Join me for some Practical Homemaking. We are going to sort through the tablecloths, cook a one-pot enchilada pasta, deep clean the dryer, and finally, make some whole wheat blueberry muffins. Won’t you join me? 

Welcome back to The Daily Connoisseur. Practical homemaking is about getting it all done and enjoying the process. Cooking a one-pot dinner, baking for the freezer, and tackling seasonal cleaning tasks are all efficient strategies to run a home. 

 First on the agenda, we are going to go through the tablecloths and placemats. My tablecloth storage has become a tad messy lately and I want to go through the inventory to see if any of our table linens need to be retired. I often encourage readers to go through their closets to see if there are worn-out things you need to retire: especially in your sleepwear and undergarments, but the same holds true with nearly every category in our homes: even table linens. I’ve had some of these placemats for years. You can tell we use them nearly every day because some of them are very worn out and it’s time for them to go. I’m separating what will stay and what will go and also rediscovering some old favorites in the process. Sometimes your table linens will be stuck at the back of a shelf and you forget what you have.  I wrap this up and now and admire the table linens before they go back onto the shelf. 

Are you hungry now? Ok, I’m going to show you how to make this one-pot enchilada pasta recipe. It’s seriously good.

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One-pot Enchilada Pasta

Ingredients

• 4 cups uncooked penne pasta
• 4 cups vegetable broth or water
• 1 1/2 cups ground beef (cooked and drained)
• 1 can (14 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can (14 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 yellow pepper, chopped
• 1 red pepper, chopped
• 1 cup corn
• 1 4oz can sliced olives, drained
• 1 can (10 oz) enchilada sauce
• 2 tablespoons taco seasoning
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• Fresh cilantro leaves, cherry tomatoes and lime wedges for garnish

Instructions

1. In a Dutch oven or large skillet, combine all the ingredients except for the cheese and garnishes. Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, until pasta is cooked, around 12-15 minutes. Serve each portion with cheese on top, cilantro, cherry tomatoes and lime, if desired.

And now for a rather unusual cleaning task… One you not only need to do, but maybe didn’t know you needed to do. Ok, I’ll stop speaking cryptically. You need to frequently clean the lint out of your dryer. Have you ever looked in there? It is madness. So much lint. So, I’m going to get the laundry room ready first by folding the dry tablecloths (yes, we have tablecloths everywhere) and taking out the dryer racks to give myself room. Now I’m going to take my handy wet dry vacuum that I love. This thing is old school. And I’m going to add this attachment that I found on Amazon. This vacuum attachment allows you to go deep in that lint trap area to get all the debris out. It’s brilliant. This might take some time if you’ve let the debris build up in here over time. Look at what I’m able to get out! Yikes! And yes, I realize my apron is not only inside out but wrinkled too. It’s one of those homemaking days where things are getting crazy. Also, I didn’t even plan it but I’m wearing another striped shirt ha! Even though this might seem like an undesirable task to you, I tell you, it’s actually very satisfying. If I can’t get everything out with the vacuum, I bring out this crazy looking cleaning device. The curved nature of this scrubber thingamajig along with the bristles allow you to break up some of the lint down there that then allows the vacuum attachment to finally pick it all up. I’ve been putting this job off for a while because it’s kind of a big production, but now that I’ve cleaned this area, I feel the satisfaction of a job well done. 

 And finally, let’s make whole wheat blueberry coconut muffins. I’ve gone muffin mad over the past year. I find that making batches of muffins and keeping them in the freezer is a wonderful way to keep and enjoy baked goods. 

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Whole Wheat Coconut Blueberry Muffins

Yield: 12

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¾ cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk
• ¼ cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup blueberries
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• 3 Tbs chia seeds (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
2. Stir together the flours, baking powder, salt and sugar in a large bowl. In a stand mixer, beat egg, milk and oil. Slowly add flour mixture to the liquid mixture until well-incorporated. Mix the blueberries, coconut, and chia seeds with a wooden spoon. Pour the batter into paper lined muffin pan cups.
3. Bake for 25 - 30 minutes or until cooked in the center.
4. (Please note: the whole wheat flour makes these less fluffy. If you want fluffy muffins, use all-purpose flour instead of whole wheat.)

 I hope you enjoyed this homemaking video and that it gave you motivation to carry on with your own practical homemaking. 

Thank you to OMAX health for bringing us today's video. 

I have thoroughly enjoyed the year-long Mega Motivation collab started by my friend, Dawn, at The Minimal Mom. This is the final Mega Motivation video for the year. Check out this playlist to see the playlist from all the other YouTubers as they provide holiday inspiration. 

Apple Carrot and Chia Seed Muffins This recipe is adapted from All Recipes I am leaving the printable recipe for you down below. 

