My AM Kickstart

Since becoming pregnant, I've been eating much more fruit, including dried fruit. I usually have dried cranberries on hand, as well as oranges, and I absolutely loved the flavor of the lemon accent in my Lemon-Blueberry Muffins. So after a brief search, I settled on these muffins - the cranberry & orange flavors were great together, and they were pretty light too - a lot of the sweetness comes from the cranberries - making them perfect for breakfast. I've also really limited my caffeine, so these muffins add a great burst to my mornings when coffee isn't an option :)



Cranberry- Orange Muffins
Bakespace


INGREDIENTS

1 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temp
2 teaspoons grated orange zest
2/3 cup granulated sugar, plus more for topping muffins, if desired I left this out
2 large eggs, at room temp
1/2 cup milk

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Put the cranberries and orange juice in a small saucepan, bring just to a simmer over med. heat. Remove from heat, and set aside to cool and plump.

Line 12-muffin tin with paper liners or lightly brush with butter. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl and set aside.

In a standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment, or with a hand-held mixer in a large bowl, cream butter, orange zest, and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Remove the bowl from the mixer.

Fold the flour in 3 parts into the butter mixture, alternating with the milk in 2 parts, until just combined. Fold in the cranberries. Do not over mix. Divide the batter evenly into the muffin tins and sprinkle the tops with sugar. Bake until golden brown, about 25 minutes. Cool muffins in the pan on a rack.

Blueberry Mornings

I love muffins...the wonderful, decadent kind that you get from a coffee shop is one of my favorite ways to start the mornings. But....you honestly can't indulge everyday...so I love finding muffin recipes that are a little more healthy, but don't sacrifice any flavor.

Blueberries are the perfect ingredient for muffins right now - they're in season, healthy and add a great burst of flavor to get you going for the day. The lemon zest and juice in this recipe adds even more zing to your taste buds. The original recipe included a glaze on top of the muffins...however I left that out to make them a little healthier and to freeze better.


Lemon-Blueberry Muffins
Cooking Light

Yield:
1 dozen (serving size: 1 muffin)

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 cup butter
1 1/4 cups low-fat buttermilk
1 large egg
1 tablespoon grated lemon rind
1 cup blueberries
Cooking spray
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 400°.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 5 ingredients (flour through nutmeg) in a medium bowl; cut in butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal.

Combine buttermilk, egg, and rind; stir well with a whisk. Add to flour mixture; stir just until moist. Gently fold in blueberries.

Spoon batter into 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Bake at 400° for 20 minutes or until the muffins spring back when lightly touched. Remove muffins from pans immediately, and place on a wire rack to cool.

* I omitted the following step, but I added 1 tsp of lemon juice into the batter when adding the rind and other ingredients.

Combine lemon juice and powdered sugar in a small bowl. Drizzle glaze evenly over cooled muffins.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 187 (23% from fat)
Fat: 4.8g (sat 2.7g,mono 1.4g,poly 0.3g)
Protein: 3.7g
Carbohydrate:
32.6g
Fiber: 1g
Cholesterol: 30mg
Iron: 1.1mg
Sodium: 264mg
Calcium: 59mg

Smokin' Chili & Cornbread

I pretty much always gave some chili in the freezer, so when I was thinking of taking some out for dinner. Much to my surprise, there wasn't any, so I decided to whip up another creation. I love spicy chili, but I wanted something a little different from my norm. This smoky chili is the perfect alternative for those who don't like it spicy.

It looks like a long ingredient list, but it's very simple, and once everything is in the pot, the stove does all the work for you. I served this with corn muffins, and it was also great on top of baked potatoes.

Smoky Lime Turkey Chili

1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
1.3 lb ground turkey
1 Vidalia onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
1 cup of red bell pepper, chopped
1 bottle of Corona
1/2 tsp liquid smoke
1 15 oz can stewed Mexican tomatoes, coarsely diced
28 ox can crushed tomatoes
8 oz tomato sauce
1/2 tsp each of freshly ground pepper and salt
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1 can dark red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
3 chipotle chile peppers with a little of adobo sauce, seeded and finely chopped
1.5 tbsp lime juice
1.5 tbsp Mexican chili powder
1.5 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/2 cup freshly chopped cilantro

Heat oil in a large pot. Add turkey, break up, and cook for a couple of minutes. Add the nest 4 ingredients and saute until meat is browned and veggies are softened. Drain if necessary.

