I devoted my whole morning today to prep and catching up my freezer a bit. Because I did such a big shop on Tuesday, I had a lot of things I needed to deal with.Some of the things I prep are: wash and chop a week's worth of salad for lunches, roasted nuts, chopped raw veggies, baked snacks for Grey's school lunches, pre-cook sausages for a few day's worth of meat that just needs a re-heat on busy mornings...things like that. Anything to save me time and the risk of being tempted to start snacking on things.
People often say things to me like "I wish I had all that time to cook" or "I don't have time to get things like that ready". Here's the thing. Neither do I. Neither does anyone. You just need to do it ahead of time. It's not like you're not cooking otherwise. You are making dinner anyways (most nights :)) so why not make it good? Healthy, clean food takes no more time than anything else. It just takes some organization and planning. It might take you some getting used to, and it doesn't ever need to be perfect. I think we all know just getting food on the table can be a real challenge some nights! I read an article once that said even if you change one thing a week, keep track. Then after a year you can look back and see all the positive changes you've made for you and your family! That's 52 positive changes! Sounds pretty great to me.
I am 4 days in to a "squat challenge". Have you ever done something similar? There are all sorts of them out there....burpee ones, crunches, running...the list goes on. The morning after my first day I wasn't too bad. I was pretty impressed actually. I've got this in the bag, I thought to myself. Then I worked out that night, and here is where it fell apart. I don't know if it was the elliptical that kicked my quads into a fit of rage, or if they just drew the line after the second day of the challenge and went on strike. They were seriously seized up on fire. The front, the back, inner thigh...you name it, it was burning. I am basically at the point where I need to take a running leap at the toilet and just hope I land somewhere on it, because there is a zero percent chance of bending my legs to sit down on it properly. If you've done squats of any type before as part of a challenge or workout, you know what I'm talking about. I had to rest yesterday because I was so paralyzed! Started back again tonight, so I'm sure I'll be back to penguin waddling by morning. :)
A ton of people ask me for lunchbox ideas for the kids. Grey is just in preschool so they only bring an afternoon snack this year. I make a lot of loaves, muffins and cookies. I usually use carob chips instead of chocolate chips, raw honey, applesauce or pure maple syrup as sweetener, and coconut sugar instead refined brown sugar. My husband and I don't eat much for grains, but we don't restrict them totally as we are lucky to have no intolerance's or allergies in our house. I do use wheat flour in my baking, but I more often use almond or coconut flour. This recipe today uses regular flour (as opposed to almond or whatever..) and I like doing these kinds too, because not everyone wants to try different flours, has allergies or has no access to the different products. So here's a simple, healthy muffin recipe that can also be used as a loaf. You can sub out the carob chips for whatever your little heart desires! Just don't blame mama when it doesn't turn out because you messed with my wisdom! :))
Oh, one thing....I didn't take any step by step pics because it's pretty straight forward! But please note, this recipe is for a double batch. I got 4 trays of mini muffins and one smaller loaf out of it. If you do regular muffins or a full size loaf pan, please adjust the cooking times.
Banana Carob Chip Muffins:
You need:
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 eggs
3-4 mashed ripe bananas (about 1 cup)
1/4 cup olive oil
1/3 cup raw honey
1/3 cup coconut sugar (could sub brown sugar 1:1)
2/3 cup plain Greek yogurt (could sub sour creme 1:1)
2 Tbsp whole milk
2 tsp Vanilla
3/4 to 1 cup (depending on preference) carob or chocolate chips
pre heat oven to 350
In one large bowl, add flour through baking soda. Mix and set aside.
In another bowl, mix eggs through to chocolate chips...ONE ingredient at a time. Got it? No wailing it all in the bowl at once! Mix one in at a time.
Add wet mix into your flour mix and stir to combine. Don't over mix or you'll end up with a tough batter. Once all the flour is incorporated, you're good.
Like I said, I did mini muffins. Grease well and fill no more than 2/3 full. They will rise. Once I filled 4 trays I poured the rest into a smaller loaf pan. Depending on the size and oven, the loaf will cook around 40 minutes to an hour. Mini muffins, check at 9 minutes then proceed from there. Toothpick inserted in the centre should come out clean when done.
These are light, moist and free of refined and processed garbage like a lot of store bought muffins tend to be. Enjoy!! And......freeze these buggers! Then you're one step ahead for next time!
original recipe pingback to: grandmotherskitchen.org
These were awesome! Will totally make again and again.
ReplyDeleteGreat, glad you liked them! Thanks for reading! :)
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