Zucchini Mini Muffins

Adapted from this Cooking Light recipe... made them for the kids at Mommy Fit Camp last week and they were a big hit!

1 1/3 cups all-purpose

1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt 

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

heaping 1 cup shredded zucchini (about 1 medium-large zucchini) 

3 tablespoons canola oil

2 tablespoons butter, melted 

2 tablespoons milk 

1 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 large egg, lightly beaten 

Preheat oven to 400°.

Combine flour and next 5 ingredients (through allspice) in a large bowl. Combine zucchini and next 5 ingredients (through egg) in a small bowl; stir with a whisk. Add zucchini mixture to flour mixture, stirring batter just until combined. Divide batter evenly among 36 miniature muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Bake at 400° for 16 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center of muffins comes out clean.

Hearty Waffles

Another good breakfast recipe from My Beef With Meat.

2 ½ C old-fashioned rolled oats

¾ finely chopped walnuts

¼ C flaxseed meal

Zest of ½ orange

½ - ¾ t cinnamon

1 medium banana, smashed

1 – 1 ½ C almond milk

Mix the oats, nuts, flaxseed, zest and cinnamon. Place two-thirds of this dry mixture in a high speed blender or food processor and process until a fine consistency. Return this to the remaining dry mixture. If you prefer a less-chunky waffle, process all of the dry ingredients.

Add the banana and milk and mix well. Add more milk if you want thinner waffles. Use the back of a spoon to spread the batter on the waffle iron

Sweet Oat Squares

These are a sweeter, crisper granola bar than my regular recipe.  I didn't cut them- we just broke off pieces.  From My Beef with Meat.

• 2/3 cup raw cashews or walnuts
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1/3 cup pure maple syrup
• 1 1/3 cups old fashioned rolled oats (not quick oats)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/3 cup mix-ins (cranberries, raisins, dried cherries,pistachios, almonds or pecans)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8 x 12 or 9 x 11 pan with parchment paper leaving the ends long enough to use to lift the bars out of the pan after they are baked.

Place nuts and water in food processor and process until it becomes a big lump. This will require shutting the machine off and scraping down the sides with a rubber spatula a couple times. 

Add maple syrup, vanilla and cinnamon, process until well combined. Add oats and gently pulse to mix.  Add mix-ins and pulse until combined.

Press the mixture into the prepared pan spreading it out evenly. It will be a thin layer and it will take a little work to spread as the batter is stiff. A wide rubber spatula works well to smooth out and spread the batter.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden around the edges.

Remove from oven and while still warm, using a sharp knife, score into 12 bars. Set aside to cool. When cooled completely use the long parchment ends to lift the bars out of the pan to a cutting surface. With a sharp knife cut bars apart. Store in a covered container in the refrigerator as they don’t contain any preservatives.

Granola bars

I have made this recipe many, many times the past couple of years.  I've adapted the original recipe to make it healthier.

cooking spray

2 cups quick cooking oats

½ cup whole wheat flour

½ cup all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons brown sugar

¾ cup raisins/ dried cranberries/ seeds/ chopped nuts/ chocolate chips, etc.

½ cup ground flax seed

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon cinnamon (depending on what kind of bar I'm making, I'll use more or less)

½ cup vegetable oil*

½ cup honey*

1 egg

2 teaspoons vanilla

*sometimes I sub applesauce for some of the honey/oil- too much applesauce will make a cake-like/crumbly bar, so don't completely substitute.

• Spray a 9x13 dish with cooking spray.
• Combine oats, flours, brown sugar, raisins, salt, and cinnamon in a bowl.
• Combine egg, oil, honey, and vanilla in a bowl, mix well.
• Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients.
• Mix well and spread into a 9x13” baking dish.
• Bake at 350 for 15-18 minutes, or until lightly browned around the edges.  Cool completely, then cut into squares and place in a freezer bag.

Low-fat blueberry muffins

From Cook's Country

Makes 12 muffins

2 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoons salt
2 eggs
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
3/4 cup nonfat buttermilk
1 teaspoon grated zest and 2 teaspoons juice from one lemon
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup frozen blueberries

Preheat oven to 375.  Spray 12 cup muffin tin with nonstick spray.  Whisk 2 cups flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in large bowl.

Whisk eggs and brown sugar in medium bowl.  Gradually whisk in butter, buttermilk, lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla until well-blended.  Fold into dry mixture (a few streaks should remain).  Toss blueberries with remaining tablespoon flour and gently fold into batter.  Bake 25-30 minutes, rotating halfway through baking.

