Fake It Till You Make It Muffins

Before I share my tips for these totally delish muffins, there are some things that y'all need to know.

1. (most importantly) Fake it till you make it.
2. Think smart, not hard.
3. No one's perfect.

I'm a MOM? "Don't let them see the fear in your eyes! Fake it till you make it!" I am embarrassed to admit how many times it gets close to dinner time, and the thought actually runs through my head of, "Oh, that would be me. It appears as though that's my job. I guess I'm the one in charge of making that happen." I wish I could say that this was when my kids were toddlers, but it has happened as recently as last night. I have never appreciated food cooked by other people more than since I became a mom.
My husband could put a poptart on a paper plate and declare it dinner,
and my eyes would roll back in my head. "I didn't make this! Ermergherd, this is soooo good!"

Do I like cooking? Sure. Do I like cooking every day? Not a chance. Do I like going to the grocery store to get supplies to cook with? I'd rather have my eyelashes waxed. This brings me to the "think smart, not hard" part. I'm going to confess: Brinner happens way more than normal around here. You know, breakfast for dinner = brinner. The frequency of brinner is largely in part to the fact that it can involve ingredients that I usually have on hand. Ingredients that you will find below in the recipe, no doubt. Smart is using what you have on hand. Hard is going to the grocery store with kids who would rather be anywhere else.

Pinterest is full of recipes for "busy moms." Recipes such as balsamic glazed pork chops and cilantro lime avocado chicken really do sound yummy. But both of those require time and ingredients. And someone who has a personal chef and is not shuttling kids from piano to violin to soccer and then lacrosse. (I sat in a car for an hour and a half today just to make the piano lesson even possible.) To sum up all 3 of these philosophies in one statement: If the kids are fed with mostly healthy food and my eye hasn't twitched involuntarily to hide my stress, then today was a good day! I'm not perfect, and neither are any of the other people filling your Facebook newsfeeds bragging about how awesome their lives are. Give your self permission to do BRINNER!!!

May I present to you...
Fake it Till You Make it Muffins!
(Also known as "From a Box but BETTER Muffins!")
 
Step 1: Get a box of your favorite muffin mix. I really do try to make it healthy, so I personally usually opt for something healthy like blueberry, banana, or pumpkin, etc.
 
Step 2: See the list of needed ingredients and instructions on the back? Disregard them. However many eggs that it says you need, only use the egg whites. In place of the oil or melted butter use Greek yogurt. Use the same amount of milk, but use skim milk. If it calls for water, use skim milk instead.
 
 
Tip: I like to use complimentary flavors of Greek yogurt. Blueberry or lemon yogurt both go well with either blueberry or lemon flavored muffin mixes. Vanilla goes well with chocolate or pumpkin mixes. You could even use banana flavored Greek yogurt for banana muffins. If you aren't sure about using flavored yogurt, just use plain low fat or fat free Greek yogurt.
 
Step 3: Mix-ins! What can I mix into the batter to get another food group accounted for? Same as with the yogurt, use a mix-in that will go with your flavor. If you are making apple muffins, try finely chopping some apples and mixing them in with the batter. White raisins are really good in pumpkin muffins. Our favorite muffin is blueberry. It has blueberry muffin mix, blueberry yogurt, the can of blueberries that comes with the mix, and a handful of frozen blueberries from our garden.
 
 
Step 4: If you want to get fancy you can add some toppings. Try heating some preserves in the microwave and drizzling them on top. Yum!
 
 
I'm not perfect. It's a miracle that I can even pull off brinner. But I do feel better about it when I make an effort to get some healthy ingredients into the mix.
 
 
XOXO y'all!
Abby

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