Do you find that with the arrival of third term life becomes super crazy?  That’s how it feels in our household.  Homework seems to increase, school swimming lessons begin, there’s the District School Chess Tournament, excursions to help out with and this year I am running one of the stalls at our school fete.  That’s right, I’m the Jelly Cup Lady!  I can’t complain, it was my idea.  And an easy one at that.  Jelly cups are easy, and there’s no prep on the day, you just serve them up with a smile and accept the money.  Plus I’m getting to know the two class teachers really well, which can be hard when you have twins in different classes and you are trying to stretch yourself between both.  So that’s a bonus.  And I have to say both teachers are marvellous and thinking about the end of the year and losing them makes me a little sad.

But back to lunch boxes.  My kids have been in a bit of a sandwich rut lately.  I’ll offer all sorts of things like their favourite egg and lettuce, but apparently the other kids tell them their lunch smells and won’t sit with them, so that one is reserved for weekends now.  And there’s ham and salad, corn beef and pickles, roast chicken, beef or lamb, but they won’t have a bar of it.  All they want is Vegemite Sandwiches!  Nothing else, just Vegemite.  Even the rare offer of jam is being rejected, so I’m branching out, not asking what they want, and making them wait and see what lies in the box each day.

First up is this bulk recipe for Savoury Muffins, or as I like to call them, Rainbow Muffins.  They contain all sorts of healthy vegetables which aren’t exactly hidden, but the word Rainbow implies something fun and tasty, don’t you think?  Depending on how big you make them you should have heaps left over, so it’s just as well that they freeze well.  I actually think they would be nice made as mini muffins for a kids party or for nibblies at a BBQ.  I used paper cases for mine and they didn’t stick too badly, but you could just grease your muffin tin really well if you are worried about the cases going soggy in the freezer.  If you wrap them individually in glad wrap you should be right though.

Rainbow Savoury Muffins

Ingredients

2 Medium Zucchini, grated

2 Large Potatoes, peeled and grated

2 Medium Brown Onions, grated

1 1/2 Cups of Ham or Bacon, diced

3 Medium Carrots, grated

1 Cup Tasty Cheddar Cheese, grated

3 Eggs

3 1/2 Cups Milk

3 Cups SR Flour

2 Cups Wholemeal SR Flour

1 tsp Salt

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 200C, or 180C fan forced.

Place both flours and salt into a large mixing bow and make a well in the centre.

In a separate bowl or jug whisk the eggs and milk together.

Slowly pour the egg/milk mixture into the well in the flours and gently whisk together as you do so, gently bringing in the flour from the sides of the bowl to form a batter.  It’s important not to over-mix the batter because you could end up with chewy muffins (not that my kids would complain).

Add the grated vegetables and cheese to the bowl and mix together with a wooden spoon ensuring the vegetables are distributed throughout the batter.

Spoon the batter into the paper cases or tin so that they are 3/4 full.  I use muffin sized paper cases, so I measure my batter out with an ice-cream scoop.  It’s less messy than using two spoons and the muffins come out a nice shape and all the same size which makes it easier to calculate carbs for our Type 1 Diabetic Daughter. (I’m a bit naughty and calculated the carbs for this recipe on a piece of scrap paper which I have misplaced, but I’ll post the carb count as soon as I make them again).

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until they are golden and a skewer comes out clean when pushed into the centre of the muffin.

Notes:  To freeze your muffins, allow them to cool to room temperature, wrap individually and place in a large snap-lock bag.  Wrapping individually gives the best results when freezing, but is not absolutely necessary.  You can keep these muffins stored in the freezer for up to 3 months.

You could also try changing-up the veges in this recipe.  Try adding corn, some shredded basil or baby spinach leaves.  A few cubes of feta cheese with capsicum or sundried tomatoes would also be nice.

Recipe Source:  http://www.stayathomemum.com.au/recipes/freezer-cooking/bulk-savoury-muffin-recipe/