Blueberry Muffin Smoothie

Made this smoothie this morning with a few changes... very good!

Serves 2

1 1/2 cups orange juice
2/3 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)
1/2 cup rolled oats
2 tablespoons flax seed
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup frozen banana or ice cubes (I used a little of both)

Purée in blender and serve!

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Pancakes

Recipe from Epicurious: 

• 3/4 cup quick-cooking oats
• 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons well-shaken buttermilk, divided (or 2 tablespoons vinegar plus enough milk to make 2 cups)
• 3/4 cup whole-wheat flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon grated nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon packed brown sugar

Soak oats in 1 cup buttermilk 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a large bowl.

Stir egg, butter, brown sugar, remaining cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk, and oat mixture into dry ingredients until just combined.

Heat a griddle over medium heat until hot and lightly brush with oil. Working in batches, pour 1/4 cup batter per pancake onto griddle and cook until bubbles appear on surface and undersides are golden-brown, about 1 minute. Flip with a spatula and cook other side, about 1 minute more. (Lightly oil griddle between batches.)

Whole Wheat Waffles

Adapted from this King Arthur recipe.

1 1/2 cups Whole Wheat Flour
1 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon (or more for more cinnamon flavor)
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups lukewarm milk
1/3 cup melted butter or vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat waffle maker.
Whisk together the dry ingredients.  In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, and butter/oil.  Mix the wet and dry ingredients, stirring until just combined.  Cook the waffles according to waffle maker instructions.  Makes about 4 large Belgian-style waffles or 8 regular waffles.

Whole Wheat Blueberry Pancakes

Doug made these delicious pancakes Saturday morning.  Yum!

2 cups whole wheat flour 
2 teaspoons baking powder 
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt 
1 cup milk (or unsweetened almondmilk, soymilk or ricemilk)
2 tablespoons honey 
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 
1 1/4 cups fresh or frozen blueberries 

Method

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together almondmilk, 1/2 cup water, honey and vanilla until blended. Pour milk mixture into flour mixture and stir until evenly mixed. Set batter aside to rest for 10 minutes (the batter will be very thick). 

Oil a cast-iron griddle or large nonstick skillet with canola spray oil and heat over medium heat until hot. Stir blueberries into batter. Ladle about 1/4 cup batter onto griddle and cook about 2-3 minutes each side until pancakes are cooked through. 

Blueberry-pomegranate smoothie

We made this recipe for breakfast, but also through in some groats, spinach, and banana (rather than adding a sweetener).  We don't like smoothies to be too icy, so we just added a few cubes.

8 oz pomegranate juice
2 tablespoons groats
1/2 cup strawberries (3-4)
1/2 orange, peeled
1 banana
1/2 cup frozen blueberries
handful of spinach
a few ice cubes (around 4)

The night before, put groats, pomegranate juice, banana, 1/2 orange and strawberries in the blender in your refrigerator.  In the morning, add the frozen blueberries, spinach, and a few ice cubes.  Blend until smooth.

Orange-berry smoothie with groats

Doug and I made this smoothie according to the recipe, and it was okay, but we made a few changes the next time.  Here's the winning recipe for 2 smoothies:

1 cup orange juice
3 tablespoons oat groats, soaked overnight in the orange juice
3/4 cup fat-free plain Greek yogurt
1 1/2 cups frozen berries
3 cups baby spinach
1 banana
a few ice cubes (4-5, depending on how icy you want it)

Soak the groats in the OJ in the blender overnight.  You can go ahead and add everything but the berries and ice ahead of time.  In the morning, add berries, ice, and purée until smooth.  Delicious!

Big breakfast bowl

We've recently learned about Rip Esselstyn and the Engine 2 cookbook.  We watched the documentary Forks over Knives last week and it was really interesting.  So, we've made this breakfast bowl a couple of times and it is quite filling!  The recipe is supposedly ONE serving, but that would be GIGANTIC!  So, we split it into two servings.  Or, if you are really hungry, you could do 3/4 of the recipe for one serving.

1/4 cup old-fashioned oats

1/4 cup Grape-Nuts or Ezekiel brand equivalent

1/4 cup bite-size shredded wheat

1/4 cup Uncle Sam Cereal

1 tablespoon ground flaxseed meal

2 tablespoons raisins

1/2 handful of walnuts

1 banana, sliced

1 kiwi, sliced

1 grapefruit

3/4 cup milk substitute of choice