Blueberry Streusel Muffins

I love blueberry muffins in the morning for breakfast! Especially homemade muffins. I love sitting down with a fresh cup of my favorite vanilla chai and a muffin some mornings as the day is getting started.

I am excited to share this easy recipe with you.

These blueberry streusel muffins are great for a weekday grab and go breakfast.
They are great for a snack and even nice enough for a dessert.

A tasty and moist muffin with bursts of blueberry goodness, topped with a yummy cinnamony streusel topping.

Blueberry Streusel Muffins


Ingredients:

2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp Clabber Girl baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1 cups blueberries

Streusel Topping
1cup sugar
2/3 cup flour
1 stick butter
1 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

In a medium bowl, prepare streusel topping by combining all the ingredients and mix together with a fork to get a crumbly texture. Do not over mix. Set streusel topping aside.
In a large bowl, add the butter and sugar. Beat together to a cream. Add the eggs, vanilla, milk, and plain yogurt. Beat the mix all together well. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt. Continue to beat the mixture together well. Stir in the blueberries. Prepare the muffin pan by greasing using a cooking spray or lining with paper muffin liners. Divide the batter evenly between the muffin cups. Heavily sprinkle each muffin cup with the streusel topping. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. When muffins are done, cool in the muffin pan for a few minutes before removing. Then cool the rest of the way on a wire rack. Recipe makes approximately 2 dozen muffins.

PRINTABLE RECIPE HERE

This post is sponsored by Clabber Girl but my

 thoughts/opinions are always 100% my own

Chocolate Loaf Cake, A Rumford Complete Cookbook Recipe

Need an easy recipe to bake and take? This Chocolate Loaf Cake recipe is great for that! I made it the other day for a snack carry in I attended and it went over well.

Simply mix everything together, bake, cool, slice and you're done!

This cake is light, fluffy and moist! 

One slice of the loaf is perfect for like chocolate fix too!

The Chocolate Loaf Cake recipe is on page 135 of the Rumford Compleye Cookbook. Below is a copy of the recipe.

Here is my version

Chocolate Loaf Cake

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
2 eggs
1 cup milk
2 cups flour
2 tsp Rumford Baking Powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 chocolate squares

Directions:
In a large mixing bowl beat one cup of the  sugar with the butter to bring to a cream. Add the eggs, 1/2 of milk and vanilla. Mix together well. Add the flour and baking powder to the mixture and beat them into the other ingredients. Set aside.
In a small saucepan, add the remainder of the sugar and milk and the chocolate squares. Cook until chocolate is dissolved, stiring occassionally. Add the chocolate mixture to the cake batter and beat together well.
Bake in a loaf pan at 350 degrees for 1 hour.


PRINTABLE RECIPE HERE

After cooling, you can also add your favorite frosting!

This post is sponsored by Clabber Girl but my

 thoughts/opinions are always 100% my own

Enjoy!

Tips for Growing Lettuce

Whether you're a seasoned gardener or a beginning gardener, lettuce should be grown in your garden. Fresh cut lettuce straight from the garden is perfect for a fresh salad!

Different varieties of Bibb lettuce

Lettuce is super easy to grow! It takes up little space and has a fast maturity rate from seed to harvest.

Lettuce can be grown for many weeks in the cooler weather months in Spring and Fall. Or continue to grow it in the Summer months by planting a heat tolerant lettuce.

Muslin Mix Leaf Lettuce 

Here are some easy basic tips for growing lettuce.

- Planting Times. In the Spring lettuce seed can be planted as early as about a month before the last frost, if the soil is warm enough to work. In the Summer months, plant a heat tolerant variety. For Fall months, plant lettuce seed about 4 to 6 weeks before the last frost. Lettuce likes temperatures from 45 to 80 degrees depending the variety. If it is too warm for the lettuce, it will bolt and will taste bitter. So be sure to plant a heat tolerant lettuce if wanting to grow it in the Summer months. 

- Location. Lettuce grows fastest when planted in full sun. It will tolerate partial shade also. Plant some onions, tomatoes, kale, and carrots along with lettuce in a pot and have a nice container garden as well!

- Moisture. Plant lettuce in a moist and well drained environment. For the most tender leaves, water regularly during dry weather. When watering heads of lettuce, water at the ground instead of overhead to prevent water from being trapped in the head and create bad areas in the lettuce head. 

- Types of Lettuce. There are several types of lettuce. 

.Leaf lettuce  - which is ready to eat any size. Simply cut the leaves and enjoy. Leaf lettuce is called "cut and come again" vegetable, as you harvest the leaves by cutting them off and then more will grow. You can cut baby leaves for the most tender salads, or cut them when they are bigger. 

.Romaine lettuce - when this lettuce is full size it forms and a clump of upright leaves. 

.Bibb lettuce - or butterhead is another name. This type of lettuce forms a loose head that can be picked any time, but for it to be full size, it will be about 6 inches in diameter. 

