Honey Cinnamon Banana Muffins

As usual, we had a handful of overripe bananas sitting on the counter this week, so it was time to whip up some banana bread. It has become a staple in our house, but I always try to do something a little different each time I make it. This time I skipped butter, and used honey and a little brown sugar in place of the white sugar...

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 t baking soda

1 t salt

1 T cinnamon

6 oz (one small container) plain yogurt (ours came from our organic farm delivery)

2/3 cup honey

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 t vanilla

2 large eggs

3 large overripe bananas

Sift the flour, salt, and baking soda together in a small bowl. Set aside.

In a stand mixer (or large bowl), cream together the brown sugar and yogurt. Add in the honey and continue to mix well. Beat in the eggs and vanilla.

Slowly pour the flour mixture into the honey mixture, and blend together (but don't over mix). Finally, add the bananas and mix until combined.

Pour into greased muffin tin, and bake at 350 for about 25 minutes.

Banana Bread With a (Spinach/Flax/Pecan) Twist!

It's hard to create a recipe that is really, truly healthy and extremely tasty at the same time. But I have to say, I may have done it with this one! :)

Audrey, my former fabulously non-picky one year-old, has now become Audrey, my typical toddler, when it comes to eating. One day she loves sweet potatoes, the next day she hates them. One day she can't get enough cheese, the next day she throws it at our dog.

So, I am constantly looking for ways to combine a lot of healthy ingredients into one yummy dish that she will devour. (Just last week I added a ton of spinach to my spaghetti pie, and she gobbled it up!)

It turns out, she is in love with this recipe (for now!), so I am satisfied that she is getting a balanced meal as she eats it. ***Like all recipes containing nuts, be sure to pick out any large chunks/pieces before feeding to a toddler.***

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 t salt
1 t baking soda
1 T cinnamon
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 stick (or 1/4 cup) butter
2 eggs
1 t vanilla
2/3 cup plain organic low fat yogurt
2/3 cup frozen chopped spinach
4 T ground flaxseed
3 large bananas (or 4 small/medium ones)
1/2 cup chopped pecans (I ran out of walnuts, and the pecans were a great sub!)

Sift together the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon, and set aside. In a stand mixer (or using a hand mixer), blend the sugar and butter until fluffy, then add the eggs. Beat for a minute or so, then add the yogurt and vanilla and continue to blend on medium speed.



While blending on low, slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture. Finally, sprinkle in the flax seed, then add the bananas and pecans, and lightly mix until just combined.

Pour into a greased (I use spray canola oil) bread pan, and bake at 350 for about 45-55 minutes. Check with a toothpick or knife after 45 minutes to see if it's done. Enjoy!

Whole Wheat Lemon Blueberry Muffins

I found the following recipe for blueberry muffins on http://www.allrecipes.com/:

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon lemon zest
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
5 tablespoons white sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter, diced
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease 12 muffin cups or line with paper muffin liners.
Combine 2 cups flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in medium bowl. In a small bowl, sprinkle 1 to 2 tablespoons flour over blueberries, and set aside. (This simple trick will keep you from having "purple" batter)
In a large bowl, beat 1/2 cup butter with 3/4 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, and stir in vanilla and lemon zest. Fold in dry ingredients alternately with milk. Fold in blueberries. Remember, fold gently, don't stir. Spoon batter into prepared cups.
Combine 2 tablespoons flour, 5 tablespoons sugar ,and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon in a small bowl. Cut in 2 tablespoons butter with fork or pastry blender until mixture resembles course crumbs. Sprinkle over batter in muffin cups.
Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire rack. These muffins freeze really well, and re-heat in the microwave successfully.


I made the following changes to the ingredients:

whole wheat flour instead of white
2 cups frozen blueberries (I still did the flour trick to keep them from turning the batter blue)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick)
1/2 t lemon zest
a squirt of fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup applesauce

All other ingredients were kept the same. I did use skim milk. Although the recipe doesn't specify what kind of milk to use, baking recipes usually call for whole milk.

