Quinoa-Pumpkin Seed Granola

My normally good eating habits haven't been so great since Thanksgiving. The holidays seem to have gotten to me this year and my food choices have gone down hill. Don't get me wrong I still have cooked from scratch and enjoyed healthy dinners, but I have snacked more than usual and eaten more sugar. Luckily I haven't gained any weight, but I feel less than my normal self so I know that it's time to get back on track. One of the major things that I haven't been doing well with the last couple of months is breakfast. I have been good about eating breakfast since I had low potassium last winter. However, since Thanksgiving I have been skipping breakfast or not eating enough protein in the morning. This weekend I decided to get back on track and made some healthy snacks for the week. One of the new recipes I tried was for Quinoa-Pumpkin Seed Granola from the January issue of Better Homes and Gardens magazine.

This recipe has 9 ingredients. It takes 50 minutes of total time, 20 minutes of which is active and makes 13 servings. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients at my local grocery store. I chose to use dried cherries for the dried fruit called for in the recipe. The recipe states to stir the mixture twice, but I forgot one of the stirs, so I only did a total of one stir half-way through the baking time. I kept my granola in larger pieces since I was going to eat it as a snack instead of with milk. I think I prefer the large chunks like I made. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

My husband and I really enjoyed this granola. The quinoa was great, I loved how it was crunchy and the whole almonds were delicious. The cranberries provided a nice sweet contrast to the crunchiness of the nuts. My husband thought that it would be even better for adults with a small amount of cayenne pepper to have a sweet/spicy combination.

For the recipe go to Quinoa-Pumpkin Seed Granola. (registration required)

Sunflower and Flaxseed Bread

I make a lot of homemade bread! Before having kids I had never tried making a loaf of bread, much less baking a loaf or more a week. Now that I have two very active and growing boys we go through a lot of bread, so both to save money and for the taste (not to mention the health aspects), I bake all my own bread. I always thought that baking homemade bread would be very difficult. Don't get me wrong, I went through a number of bread recipes that didn't rise and I had to throw away or start over from scratch. After learning what recipes work and how to modify recipes to my needs I have found that making bread from scratch can be both relaxing and enjoyable. One of my favorite ingredients to add to bread are seeds. They are a great way to add protein and nutrients to bread and best of all they are great in toast. About a year ago I started using flaxseeds in my bread. Flaxseeds are full of essential fats and fiber and create a delicious nutty flavor to breads. The following is my recipe for Sunflower and Flaxseed and Bread.

• 1 1/4 cups Water
• 2 Tbsp. Honey
• 2 Tbsp. Canola Oil
• 2 cups Bread Flour
• 1 cup Whole Wheat Flour
• 1 1/2 tsp. Salt
• 1/3 cup Flaxseed
• 2 Tbsp. Sunflower Seeds
• 2 tsp. Active Dry Yeast

Combine water, honey and canola oil. Stir yeast into flours and then add flour and remaining ingredients to water mixture. Either using a mixer with a dough hook or by hand knead the bread for 6-8 minutes. Grease a large bowl and add dough, turning to coat, cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled (approximately one hour). Punch dough down either roll out into a rectangle, roll up jelly roll style and pinch seems or form into a loaf and place into a greased loaf pan. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until one inch above the top of the pan. Place dough into a preheated 350 degree oven for approximately 35-40 minutes. Check after 25 minutes and if browning too quickly tent with foil. To ensure the bread is fully done temp to 200 degrees in the center. Let cool on a wire rack.

That's it! Flaxseeds are great in bread and everyone in my house loves this bread toasted. It's great with jam or melted butter.


Adapted from a recipe on the back of the Bob's Red Mill Flaxseed package. 

Everyday Food Zucchini, Banana, and Flaxseed Muffins

My family loves to snack and I am the biggest snacker in the house. Instead of eating three large meals a day I eat 6 smaller meals, which are a balance of protein and a small amount of carbs. After battling low potassium and pneumonia for months I have been making sure to not skip my snacks; I really don't want to end up in the emergency room again with my heart rate too high. I would love to say that I love fruit, but honestly apples and berries are the only ones that I actually like. My boys on the other hand will eat more fruit than anyone I've ever met. They have already eaten two full bags of apples in less than a week. I have been experimenting with healthy snacking options for everyone in my family that include fruit and vegetables. The September issue of Everyday Food magazine had a recipe for Zucchini, Banana, and Flaxseed Muffins that claimed to be low in fat and have 5 grams of protein, which seemed perfect for my family's snacking.

This recipe has 12 ingredients. It takes approximately an hour of cooking and cooling time and makes 12 servings. I already had most of the ingredients including the ground flaxseed from previous recipes. I actually prepped this muffins the night before and refrigerated until I baked them in the morning. Make sure not to over mix the batter, just stir until combined or your muffins will be less fluffy. I found that I had more than enough batter for 12 muffins and made three additional muffins. I also found that I needed to turn the pan halfway through the baking time to encourage an even browning, however, that could be due to my disco era oven. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

My two boys loved this recipe. They ate more than half the muffins for snacks and dinner. I liked that the muffins only have 2 grams of fat, but 5 grams of protein, making them a great snacking option. Recently, I have been trying to bake more with flaxseeds, they are a great source of nutrition. This recipe was a great way to add more flaxseed into my family's diet. Overall, a very family friendly recipe that is healthy and full of flavor.

Here is the recipe link Zucchini, Banana, and Flaxseed Muffins.