Return mixture to pot, add beer, liquid smoke and chipotle peppers, stir. Add all tomatoes and seasonings, stir to combine. Once bubbly, reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer.

I let my chili simmer on low for about 3 hours. I added the beans with about 1.5 hours left of cooking time. If cooking for less time, just add them when you add the seasonings.

I served my chili with crushed tortilla chips (Tostitos Hint of Lime), fat free sour cream, 2% shredded mexican cheese and more freshly chopped cilantro.



Cheesy Jalapeno Lime Corn Muffins
Allrecipes

Prep Time: 10 Minutes
Cook Time: 20 Minutes
Ready In: 30 Minutes
Servings: 12

Ingredients:

1 cup cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup canola oil
1 cup milk
I added 1 cup finely shredded 2% Mexican cheese, juice from 1/4 lime, 1 tbsp lime zest and 1 finely chopped jalapeno pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease muffin pan or line with paper muffin liners.

2. In a large bowl, mix together corn meal, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add egg, oil and milk; stir gently to combine. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.

3. Bake at 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) for 15 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.

Good & Good For You Muffins

I've made muffins a few times now from scratch, and although they have been delicious, they weren't exactly healthy. I came across this recipe, and it was exactly what I was looking for. They were super simple to make, but I would make some changes to improve the flavor next time. I would reduce the oats to 1 cup, increase the applesauce to 1/2 cup, and increase the cinnamon.

The muffins also tasted great (and similar to cinnamon raisin bagels) warmed up and with a little fat free cream cheese on them. Also, this was my first time using whole wheat flour, so look forward to trying new healthier recipes.


Healthy Oatmeal Raisin Muffins
Found on Food Alla Puttanesca, originally from Recipezaar

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups whole-wheat flour
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup oil I used unsweetened applesauce
1 egg
1/2 cup raisins

Instructions:

Heat oven to 400-degrees. Grease a 12-cup muffin pan. In mixing bowl, combine all dry ingredients (except raisins); mix well.

In a large mixing bowl, combine all wet ingredients; mix well.

Stir dry ingredients into wet ingredients, just until moistened. Stir in raisins. Spoon batter evenly into 12 cups of a muffin pan. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Nutrition Info (with oil):
Serving size, 1 muffin
Calories: 170
Total Fat: 5.9 g
Total Carb: 27 g
Total Protein: 4.3 g

The Perfect Fall Treat

Pumpkin is one of the quintessential Fall flavors. I recently enjoyed the last of the banana muffins from the freezer...so it was time to restock. It's November, and I haven't really made many things with pumpkin yet, so I found the following recipe for Pumpkin Chip muffins. After reading the ingredient list, I didn't like how much oil and sugar were in it, so I substituted with applesauce, which I have done with banana muffins in the past. They were moist, delicious and full of flavor. Not sure if many of them will make it into the freezer!

Pumpkin Chip Muffins

From Allrecipes

INGREDIENTS:

4 eggs
2 cups white sugar I used 1.5 cups
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil I reduced oil to 1/2 cup, I added 1 cup of unsweetened apple sauce
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Lightly grease two 12 cup muffin pans, or line with paper baking cups. I ended up with more batter, and did not have another muffin tin, so I put the remaining batter into a small loaf pan and baked the loaf an additional 10 minutes or so.

2. Beat the eggs in a large bowl, and mix in the sugar, pumpkin and oil.

3. In a medium bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Blend into the egg and pumpkin mixture. Fold in the chocolate chips. Transfer to the muffin pans.

4. Bake in the preheated oven 15 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove muffins from pans, and cool on a wire rack.

The Way The Muffin Crumbles

...and boy was it good!! I wasn't really feeling banana bread, and haven't made muffins in a while. I came across this recipe while looking for something a little different. These are definitely a little more decadent - not something you can eat for breakfast everyday....but they are soooo worth it.
And be prepared - your house will smell amazing.

Banana Crumb Muffins
from Allrecipes

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 bananas, mashed
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter

DIRECTIONS:

1.Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease 10 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers.

2.In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.

3.In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and cinnamon. Cut in 1 tablespoon butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over muffins.

4.Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes (Mine were done around the 22 minute mark), until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.