The muffins turned out great and everyone at our Wednesday baby playgroup gave them a thumbs up! :)

Skinny Spaghetti Pie

A lot of my friends know how much I love spaghetti pie. I have been making it for a while, and over the years I have modified it to make it healthier, but it is still absolutely satisfying and yummy. :)

The original recipe called for ground beef, spaghetti noodles, a jar of marinara, cream cheese, sour cream, shredded cheddar, and green onions.

I now make it using the following list of ingredients:


1 lb of lean ground turkey
1/2 box of whole wheat thin spaghetti
1 jar of marinara (or blend your own stewed/crushed tomatoes in a food processor)
1/2 cup of cream cheese
1 cup of low fat plain organic yogurt (are you surprised???) :)
1 TBSP onion powder
2/3 cup green onions
2/3 cup shredded cheddar/jack cheese

***And before you wonder how something that contains cream cheese and shredded cheddar can be healthy, think about this. You are going to eat one serving of this dish (which is definitely filling), which means you will only be eating 1/6 of the entire pie. 1/6 of 2/3 of a cup of shredded cheese isn't much (it's 1/9 of a cup to be exact). You will also only be eating 1/12 a cup of cream cheese in your serving. That is miniscule. Sure, you can use low fat cream cheese and low fat cheese, but I generally prefer not to (especially for the cheese; lowfat cheese is NOT the same). Stick to the serving size and you'll be full, happy, and healthy. :) ***


Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Brown the turkey and drain the grease (you may not have to drain any grease if the turkey is lean enough). Pour in the jar of marinara, and simmer on low for 15 minutes while stirring occasionally.

Cook the spaghetti according to the package, which should be pretty quick since you are using thin spaghetti. Drain and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, blend the cream cheese, yogurt, onion powder, and chopped green onions.

Pour the cooked pasta into a greased (100% canola oil spray) baking dish (I used a piece of Polish pottery that is slightly larger, but you can use an 8x8 glass dish). Using a spatula, pour and smooth the yogurt mixture over the pasta. For the third layer, you will pour the ground turkey mixture over the yogurt mixture. Finally, sprinkle the shredded cheese evenly over the top. Place the baking dish in the oven for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.


Pull it out of the oven, let it cool for 10 minutes, then serve with a side salad.



This recipe yields six servings.

Cinnamon Banana Nut Muffins

Audrey loves muffins (hence the title of my blog), and I've made these for her quite a few times. If you are feeding them to a baby, be careful with the walnuts, and make sure they are finely chopped (or just feed the baby parts of the muffin without walnuts).



1 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup cinnamon applesauce (I used organic TJ's applesauce)
1/2 cup plain lowfat organic yogurt
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) butter, melted
2 eggs
1/2 cup flaxseed meal
1 tspn ground cinnamon
1 tspn vanilla
1 cup chopped walnuts
3-4 bananas (I used 3.5 this time because I only had 4, and Audrey wanted to eat some) :-)


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a loaf pan or muffin tin (I used a muffin tin this time) with 100% canola oil spray.

Sift the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt together in a small bowl. In a mixing bowl (or stand mixer), combine the butter and sugar. Blend until light and fluffy, about one minute. Add the eggs and vanilla, and beat to incorporate. Then, mix in the applesauce, flaxseed meal, and yogurt and blend until pretty smooth. Pour the flour mixture slowly into the mixing bowl while the mixer is still running, or add it a little at a time and mix by hand while you make the additions.

Lastly, add the walnuts and bananas, mix well, and use an ice cream scoop to fill the muffin tin. Bake at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes (45-60 if you use a loaf pan). Start checking the muffins around 30 minutes with the toothpick test. If you want a little extra treat, add a pinch of brown sugar to the top of each muffin after the first 30 minutes of baking. It will come out with a crispy, melted sugary topping. YUM!

