Stinky's New Favorite!

I used this to enter a contest sponsored by the farmer's market. We baked a bunch of these muffins to take on the trip with us. Enjoy!!

Stinky has recently becoma picky eater. Evidence of this is the newly developed habit of licking, but refusing to eat, his food. Hoping to add vegetables into his diet, I took him with me to the Broadway market. I had read a suggestion to take a picky eater shopping for food with you. The idea being that if you make shopping for fruits and vegetables a fun experience, and a child will eat what they’ve chosen. There isn’t a better place for this than a farmers market.

Stinky pulled me from one stall to the next, trying to get his tiny hands into whatever he could. When faced with the question “Should we take that home to eat?” he’d quickly respond “No!” and move on to the next table. We repeated the experience with beets, carrots, and leeks, before he yelled “I want a giant squid!” A giant squid? I’m all for variety, but I’m not up for cooking calamari in my kitchen. Beyond that, no one was selling squid. “Where do you see that?”

“There!” he shouted, pointing a finger at a table. We walked over and he pointed again, but it became clear when his hands reached the 18 inch squash. “I want this giant squid, mommy.”

“That’s squash, kiddo,” I said. “Is that what you want? You want to try eating giant squash?”

“Yes, giant squash,” he agreed.

“Okay, you pick it.” He chose a large zucchini. I handed him the money and he paid the seller proudly. Later that night, our giant ‘squid’ took two forms- sautéed, and shredded in muffins. Though the former was refused after two bites (not licks), the muffins were a big success. “This is so yummy,” Stinky said as he bit into the muffin.

Maybe someday the kid will like calamari, but for now, two bites of a ‘giant squid’, and several crammed mouthfuls of zucchini muffin are more than enough for me to call our trip to the Farmer’s Market a success…and me a happy mom.

'Giant Squid' Muffins

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups sugar
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups grated zucchini

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients and divide into 24 greased muffin cups and cook for 30 minutes, or until tester inserted in center comes out clean. Cool on rack for 10 minutes.