Do You Know the Muffin Man?

Matt and I have quite opposing views on breakfast. I think it’s the most important meal of the day, that one must start the day with proper nutrition, that toaster pastries are snacks and not meals, etc., etc., etc. Matt has never been a big breakfast guy. He doesn’t drink milk, so that rules out cereal, and is usually too pressed for time (and disinterested) to make himself something. The only exception to this rule is the weekends, when we have brunch together. Matt usually cooks, and we rotate between vanilla-scented French toast, pancakes with fruit compote, veggie omelets, baked eggs, breakfast burritos, fruit smoothies… my tummy is rumbling just thinking about it! And now that the farmer’s market is open for the season, we’ll indulge in crepes the moment we get there, before we start shopping.

But the weekdays are a different story. I tend to have a mini Pyrex dish of granola cereal when I wake up to appease the growing girl in my tummy, then I often have a packet of whole-grain oatmeal when I am settled at work. Matt on the other hand, skips breakfast. Or had been doing so, until I realized something else about Matt’s dietary preferences.

Dessert.

Okay, who DOESN’T think dessert should have its own place as a separate daily meal? But anything dessert-like is bound to get a man’s attention. One of MY favorite desserts (besides cheesecake, or yogurt blended with frozen banana, which helps my pregnancy-induced indigestion) is cupcakes! I love baking them, I love decorating them (despite how frustrated I get when they don’t turn out perfectly) and I certainly love eating them. Put those things together… breakfast, dessert, cupcakes… muffins!

So I’ve started making muffins on the weekends, then wrapping them individually and freezing them. I can just pull one out in the evenings, and Matt packs it with his lunch in the morning. Since I use an equal amount of white and wheat flour, and focus on fruit muffins, I tell myself that they have some nutritional value. So far, I’ve made a batch of banana ones and a batch of strawberry ones, using frozen strawberries and vanilla yogurt. I have a several more muffin recipes, so I should be able to rotate them pretty often (even if he has to eat the same thing for breakfast all week). And to keep him engaged and interested, I’ve decided to let him pick out the next recipe. He choose the dried-cherry-and-chocolate ones.

Hey, it’s a start…