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Carrot, Apple & Chia Seed Muffins

Ingredients

• 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ cup whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• ½ cup melted butter
• ½ cup honey
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup diced apple
• 1 cup shredded carrot
• 2 tablespoons chia seeds

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and Line 16 muffin cups with liners.
2. Combine all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking soda, and salt in a mixing bowl. Add buttermilk, melted butter, honey, brown sugar, egg, and vanilla extract and stir to combine. Fold in apple, carrot, and chia seeds. Spoon batter into the prepared muffin cups.
3. Bake in the oven for about 25 minutes.
4. Enjoy with a pat of butter.

Persimmon Carrot Muffins

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Whole Wheat Persimmon Carrot Muffins

Ingredients

• 1 egg
• 1 cup persimmon pulp
• ½ cup canola or vegetable oil
• ⅓ cup milk
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup shredded carrot
• ⅓ cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with muffin liners.
2. Mix together, egg, persimmon pulp, oil, and milk. Add the shredded carrot and mix. Add flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon and stir until combined. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 - 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
4. Please note: by using whole wheat flour, these muffins will have a "rustic" texture. If you want a smoother texture, use all-purpose flour instead.

Crab Quiche

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Crab Quiche with Herbed Cheese

Ingredients

• 1 9-inch deep dish pie crust
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup heavy cream
• a dash of salt and pepper
• 3 shakes of hot sauce
• 1 cup shredded cheese
• 1/4 cup crumbled herbed cheese (like Boursin)
• 8 oz crab meat (imitation is a fine substitute)
• 4 green onions, chopped

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Pre-bake the pie crust for 10 minutes, until just starting to brown. Remove from the oven, and allow to cool.
2. Whisk together the eggs, cream, salt, pepper, and hot sauce. Stir in shredded cheese, onion and imitation crab. Top with the crumbled herbed cheese. Pour into the pie shell.
3. Bake for around 40 minutes, or until the center is fully cooked. Enjoy!

Valentine writes, "I started wearing presentable sleepwear after reading your book (Mm…7 years ago? Okay, wow) and never looked back. Now I’m a mom of several little children and my daytime is very messy and fairly casual by necessity, but at night I look forward to slipping into my beautiful pajamas! It’s become so normal to me, I was really taken aback a few months ago when I was at an overnight women’s retreat and people were asking me questions about why I wear “fancy” pajamas. I should have had some better answers, but I had honestly come to think that everyone wore pajamas at night. Why wouldn’t you?!"

Mega Motivation continues this month as we explore garage organization. I thought I'd show you our chest freezers and how we keep them stocked with food that helps us stay prepared with our large family. Check out the Mega Motivation playlist here to see how the other YouTubers organize their garages. 

Today's video not only shows you our chest freezers, but shares my favorite muffin recipes for freezing. 

The Chocolate Chip Banana Bread recipe can be found here.

Blueberry Streusel Muffins

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Blueberry Streusel Muffins

Yield: makes one dozen

These delicious muffins freeze well... but they might not make it to the freezer because they'll be eaten first!

Ingredients

Muffins

• 2 cups flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract 
• zest from one lemon
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 1/2 cups blueberries + 1 Tbs flour

Streusel Topping

• 1/3 cup sugar (white or brown)
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 cup chilled butter, cubed
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin tin with muffin cups. Add one tablespoon of flour to blueberries and set aside. 
2. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt, and set aside. Cream the butter and sugar together. Add eggs, vanilla extract, lemon zest, and milk. Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Mix until smooth. Gently fold in the blueberries until well incorporated. 
3. Fill the muffin pan with the batter. Then combine the streusel toppings and mix well. Sprinkle streusel toppings on each of the muffins. (Please note: you might have leftover streusel, which you can use for more muffins if you are having a baking day.) 
4. Bake for 25 - 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the muffin comes out clean. Enjoy! 

Pumpkin Streusel Muffins

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Pumpkin Streusel Muffins

Yield: makes 12 muffins

Ingredients

Muffins

• 1 2/3 cup flour
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup water

Streusel

• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 cup chilled butter, chopped
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a muffin tin by lining it with muffins cups. Combine all the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and set aside.
2. In a stand mixer, combine the eggs, pumpkin, oil and water. Incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix well. 
3. Prepare the streusel topping by mixing the ingredients together. Fill the muffin pan with the batter and top with streusel. Bake in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until done. 

Zucchini Streusel Muffins

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Zucchini Streusel Muffins

Yield: one dozen

Ingredients

Muffins

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cup shredded zucchini

Streusel Topping

• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup white
• 1/4 cup chilled butter, cubed
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line your muffin pan with muffin cups or coat with oil. Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl: flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. 
2. In a separate bowl mix eggs, oil, milk, and vanilla extract. Mix dry ingredients with wet ingredients until combined. Gently fold in the zucchini. 
3. Place the batter in the muffin tins. Prepare the streusel topping by combining the sugar, flour, butter, and cinnamon. Top the batter with the streusel. 
4. Bake in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until done. Enjoy!