Set the entire pan on a cooling rack for about 30 minutes, then carefully remove the muffins and enjoy. :)



This recipe yields about 12 muffins.

Secret Smoothie

I first started making smoothies at home a few years ago when I was teaching sixth grade. I would blend up enough for the two of us to have before work (and since I was always running behind, I would often bring it to work with me). I made them almost every day for about six or eight months. These days I make them about once a week, and sometimes more. I love them. They are easy, super healthy, and delicious. My daughter is still a little too young to drink dairy, so I give her little tastes here and there. She LOVES smoothies. I can't wait to make them for her. :)

Now onto the "secret" part...

When I first started feeding solids to my daughter about five months ago, I made all of her food. I would puree her fruits and veggies and freeze them in ice cube trays. I made her a batch of spinach in July, and decided one day on a whim to toss a few cubes of spinach into our smoothies. I made the mistake of telling my husband, Dan, what I had done. He made a face and said it sounded gross. He drank it anyway, and realized that he couldn't even taste the spinach! So, I have added spinach cubes, or frozen chopped spinach (which blends easier) ever since. Spinach is one of the healthiest things you can eat, so I feel even better about my smoothies now!


Now for the simple, five minute recipe...

I'm not big on measuring while cooking/creating food, so this morning I decided to use measuring cups in order to blog the recipe. This is what I came up with:

1 cup plain lowfat organic yogurt
1 fresh banana
2/3 cup fresh strawberries
1 cup frozen blueberries
2/3 cup frozen chopped spinach
a splash (about 1/4 cup) of OJ (I often omit the OJ because we don't always have juice on hand since we don't drink it often. This just helps it blend a little easier, and gives it a slightly sweeter flavor). Add the yogurt to the blender first, then follow with the fruit. If you add frozen fruit before the yogurt, it will make it more difficult to blend. Blend everything until completely smooth. Check for lumps before serving.


The yogurt, banana, and blueberries are staples in my smoothies. Blueberries are one of the healthiest fruits available, so I always have those on hand. Then, I see what other fruit is in my fridge, like strawberries or raspberries, and toss them in the blender. As long as you use about one cup of yogurt and some frozen fruit, your smoothie will work well. I don't need to use ice because of the frozen fruit.

This recipe yields approximately two 9 oz smoothies.


***Tip*** Rinse out your blender right away (and the glasses when you are done), because dried on smoothie is quite difficult to clean up! :)

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

My friend, Robin, brought her pumpkin chocolate chip muffins to playgroup one day and they were amazing! I had to have the recipe.


I knew that I would want to make them often this fall and winter, so I decided to make modifications in order to create a healthier recipe. They are still completely delicious (and of course still contain chocolate chips). Here is the original list of ingredients:


1 3/4 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1 TBSP pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tspn salt
1 tspn baking soda
1 stick butter (1/2 cup)
2 eggs
8 oz pumpkin
6 oz chocolate chips



Here is my modified list of ingredients:

1 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 TBSP pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tspn salt
1 tspn baking soda
1/2 stick butter (1/4 cup)
2 eggs (I use organic)
3/4 cup plain low fat yogurt (I use organic)
8 oz pumpkin
4 oz chocolate chips



Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a muffin tin (I use 100% canola oil spray), and pour the batter directly into the tin (no need to use muffin cups). Mix the first five ingredients in a large bowl, then add remaining ingredients and mix. (Easy, right??)

Bake for 20 minutes.

Watch carefully at the end, and do not overbake. I start checking them by doing the toothpick test around 20 minutes, and sometimes they need about 22 minutes. When the toothpick no longer comes out with batter, place the muffin tin directly onto a cooling rack for about 30 minutes. Then, using a spoon, gently work the muffins out of the tin.


This recipe yields 12 muffins.

Enjoy with a glass of skim milk or a mug of green tea. :-)