Mini Whole Wheat Apricot Muffins

Muffins for my muffin!  I made these muffins for T, since muffin is one of his nicknames; also, I am looking for more breakfast/snack options for the kid.  They are from a Cooking Light First Foods cookbook.  I really liked these and T does too.  They freeze well too.

~ 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
~ 1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 tsp grated orange rind
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/4 tsp vanilla
1 large egg white
1/2 cup finely chopped dried apricots (soak for 10 min before chopping)

1) Preheat oven to 375.
2) Combine flours, sugar and next 3 ingredients in a large bowl; make a well in center of mixture. 
3) Combine buttermilk, and next 3 ingredients in a bowl stir with a whisk.  Add buttermilk mixture to flour mixture; stir just until moist.  Fold in apricots.  Spoon batter into 24 mini muffin cups coated with cooking spray.  Bake at 375 for 10 minutes or until muffins spring back when touched lightly in center.  Remove from pans immediately; cool on wire rack.

Beet, Cabbage, Ginger Soup

Someone recommended this soup and I thought I would try it, even though I was hesitant about a WW recipe. I didn't have fennel as the original recipe requires. Instead, I made it with a little shallot, and a lot of ginger, and I also added in the beet greens and stems. 

This soup is delicious. It's also very red. Lastly, your niece loves it.

Here is the recipe.

Frosting utopia

I finally found the frosting of all frostings. And, it's so easy. I have always been intimidated by frosting recipes that call for egg whites or ones that you have to heat to a certain temperature.

The recipe is from Smitten Kitchen.

Here is the cake recipe. I have made this cake a few times and I really love it. The chocolate sour cream frosting that comes with that recipe is awesome, but only if you love sour cream.