Strawberry Chocolate Chip Muffins

Our house is in complete disarray as we do millions of projects to prepare it for the market.  So if you've been looking for updates, that's where my brain has been.  I'm developing all kinds of new skills, but they're still in the novice skill level.  All these projects has meant lots of last minute meals, which is proving to me that I need to be better prepared to use THRIVE - Even after buying it for 18 months, being a consultant for a  year, and sharing ideas here, I'm still not good at turning to it at the last minute.  I think the primary culprit is I have not put those THRIVE Recipes on my Allison Family Menu (our list of favorite dinner recipes).  And after years of cooking chicken breast and dicing it before adding it to a menu, it's still my automatic thought that I don't have time to prep the chicken - totally failing to remember that I have THRIVE FD Chopped Chicken in our storage which would make dinner prep a snap.  It would probably also help to get back into the menu planning habit.

So all that prep to say we had muffins for dinner.  Breakfast for dinner is our go to backup plan.  And today it wasn't because we were running late, it was by request of our 10 y/o.  She begged for my chocolate chip muffins.  You may remember that I tried adding THRIVE FD Raspberries to it here. 

Tonight I decided to add THRIVE FD Strawberries partly because I thought they'd taste good, partly because I knew I'd be needing to open a can of them anyway in the next few days to make some Strawberry Mango Salsa for an upcoming party, and the final part is because I wanted to try a new combo.  When I asked the family what they thought, the immediate response was yuck from both my girls, and an "I guess I'll try it" from my husband.  Well "ha!" to them.  One of the many things I love about adding THRIVE to my recipes - I can easily add just enough for myself, and a little extra.  So I made the muffin batter and filled 6 cups with the plain batter, and announced how many plain I made.  They all complained so I filled another 6.  Then I took the remaining batter and added the strawberries.   And looked at my batter and added more (after trying the muffins, I wish I'd added even more).  I ended up with 6 regular-sized muffins with strawberries, and I used the rest of the batter to make mini muffins for that upcoming party.

The results at the dinner table?   The 10 y/o who had complained in the beginning of dinner prep was ecstatic about how the strawberry muffins turned out.  Her exact quote after her first bite of strawberry was "Awesome".  Other comments included "Mmmm, a big bite of strawberry!" and "Why did you only make 6 with strawberry?"  Hmm, why did I only make 6?  The hubby also approved; but for full disclosure, the 6 y/o made a very interesting face and then gave the rest of her muffin to her daddy, who quickly ate it before she changed her mind.

The THRIVE FD Strawberries are sliced and are one of the March specials, which means they are on sale through Monday (Apr 1st).  Through Monday, the #10 can is $23.19 and a pantry can is $8.49 (prices are when ordered through me via email or phone call; online store prices are slightly higher).

And for a sneak peek, the THRIVE FD Whole Strawberries are part of the April Specials and will be on sale starting Tuesday (Apr 2nd).