Jeff's Peculiar Corn and Bean Muffins

I am largely a creature of culinary habit.  I find something that I like, and I stick with it.  For instance, almost every week I prepare a dozen of My Favorite Muffins (see earlier post), and I take a couple to work each day for my coffee break.  I do vary that muffin recipe a bit from time to time, but mostly in terms of what kind of berries I use.

Today I was out of cranberries, and rather than just substituting another berry I decided to go for a more savory muffin.  I assessed what I had on hand, and the recipe below is what I came up with.  They are kind of strange, but I like them.

(I use all organic ingredients, where possible.)

• 1 ripe banana, mashed
• 1 15 oz can pureed sweet potato
• 3 Tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 cup corn meal
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp Old Bay Seasoning
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup dilly beans, chopped
• 3 red pepper stuffed green olives, sliced

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Combine the banana, sweet potato, syrup and vinegar in a medium mixing bowl.

In a separate bowl combine all dry ingredients (I like to use a wire whisk for this).

Pour the dry ingredients into the bowl with the wet ingredients and mix together.

Fold in the beans and olives.

Spoon into a dozen standard muffin cups (which these days seem to be called "large").

Bake for 22 minutes.

Homemade Mouthwash

Is mouthwash necessary?  Probably not, but I find that I like the clean, fresh feel of my mouth after using it.  I've used a few different natural brands over the years, but recently decided to try making my own.  There were a few reasons that I decided to give this a try:

1. I am gradually trying to reduce the amount of excess packaging in my life, especially plastic packaging.
2. I always read ingredient lists, and even the natural brands tend to include one or more ingredients that I do not recognize and/or have doubts about.
3. It sounded like fun.

So, I bought some lovely 16 oz. glass bottles with secure metal lids, a few essential oils and some xylitol, and proceeded to create my first homemade mouthwash.  (This recipe is based entirely on what I have found that I personally like in various mouthwashes that I've used.  I do not know that, or claim that, it has any particular health benefits.)

• 16 oz. distilled water
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. xylitol
• 5 drops spearmint essential oil
• 3 drops cinnamon essential oil
• 1 drop lemon essential oil
• 30 drops of trace mineral drops

I shook it well and have been using if for the past couple of weeks.  I tend to shake it before each use, but I'm not sure that is necessary.  I was quite surprised to see no signs of separation after the first shake—neither sedimentation of the powdered ingredients nor floating of the oils.

My very first impression of this was, "Wow, cinnamon!"  I find that I like the amount of zing that it has, though.  Also, while I don't think that anyone who is accustomed to standard commercial mouthwash would find this sweet, I'm thinking that I'm going to halve the xylitol in the next batch, because I do sometimes find this notably sweet.

Of my various DIY experiments to date, this one is the least time consuming, and one of the most immediately successful.  What's next?  Maybe mixing my own dentifrice....