My Excellent Choices

What does the Powerhead do? Well, not much until you add this!

The powerhead is just the start of a very versatile system of specialty tools and attachments.

An friend remembered seeing an old Johnny Carson skit, “Dickey The Stick” and started to poke a little fun at the EGO Powerhead; but I had the last laugh when I added batteries and the brush cutter attachment. What a fantastic combination! The brush cutter tackles that tough growth that string cutters don’t even scratch.

My wish list is growing. I do want the string cutter, the extension pole, the pole saw and probably one more battery.

There are two versions of the Powerhead (1400 and 1420). The difference in price is small and you may want to consider the 1420 upgrade like I did. Be sure to shop the combo packages at Amazon. You can sometimes save if you get the Powerhead, batteries and attachments as a promotional bundle.

If you enjoyed our recipe for Blueberry Muffins, you should try these cornbread muffins. These cornbread muffins are an excellent accompaniment to a hearty meal like roast beef & potatoes, or soup. (Be sure to save this recipe for cooler weather!)

We took a starter recipe for the blueberry muffins and these cornbread muffins and made a couple of changes to each. First, we substitute “1 for 1” our preferred “no sugar sweetener” (Xylitol) in place of brown sugar. We also substitute a powered milk & water instead of fresh milk. Then we make a similar substitute with gluten-free flour. (Click the “Paid Link” above, or this one, to find the original recipe on the back of “Brinser’s Best Yellow Corn Meal“).

Finally, we increase the recipe to make up to 36 muffins at a time. After eating a couple of these delicious muffins right out of the oven, we then placed the rest on parchment paper, freeze and then store in a resealable freezer bag.

To reheat, we just place on a microwave-safe plate with a damp paper towel on top and select “HIGH” for thirty seconds. Perfect! (Click the “paid ad” ingredient links below to see EXACTLY what brands we buy.)

Our Own Cornbread Muffin Recipe

#1: Assemble these utensils.

Utensils:

• 4 quart/16 Cup (or larger) mixing Bowl (For Dry Ingredients)
• 6 Cup (or larger) mixing bowl (For Wet Ingredients)
• 4 Cup Measuring Cup (For Water)
• 2 Cup Measuring Cup (For Butter)
• 1/2 and 1 Cup Measuring Cups (For Dry Ingredients & Milk Powder Optional: 8 Tbsp = 1/2 Cup)

• 1 Tbsp. (tablespoon) Measuring Spoon 
• 1 Large Mixing Spoon (For Final Mixture and Measuring batter into muffin cups)
• Muffin Pans for up to 36 Muffins and these (Paid Ad) reusable silicon muffin cups!

#2: Add one dry ingredient at a time in this order to the mixing bowl, and thoroughly mix with whisk each time an ingredient is added.

Dry Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp. baking powder
• 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp.) milk powder (Paid Ad)
• 2 cups Xylitol Sweetener (Paid Ad)
• 3 cups gluten free flour (Paid Ad)
• 3 cups Corn Meal (Paid Ad)

(Approximately 8 1/2 Cups Dry Ingredients)

#3: Melt Butter in microwave. Do not Overheat.
#4: Add and mix one wet Ingredient at a time in order to the 6-cup mixing bowl in this order.
#5: Confirm mixture temperature has cooled before adding eggs.

Wet Ingredients:

• 1 cup melted butter (16 Tbsp.)
• 2 1/2 cups cold water
• 4 eggs

(Approximately 4 Cups Liquid Ingredients)

#6: Combine and thoroughly mix the wet and dry ingredients. 
#7: Scoop into reusable muffin pans lined with the reusable silicon baking cups (above). Makes about 36 Standard size muffins.
#8: Bake at 325 degrees convection (350 Conventional) for 25 minutes.

(Approximately 13 Cups combined Ingredients)

These are great for special occasions or just to have on hand for morning breakfast and coffee. They keep well in the freezer and re-heat in just seconds. The recipe is forgiving if you have just a tad more or less of the large bulk ingredients, but you may produce fewer or more than the 36 “standard” muffins that we usually make.

Our starting point was this recipe: Blueberry Oatmeal Flax Muffins — Dr. Karen Wallace, ND | Dartmouth, Nova Scotia (drkarenwallace.com)

Then we made our own improvements as we experimented. Finally, we doubled the recipe to make up to 36 muffins at a time. After eating a couple of these delicious muffins right out of the oven, we then placed the rest on parchment paper, freeze and then store in a resealable freezer bag.

To reheat, we just place on a microwave-safe plate with a damp paper towel on top and select “HIGH” for thirty seconds. Perfect! (Click the “paid ad” ingredient links below to see EXACTLY what brands we buy.)

What’s next? experimenting with other fruits and flavored extracts for the batter. If you like these muffins as much as our family does, please bookmark this page and share it! (Also, check out our recipe for Cornbread Muffins.)

Our Own Fruit Muffin Recipe

#1: Assemble these utensils.

Utensils:

• 4 quart/16 Cup (or larger) mixing Bowl (For Dry Ingredients)
• 4 Cup (or larger) Measuring Cup (For Wet Ingredients)
• 2 Cup Measuring Cup (For Water or Buttermilk – your choice!)
• ¼ Cup Measuring Cup (Optional: 4 Tbsp = ¼ Cup)

• 1 Tbsp. (tablespoon) Measuring Spoon 
• ½ tsp. (teaspoon) Measuring Spoon
• 1 tsp. (teaspoon) Measuring Spoon (Optional: 2 x ½ tsp = 1 tsp)
• 1 Large Mixing Spoon (For Final Mixture and Measuring batter into muffin cups)
• Muffin Pans for up to 36 Muffins and these (Paid Ad) reusable silicon muffin cups!

#2: Add one dry ingredient at a time in this order to the mixing bowl, and thoroughly mix with whisk each time an ingredient is added.

Dry Ingredients:

• 1 tsp. salt (can be omitted)
• 1.5 tsp. baking soda
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 cup (4 Tbsp.) buttermilk powder (Paid Ad)
• 1 cup Xylitol Sweetener (Paid Ad)
• 1 cup ground flax seed meal (Paid Ad)
• 2 cups gluten free flour (Paid Ad)
• 2 cups rolled oats (Paid Ad)

(Approximately 6 ¼ Cups Dry Ingredients)

#3: Add this fruit to the dry ingredients and thoroughly mix.

Fruit Ingredient:

• 2 pints of whole blueberries, diced peaches, cherries, cranberries, apples, or other fruit (Preferably frozen – sized like whole blueberries)

(Approximately 4 Cups Fruit)

#4: Melt Butter in microwave. Do not Overheat.
#5: Add and mix one wet Ingredient at a time in order to the 4-cup measuring cup in this order.
#6: Confirm mixture temperature has cooled before adding eggs.

Wet Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup melted butter (11 Tbsp.)
• 1 3/4 cup cold water
• 1 cup unsweetened refrigerated applesauce (Paid Ad)
• 2 eggs
• 2 Tbsp. Lemon Extract (Paid Ad)
  (Use Lemon Extract with blueberries. Other extracts to compliment other fruit fillings)

(Approximately 4 Cups Liquid Ingredients)

#7: Combine and thoroughly mix the wet and dry ingredients. 
#8: Scoop into reusable muffin pans lined with the reusable silicon baking cups (above). Makes about 36 Standard size muffins.
#9: Bake at 350 degrees convection (375 Conventional) for 20 minutes.

#10: Remove One Muffin and Enjoy!