.Iceberg lettuce  - forms a head of lettuce. Cut lettuce off at ground level when harvesting. 

- Seeding/Planting. Direct sow lettuce seed in the ground. As it grows be sure to watch out for any weeks that may come up and pull them from preventing to grow. Work up the ground where you want to plant your lettuce. Sow the lettuce seed by simply sprinkling it over the area. Lightly brush the top of the soil to cover the seed. 

Lettuce seed can also be planted in to pots as starts and transplanted later as it has grown bigger. 

Create a kitchen garden by planting lettuce, onion sets, radishes, spinach, and kale together in a container and create a container garden. 

- End of Season. If it gets too hot for the lettuce plant it will start to bolt and go to seed. If this is just starting to happen you can harvest the leaves and store in the refrigerator and it will take away some of the bitterness. If the lettuce plant has bolted too far, simply pull up the plant, as it will be bitter to eat.

There's nothing better than a fresh homegrown salad! Be sure to plant some lettuce in your garden!

Lemon Blueberry Bundt Cake

Oh the flavors of lemon and blueberry together are just perfect together! If you have never tried them together this Lemon Blueberry Bundt Cake recipe is amazingly delicious recipe to enjoy!

When I think of lemon and blueberry together I think of fresh flavors and the Spring/Summer season. Two very different flavors that come together perfectly.

Bake it in the summer when fresh blueberries are in season!

In Indiana, blueberries are in season the end of July/August. I have fun memories growing up going to the local blueberry patch and picking, and picking, and picking until we got a good amount to bring home for fresh blueberries and to put some up in the freezer. I have enjoyed taking my kids as well!

The blueberries provide a nice moistness to the cake with bursts of flavor, while the lemon and lemon zest give a nice zingy, lemony flavor, but not over powering. An added hint of sweetness is in the light icing.

Lemon Blueberry Bundt Cake 

Ingredients:
2 3/4 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp Clabber Girl Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Clabber Girl Baking Soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup butter, softened
1 3/4 cups sugar
4 eggs
4 Tbsp lemon juice, freshly squeezed
lemon zest from the lemons
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup milk
2 1/2 cups blueberries

For the icing:
1 cup powdered sugar
2 Tbsp lemon juice, freshly squeezed
lemon zest

Directions:
In a mixing bowl, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and mix until combined and set aside. In another bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until well blended. Add the eggs and use a hand mixer and blend in one at a time. Add the lemon juice, zest, vanilla, and milk and beat together until just combined together. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredient mixture and mix together well with a hand mixer. Add the blueberries and gently fold them in with a rubber spatula until incorporated. Grease a large bundt pan. Pour the prepared batter in the bundt pan. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 20 minutes and run a thin knife around the edges to loosen the cake. Cool turned over and cool completely, then remove from pan.
For the icing, mix together all icing ingredients until smooth. Drizzle over cooled cake. It will seep into the cake.

PRINTABLE RECIPE HERE

Not only is this cake delicious, but its also definitely looks stunningly delicious too! Perfect for carry-ins, family holidays, breakfast, brunch, or dessert. So many options to make this pleasant lemon blueberry bundt cake.

You can't help but smile when enjoying this cake!
Enjoy!

This post is sponsored by Clabber Girl but my

 thoughts/opinions are always 100% my own

Easy Brown Gravy

I have always loved gravy! Any type of gravy, they are all good! This easy brown gravy recipe is so simple to make.

Gravy makes any homestyle meal even more wonderful!

Gravy can be made from dripping from meat or without. You don't need the drippings to achieve the rich and flavorful gravy and this recipe is just that.

We love chunky mashed potatoes as a side with our meals and gravy is a nice addition for some more flavor. We enjoy mashed potatoes and gravy often and this is just a go to gravy to make.

This easy brown gravy recipe is great for potatoes, to serve on top of meat, or an addition to beef stroganoff. Perfect for any savory dish.

Easy Brown Gravy 

Ingredients: 
2 cups beef broth
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1/4 cup of water
3 Tbsp Clabber Girl cornstarch 
Pepper to taste

*If you have beef drippings available they are great to add to the gravy.

Directions: 
In a small sauce pan, add the beef broth and bring to a boil. Add the garlic powder and onion powder and stir together. Reduce to medium heat. In a small bowl add the water and cornstarch and whisk together until well blended. Add the cornstarch mixture to the broth mixture and mix together. The gravy will then thicken. Add pepper to taste.
Serve with your favorite meals.

PRINTABLE RECIPE HERE

One of my favorites is red skin chunky mashed potatoes. Simply wash the potatoes. Cut them up into quarters and add to a pot of water. Bring to a boil until potato is tender. Drain. Mash slightly. Add some butter and milk and continue to mash. We like to leave them a little chunky but you can continue to mash or blend until smoother if you like. Then add gravy.

Add this easy brown gravy to any of your meals for extra flavor. It's so simple to make and only takes a few minutes!

Enjoy!

This post is sponsored by Clabber Girl but my

 thoughts/opinions are always 100% my own