I love things that are homemade, but I also love shortcuts and convenience foods.  One thing that I love at breakfast time is a good muffin, and I must confess, I often go with muffin mixes to save time. Plus, I love the taste!

My favorite brand of muffin mixes has always been Martha White.  I think this is, in part, because you add milk to their mix, rather than water or oil. (or is it just me?)

They also have a great selection of flavors.  The flavor featured in my post today is the Wild Berry, and it’s a mix of blueberry and strawberry flavors.

I chose to share these this week because 4th of July is coming up, and I thought these would be great for a 4th of July breakfast or brunch.  What do you think?

And if this idea is too simple for you, perhaps add a little cream cheese frosting to these and have some 4th of July Breakfast Cupcakes. Yum!  Or if you’re not serving breakfast for the 4th, you could use the mix as a base for one of your 4th of July desserts!

Over the summer we were driving through rural Tennesee for a funeral.  This was only just a little over an hour from home, but it was an area that was completely new to us, and I was just amazed by the all the corn fields.  They seemed to run for miles and miles.  As a kid I grew accustomed to seeing cotton fields like this (though sadly, they seem to have disappeared), but I ‘ve never seen corn fields like this or even knew they existed this close to our home.  I have a feeling that the people who live here, to their credit, have never seen a can of corn in their lives. lol.

Unfortunately we don’t all have fresh corn at our disposal, but we do have the next best thing.  My mom has always made the most delicious corn.  I usually call it fried corn, only because it’s cooked in a frying pan, but this is probably a misnomer, so for this post, I’m calling it, “Best Ever Corn.”  She makes it using frozen white shoepeg corn.  Yellow corn is okay, but I have to tell you, white shoepeg is the best!  She’s always used Jolly Green Giant, so that’s what I use too, and you can find it a small box, or in a bag if you need the family size.  I’m sure it would be great in other brands as long as it says, white shoepeg.  (And by the way, I was recently watching Dr. Oz, and they said frozen veggies were just as good as fresh but without the sodium of canned veggies.  So yay!)

And just to give you a quick testimonial story as to how good this corn tastes, one time several years ago, we were eating dinner.  It was either Thanksgiving or Christmas time, and my brother was talking about how great the corn was and then he asked my mom who she got it from.  And she gave a funny look and said that she got it frozen from the store, and he said, “Oh! So you cheated this time! It’s usually homemade!”  And my mom gave him another strange look and said, “No, it’s not. I always get the corn at the store.”  And then he said, “Well, than you’ve been tricking me all this time.”  And my mom explained to him that she never once told him that it was homemade; he just assumed.  The look on my brother’s face was so hiliarous; it was as if he somehow felt that he had been cheated because the corn he thought was homemade all these years had really been frozen.  The horror!

2-4 cupsWhite Shoepeg Corn (fresh or frozen)

1 tbsp butter (optional, I leave this out.)

Milk (just enough to cover the bottom of the skillet, 1/2 cup to 1 cup)

cooking spray

Directions:  Spray your skillet with nonstick cooking spray.  Pour your corn into the skillet. (If using frozen corn, there’s no need to thaw the corn beforehand.)  Add milk.  (I don’t measure it out, I just add enough to cover the bottom of the skillet.  For best measure, cook 2 cups or less in a smaller skillet, and cook 3 or more cups in a larger skillet.)  Add a tablespoon of butter/margarine.   Cook over medium heat, stirring often to prevent milk from sticking/scorching.  (Do not cover.)  Cook for 20-25 minutes or until heated throughout.