Broccoli Cornbread muffins

Sam and I should be up in the mountains of Big Sur, CA camping right now. I’ve set up this post to be published automatically so no one gets to bored while we are away. Sam and I are car hunting. We didn’t get to go camping because his car died a very noisy death in the middle of an intersection. Our mini vacation was postponed for another time. In the meantime we have been having a very lovely and relaxing time visiting family. On the other hand, the car salesmen haven’t been so lovely.

Another reason for my recent lack of blogging has been due to camera issues.  My canon rebel xti seems to have given out after 4 great years. It did out lasted many other electronic devices of mine, for that I’m proud but I’m terribly sad to be without a camera. I think I’ll try to take it into a shop and see what the true verdict is.

For now I’ll leave you with a recipe I whipped up a while ago. It’s a nice little addition to any meal on a day that you feel like adding a little something to your dinner without breaking your back. You can whip it up in no time and the recipe is totally adaptable to what you have in your fridge.

I’m not typically one to use mixes, but every once in a while I give in because they are quick and easy, which is very nice after a long day at school. Of course, me being me, I can’t just use a mix, I’ll always add a little something here or there to spruce it up. My mom calls it doctoring the mix, Sandra Lee would call it semi-homemade cooking but I call it cheating and trying to get away with it. I’m not saying you shouldn’t use prepared mixes, I’m just saying that after I use one I feel dirty and cheap. But guess what, it gets the job done.

A modified version of instant cornbread muffins

Ingredients

1 small head of broccoli chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 an onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
4 large eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 cup shredded cheese of your choice (we used cheddar and mozzarella because that’s what we had)
1/3 cup buttermilk*
1 (8-ounce) package corn muffin mix

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Grease 12 standard-size muffin tin cups.

In a small frying pan over medium high heat, add the tablespoon of olive oil, the onions and the broccoli. Let the onions and the broccoli cook until slightly soft, about 5-8 minutes. Then remove from heat and let cool slightly.

In a large bowl, combine the broccoli, onion, butter, eggs, salt, garlic powder, pepper, cheese and buttermilk. Mix well. Add the corn muffin mix, stirring just to combine. Fill each muffin cup 2/3 full, sprinkle some extra cheese on top. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans.

Notes:

* I never have buttermilk on hand, so I just make it myself by adding somewhere between a tablespoon and two tablespoons of vinegar or lime juice to milk. Let it stand for about 10 minutes, then stir or shake and voila, buttermilk is made.