Well, since we're eating healthier, here's one of my favorite muffin recipes. These muffins rock, and not just your colon! They actually taste really good. They stay moist for days, they're incredibly healthy, and they're a cinch to make. Banana-Cranberry Spice Muffins Recipe Source: Fiber One website 1 cup Fiber One� original bran cereal 1 egg 3/4 cup fat-free (skim) milk 3 tablespoons vegetable oil 1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 2 medium) 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 cup sugar 3 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup sweetened dried cranberries Heat oven to 350�F (the original recipe stated 400�, but I found that to be too hot and would burn the muffins). Grease bottoms only of 12 regular-size muffin cups with shortening or cooking spray, or use paper baking cups. Place cereal in resealable food-storage plastic bag; seal bag and crush with rolling pin or meat mallet (or crush in food processor). In medium bowl, beat egg, milk and oil with fork or wire whisk until well mixed; beat in bananas. Stir in cereal; let stand 5 minutes. Stir in remaining ingredients except cranberries until blended. Stir in cranberries. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until light golden brown. Immediately remove from pan to cooling rack

slowlane, I make brownie mix from the King Arthur Flour recipe on their website, as well as this whole grain pancake "mix". I just use regular whole wheat flour. They also have recipes for biscuit mix and a quick mix that can be used to make muffins. Homemade Whole-Grain Pancake Mix These pancakes are just shy of 90% whole-grain; and they're absolutely delicious, featuring the sweet-nutty taste of oats and wheat. This recipe comes courtesy of Susan Reid and Susan Miller, two of the authors of King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking. Thanks, ladies! 4 cups King Arthur white whole wheat flour 1 cup King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour 3 1/2 cups old-fashioned or rolled oats 3 tablespoons sugar 3 tablespoons baking powder 1 tablespoon salt 1 tablespoon baking soda 1 cup vegetable oil Pancakes 1 cup homemade mix 1 cup buttermilk, or a combination of plain yogurt and milk; or 3/4 cup liquid whey 1 large egg 1) To make the mix: Grind the oats in a food processor until they're chopped fine, but not a powder. 2) Put the flour, oats, and all other dry ingredients into a mixer with a paddle. Mix on slow speed, and drizzle the vegetable oil into the bowl slowly while the mixer is running. 3) Store in an airtight container for up to two weeks at room temperature, or indefinitely in the refrigerator or freezer. To make pancakes: Whisk together 1 cup of mix, 1 cup of buttermilk (or a combination of half plain yogurt and half milk; or 3/4 cup liquid whey), and 1 large egg. Don't worry if it seems thin at first: the oats will soak up the milk, and the mix will thicken a bit as it stands. 5) Let the batter stand for at least 20 minutes before cooking. Heat a lightly greased griddle to 350�F (if you've got a griddle with a temperature setting; if not, medium-hot will do). 7) Drop the batter onto it in 1/4-cupfuls (a jumbo cookie scoop works well here) to make a 4" diameter pancake. If you have English muffin rings, use them; they make a perfectly round, evenly thick pancake. 8) When the edges look dry and bubbles come to the surface without breaking (after about 2 minutes, if your griddle is the correct temperature), turn the pancake over to finish cooking on the second side, which will take about 2 minutes. 9) Serve pancakes immediately, or stack and hold in a warm oven. Yield: a batch using 1 cup of the mix will make about 5 to 8 pancakes, depending on size. Recipe summary Hands-on time: 20 mins. Baking time: 4 mins. to 8 mins. Total time: 60 mins. Yield: 10 cups dry mix; enough for 50 to 80 pancakes Tips from our bakers ◦If you're not in the habit of having buttermilk around, reconsider: you can freeze leftover buttermilk, in 1-cup portions, for future batches of pancakes. And if you don't have buttermilk, but do have buttermilk powder, add 1/4 cup buttermilk powder to the dry mix along with 1 large egg and 1 cup water or milk. ◦These pancakes hold in a low oven for half an hour without getting tough or rubbery, and they're more than willing to act as a vehicle for any kind of fruit addition. A partial list of combinations that have made successful appearances so far: peach, raspberry, banana-walnut, cheddar-apple, blueberry, and cranberry-apricot. ◦Do you enjoy making your own Greek-style, thick yogurt by draining plain yogurt through a strainer? If so, don't discard the drained-off whey; it's a great stand-in for buttermilk in this recipe. Since it's thinner than buttermilk, you'll want to use 3/4 cup whey in place of the 1 cup buttermilk called for. ◦Variation: Add 1 tablespoon orange juice to the dry mix along with the buttermilk. We've found that the acidity and sweetness of the orange juice helps mellow the tannic taste some people perceive in whole wheat flour; while the pancakes won't have any orange flavor, they may taste slightly milder to you, if you're not a fan of whole wheat flour (but still want to get more whole grains into your diet). I agree about the soup base/bouillion/etc in most of the dry soup "recipes", the sodium level is astonishing. I think some people here found a lower sodium alternative "base" but I don't much like any of them, they taste fake to me. Good luck. Annie

