Inspiration: Muffins!

Sorry to have to admit this but sometimes I feel incredibly frustrated by the kitchen.   It's hard to cook all the time for just one vegetarian person.  Recipes often make far too much and, since I can't afford to waste, I know I'm gonna be eating "whatever it is" for however many meals it takes for it to be all gone.   And since my food budget is sometimes very restricted, that means things can sometimes be very repetitive.    That's the way things have been for the past several months.

I'll get hungry, go to the kitchen, look at my choices, and then turn right around to walk out again.  Bad attitude, me.  I've skipped more than a few meals because I just didn't want to deal with the kitchen, and I didn't feel like cooking. 

Still, my theory is that the only thing in life that you can really change is your own mind so that's what I decided to do.  How?  Muffins.

You heard me right:  muffins. 

I happened to see a cookbook on the shelves in my kitchen hall entitled Muffins.....and I realized that I had never even looked at it even though I've had it for years.  Muffins.  Somehow the idea intrigued me.  Makes a finite amount.  Already portioned out for single servings.  Certainly easy to freeze.  Can be sweet or savory.  Muffins.  The idea was definitely promising.

The freezer has long ago been emptied of my favorites:  Barm Brack and Robin Cake.  I really needed something to have with my mug of tea--sweet muffins would be just right.  Savory muffins wouldn't take the place of a meal but they'd sure take the edge off the boring stuff to augment a bowl of soup or some leftovers.  I looked at the cookbook, marked recipes that looked tasty, then checked to see what I had for ingredients, and discovered that I had much of what I needed on hand already for several of them.

So, with the minimal purchase of chocolate chips (99 cents at the "Dented Can" store), I got started baking.  For a sweet, Marshmallow Muffins (that's where the chips went).  And for a savory, Cheese Muffins (surprisingly with cornmeal).  Both of these recipes were so good that I plan to make them again, although I want to try adding green onions to the Cheese Muffins; I think that will be super-tasty.

Today, I think I'll continue with Apple Cinnamon Muffins (would be great for breakfast) and I'm thinking of adding some dates to the mix (got those at the DC store, too--$1.29).

We all need small inspirations in life, and we need to recall that sometimes we have to seek out those inspirations instead of just waiting for them to fly home to roost.

Muffins.
Life is good.