Sunday, January 20, 2013

Morning, Sweeties!

Ok, so this is my first food blog post, so be kind and keep in mind that I am the FURTHEST thing from a food photographer! 


I have eaten many a muffin in my day... And as they have increased in size, I have noticed a severe decrease in anything nutritious, healthy or containing vitamins of any sort. Listen, I am the first to say that sometimes there is nothing better than a chocolate chip muffin, toasted just enough to melt the chocolate a little bit..BUT, for my everyday kid friendly-waist friendly recipe I have to at least TRY to maintain some semblance of a healthy eating lifestyle. 





That being said... Who doesn't love carrot cake? Or Zucchini bread?! I do. A lot. I have lots of yummy memories surrounding both.. So, that prompted me to start researching and opening my recipe files, and I found the recipe for a 'morning glory' muffin, which if you have never had it, you are definitely missing out! It's a yummy blend of carrots, coconut, apples and pineapple in muffin form with the crunch of nuts and the chewiness of raisins throughout.. 


So, with a few tweaks, substitutions and additions, I created my 'Morning, Sweetie! Muffins'.. because there is nothing that says good morning to the people you love like the smell of something amazing in the oven that you can feel good about feeding your family! 






Morning, Sweetie! Muffins 

Adapted from: Earthbound Farm's culinary consultant, Chef Pam McKinstry's Original Morning Glory Muffin Recipe





Ingredients
1/2 cup white sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 cup whole wheat flour 
1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut 
1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut (use a 1/2 of the sweetened if you don't have/can't find the unsweetened version, no biggie!) 
1/2 raisins
1/4 cup craisins (dried cranberries, or just use 3/4 of all raisins or all craisins of you want, makes no difference!)
1 large apple, peeled and grated
1 cup crushed pineapple, drained. 
1 cup grated carrots
1 cup grated zucchini
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans ( I omitted this to make them allergy friendly!) 
3 large eggs
1/2 cup vegetable or coconut oil
1/2 applesauce
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 Tablespoon Cinnamon
1.5 teaspoons nutmeg 
Note: this recipe is easily made vegan by omitting the 3 eggs and using the flax seed egg conversion, or a powdered egg replacement. 


Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.
Grate carrots, apple and zucchini into a bowl, set aside. 
Sift or whisk together the sugars, flours, baking soda and salt into a large bowl.
  
Add the coconut, dried fruit, apple, pineapple, carrots and nuts (if using), and stir to combine.
In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs with the oil, applesauce, spices and vanilla.  Pour into the bowl with the dry ingredients and blend well.
Spoon the batter into muffin tins lined with muffin cups, filling each to the brim. Bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool muffins in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to finish cooling.
This is  good time to clean! 
Enjoy! 




Tuesday, January 15, 2013

i needed a challenge...or maybe a project

So, this is less about my daughter and more about well, me. I know that new year's resolutions are so....how can I put this? Silly, cliché, and not to mention possibly damaging to ones self esteem should you fail and fall into the 70% category of people who give up on their resolutions before the end of January.

So since I already try and keep to a healthy lifestyle, I wanted a challenge that would benefit not just me but my whole family, and help us all strive for positive change, but also make it something that  I can achieve with some ease, and being able to keep to my challenge while also keeping the somewhat nutty schedule that I do...

For those that know me, you know I love to cook, and cooking healthy is something that is important to me...and my ability to do so while making the food palatable to an almost three year old, a somewhat finicky Puerto Rican, and myself.

So here's the plan... OK, gonna attempt to blog what I cook, what my family's reaction is, and how I made it.

I am also going to make things as healthy, UN processed, and yummy as I can... I am also going to try to home make our treats, and snacks...in figure, if I make it, at least I know what's in it....

So, stay tuned...my plan is to have the first one up as soon as humanly possible. And yes, I know... Another food blog...blah. Deal with it, lol. I promise it will still have plenty of snarky mommy humor and quips about my little lady and the man in our life.

If there is any food, snack, or something special you'd like me to tackle, please feel free to comment, it'll make the challenge that much more fun!

Thanks everyone!