Thanks for the suggestion. I often cook mini meals in ramekins. Today I even picked up some apples to make mini crumbles over the Thanksgiving holiday.

Here's the ATK recipe, with links to their choices for cornmeal and flour, which you can't see unless you can log in?! Fresh Corn Cornbread ATK Cornbread Published July 1, 2013. From Cook's Illustrated. Why this recipe works: For cornbread that’s packed with fresh, concentrated corn flavor, we puree fresh corn kernels and cook them down into a “corn butter” that is incorporated into the batter. Buttermilk adds tang, while egg yolks and a little bit of extra butter ensure that the bread is moist. Fresh Corn Cornbread What about a cornbread that actually tastes like fresh, sweet corn instead of cornmeal? Watch the Video Serves 6 to 8 We prefer to use a well-seasoned cast-iron skillet in this recipe, but an ovensafe 10-inch skillet can be used in its place. Alternatively, in step 4 you can add 1 tablespoon of butter to a 9-inch cake pan and place it in the oven until the butter melts, about 3 minutes. Ingredients 1 1/3 cups (6 2/3 ounces) stone-ground cornmeal -Arrowhead Mills Organic Yellow Cornmeal 1 cup (5 ounces) all-purpose flour -King Arthur Unbleached Enriched or Pillsbury Unbleached Enriched All-Purpose Flour All-Purpose Flour 2 tablespoons sugar 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 1 1/4 teaspoons salt 3 ears corn, kernels cut from cobs (2 1/4 cups) 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces -Plugrá European-Style Unsalted Butter or Land O’Lakes Unsalted Sweet Butter 1 cup buttermilk 2 large eggs plus 1 large yolk Instructions 1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Whisk cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in large bowl. 2. Process corn kernels in blender until very smooth, about 2 minutes. Transfer puree to medium saucepan (you should have about 1½ cups). Cook puree over medium heat, stirring constantly, until very thick and deep yellow and it measures 3/4 cup, 5 to 8 minutes. 3. Remove pan from heat. Add 5 tablespoons butter and whisk until melted and incorporated. Add buttermilk and whisk until incorporated. Add eggs and yolk and whisk until incorporated. Transfer corn mixture to bowl with cornmeal mixture and, using rubber spatula, fold together until just combined. 4. Melt remaining 1 tablespoon butter in 10-inch cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Scrape batter into skillet and spread into even layer. Bake until top is golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 23 to 28 minutes. Let cool on wire rack for 5 minutes. Remove cornbread from skillet and let cool for 20 minutes before cutting into wedges and serving. Bake muffins for about 15 minutes, or "until done". You know the drill. This recipe has too much cornmeal for our family. I'm not sure what we actually like, some sort of "corn cake" maybe, but we like it. So I make it!