Me To Pinterest!

Week 2 Meal Plan from My Island Bistro Kitchen Food Blog
Week 2 Meal Plan from My Island Bistro Kitchen Food Blog

 

Best Zucchini Granola Muffins Recipe

Zucchini Granola Muffins
Best Zucchini Granola Muffins

I make a lot of muffins and freeze them to take to work for coffeebreak snacks. I am always testing out flavour combinations for muffins.  This recipe combines grated zucchini, applesauce, granola, orange rind, and spices to make tasty muffins. Adding some granola to the muffin tops makes them colorful and interesting.

Zucchini Granola Muffins
Best Zucchini Granola Muffins

Muffins are not difficult to make and one of the most important tips I have for muffin making is not to over mix the ingredients – this will lead to a tough-textured muffin. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry just until the two are barely combined – it’s okay if you still see a small bit of the dry ingredients. Don’t worry, by the time you spoon the batter into the muffin tin cups, all the dry ingredients will get incorporated.

In a perfect muffin, look for texture that is uniform and neither soggy nor too dry and that has a medium crumb that is moist and tender and somewhat loose. A well-baked muffin will also reveal round gas holes that are uniformly distributed as shown in the photo below.

Zucchini Granola Muffins
Zucchini Granola Muffins

I like to start the muffins baking in a really hot oven (475°F) and then immediately reduce the heat (down to 400°F for these) when I place the muffins in the oven. It’s important that the oven is preheated. I find this quick start of high heat helps the muffins to rise really quickly at the beginning of the baking period and will give them that nice symmetrically-formed, slightly rounded dome-shaped top that is customary in muffins (see photo below). A well-formed muffin should not have any sharp peak or knob on the top.

Zucchini Granola Muffins
Best Zucchini Granola Muffins

The crust of a good muffin should be thin and tender with a rough, pebbled surface.  The muffin, on all sides (including the bottom), should have a uniformly browned crust with no sign of darkness or burning.

Zucchini Granola Muffins
Best Zucchini Granola Muffins

I do not recommend using paper liners in the muffin tins for these as the muffins won’t have a nice brown crust and I find some of the muffin sticks to the liners – these taste too good to lose any to a paper liner!

I have used The Bistro’s Great Nut-free Granola in this recipe.  This is my own recipe that you can find here. It’s quite easy to make.

The Bistro's Great Nut-free Granola
The Bistro’s Great Nut-free Granola

The muffin recipe has not been tested using any other kind of granola than my own recipe. Therefore, if you choose to use other granola as an ingredient in these muffins, the results may differ as some granola is loose texture while another type may be large and clumped together.  This will obviously affect the amount of granola needed in the recipe.

Zucchini Granola Muffins
Best Zucchini Granola Muffins

While these are delightful warm from the oven, the muffins also freeze well – all I do is simply split them in two, add a slather of butter, put the two halves back together, and wrap them tightly in plastic wrap then pop them in to a freezer bag. This makes lunch packing quick and easy on work day mornings.

Best Zucchini Granola Muffins
Best Zucchini Granola Muffins

(printable recipe follows at end of this post)

Best Zucchini Granola Muffins

Ingredients:

1⅔ cup all-purpose flour
⅓ cup whole wheat flour
1 tbsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
2½ tsp cinnamon
⅛ tsp nutmeg
2 tsp finely grated orange rind
1¼ cups of The Bistro’s Great Nut-free Granola

2 extra-large eggs, slightly beaten
¾ cup brown sugar, firmly packed
½ cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla
⅓ cup milk
1 cup coarsely grated zucchini
⅔ cup applesauce
Apx. ¼ – ⅓ cup granola for topping (optional)

Method:

Preheat oven to 475°F. Prepare muffin tins by greasing or spraying with cooking oil, ensuring the top of the muffin tins are also well-greased/sprayed.

In large bowl, whisk together the all-purpose and whole wheat flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Stir in orange rind and mix in the granola. Set aside.

In medium-sized bowl, whisk together the eggs, brown sugar, vegetable oil, vanilla and milk.  Stir in the zucchini and applesauce just until well combined.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir only until mixed. Do not overmix.  Spoon batter into prepared muffin tins, filling each cup a generous ¾ full.  Sprinkle some granola on top of each muffin, if desired.

Transfer muffins to oven and immediately reduce the oven temperature to 400°F.  Bake for 18-20 minutes or until muffins are just firm to the touch and a cake tester inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Let muffins rest in muffin tins for about 5 minutes then transfer to wire rack to finish cooling.

Yield:  14-16 standard-sized muffins

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You might also enjoy these other tasty muffin recipes from My Island Bistro Kitchen:

Rhubarb and Orange Muffins
Blueberry Muffins
Cranberry-Banana Eggnog Muffins
The Bistro’s Bran Muffins  

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Best Zucchini Granola Muffins

Yield: 14-16 standard-sized muffins

Ingredients

  • 1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/3 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1 tbsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 2½ tsp cinnamon
  • 1/8 tsp nutmeg
  • 2 tsp finely grated orange rind
  • 1¼ cups of The Bistro’s Great Nut-free Granola
  • 2 extra-large eggs, slightly beaten
  • ¾ cup brown sugar, firmly packed
  • ½ cup vegetable oil
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/3 cup milk
  • 1 cup coarsely grated zucchini
  • 2/3 cup applesauce
  • Apx. ¼ - 1/3 cup granola for topping (optional)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 475°F. Prepare muffin tins by greasing or spraying with cooking oil, ensuring the top of the muffin tins are also well-greased/sprayed.
  2. In large bowl, whisk together the all-purpose and whole wheat flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Stir in orange rind and mix in the granola. Set aside.
  3. In medium-sized bowl, whisk together the eggs, brown sugar, vegetable oil, vanilla and milk. Stir in the zucchini and applesauce just until well combined.
  4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir only until mixed. Do not overmix. Spoon batter into prepared muffin tins, filling each cup a generous ¾ full. Sprinkle some granola on top of each muffin, if desired.
  5. Transfer muffins to oven and immediately reduce the oven temperature to 400°F. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until muffins are just firm to the touch and a cake tester inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.
  6. Let muffins rest in muffin tins for about 5 minutes then transfer to wire rack to finish cooling.
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Zucchini Granola Muffins
Zucchini Granola Muffins
Best Zucchini Granola Muffins

 

Colorful Zucchini Granola Muffins on Cooling Rack
Zucchini Granola Muffins