Try making these simple and delicious blueberry muffins, and then eat them while watching me on The Muffin Man episode of Sing Along With Tobee. I can’t think of anything better…. Yum!

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 6 tbsp butter, melted
• ¾ cup sugar
• 1 cup sour cream
• ¾ tsp lemon zest
• 1 large egg
• 1 ½ cup blueberries (If frozen, do not thaw before using)

Directions

• Prepare a 12-cup muffin tin with 12 paper liners or non-stick spray.
• Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Stir well with a whisk.
• In a larger bowl, whisk together butter, sugar, sour cream, lemon zest and egg until smooth.
• Add flour mixture and stir just until combined. Fold in blueberries. Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups.
• Bake at 375◦ for 25-30 minutes until tops are golden and toothpick inserted into centre of muffins comes out clean. Cool in pans for 5-10 minutes. Finish cooling on rack.

I hope you enjoy these yummy blueberry muffins!

source: supersimple

And what better way to bring the ocean to life than by making these Octopus Pizzas with your kids at home. Not only are they a creative lunch option, but they also come with a lesson. You can talk about the sea: what creatures live in it, and how we can be good care takers while we make them. Now that is what we call eating with purpose!

The best part of these Octopus Pizzas is how easy the tentacles snap off, especially for a toddler. Kids will love ripping each one of them off and nibbling on them individually.  

INGREDIENTS

• 1 store bought pizza dough
• 1/2 c. pizza sauce
• 1 c. mozzarella cheese (for the head)
• sliced black olives (for the tentacles and eyes)
  (may be substituted with green peppers slices, mushroom slices, etc)
• 4 slices pepperoni (for the eyes)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Divide the dough in half. Each half will make 1 octopus.
3. Divide the dough again. Shape half of that dough with your hands into an oval shaped for the octopus head. Using the other half, cut into 8 strips for the tentacles.
4. Place the dough head on one of the baking sheets. Place the tentacle pieces along the bottom half of the head, gently firming the dough down.
5. Bake for 6 minutes.
6. Remove and cover the head and tentacles with pizza sauce.
7. Spread out the cheese evenly on the head and place the sliced olives on the tentacles. Add the pepperoni and olive eyes.
8. Bake another 6 minutes and then broil for 3 minutes or until nice and brown.
9. Repeat for the second octopus.

Source: supersimple

This Cheeseburger Soup is thick, hearty and loaded with ground beef, potatoes, veggies and plenty of cheese! Make it on the stovetop or in the slow cooker.

It is just such an amazing combination, and one that warms you right through when it’s cold outside (though fingers crossed it’s a while before we’re building snowmen!).

But, I’ll be honest — I’m not always the best at planning meals ahead and being prepared and all that.

This comes as a shock even to me, who is an obsessive planner in pretty much every area of life, but just can’t always get my Cheeseburger Soup in the slow cooker in the morning.

For that reason, here we are with a simple stovetop Cheeseburger Soup — a meal that comes together in about 30 minutes, provided you aren’t chopping vegetables with a toddler on your hip.

Enjoy!

How to make Cheeseburger Soup:

1. Brown your ground beef and onions in a large dutch oven or soup pot.
2. Add your spices — adding dried spices to a hot dry pan helps to liven up the flavor after being stored for so long.
3. Add your vegetables and broth, cover and simmer until tender.
4. Add your dairy at the end so it doesn’t curdle — cream and corn starch to make it thick and creamy, and cheese for that awesome cheeseburger flavor.
5. Top it — choose your favorite cheeseburger toppings or add shredded cheese and green onions.

How to make Crockpot Cheeseburger Soup:

You will need to brown your ground beef before adding it to the slow cooker, but then everything except for the dairy and thickeners can technically just be thrown in and cooked until down — I would give it about 8 hours on low.

Ways to lighten up this soup recipe:

• If you need to, you can swap the potatoes for cauliflower
• Substitute regular cheese for low fat cheese
• Add in extra veggies of your choosing
• Use extra lean ground beef or even ground turkey (though there isn’t a big difference in calories between the two)
• Use low fat milk

source: thereciperebel