Monster Muffins & Swapmeet Cookbooks

Well since I decided to build up my cook book collection I decided a good place to hit would be the swap meet. I found 3 more of the dessert cups I had bought 8 of before at the dollar store. You know the ones I put chocolate puddingin? He wanted .50 cents each but I got them 3/$1.00. I also found 3 cook books. $2.00 each and I paid 3/$5.00

One is Cooking Light, 1st printing in 1997. Then I got Jenny Craig's No Diet Required, 1st printing in 1997. Those two looked pretty good and had the cal counts which is what I like. I like trying new recipes but sometimes I get annoyed wondering how many cals are in everything and don't want to sit there and figure it all out too.

The next one I am really having fun with. The Bed and Breakfast cookbook. It has about 318 recipes from all 50 states, copyright was in 1991. What I love about this book is it is not just recipes, it has pictures of some of the tables at these fine establishments and has pictures and sketches of some of the houses. It also has a brief summary about these homes. These recipes are a collection of the best of their recipes basically. It is really awesome. I wouldn't mind finding a more updated one as well.

The banana bread I made over x~mas which was excellent was a recipe someone got from a bed and breakfast. Now normally breakfast is not my scene. I usually have some almonds and either a yogurt with fruit or kefir with fruit. Even before I was so food conscious I would rather have a grilled cheese for breakfast or leftovers from dinner. I do like english muffins and obviously toast. When I was little I ate cereal but now a days most of the time it is fruit and yogurt/kefir. I'd rather save more of my cals for lunch and dinner.

But once a week we try to have a big family breakfast on Saturday. This generally happens twice a month. Joey used to work for a few years at a Restaurant called The Friendly and he was the breakfast cook. So usually I prep everything and do turkey sausage and toast and he makes up the most awesome omelettes ever.

When the kids are at not in school they usually eat cereal. When they go to school they eat breakfast there. I make Joe a lunch to take to work and one for my eldest dd and lately my eldest ds wants to take one in addition to what he already eats at school. I let him since he always runs to the lean side. Pile it in while you can son. He is 13.5 so eat up and grow tall. A few times a week I go in and make my eldest dd eggs and toast since she thinks it isn't cool to eat breakfast at school. Other times she eats cereal. Now my eldest ds wants to eat before he goes to school and he is skinny and growing so I do it. I actually like feeding him. I know that sounds funny and I feed all the kids and enjoy cooking but I mean as in I will drag myself out of bed to go cook breakfast for that boy before it is even light out. lol

In years past he has always been the one to eat like a bird so whenever I get a chance to feed him and/or feed him more I do. Make sense? Do any of you have kids like that? lol

Read about how I stopped what I was doing the other day just to make him flour tortillas.

Joey on days he works doesn't even like having anything in the a.m. while he is drinking his coffee. So I try to send snacks for his 9:00 break and of course his lunch for noon. He is having 3 bb muffins today with butter. So even though I don't like breakfast much, it would be nice to try some new recipes and experiment on Saturday mornings. I made the kids some buttermilk pancakes from the cook book on Sunday and I also made some banana muffins. I added a few chocolate chips in as well. I ate one pancake. It was pretty good. Joey said the muffins were really good, nice and tender.

There are quite a few recipes in here I want to try. While flipping thru the book Joey seen a recipe for the exact cinnamon rolls they used to make at the Friendly, made the exact same way. I think I am going to surprise him with those today. I had written down a cinnamon roll recipe from the Pioneer woman about 2 months ago but hadn't tried it yet. Well I am off to do some baking.

So many recipes, so little time. Are you baking any new recipes this week?